05 May Over 1 000 Umzumbe Municipality families get their share of IDC’s R31 million in disaster relief
Umzumbe, KZN: The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) in partnership with the Imbumba Foundation will be supporting 1000 families in the Newcastle, Blaauwbosch, Ladysmith, Edumeni, Dannhauser and Umzumbe municipality areas in KwaZulu-Natal from 3 to 5 May 2023. The recent flooding in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has impacted many families negatively and still has countless displaced months after the flooding.
Affected families are often placed in community shelters for temporary accommodation. It takes time to rebuild the damaged infrastructure and houses, people end up staying in these shelters for longer than was anticipated. While placed in these shelters, they constantly need essentials such as food, water, and blankets while waiting to be re-integrated into their normal environment.
The need for humanitarian aid has increased significantly, with food security being a daily threat to many communities. The IDC and Imbumba Foundation will be providing food packs, blankets and family dignity packs to the most vulnerable in marginalised rural areas. “This intervention is aligned to one of our key CSI portfolios – Special Projects. This portfolio focuses on strategic interventions aimed at aiding communities affected disasters,” says Tshepo Ramodibe, the IDC’s Head of Corporate Affairs..
The IDC has a long-standing relationship with Imbumba. “They were our partner in the implementation of Covid-19 food security initiative in 2020 and 2021 they assisted with the provision of food parcels to families affected by the civil unrest that took place in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces. It is through solid partnerships as these that we are able to make a lasting and effective difference to communities when they are in need,” adds Ramodibe.
The Imbumba Foundation, a non-profit organization established by innovative and social entrepreneur, Mr Richard Mabaso in 2010, is focused on bringing about social change and economic upliftment, within rural and economically marginalised communities in Southern Africa.
“It is through such partnerships that we are able to be on the ground and assist communities most affected by social issues. We are truly grateful for the ongoing support that we have received from the IDC and that together we get to empower communities and bring about social and economic uplift,” says Richard Mabaso, founder and CEO of the Imbumba Foundation.
The IDC has invested over R31 million and partnered with 26 organisations since April 2022 to provide flood relief to communities. The initiative has benefited over 48 000 Floods victims across 250 sites in KZN, Eastern Cape, the North West, Mpumalanga and the Free State.
Additional Info:
The Imbumba Foundation is a non-profit organization established by innovative social entrepreneur, Mr Richard Mabaso. The Foundation aims to bring about social change and economic upliftment, within rural and economically marginalized communities in Southern Africa, through investing and mentoring individuals and communities who seek to uplift and empower themselves. The Foundation currently has 3 flagship programmes being Caring4Girls, Trek4Mandela and Vision20/20. Further, since the Covid-19 outbreak, the Foundation has been providing humanitarian aid with various partners to destitute communities.
Caring4Girls, established in 2012, is a menstrual hygiene programme that provides adolescent girls with sanitary towels, menstrual hygiene, and puberty education support. The programme addresses the harsh reality that many girls miss school due to period poverty. To date, Caring4Girls has empowered over 1,8 million girls across South Africa and neighbouring countries such as Lesotho, eSwatini, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia, and Tanzania.
Trek4Mandela, founded by the Imbumba Foundation in 2012, is an annual expedition whereby a group of esteemed individuals summit Mount Kilimanjaro to bring awareness and funding towards the Caring4Girls initiative. It is one of the largest Mandela Day expeditions having seen over 300 local and international climbers.
Vision20/20 empowers the youth and future leaders by providing career guidance and support to indigent groups who would not ordinarily gain access to such platforms and opportunities. The programme’s core support structures include (i) youth leadership and career development; (ii) post-matric opportunities and (iii) a second chance programme.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, there has been a lot of support towards Humanitarian Aid. The restrictions presented by Covid-19 intensified the challenges faced by the most poverty-stricken communities which has resulted in a support gap. These efforts have extended further such as during the social unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng, flooding, and other disaster relief efforts. For more information, visit: www.imbumbafoundation.org; www.caring4girls.africa; www.trek4mandela.africa