Interest Group:
Building Construction Professionals
Severe thunderstorms which hit KwaZulu-Natal in April this year took many lives and left thousands of structures destroyed – one of which was the Pentecostal Holiness Church in Empangeni. The tragic collapse of a brick wall at the front of the building left 14 church members deceased – injuring another 16 – and left the mourning congregation without a place of worship.
Since the wall collapsed, the entire Church building has been condemned and is in need of being rebuilt. In an effort to get the affected wall repaired, the church’s pastor, Ndabezinhle Sibiya, wrote to East Coast Radio’s (ECR) Big Favour asking if there was a way to source 15 000 bricks for the construction.
In his message to the Big Favour, Sibiya said: “We are trying, by all means, to comfort the families of the disaster. We are obviously hoping for the best as we try to pick up the pieces and move forward. The wall that fell – it was extremely big – and we are battling to figure out how we are going to rebuild the church since the tragedy.”
He explained to the Big Favour team that more than 50 worshippers, including children as young as 7, were in need of a place for counselling, but as it stood, ‘the future is very bleak’.
Corobrik Sales’ Director, Christopher du Trevou, was alerted to the need for a donation and immediately made contact with ECR, offering his condolences and pledging to sponsor, not only the 15 000 bricks needed for the wall, but a further 85 000 bricks for the reconstruction of the entire church.
One of Corobrik’s key distributors based in Empangeni, Caminamix Services has offered to transport the bricks to the site at no costCorobrik is committed to giving back to the local community, and the recent floods experienced in KwaZulu-Natal caused extensive havoc, not only wrecking lives but also destroying entire communities,” explained Du Trevou. “We hope that this donation from Corobrik contributes towards rebuilding the community of the Pentecostal Holiness Church
Corobrik, South Africa’s leading clay brick manufacturer, has its head office in KwaZulu-Natal and is committed to the support of local communities. The donation of its quality-made plaster bricks will ensure the newly-built church structure will serve the community for generations to come.