South African churches have sent 37 tonnes of food and thousands of blankets to Zimbabwe for families and individuals displaced by Operation Murambatsvina, Harare’s controversial slum-clearance operation.
A United Nations special envoy to Zimbabwe reported that the two-month drive to level unauthorized structures left 700,000 without a home or a livelihood or both.
The South African Council of Churches, which launched a fact-finding mission into the country during the operation’s latter phase, launched Operation Hope for Zimbabwe in conjunction with the Zimbabwe Council of Churches as a local partner.The South African organization also opened a bank account to receive public donations.
Correspondent Bernard Mandizvidza of VOA’s Studio 7 for Zimbabwe filed a report from Johannesburg, from which the relief truck convoy departed early Monday.
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