Danie Keet
The real estate industry has rallied to support the victims of the recent KZN floods that devasted large parts of the province. It is estimated that more than 8 122 houses have been either severely damaged or lost completely due to the floods that swept through the province two weeks ago leaving many destitute.
The sector has responded by donating more than three quarters of a million Rand to various NGOs to provide critical relief in the aftermath of the floods.
Tony Clarke, Chairperson of Rebosa, responding to a call from Steven Ngubeni, Chairman of the PPRA, said the way the industry reacted to the plight of flood victims in KZN is heartening.
“This showed that our people care about the communities they live and work in and are prepared to assist when the need arises.
“Apart from the financial support provided by many real estate agencies, other items such as food, water, blankets, clothing and even housing and rental space, were provided. Property practitioners in the area and from other parts of the country went out of their way to support the victims with much needed items.
“Our members worked together with other support organisations like Gift of the Givers, children’s homes and schools, to provide as much relief as possible and will continue to drive and manage collection efforts of essential items at their various branches.”
RE/MAX Southern Africa, Century 21, Rawson, Harcourts and RNS all made cash donations to Gift of the Givers to support their relief efforts.
Comments Greta Daniel, national sales and operations manager for Pam Golding Franchise Services: “KwaZulu-Natal residents continue to show their deep compassion for those who have lost loved ones, homes, and source of income because of the recent floods. Our teams are no different as individuals and groups reach out to these victims. We have donated thousands of blankets to NGOs like the Gift of the Givers, Feed the Needy and Lake Haven Children’s Home. We further distributed thousands of litres of water to those who have water disruptions and on Freedom Day we made over 1000 hot dogs.
“In addition, our Ballito team has distributed more than 8 000 litres of free drinking water to the public while our agents also delivered water to specific locations which were severely affected.
“The South Coast was isolated and locally many of our staff didn’t have water for a week or two after the storm and still today we have water on some days and not on others,” says Jacques van Schalkwyk of Amanzimtoti.
The Seeff offices in the region participated in various other support activities including water supply, food distribution and even renting a building for people to use the bathroom facilities. These initiatives reflect the company’s passion and deep love and care for their community.
Bryan Biehler, Director of Huizemark, said they have donated funds to Gift of the Givers towards the KZN Flood Relief programme.
“We found this to be the most reliable organisation with regards to ‘relief getting to the victims.’ They also do provide a section 18A tax certificate which allows for a paper trail ensuring proper control and accountability of donations.”
Myles Wakefield, CEO of Wakefields Real Estate, who has been active in KZN for 80 years, also got involved in relief efforts.
Wakefield said: “We are inspired daily with the heartfelt gestures and small acts of kindness of our Wakefields employees: volunteering at feeding schemes; visiting those affected and donating blankets, water and what they can to help ease the suffering of others.
“As the water levels subside, the people of this province will rise. As a company we have played a small role through our generous donation to the East Coast Radio / Gift of the Givers KZN flood relief effort and we have reached out to our network, enquiring about short-term rental solutions for displaced residents.”
Adrian Goslett of RE/MAX Southern Africa said the company has credited all fees for the month of April back to their KZN offices to use for their own respective disaster relief efforts. These fees have been passed on to amongst others, local churches and organisations supporting women and girls left destitute by the floods.
Sharryn Middleton of RE/MAX KZN also said their company donated generously to Gift of the Givers while their Pietermaritzburg office made the decision to “pay it forward” and credit all their fees for April to the other 490 practitioners in the province in need.
Bruce Swain, CEO of Leapfrog confirmed that all their offices executed their own initiatives in their communities while Michaela Soukop of Soukop Properties said they supplied more than 1 000 sandwiches, rented a house for victims and supported Joe’s Baby Home.
Image source: floodlist.com
