“Government needs a crash course in disaster management”

During the Covid-19 crisis, we have seen a number of charitable organisations step up to address the challenges faced by vulnerable groups across the country. Perhaps one of the best-known organisations is Gift of the Givers, which was founded by Dr Imtiaz Sooliman in 1992.

Sooliman, a qualified medical doctor, gave up his medical career to pursue the field of humanitarian aid, which for him transcends the boundaries of race, religion, culture, class and geography. He has received numerous presidential awards, international awards, and honorary doctorates for his contributions across the world.

Dr Sooliman shared his views on the Covid-19 crisis at PSG’s latest #ThinkBig webinar.

“In some ways, not much has changed in the country since the Covid-19 pandemic. People in rural areas are still hungry and they still don’t have water. This was the case before the pandemic and it is still the case now,” said Dr Sooliman.

“What has changed, however, is the big impact on the economy, and as a result of this the middle and upper classes are waking up. Corporates are waking up. People are finally asking, ‘if I’m finding this hard, what must it be like for the poor?’”

According to Dr Sooliman, Covid-19 sparked the biggest collection in the organisation’s history, and most of the funding came from ordinary South Africans. “People were touched by the humanitarian aspect of what was going on and we saw this through the extent of charitable donations from individuals.”

“Corporates also stepped up, and for the first time, they weren’t slow like tortoises. They realised they can’t come back to us months later, they need to respond now, within 48 hours. One company donated R10 million within ten minutes,” said Dr Sooliman.

A lack of skills remains a challenge

South Africa’s social challenges have become more acute during the pandemic, and government has failed to respond quickly and effectively.

“We all know there are basic functions that are government’s responsibility, and they are failing,” said Dr Sooliman.

“Over the years a lot of skill and talent has left municipalities and government departments. People who have the skills and who understand the systems have left. Now you have people there who have been voted in, but they don’t have the skills required.”

“The system needs a complete overhaul and government needs to be run as a corporate,” said Dr Sooliman.

Dr Sooliman said government is lacking in disaster management skills.

“Emergency, urgency and disaster are three big words that government doesn’t understand. In the Covid-19 crisis, people are not hungry 10 months from now, they are hungry right now and they need to eat today. While the officials are haggling over whose responsibility it is, people are suffering, day after day.”

Dr Sooliman said that Gift of the Givers realised early on in the Covid-19 crisis there was no time to wait for government to respond and they jumped in immediately.

“We know how to help people and so we went in and just started doing it. Surprisingly, no one stood in our way, in fact the response has mostly been cooperative. Some government officials will tell me quietly, ‘thank you for doing this, because we don’t know how’.”

“We have had many years of bad leadership, and corruption was allowed to fester. People have become lax and just accepted the situation, we think it’s normal to not have service delivery and for government officials to steal,” said Dr Sooliman.

“There have been no consequences for doing this, and as long as there are no consequences nothing will change. The reality is that we need a new alternative in South Africa, we need new leaders. I believe that people are willing to change and vote for something new, but right now we don’t have that alternative available and we need it.”

In the meantime, Gift of the Givers will continue to step in and respond to the needs of South Africa’s most vulnerable citizens.

PSG’s Pontsho Ramontsha said it was heart-warming that although Dr Sooliman often sees the worst of the world through his work in disaster management, he still believes that people are ultimately good.

“He also knows better than anyone that we should always plan and save for a rainy day and be ready for the next crisis,” said Ramontsha. A skilled and trusted financial adviser can be invaluable during these uncertain times, and can help you to be prepared for the unexpected.