blogOrganizations You Can Support to Help KwaZulu-Natal During This Time of Need in South Africa

Courage is the ability to do something that frightens or show bravery. For us, we prefer the isiZulu term for courage, “iSibindi.” Not only does its definition ring true to what we do, but when said aloud you cannot help but pronounce it with conviction and strength. It has an authority to it, a calling.

When iSibindi becomes a verb it’s a form of uBuntu, a way of facing adversity while helping others, putting aside your own wants to ensure that the needs of others are met, a way of tackling whatever life throws at you and doing it with a greater purpose than that of your own existence. Over the last 25 years, iSibindi, has been our founding value, yet over the last week we’ve seen that iSibindi is what guides us as South Africans, it’s our defining moments, it’s our character as a nation.

Organisations Mobilising to Help Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) Right Now

Isibindi is something to be shared, and we’ve been inundated with calls from South Africans both local and afar, asking how they can help during these dark moments in history. We thought it best to create a comprehensive list of organisations that are mobilising to bring necessary supplies to communities in KZN affected by the unrest. 

These are just some of the organisations and businesses you can support through donations and volunteering:

SA Volunteers (@rebuildrsa)

On 14 July @rebuildrsa was created, and within 2 days it already had 12.3k followers of South Africans volunteering to clean up after looters trashed streets, cities and shopping malls. If you’d like to volunteer, fill in this online form so that the organisers can match you with those in need of help. You can offer assistance through cleanups, donations, resources like transporting volunteers, offering cleaning supplies or your business skills and services to help. There’s even an option for those who want to volunteer but are unsure and need some guidance. 

Gift of the Givers 

“The time to rebuild our livelihoods is now.”  

Gift of the Givers

Gift of the Givers is Africa’s largest disaster response NGO, with the aim of bringing hope and restoring dignity to the most vulnerable. In a statement issued via the Organisation for Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), Gift of the Givers announced that their top priority is ‘to protect large-scale food distribution facilities’, in order to keep the supply chain up and running at the height of this crisis.” The NGO has also asked for public donations to fund their proposed interventions. If you’d like to donate to this cause, click here or by adding them as a beneficiary to your MySchoolCard here. 

For live updates, follow Gift of the Givers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Isibindi Foundation

Paige Gehren, Director of the Isibindi Foundation is also working together with Gift of the Givers to arrange delivery of food supplies to affected areas. Please consider donating to our Isibindi Foundation or getting involved by offering your skills or time to help us uplift communities in KZN.

Robin Hood Foundation

Dedicated to keeping hope alive, the Robin Hood Foundation in Westville, Durban has been actively involved on the ground, delivering resources and food to communities in need. If you’d like to donate food, please email Natalie Antonia Ogden at [email protected] so that they can coordinate food collections. Alternatively, you can support various food drives as eggs and vegetables have been secured with more supplies coming in from various farmers on a regular basis. 

According to Cindy Norcott, Charity Founder, “It’s time to rebuild. We can’t afford to allow feelings to get in the way, as much as it pains us. Let’s get into action and make it happen. How do you rebuild a rainbow nation? You start by cleaning up, by starting again, by feeding people. It is Mandela’s birthday on 18 July. What would he have done? He would have encouraged us to forgive, to put our feelings aside, to help, to give and to rebuild.” 

For all the latest news and updates, following the Robin Hood Foundation on Facebook and Instagram.

Volvo Bloemfontein (@volvocarsbloemfontein)

“Together, we can make a difference for those in need”

Volvo Cars Bloemfontein

Volvo Bloemfontein has pledged to deliver food to KZN with various drop off points popping up across the country. They ask that if you’re a local business or individual wanting to support, please donate any non-perishable goods as well as things like: 

• Long-Life Milk
• Baby Formula
• Nappies
• Pet Food 
• Sanitary Products 

If you cannot find a city near you with a drop off point, they encourage you to use the Checkers Sixty60 app.

CemAir

CemAir, a small- to medium-sized airline company has been offering space on its flights for humanitarian items from Johannesburg to Durban and Margate for distribution across KZN. They are currently looking for individuals who can fill and pack donated humanitarian items into boxes that will be loaded onto planes. If you’d like to get involved and find out more about what can/can’t be packed into these boxes as well as receive the required forms, please contact Kirsten Schreiber on [email protected]. If you’re in Durban and looking to collect boxes for distribution, please contact Yaseen Sayed on +27 83 273 7335. 

Ashrafulaid Humanitarian Group 

Ashrafulaid’s team of volunteers have been working tirelessly on the ground in KZN. Delivering thousands of loaves of bread, and flying in baby formula, nappies and other humanitarian items. They’ve partnered with CemAir to bring donated items to the province. Follow their Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages for more information on delivery points and the latest news on what they need. Alternatively, you can donate here or contact Yusuf Nabee for more information on +27 11 809 8181.

Isibindi the courage to continue no matter what!

We salute all those many many individuals, organisations and businesses mobilising together and showing their iSibindi to rebuild Kwa-Zulu Natal. We look forward to sharing many more stories of hope and courage over the next few months. Never before have we been prouder to be South African.