As some contractors were exploiting South Africans during the Covid-19 pandemic, a charity organisation, SA Medical and Education Foundation (SAME), was delivering vital equipment to hospitals.

The South African government is investigating reports of large-scale ‘looting’ of its $26 billion Covid-19 rescue package, which was launched to cushion the economic impact of the pandemic on struggling citizens.

Speaking to BizNews, the Chief Executive Officer of SAME Foundation, Trevor Pols, who said that SAME had managed to raise R20-million in three months, revealed how the foundation ramped up its operations to help hospitals to increase their capacity to treat Covid-19 patients.

Pols said, ‘There’s a lot of technical equipment, lifesaving equipment that is specialised or specific for Covid-19 treatments that we are focusing on now. And we have obviously had to ramp up our operations due to the pandemic and the size of it.

‘We managed to put over R20-million so far into the health system and if you think that’s all from donor funds, that’s pretty incredible. Especially, with the fact that the government set up its own fund, the Solidarity Fund, and with all the publicity that they gave it, within a few days, most companies’ donation budgets were depleted because they had given most of their funds to Solidarity’.

He also said, ‘We have managed to assist over 13 health facilities around the country. Some of the bigger ones are Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg, the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Tygerberg Hospital and the Groote Schuur Hospital in the Western Cape, as well as Covid-19 specific hospitals that have been established’.

Source: BizNews

Photo source: BizNews