Jacaranda FM and its Good Morning Angels community have announced a pledge to donate R200,000 ((US$ $11,785.63) to victims of the Boksburg gas tanker explosion, which took place on Christmas Eve. The duo says that the initiative remains passionate about changing the lives of many people around the country.
According to Jacaranda FM, it’s been almost four weeks since the Christmas Eve Boksburg explosion, with the death toll climbing to 40 and at least five people still critical in the hospital. It added that scores of people were wounded, and homes and property damaged when a gas tanker exploded after getting stuck underneath a low train bridge next to the Tambo Memorial Hospital in the Plantation suburb.
Twelve of those who died were healthcare workers and six of the wounded were from the emergency services. A number of families lost more than one person. The station says that one of those is the Mashaba family.
Ndumiso and Neo left behind a three-year-old and a six-month-old baby, according to Jacaranda FM. Ndumiso’s sister, Nthabiseng, left behind an eight-year-old son. Their parents, who they shared the house with, now have to continue without their breadwinners.
Rosetta Brits buried her four children, Jamel (16), Gerrie (10), Sebastian (14), and Adrian (12). The explosion took their lives. She has two more children in grades one and four, respectively.
While investigations are ongoing, the families have been advised not to speak to any media as they struggle to deal with the loss, both emotionally and financially.
According to the station, one of the organizations helping survivors with day-to-day needs and rebuilding of damaged homes, however, is the Hope SA Foundation.
The founder of Hope SA Foundation Namritha Sivsanker and her team have been working on the ground to help families pick up the pieces of their lives.
“From food and clothes to pet food, baby formula, school fees, restorations of broken windows and ceilings and the repatriation of bodies, the need in Boksburg is far from over,” Sivsanker concludes.
During Wednesday, 18 January morning’s Good Morning Angels segment, Jacaranda FM Breakfast host Martin Bester announced that the station would be donating R200 000 to the victims of the explosion.
The Good Morning Angels Fund will assist both the Mashaba and Brits families with R50 000 each for whatever they need in this time of grief. The fund will also donate R100 000 to the SA Hope Foundation to assist the numerous other families affected by the Boksburg Gas Tanker Explosion.