Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub will donate a third of his salary for the next three months to South Africa’s Solidarity Fund.

Vodacom has confirmed that its Group CEO Shameel Joosub will donate a third of his salary for the next three months to South Africa’s Solidarity Fund, established by the country’s government to assist in the detection and prevention of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

As of 14 April 2020, South Africa recorded 2 272 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 27 deaths.

On 9 April 2020 Ramaphosa announced the government’s decision to extend the national lockdown until the end of April.

He added that the government, including cabinet and provincial premiers would contribute a third of their salaries towards the Fund, for the next three months.

An excerpt from his televised address, published by Timeslive.co.za, reads: “This evening, I stand before you to ask you to endure even longer. I have to ask you to make even greater sacrifices so that our country may survive this crisis and so that tens of thousands of lives may be saved. After careful consideration of the available evidence, the national coronavirus command council has decided to extend the nationwide lockdown by a further two weeks beyond the initial 21 days. This means that most of the existing lockdown measures will remain in force until the end of April.”

Joosub said: "On Thursday, South Africa's President, Cyril Ramaphosa, set an incredible example by announcing that he would be taking a one-third pay cut for the next three months and that his entire cabinet will do the same. I, too, will heed the President's call by donating a third of my salary for the next three months to the Solidarity Fund and call on other CEOs to follow suit. Not only is it the right thing to do but it will, in a small way, help towards South Africa's recovery from the pandemic."

Samsung smartphone partnership

On 10 April 2020, Vodacom announced a R40-million donation to National Department of Health to curb spread of the pandemic, as well as a partnership with Samsung to provide 20 000 smartphones.

According to a statement by the mobile network operator it will also donate 100 terabytes of data and 10 million voice calls minutes to the Department.

This will be used by frontline health workers to collect and transmit data in real time for resource planning purposes as government accelerates its COVID-19 testing campaign.

Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO.

Joosub added: “Through this initiative, Vodacom seeks to support government’s objectives to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus by flattening the curve and lowering the infection rate. Achieving this will require a massive collaborative effort and we’re delighted with Samsung Africa’s investment of 5000 smartphones into this initiative.”

Each of the 20 000 smartphones will be loaded with 5GB of data and 500 voice minutes to be used to facilitate the immediate collection and transmission of data to the National Department of Health COVID-19 Information Centre to assist with resource distribution planning.

The companies added that Samsung Africa will cover the cost of 5 000 of the 20 000 devices.

Sung Yoon, President and CEO of Samsung Africa, said: “As Samsung we are conscious of the increasingly important role technology will have in the fight against COVID-19. Our frontline workers need to be equipped with secure smart phones that enable quick contact tracing and communication in order to slow down the rate of infections in the country. Dealing with the pandemic requires a strong collaboration between Government and the private sector and we are honoured to have been able to contribute on this project with Vodacom.”

Tech giants pledge

ITWeb recently reported that Twitter, Facebook, Microsoft, SAP and Dell are among tech giants that have contributed towards efforts to curb the pandemic.

According to ITWeb, as of 9 April 2020 the number of COVID-19 cases globally escalated to over 1.5 million, with deaths at over 88 500 and recoveries at more than 330 000, at the time of publication.

Global companies are reported to be committing to free services, donation of funds and resources.

Additionally, Google and Apple have announced a joint initiative to mobilise technology to help stop the spread of the virus.