The unprecedented floods that ravaged KZN in April had a huge impact on our community. Thousands were left homeless and vulnerable. Through partnerships and out of a commitment to being the most trusted partner in the areas where we operate, we were able to provide critical relief.
Many lost access to their water supply and Tongaat Hulett Group partnered with Unzinso Sugar Farming and Lafarge to restore water supply to households in and around the Maidstone area. Through this partnership, a Jojo tank was purchased for the Tongaat clinic and 132 000 litres of water have been delivered to the Lindokuhle community. This has benefitted approximately 164 households.
Roads in and around Tongaat have been restored as part of a fast-tracked effort to provide essential services to communities that had been cut off due to extensive damage to road infrastructure. This includes the grading of the farm road next to KwaTiba which enables the KwaTiba Special school to resume its learning and teaching programme.
Schools were severely affected by the flooding and with the help of the local councillor, Cllr Nene, five Primary Schools located in Tongaat, ward 62 were identified for support. A total of 100 pairs of shoes were distributed and beneficiaries were recommended by the respective schools based on needs. Considering that Tongaat has been without access to running water for over a month since the first floods hit KZN, the shoes were paired with 5L of drinking water per learner. A further 100L of drinking was donated to each school, with a total of 1000L of drinking water donated to the following Primary Schools:
– Mbonisweni Primary School
– Uthongathi Primary School
– Sarasvati Primary School
– Fairbreeze Primary School
– Sandfields Primary School
This initiative is extremely important, as communities struggle to recover from the recent floods and the effects of unemployment post-Covid impact. Tongaat Hulett Sugar got involved in the campaign in support of the little people who through resilience have endured the worst of times in KZN. Small acts of kindness combined can go a long way to keep our children encouraged and offer them the support required to remain in school. In three months, Tongaat Huletts has invested over R200 000 towards the purchase of school uniforms in the communities where we operate. For many families, food is still a concern as they try to rebuild their lives. We are working together with the Nelly Zikalala Foundation to bring relief aid to flood victims in and around Ndwedwe, Tongaat and Verulam.
As we look to the future, Tongaat Hulett remains committed to providing ongoing support to local communities. We’d also like to thank organisations that recognised that disaster relief is not a responsibility that one organisation can shoulder on its own and partnered with us to support the people of KZN during their time of need.
