Cape Town, July 27: South African Muslims have rushed to the aid of thousands of traumatized Cape Town residents after they lost their homes in the sever flood that hit their coastal city recently.
“We are grateful to all community members who quickly responded in helping this cause Alhamdulillah,” Hamza Dada Aleck, an administrator at the Cape Town-based Muslim Mustadafin Foundation, told. “We managed to rescue thousands of stranded families whose homes had been destroyed by floods.”
Muslims of South Africa (Special Page) On July 13, heavy rainfalls flooded many parts of Cape Town, damaging roads, partially and totally destroying 2,494 buildings and forcing thousands to flee their homes. Responding to an appeal from Mustadafin Foundation, Muslims rushed to help their flood-ravaged countrymen.
They donated money, blankets, and clothes and even offered accommodation to flood victims.
Cape Town mosques also offered temporary accommodation to the displaced while Mustadafin handed them hot meals and blankets.
“In Ocean View we managed to give 250 blankets, in Polar Park and Vygieskraal informal settlement we distributed over 1,000 blankets, hot meals and offered temporary accommodation,” explained Aleck.
Cape Town, the second most populous city in South Africa, is a home to nearly half a million Muslims of diverse Asian origins.
Grateful
Aleck said his organization was grateful to Cape Town Muslim community, how generously responded to the help appeal. “We are grateful to Muslims who contributed money, clothes, blankets and those who offered accommodation to flood victims through our organization.”
The Muslims’ attitude has been welcomed.
“I’m delighted by Muslim organizations that rushed to the scene to help victims,” Charlotte Powell, a spokesperson for the City of Cape Town’s disaster management, told at one of the disaster scenes.
She applauded the Muslim community for the assistance offered to the flood victims, urging other communities to emulate Muslims.
Islam was first introduced to the then Cape of Good hope in 1654 by political exiles and slaves working for the Dutch East India Company that operated between Cape Town, Holland and the then East Indies.
Muslims make up to 1.5 percent of South Africa’s 44-million population.
Ghairunisa John Stone Adams, Director and founder of Mustadafin Foundation, says the Muslims reaction to the flood crisis is not un-common.
She credited her organization’s growth since its launch in 1986, to the dedication and support of the local Muslim community.
“Without a dedicated Muslim community our organization wouldn’t have been a success story.”
-Agencies