Tragedy with no end in the wake of CycloneIdai
Beira - A very human and courageous military colonel of the SANDF dissolved into tears as he relayed to Minister for International Relations Lindiwe Sisulu on Thursday in Beira the trauma people on the ground have gone through in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai.
The situation was so desperate, and the helicopters so few, that the Gift of the Givers had to hire three helicopters as there was only air access to three of the hardest affected areas of Beira. Imtiaz Sooliman of the Gift of the Givers spoke to Independent Media on the tarmac of the Beira airport on Thursday and relayed the trauma his staff went through as they just could not save enough people.
The helicopters would then drag the people holding onto the rope across the landscape, and the hope was that they had the strength to hold on. Sooliman’s advice for people that want to help is to donate cash so that his organisation can buy appropriate food in Mozambique which will help to support Mozambique’s economy, rather than donate all different cans of food in different sizes.
“When President of Mozambique Felipe Nyusi first called me after the cyclone hit he was a very shaken man. The water levels were rising and he desperately needed assistance. He was explaining that if the dam wall broke the whole city of Beira would be gone. Today the city is destroyed and resembles a rice paddy.”
Sisulu announced a donation from the South African government to Mozambique of R70 million, and Patrice Motsepe and his wife Precious also arrived by private jet into Beira, and delivered a cheque to the Government of Mozambique of R15 million.
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