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The South African government is in the process of drafting plans to assist thousands of people affected by a volcanic eruption which devastated the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) town of Goma last week.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa told IRIN on Monday that the South African mission in the DRC had conducted an assessment and found that the people of Goma were in "dire need of food, blankets, water, medicines, fire fighting equipment, evacuation equipment and transport, like helicopter transport".
"The departments of foreign affairs, provincial government, local government and social welfare, the SANDF (South African National Defence Force) and the SAPS (South African Police Services) are currently finalising a plan of what each department will contribute to this effort," Mamoepa said.
He said the plan would be submitted to President Thabo Mbeki for approval when it was completed and would hopefully kick into action "sooner rather than later".
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
