The Motsepe family, along with various companies and organisations they are associated with, have pledged R1 billion to help combat the coronavirus crisis in South Africa.

This pledge is in partnership with the Motsepe Foundation, Sanlam, African Rainbow Capital, African Rainbow Minerals and others.

Joining the Rupert and Oppenheimer families who have pledged R1 billion each, businessman and Chairman of the foundation, Dr Patrice Motsepe announced that hundreds of millions of Rands will be available immediately to help curb the spread of coronavirus.

In a statement, Motsepe explains that there are short term and medium term interventions they have planned. Short term interventions include purchasing sanitisers, disinfectants, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and making various resources available to help curb the coronavirus spread.

They also plan on purchasing water tanks (JoJo tanks), drilling and equipping for borehole water and  building sanitary facilities in rural areas. This means water will be far more accessible and people will be able to wash their hands more frequently in these areas.

With regards to education, there are plans to build additional classrooms, computer centers and laboratories in all nine provinces. In some schools, this will help to evenly distribute the high volume of students per classroom. It will also equip schools in rural areas with educational equipment.

“Poor and underdeveloped communities are ill-prepared to deal with the serious challenges and consequences of the Coronavirus pandemic and are in dire need of our assistance and contributions,” reads the statement. “We are committed to contribute to the provision of quality education, infrastructure and other facilities to better prepare and equip them to deal with future pandemics or catastrophes.”