by SAVIOUS KWINIKA 
JOHANNESBURG – THE Vodacom Group and Vodafone Foundation have pledged R87 million (US$5,83 million) in support of coronavirus vaccination drives in the African countries in which they operate.

This is for cold chain storage and logistics so that vaccines are delivered securely.

President Cyril Ramaphosa disclosed the breakthrough on Tuesday evening as he announced some adjustments to South Africa’s lockdown against the pandemic, ahead of the long, Easter weekend.

In addition, Vodacom will be deploying a state-of-the-art vaccine management platform across the African Union (AU) member states, following a successful roll-out of the same platform in South Africa.

Vodacom manages its business across seven operating countries in Africa, namely Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania.

In January, MTN, another South African-headquartered operator, announced a donation of $25 million to support the AU’s COVID-19 vaccination programme.

– CAJ News