Imtiaz Sooliman shares on Gift of the Givers support at George disaster site

When the call first came from Garden Route municipal and disaster management officials for assistance after the collapse of a multistorey building under construction in George, Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman “did not take it so seriously”.

Nevertheless, the organisation’s Knysna representative, Mario Ferreira, was on the scene within two hours.“

He just said it’s bad and we need support, so we dispatched teams — a support team, not search and rescue teams, not medical teams, just ordinary teams to support in terms of finding the people, helping the victims,” Sooliman said.

“We didn’t know at that stage how chaotic it was.

"A little later in the day I asked him to send me some pictures.

“ In my mind, I could not picture it but when he sent me the pictures, I said: ‘Oh my God, this is a total disaster’.”

In Behind The Herald Headlines with Daron Mann this week, Sooliman describes how the organisation — renowned for its support during similar disasters such as earthquakes — immediately rallied its teams to assist. HeraldLIVE