Bytes SI and NetApp help SA Red Cross alleviate winter suffering

As part of Bytes Systems Integration’s (SI) reward for winning NetApp’s EMEA Professional Services Partner of the Year award, NetApp has made a US$10,000 donation on their behalf to the South African Red Cross, one of the numerous charitable organisations Bytes SI supports through an ongoing community outreach programme.

The money will be put to immediate use to alleviate some of the winter suffering in Cape Town’s poorer areas following recent heavy rainfall, devastating winds and near freezing conditions.

Maletsatsi Wotini, Western Cape Provincial Manager for the South African Red Cross, says of the many challenges the organisation faces in its mandate to alleviate human suffering, funding is perhaps the biggest.

“It’s an uphill struggle finding corporate donors and funders to finance our operations, from medical supplies to petrol for volunteers, so it’s with great thanks and appreciation that we receive this generous donation from NetApp on behalf of the team at Bytes SI,” says Wotini.

“The recent winter rains have caused havoc in many of the low-lying areas around Cape Town, which unfortunately house numerous underprivileged communities. This money will go a long way to helping us bring some degree of comfort to the hundreds of residents flooded out of their homes, and the thousands more left sick and suffering by the weather.”

Mike Broderick, Divisional Director, Bytes SI, says the work carried out by the staff and volunteers of the South African Red Cross, particularly in the Cape winter season, was reason enough for the donation.

“We are proud to be recognised yet again as the leading NetApp partner in the region, and fortunate to be able to name a charity of choice to receive a sizeable contribution from NetApp as part of that relationship,” says Broderick.

“The decision to make this particular donation to the South African Red Cross was part of our ongoing community outreach programme, which involves our staff, customers and partners contributing their time and donations to equally worthy and notable organisations throughout the country. These include the Cerebral Palsy Association in KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape Home of Hope, and Magical Moments and Akani in Gauteng, to name a few.”

Mark Ridley, regional director for Africa at NetApp, says that NetApp is proud to have made this donation. “We are delighted that Bytes SI not only won the NetApp EMEA Partner Performance and Innovation Award but were also selected to name the recipient of a US10,000 donation. The South African Red Cross is a worthy recipient and we know that the work they do will enrich many lives.”

In June this year Bytes SI won the NetApp EMEA Partner Performance and Innovation Award in the EMEA Professional Services Partner of the Year category. Bytes is also the first NetApp partner in South Africa, and only the third on the continent, to be awarded NetApp’s prestigious Star Partner status.