We’re not used to companies going out of their way to help people in unrelated spheres but that seems to be the case at the moment. Tesla is making medical equipment to help with COVID-19. Apple is making face shields. Donations from South African businessmen are pouring in to help support a population in peril.

Some companies are opting for more… practical assistance. Like MTN, which intends to hand out face masks and hand sanitisers to provincial health departments this week.

Well supplied

The telecoms company has secured 30,800 face masks and 18,000 bottles of hand sanitiser, from various suppliers, that it plans to distribute to health departments around the country. The value of this donation in monetary terms? About R1.9 million — basically a drop in the bucket for a company like MTN. In terms of usefulness right now? A fair bit more than plain old monetary value — as anyone who has wandered the lonely isles of Clicks and Dischem in recent weeks knows.

Distribution to provinces has already begun and supplies will be allocated throughout this week on an as-needed basis. Basically, whoever needs the supplies most will get them.

MTN’s also assisting several unnamed non-profits by donating MTN data SIMs loaded with 30GB of data per month, for the next six months, along with a WiFi modem. It’s not for watching Netflix, obviously. It’s to help those organisations better do their work coping with the current health crisis. Communication requires data and data costs money. Well, less money now. But still… MTN’s actions are coming from a good place. Or a public relations one. The end result is the same. More masks and sanitiser for health workers will never be a bad thing.