South African Muslims have rushed to the aid of thousands of traumatised Cape Town residents after they lost their homes in the severe flood that hit their coastal city recently.
“We are grateful to all community members who quickly responded in helping this cause – Alhamdulillah,” Islamonline.net quoted Hamza Dada Aleck, an administrator at the Cape Town-based Muslim Mustadafin Foundation, as saying. “We managed to rescue thousands of stranded families whose homes had been destroyed by floods.” On July 13, heavy rainfalls flooded many parts of Cape Town, damaging roads, partially and totally destroying 2,494 buildings and forcing thousands to flee their homes. Responding to an appeal from Mustadafin Foundation, Muslims rushed to help their flood-ravaged countrymen. They donated money, blankets, and clothes and even offered accommodation to flood victims. Cape Town mosques also offered temporary accommodation to the displaced while Mustadafin handed them hot meals and blankets.
“In Ocean View we managed to give 250 blankets, in Polar Park and Vygieskraal informal settlement we distributed over 1,000 blankets, hot meals and offered temporary accommodation,” explained Aleck. Cape Town, the second most populous city in South Africa, is a home to nearly half a million Muslims of diverse Asian origins.