Imtiaz Sooliman – Gift of the Givers to provide aid to residents in Jagersfontein.
AI: Summary ©
The disaster in South Africa has caused damage to various infrastructure and led to a "monster" type of disaster, affecting many people and the police and search and rescue teams. The speakers emphasize the need for government assistance, a thorough relocation of people affected by the disaster, and a fast move to move people out of mud. The move is not a problem for people to get help from the people.
AI: Summary ©
Miss Muna Rahman Rahim, welcome back. It is 859, and we're going
to be honing in on a disaster right here in South Africa, in the
free state, to be precise. And that is the collapse of the mine
dam. War in Yahoo, spontane um until carnage three people have
died, and the town itself is under,
under mud. I think some people can barely make their way around.
Alhamdulillah found of the gift of givers, Doctor Imtiaz Suleiman and
his team are hard at work trying to assist the people in absolute
dying need there. Doctor ntila mulaikum, welcome to the program.
And what do we know about how this disaster occurred? When were you
and your team informed? And what's happening as far as gift of the
givers and aid is concerned in that part of the world?
Salah Julie, we got we heard yesterday morning, we started
getting the calls from wallet officer note here, based on site
in the area, and spontane. Then we got calls from community leaders.
We got calls from the people themselves, from the farmers. And
late in the morning we got a call even from the Premier, to say, you
know, what can we are this damn wall is has broken, and it belongs
to our mind, and sludge has come down without warning. The wall
broke. Nobody was expecting it, nobody knew about it, and
everything in the paths got wiped away, you know, with thick mud.
Houses were completely washed away. At least nine of them, 16 or
more have been totally destroyed. Cars got washed away. Hundreds of
sheep got washed away. Three people's bodies were found at some
point, some other people, obviously, and they said they
caught up in the sludge, which is chin high. And instead, it's going
to be very difficult to find those people in that sludge. And there
was also reports of some other family members missing. About 40
people were admitted to hospital. What's all different levels of
degrees of injuries, some flexion, bones, ribs, shoulders, I mean,
arms do not show the exact details for them. Apparently, were
critically ill. The numbers may rise in whilst that was happening.
You know? The other effect was that all the water systems have
been knocked out, so there's no water available. The pumps are
gone. The pumping sites are gone. The clean water is gone. So
there's not a single drop of water in the entire area for the people.
The escort towers also knocked out, so electricity, so last night
it was total darkness and no water, no of your spontaneous the
cell phone towers have been affected. It's an environmental
catastrophe, because this is contaminated items from my mind.
It's not pure water, it's content and contaminated with all types of
chemicals and the plants have been affected. The water have been
affected. The sheep that survived, that tried to drink water died
because of the poisoning. And of course, the sheep now, those that
are alive, require antibiotics and special kind of care. In addition,
they also require fodder. The water then moved from the area
into the rivers, and the fish died because of the contamination. So
all the fish is there. Now they wanted that if this water enter
other dams, is going to be contamination going into the Khadi
dam. You know, I'm not so sure about it, but we got feedback this
morning the Khalid dams, the dam that supplies all the water to
Port Elizabeth, you know that happens, the water is going to be
affected in that town. And there's a, there's a day zero problem in
Yes, so the the impact of this environmental crisis is huge. And
of course, people then have to get out of the slot. You have to leave
their homes. They've lost their positions. They need to go to
community events. It's cold at night. They require food, blankets
and mattresses and but of course, the number one priority is water.
They just need as much water as they can get. When we got the
message, we elected our teams in Bethlehem, in craft renet in East
London, in Johannesburg and in Peter manisburg, already from four
centers. They are on virtually on site. The Bethlehem team was
already there last night. The crafting NET team was moving at
night, and there to stop them to say, you can't see the road. It's
not safe. Stop. Don't move any further. So we had to hold back.
But they're on the road. They should be there in the next hour.
The job of Team rich bloom Fontaine is on its way also to
freeze the place a few kilometers outside, 11 kilometers outside
Dallas, Fontaine, as they should be there in a short while. And the
management team will hold on to see what the requirements are the
other teams before they leave. These other teams also part or
craft unit team. All the teams will be on site by by 10 o'clock
at the latest. Alhamdulillah, so Doctor Suleman, do we know how
many people, obviously, the entire town has been affected. Number of
people that have been affected? And then obviously, you guys do
amazing work, but you're going to need government, possibly the
rsndf, to come in to assist as well, because with sludge
enveloping the entire town, it's not going to be an easy task for
gift of the givers and other such organizations to try and assist
the people even further, it's about digging people out of their
home.
Etcetera, and get them to safety, to possibly higher ground. And are
you also hoping that the mining company responsible for this dam
and the area are also going to come on board to assist? Well, the
speakers, we don't know. Nobody can give us an idea of the number
of people in the town. Some people say 5000 some people say 9000 so
that we don't know we have. There's a community hall nearby.
