The Takealot Group to give away fabric face masks

As part of The Takealot Group’s commitment to promote social distancing and help curb the spread of COVID-19, Takealot and Superbalist have joined forces to locally produce and distribute over 500,000 fabric face masks.

The non-medical grade fabric face masks have been designed and produced using Superbalist resources and will be warehoused and distributed by the Takealot Delivery Team.

Once ready to distribute, Takealot and Superbalist customers will receive one free adult mask per order that qualifies for free shipping (while stocks last).

The use of ‘fabric’ face masks as an additional preventative measure against COVID-19 has been recommended for public use by the National Department of Health (NDoH) and the South African Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize. He recently stated that wearing a mask is important and has recommended the widespread use of cloth/fabric masks among the general public. 

The locally produced Takealot Group masks are three-layer poly-cotton made with 3 pleats and elastic ties. They have been made in a colourful array of prints and designs for both adults and children.

Takealot’s NGO partner, Beautiful Gate, will also receive 2,200 masks for both adults and children. Beautiful Gate provides care and support to vulnerable children and families. They believe that the best place for each child is within a family, and that the best way to support families is to enable their community to provide support. These masks will be distributed to families in need in Western Cape.

A selection of the fabric face masks will also be made available to purchase on both platforms. They will retail at R99 for two adult or two children’s masks.

“In addition to the work we are already doing to distribute the R1 billion of PPE equipment donated by Naspers and Tencent, we want to extend our commitment and further help our community by using our resources. We recognise the important role that fabric masks can play in combating the spread of COVID-19 and we are grateful to be able to do our part,”  said Kim Reid, Takealot Group.

The Takealot Group will continue to enforce preventative hygiene safety measures, guided by international best practice and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for all deliveries.

These strict internal hygiene policies include widespread access to hand sanitiser, increased frequency of cleaning of all workspaces, temperature testing, flu vaccines and nurses available at warehouses, surgical masks for all drivers and the continuation of contactless deliveries. 

As an essential service provider we believe that we can play an important part in the lives of South African’s during this time, by delivering goods to doors in a manner that is safe and secure.

E-commerce is an effective way to increase social distancing while still providing consumers with what they need while obeying the lockdown from the safety of their homes. Government should be actively encouraging e-commerce at a time like this to deliver both essential and non-essential goods to all areas of South Africa.