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S African NRIs raise tsunami aid funds
More than a million rands has been raised in two separate fundraising ventures by Indian community in Johannesburg to help tsunami victims.
More than a million rands has been raised in two separate fundraising ventures by the South African Indian community in Johannesburg to help victims of the December 26 Asian tsunami.
The National Independent Halaal Trust (NIHT), a body of mainly Indian butchers who oversee the provision of meat complying with Islamic religious tenets, teamed up with the Baitun Noor Women's Group, a social welfare organisation of local Indians with origins mainly in Maharashtra, to host a fundraising banquet and raised almost half a million rands.
In a separate initiative, almost every major Indian singer, dancer and musician of note in the Gauteng province participated in two entertainment evenings free of charge, with all proceeds going to the tsunami relief fund.
The entertainment effort was coordinated by leaders of various Indian cultural, religious and welfare organisations in their personal capacities, rather than through the various organisations they were allied to, to avoid any allegations of sectarianism, according to Pungie Lingham, spokesman for the group.
Moorad Booley, president of the NIHT, said his organisation had special links with Indonesia and Malaysia, two of the countries badly hit by the tsunami.
"We have worked with similar bodies to ours in those countries on issues that affect the Muslim community of the world at large, such as the use of phosphates and gelatin in foodstuffs.
"It is because of these relationships that, when this disaster struck there, it struck a sensitive chord in us and we felt an obligation to rally to their aid with whatever we could."
Funds raised through pledges at the banquet and through appeals to businesses affiliated to the NIHT will be utilised in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Thanking the South African community for its support, Indonesian Ambassador Abdul Nasier said his government had identified three strategic programmes in the aftermath of the devastation.
Emergency aid would continue until the end of June this year, to be followed by a rehabilitation programme to revitalise socio-economic conditions in the affected areas.
The third phase is a four-year programme, starting this year, to rebuild infrastructure, public services and housing, which had been completely destroyed.
All the funds raised through both events would be channelled through the South African foreign affairs ministry.
"The South African government has formed an inter-ministerial task team on disaster management for a comprehensive and co-ordinated approach to relief assistance for countries affected by the tsunami," Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Sue van der Merwe said.
