Government’s pro bono organisation, the Solidarity Fund, on Thursday expressed gratitude to all those who have so far donated to the fund, which has received R2.6-billion in pledges to respond to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

The mandate of the fund is to mobilise and coordinate financial and in-kind contributions from all South Africans and members of the international community to fast-track and accelerate critical intervention, where needed, as the country deals with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chairperson of the Fund Gloria Serobe says it has been inspiring to see what determination, optimism, collaboration and innovation can achieve in a short space of time.

“A month to the day after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the establishment of the Solidarity Fund on the 23rd of March, we are pleased to report that tens of thousands of individuals and companies have responded to his call for us to come together and mobilise to respond to the virus. As of today, a total of R2.6-billion has been pledged to the Solidarity Fund, including donations from companies both big and small, foundations and charitable institutions. What is truly astonishing is that more than 75 000 individuals have reached into their pockets to assist those most impacted by the Covid-19. We thank each and every one of you,” she said. 

The fund has collaborated with civil society organisations, traditional leaders, government departments, and individual men and women to put in place the necessary systems and processes to respond rapidly to the pandemic.

“What we have achieved in the shortest time frame is also thanks to the pro-bono effects of more than 75 individuals who have been deployed by 25 organisations and who have offered their services free of charge to help the fund fulfil its objectives,” she added.

Solidarity Fund interim CEO Nomkhita Nqweni added that the fund had a clear mandate to support the national health response and to contribute to the resultant humanitarian efforts related to the Covid-19 pandemic and to mobilise South Africans to drive a united response to change behaviours, in an effort to flatten the curve.

“We are indeed relieved in that the Solidarity Fund created a single platform for all South Africans to bring together their collective resources to serve as a rapid response vehicle to have an immediate impact in the areas that we have identified in the primary phase of this pandemic as [needing] focus and intervention.

“As an independent and agile organisation, we have been able to make and activate meaningful interventions to support and augment those provided by the State and other organs of society in a very short space of time. If we reflect on the update and progress that the fund has made, it is hard to believe that this is an organisation that is only one month old,” Nqweni said. 

She said one of the key aspects in flattening the curve is the ability to influence changes and behaviour that can help slow down the spread of the virus.

She announced that a Solidarity campaign has been launched for this purpose and will be flighted on all major media platforms.

“The campaign seeks to inspire and mobilise South Africans to act both individually and collectively to flatten the curve and to support those who are affected,” she explained.  

Reporting on the humanitarian work of the fund, investment firm Yellowwoods (which is working with the fund) executive director Nicola Galombik said the fund was teaming up with many organisations and civil society organisations.

Galombik said over the past few weeks, as a result of the national lockdown, South Africa has a bigger need for humanitarian assistance across all nine provinces, especially in remote areas.

She said the fund has already taken steps to inject immediate humanitarian aid in the form of food parcels to the most vulnerable communities across the country.

“Complementing and augmenting the work of government and others, we have set the task to provide emergency relief to 250 000 distressed families during the lockdown in the month of April. Our goal is to act as a rapid response vehicle at scale and to reach people facing severe food insecurity now to achieve national coverage and to be as inclusive as possible,” she said.

She added that the fund is managing the distribution in partnership with various organisations.

She said 25% of distributions will be done through a partnership with the Department of Social Development’s Community Nutrition and Development Centres and their implementing agents, a further 50% will be done through large national nongovernment organisations, while the remainder will be done through a range of community-based organisations at a local government and provincial level.

She said working with a range of organisations will minimise overlap with the organisations that are already doing food relief programmes.