Cape Town - Following an arduous relief mission to assist people living in Gaza, the Truth Collective South Africa (TCSA) has called for organisations and individuals not to capitalise on the bloodshed of Palestinians and to be transparent about whether monetary aid reached the intended recipients.
TCSA founder and Palestinian, Baker Al-Maharmeh, returned to Cape Town on Monday, following a nearly two- month stay in Egypt, where medical supplies worth over R1 million were purchased, and delivered to Gaza.
“The main thing we need to speak about is how the money is being collected amongst all NGOs, and how it seems like it is easy to take your money and just give it to Palestinians,” Al-Maharmeh said.
“There has to be fairness in this matter. If you don't go through a government channel then you are actually not telling the truth.”
The team was assisted by the South African, Egyptian and Palestinian embassies as well as the Palestinian and Egyptian Red Crescent societies.
The team arrived in Cairo on June 20. With cases of Covid-19 detected amongst team members days after their arrival, the mission was met with a new set of challenges.
“When we arrived in Cairo, we thought we were going to buy the medical supplies, wrap it up in two days and leave for Gaza. We were mistaken,”’ Al-Maharmeh said.
Despite organising a fight to travel to Gaza , attempts to fly there were unsuccessful due to tight border restrictions. TCSA was assisted by the Palestinian and Egyptian Red Crescent Societies in obtaining the supplies, which took around 12 days.
“We didn't get into Gaza. Not a fly can get into Gaza,” Al-Maharmeh said.
TCSA also purchased new clothing for 84 orphaned children for the Islamic celebration of Eid.
Al-Maharmeh said it had been the first legal mission recorded from South Africa, according to Egyptian and Palestinian officials.
TCSA volunteer advocate Shameemah Salie said when people raised funds for Palestinians, it was important that evidence of this in the form of receipts was accessible to the public, as well as evidence that aid had reached Gaza, as aid entering Gaza was exceptionally limited.
Around R1 146 000 was given to the Egyptian Red Crescent Society to purchase the medical supplies.