Times Of Swaziland: E80M MORE FOR ESWATINI FROM KIRSH FOUNDATION

E80M MORE FOR ESWATINI FROM KIRSH FOUNDATION
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BY SIBUSISO ZWANE on 03/07/2020 01:12:00


MATSAPHA - Government is set to receive an additional E80 million from the Kirsh
Foundation.
This was revealed by George Lys, who was representing the Kirsh Foundation,
during the donation of medical equipment and supplies by the Republic of China
(Taiwan) yesterday to the Kingdom of Eswatini.
The Kirsh Foundation was founded by Nathan ‘Natie’ Kirsh, who is a
liSwati-South African billionaire businessman.
Lys said Kirsh would leave the African continent and go back to the United
States of America (USA). He said through his foundation, Kirsh decided to give
government E80 million.
He said the money was yet to be handed over to government.
He noted that through the foundation, Kirsh had already donated E110 million to
the country to help in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that between
March and July 2020, Kirsh pumped in a sum of E190 million to Eswatini.
Priority
However, regarding the E80 million, Lys said government was free to direct the
money to any of its areas of priority. He added that Kirsh mentioned that it was
a privilege for him to help the Kingdom of Eswatini.
On the other hand, it was mentioned during the presentation that the Kirsh
Foundation played a major role in ensuring that the consignment of essential
medical equipment and supplies arrived in the country, in terms of logistics.
In that regard, Prime Minister (PM) Ambrose Dlamini, who received the donation
from the Republic of China (Taiwan), passed government’s sincere gratitude to
the Kirsh Foundation for the logistical support in ensuring that the supplies
got to Eswatini without delay.  The PM also highlighted that the Kirsh
Foundation had been a beacon of hope for emaSwati in these times (of COVID-19)
by offering wide ranging assistance that had not only saved lives, but ensured
that many in Eswatini, who were affected by COVID-19, did not go to bed hungry.
It is worth noting that currently, the National Disaster Management Agency
(NDMA) is still distributing cash-based transfer benefits of E700 to each
affected household. It was reported that this money would be received by a total
of 64 000 homesteads and would benefit around 320 000 people.
Meanwhile, Acting Government Press Secretary Sabelo Dlamini, who was also
present when Lys made the announcement the Central Medical Stores in Matsapha,
said the administration would issue a statement when formalities of the donation
had been finalised. The acting government press secretary said this when
responding to a question which was posed by this publication later on yesterday.
This publication sought to establish if government had plans on what it would
use the E80 million for, since the foundation said the administration was free
to direct the money to any projects of its choice.