SA stories of hope, philanthropy as many struggle for survival
Many people in emerging and low-income countries are being pushed back into poverty as Covid-19 containment takes its toll, underscores the International Monetary Fund. In South Africa, even people with management jobs and professionals, like doctors, have found themselves short of cash or credit for food, as Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman told BizNews Radio reporter Linda van Tilburg this week.
Amid the gloom, South Africans are pulling together to help the hardest hit, which Discovery Vitality CEO Dinesh Govender points out in an interview carried on the BizNews Inside Covid-19 podcast. Many Vitality members, he says, are using their points to help others, instead of treating themselves to smoothies and other perks.
In that same podcast, you will hear a moving story about how Lenasia residents have taken healthcare matters into their own hands through an ambulance service, in the absence of an efficient state healthcare system. Also on BizNews Radio is an interview with a Covid-19 angel who is helping hospitals source personal protective equipment – a refreshing contrast to the many who have abused Covid-19 funding.
And, there are more stories – in our Good Hope section – about South Africans at home and across the globe who are volunteering time to gather resources and help the most desperately poor and hungry among us. An uplifting reminder that corruption and greed have not infested our entire community.
PS: Your SA investments in the era of Covid-19. Answering your money questions at the BizNews Finance Friday webinar at noon today are award-winning financial planner Craig Gradidge of Gradidge-Mahura Investments and one of South Africa's top trading specialists, Nilan Morar of online broker Easy Equities. Sign up here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.