Afrika Tikkun calls for consolidated effort in townships

JORDAN MOSHE

Afrika Tikkun is at the forefront of helping those less equipped to handle the situation. In the face of dwindling resources, the organisation is appealing for help to reach those in need.

“You can’t ask people to put themselves into isolation when they don’t know if they will have food for the next 17 days,” Tikkun Chief Executive Marc Lubner told the SA Jewish Report this week. “This virus not only raises the issue of medical security, but food security.”

Afrika Tikkun has been operating in the townships for 25 years employing a system of community structures to distribute resources and support effectively. Since the onset of the virus, the organisation has packaged and distributed countless food parcels, masks, sanitisers, soap, gloves, and other essentials among shack communities, focusing on the elderly and vulnerable.

Says Lubner, “We sent home 20 000 children attending our centres with food parcels and soap last week. However, we realised that we need ten times this amount if we are to have any hope of helping the thousands of gogos (grannies) that care for more than 3 000 of our Tikkun kids. If these gogos are lost, these children have lost their support system.”

With the endorsement of the Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, Tikkun has centralised a donation and distribution system, making its efforts more effective. Absa, the German embassy in South Africa, and others have backed the project, as have many members within South Africa’s Muslim community.

Far more support is needed, however. Says Lubner, “We’ve appealed to the Motsepe Foundation to help us, but have yet to receive a response. We’re also appealing to the Jewish community to get behind us and help make this happen.

“The Jewish community needs to be aware that the government recognises us a community that performs meaningful good deeds in this country. We’re small in relative terms, so it’s essential that we consolidate our efforts if we’re to make an impact in this situation.”

Lubner says that it’s understandable that people are reluctant to commit large sums of money to the cause, anxious to know where their funds are going.

“We’ve spent much time putting together processes to monitor donation movement to ensure that we can trace money from source to recipient,” he says. “We even have video proof of people signing receipts in Hillbrow after receiving parcels. We know it’s important to manage it properly.”

Donors can back a number of constructive initiatives. These include a local protective mask manufacturing project, the sending of a parcel with a personalised message, and the neighbour to neighbour support programme. The latter involves distributing parcels to individuals living next door to elderly or vulnerable residents to help them care for their neighbours as well as themselves.

Lubner hopes that these collective efforts will help stem the tide of devastation the virus has the potential to wreak on disadvantaged individuals.

“I’m particularly afraid of the social impact of the lockdown,” he says. “To combat this, we need testing, but after testing, a person needs treatment and has to have the resources to sustain it.”

“Alexandra has one real clinic to service a population of more than a million people. If we are going to curb the spread of the virus, we need to address issues like food security and access to resources.

“I’m desperate to get into the townships before the tsunami hits. Our Jewish community clearly wants to help others at this time, and I’ve heard of several initiatives launched to assist those in need.

“However, I’m appealing to people to consolidate efforts by backing Afrika Tikkun. We have the infrastructure. Rather than fragment our efforts, let’s rally together as a central force and make a meaningful difference.”