The Gift of the Givers will begin distributing food parcels and other goods in and around Durban this morning after this week’s devastating floods which left at least 32 people dead.
The heavy rains, which caused massive landslides, also left hundreds of people displaced while 10 others are still missing.
Gift of the Givers’ Imtaaz Sooliman said that they will spend the day giving what they have and assessing what’s needed.
“We’ll start with the basic stuff; the blankets and it’s still raining and people were out in the open without shelter.
“So, they require blankets, they require mattresses, they require clothing, some hygiene items… we’ll give them food packs and hot meals will be provided for them.”
Among those killed in the floods and mudslides that crushed homes in Durban on Tuesday were a six-month-old baby and a child aged around 10, authorities said.
The death toll has risen to 33, with reports of children missing and scores of people displaced.
“Heavy rains have since claimed 33 lives so far,” Nomusa Dube-Ncube, KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs said in a statement.
She added that 10 children were missing in Durban and 42 people had been injured.
An AFP photographer saw two of the nine bodies – including that of a small child – being pulled out of a house belonging to a school caretaker in Westcliff, on the outskirts of Durban.
The victims were buried under a wall that had collapsed on them while they were sleeping.
