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Sanlam pledges N$4 million to fight against COVID-19

Sanlam pledges N$4 million to fight against COVID-19

Sanlam Namibia and its subsidiaries Welwitschia Insurance Brokers and Sanlam Investments pledged N$4 million to support various initiatives in an effort to ‘flatten the curve’ in the spread of COVID-19.

Sanlam announced that a total amount of N$500,000 has been allocated to provide toilets and other sanitary assistance to the affected communities in selected informal settlements, while some funds will be utilised to provide temporary water infrastructure. Another N$500,000 has been allocated for the procurement of personal protective wear and equipment for health and essential workers in the health sector.

Sanlam will be contributing another N$500,000 to the National COVID-19 fund, of which part is set aside to assist SMEs and selected farmers to ease their financial burden during the lockdown to ensure that they don’t close down.

The company will avail N$1,000,000 for assisting the education sector by providing support for distance education and e-learning via TV and radio education outreach programmes. N$800,000 is set aside for the procurement of testing and screening equipment for the health sector, while a total amount of N$200,000 is set aside for the construction of the nurses and doctors’ workstation where screening and testing of COVID-19 suspected and probable cases will be undertaken in Walvis Bay.

Before this pledge and as an immediate response to the pandemic, Sanlam had already contributed about over N$222,410 towards the procurement of testing kits and protective wear to essential services workers of the City of Windhoek in their effort in fighting COVID-19 in the city. Additionally Sanlam has also already spent N$90,000 towards the provision of clean water to the vulnerable communities in Windhoek’s informal settlement.

Furthermore, Sanlam also procured 60 PPE Packs containing face masks, eye protection googles, knee length overshoes, hooded balaclava, protection gown, folio dress gowns and scrub suits worth N$198,000 for the Ministry of Health and Social Services. Finally and on top of the pledged amount, Sanlam will also donate a Mobi-Van to the Ministry of Health and Social Services to be used for transport for the testing, screening and general fight against Covid-19. The Mobi-Van is valued at N$500,000.

“Sanlam stands together with the entire Namibian nation and vows to support government and other relevant stakeholder initiatives in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” Sanlam Group CEO Tertius Stears said.

Stears said as a corporate citizen, the company recognises that these are unusual times calling for conceited efforts from players from various sectors to hold hands and fight this pandemic together.

“As a nation, we are in uncharted waters in terms of the scale and danger theCOVID-19 pandemic presents to our country. It is now time for each and every one of us to demonstrate leadership and do our part to assist government in its effort to win this fight. We understand that this is not a fight for government alone and if we are to come out victorious we all need to make every effort to join hands and face this pandemic head on,” Stears said.


 

About The Author

Donald Matthys

Donald Matthys has been part of the media fraternity since 2015. He has been working at the Namibia Economist for the past three years mainly covering business, tourism and agriculture. Donald occasionally refers to himself as a theatre maker and has staged two theatre plays so far. Follow him on twitter at @zuleitmatthys