 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
R / $ |
7.253 |
|
0.02709961 |
All Share |
0 |
|
0 |
Gold |
1255.15 |
|
5.599976 |
$ / £ |
1.5345 |
|
-0.004699945 |
$ / € |
1.2681 |
|
-0.01909995 |
http://www.hisat.co.za/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Magnanimity of South Africans
|
|
|
It was a break from the old routine when there was a morning traffic of a different kind across South Africa, as many South Africans gave up their daily jostle for a prime place on the road, and joined the rush for a place in the hearts of distressed Haitians, on Thursday morning the 28th of January.
The unusual morning rush was spurred by the launch of a Telethon in Aid of the people of Haiti by the SABC in conjunction with other sponsors, during an extended Morning Live show hosted by Vuyo Mbuli and Leanne Manas (pictured), that was broadcast from 6:00 am to 8:30 am.
Viewers were invited to make a financial pledge by calling an SABC Haiti Telethon call center number dedicated for the cause; and sending SMS messages to a specified number at a cost of R10 per SMS.
From the young and old; to individuals and corporates; South Africans opened their hearts and their wallets and called in to the call center manned by some of South Africa’s well know personalities who had volunteered their time for a good cause.
And like the people making the pledges, the amounts pledged were just as varied across the rand spectrum. From as little as R10, to as much as R200 000, no amount was too small or too large; and calls kept filtering through the call center that had become a hive of activity.
One of the youngest callers was a nine year old who made his pledge and challenged other nine year olds to do like wise.
Observing the flurry of responses that was being witnessed by everyone at the call center, SABC Group CEO Mr Solly Mokoetle said the response that we were getting, was testimony to the fact that South Africans are indeed a caring nation. Mr Mokoetle, who also did a shift manning calls alongside the celebrities and other SABC executives, said he was able to field about 10 calls coming from various callers. Asked whether the people on the other side of the line recognised who it was they were talking to, Mr Mokoetle said none of his callers recognised him, and that the fact that he was the Group CEO of SABC was probably the last thing on his callers’ minds.
“I believe that South Africans would still call and make the pledge regardless of who it was who was fielding the calls,” he said. But he conceded that for some people, the opportunity to speak to a famous voice would be an additional motivation to call.
Mr Mokoetle, who says he fielded calls across the age spectrum, said one of the most heartening calls he fielded was a call from a set of twins who pledged R200 and challenged other twins to do likewise. “I felt challenged myself because I’m a father of twins as well,” he said.
But for him, it was the power of the broadcaster that inspired him. “It’s not just television that is involved, but our radio stations are also involved in this. Through our radio stations, we’ll be able to reach even the people in the rural areas, and they’ll be able to make their pledges as well,” he said proudly.
“As South Africans we still have hardships but people are still able to reach out to those they see as being far less fortunate than themselves,” he added. Among the pledges that were fielded by the Group CEO, was a pledge of R 5000, and one of R10 000 from a company of real estate agents.
The morning started very slow with only about R28 000 having being pledged within the first hour. But this figure soon changed as more and more South Africans literally began to wake up to the pledge flurry that had taken over the country. About 30 minutes later the figure had shot to over R400 000.
The Deputy Minister of International Relations, Ms Sue Van der Merwe said it was estimated that 2-3 million people will need food to be provided to them for the next 6 months, which meant that any international effort that could be launched to assist, would count. “The Department is coordinating the efforts of the South African group through the National Disaster Management Center, and we’re trying to coordinate these in so far as those things that are needed,” she said.
Speaking on behalf of the SABC, Group Communications head Mr Kaiser Kganyago said: “As the SABC it was important for us to galvanise the public of South Africa. People must remember that we’re the only public service broadcaster in the country, therefore it is our responsibility to go out there and say to the public of South Africa: ‘We know you are a caring nation, we want you to come forward and we can only coordinate, because we’ve got the listenership that is beyond imagination, both on our television and radio (stations),” he said.
“Sometimes we think that what we see is everything. There are some pictures that we could not put on our television, and you could see from people’s faces that this is a real disaster,” Mr Kganyago said.
And the generosity came from inside the SABC as well. Clifford Motsepe who is an SABC board member, pledged the sum of R20 000 in his personal capacity, and challenged other board members to either match his pledge or beat it.
Ms Ntaga Mojapelo, from Afrisam, a South African cement manufacturing company, said that her company felt that the people of Haiti could use all the help they could get, and as a result, pledged R100 000 towards the cause.
The JSE said it challenged all its employees to donate money towards the aid of Haiti, and once all the money had been collected and consolidated, the company would match the final money collected from employees, rand for rand.
Another heart wrenching pledge came from an unemployed school teacher who pledged R 200 and challenged her counterparts to follow her example.
Acting head of News, Mr Phil Molefe who was among the executives who manned the calls said the response underscored the important role that the SABC played in society, and the pubic value it delivers.
Towards the end of the extended broadcast, cellular phone service provider MTN came in with a pledge of a whopping R200 000.
By the end of the show at 8:30 am, the SABC had raised an unaudited figure of approximately R 750 000 through calls coming through the Morning Live Studios based call center alone. Approximately 40 000 SMSs at R10 per SMS received were yet to be added to the tally. By 11:00 am, the SABC had receive approximately R 200 000 through its permanent call center, with more calls continuing to come through.
The Telethon was supported by ABSA Bank, Independent newspapers and the Department of International Relations.
Interested parties have been urged to pledge their assistance to the HAITI Disaster Fund by sending an SMS with the word HAITI to 38722. Alternatively you can make your pledge by depositing your donation into the following bank account:
ABSA BANK
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 923 884 4487
BRANCH CODE: 632005
“This is not the first time that we do this,” said Mr Kganyago. “We’ve done this before with the Mozambique floods, we’ve done it with the Tsunami, and we’re doing it again (with Haiti).”
The Pledge line continues for the next six weeks and the final sum collected will be announced at that time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