Nobody's no nobody's encouraged to stay in their homes or stay in the
area. Everybody's been asked to be evacuated and to move. And the
police services we offered search and rescue teams, but they said it
was manageable, you know, because a lot of people moved out of the
way before the water actually came down, those that were further
away. So there was no need to ask to send in a search and rescue
teams. And in fact, the head of search and rescue and disaster
management in free state, and the deputy, while somebody works in
his team, I put our team members, you know, they work with us, and
they've been giving us feedback to say, look, we don't require any
more items that Budd diving unit is there a rest of other search
industry people do it, but in essence, they've managed because
they haven't really needed to recover much people. But the only
thing is to move people who can move themselves, asking them to
move, not so much to higher ground, but out of the line of the
of the mud. And there's a community hall, there's a church
in the area, where they are starting to accommodate the
people. Many haven't come because trying to get what they can from
the homes. But today we should have a clearer picture, because
once the need for water food increases, people will have to
come to some point. So we don't actually need any assistance to
move people. They will come on their own to areas, demarcated
areas where we know government has called us. We have always get
called by government, please. Can you assist? And we dare to assist.
And our teams, as I said, the first team is already on site, the
second, the other three teams will be there on site within an hour.
We were asked to hold back because of the before we had, you know,
the darkness and, of course, no power and no networks, so it
wasn't safe to send the team through the night. So we held
back. And then the other thing is, yes, the father, whoever's in
charge of this dam, have to take total responsibility to cover all
the cost of everything that has been destroyed, the environmental
cleanup.
Okay, we've just everything that's required has to be sorted out by
the dam, all the all the costs involved. It's their
responsibility. Whoever owns that work. And then that solid again,
that may
and obviously you and your team, or rather your team, are hard at
work on the ground. There's going to there's a lot to be done
currently, but post the clear up of the area is when the real work
starts. It's about relocating these people, and it's about
rehabilitating the area that's been totally damaged, as you've
indicated, the sludge has lots of poisonous materials in them, so
not safe at all for people to carry on living there. They're
going to have to be resettled, and that is a huge task, yes, and
that's that's why the mining company has to get involved,
whoever's responsible. There's no way people can go and stay back
there. It's impossible. You know, you have to move an entire town.
And who's going to take a chance living there? Nothing will grow
there, but all the contamination and even the sheep. Now, we need
to send in fodder to feed those sheep, a special fortified
pallets, whatever's required to save the ship, but they can't
raise the again, how they're going to graze there. Of course, the
areas that are safe, those farmers are lucky, but area that has been
affected, the rivers that have been affected, you know, and all
where people are living, there has to be total relocation. Doesn't
have to be miles away, but somewhere nearby, where they can
still carry on living the way they've lived before, but they
certainly cannot stay where they are right now.
Okay, so obviously, people watching and listening to us this
morning, are going to want to get involved. Do you find that when
you have these sort of situations playing out disaster situations,
that people want to volunteer, you know, the services in any way they
can, apart from, you know, donating much needed funds to gift
of the givers? What do you say to people like that? Doctor,
Suleiman, we have lots of people volunteering, but this is a very
specialized job. You know, we know the search industry teams that we
have a high skill. You can't just send anybody into a situation like
that. So, you know, we appreciate the volunteers. And all my staff
are full time staff. I don't use any volunteers because my staff
are trained, trained in disaster interventions. You know, they know
that the risk, what's involved, how to operate, what to do, where
to go. And a lot of my teams know all the areas, because they've
been in those areas many times before. So you know, volunteers we
can use, for example, if there's a small fire in a place, in lands or
petroleum somewhere, and they're on site, and my teams are there,
they would have deliver food parcel, or government has gone to
the that side. But in complicated situations like this, we don't
allow them to travel with us, absolutely, because you're then
going to be responsible. Should anything go wrong, exactly, I just
like to read out one or two messages very quickly from Surya
mamin Azada goes on to say, Mar Doctor Suleman, you're doing
amazing work. Alhamdulillah, you really.
Doing sterling work for humanity. Government should take
responsibility for this cost, so says Soria mamin Azada, and in
closing them, Doctor Sulaiman, we should start digging deep into our
hearts and our pockets to continue making gift of the givers as
effective as they are. Alhamdulillah, there's a huge need
for water here. If anybody can supply bottled water, you know,
super link loads any companies that are listening in, it's a
blessing, because there's a real need for water for men and
animals. So whatever water we can get inside there will be of great
benefit to us, you know. And of course, to help those people. The
big cry is for water right now. So if anybody is listening, can fund
water or give water truck loads of water, you know it will be a huge
blessing for you. Our toll free number is Oh, 807,
86911,
or you can leave messages on our social media pages. Shukran, very
much. May Allah watch over you and your entire team continue doing
the amazing work, and may you be rewarded. Wonderful talking to
you. Salam
Alaikum, that was Doctor MT, as about the disaster playing out in
yaho suntain, in the Free State, uh, a dam wall has collapsed and
created all sorts of disasters, situations. Sludge has really
overtaken the town. People have died. You know, livestock has been
lost, crops have been totally, totally lost. I don't think people
will be able to carry on living in that area. The entire area needs
to be rehabilitated or will end up being a ghost town. People have to
be resettled, hopefully nearby, as always, Doctor NTR Suleiman and
his amazing team, gift of the givers have responded almost
immediately. And the big, the big need right now is for water, as
you heard. Doctor intire Suleman has suggested truckloads link
loads of water to the area. So please, people who can donate, get
in touch with Doctor India Suleiman or gift of the givers and
make this very, very meaningful and worthy contribution. 11 after
nine o'clock in a minute, we'll be joined by our news correspondent,
Zahid jadwick, with the news bulletin of the day you.