Vodacom CEO donates salary to COVID-19 response
by SAVIOUS KWINIKA
JOHANNESBURG – AN executive in the telecommunications industry has pledged to donate a third of his salary to complement government efforts to counter the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in South Africa.
Shameel Joosub, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Vodacom, made the pledge towards the Solidarity Fund for the next three months.
The fund enables individuals and organisations to contribute to the detection and prevention of COVID-19, to provide care for those that need medical care and to support those whose lives have been disrupted by the health crisis.
Joosub’s commitment is an endorsement of the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that he and his cabinet would for the next three months take a one-third salary cut.
“I, too, will heed the president’s call by donating a third of my salary for the next three months to the Solidarity Fund and call on other CEOs to follow suit,” Joosub said.
“Not only is it the right thing to do but it will, in a small way, help towards South Africa’s recovery from the pandemic,” the Vodacom executive sated.
His salary could not be ascertained but it is believed executives in the telecoms sector are among the highest paid in Africa’s most advanced economy.
South Africa is also the country worst affected by COVID-19 in the continent.
Some 25 people have died from over 2 170 cases of the virus.
– CAJ News
