Kolisi Foundation partners with KZN charities to help communities hardest hit by unrest

The Kolisi Foundation is providing relief for communities affected by the riots and unrest in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng over the past week.

The two provinces have seen high levels of public unrest that started in KwaZulu-Natal as a stand-off between police and supporters of former president Jacob Zuma. Zuma's supporters demanded his release from the Estcourt Correctional Centre where he is serving a 15-month sentence.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday 161 shopping centres and malls were destroyed in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, leaving communities anxious about possible food shortages. 

The Kolisi Foundation, led by Springbok rugby player Siya Kolisi and his wife Rachel, partnered with charities focusing on child care, gender-based violence and assisted living to help those hardest hit by the unrest.

“We have begun working with several non-profit organisations on the ground and are putting together a strategy to get food to people in the hardest-hit areas. We are working with a network of organisations in KwaZulu-Natal focusing on gender-based violence shelters, children’s homes, old age homes, hospices and assisted-living facilities,” said the foundation. 

The foundation helped several communities at the height of the lockdown last year, including in Zwide township where Siya grew up. Rachel told the Sunday Times that they were hit by the harsh realities of poverty and unemployment. 

“I remember the first time we went out, we were so cautious about how people were going to feel about it. One thing that was super important for us was to make sure that the food goes to the hands that it needs to go to,” she said in an interview.