The 2017 Budget speech has been built with bricks by the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Sciences (Gibs).
Instead of only depicting numbers and figures, Gibs used innovation through Lego to illustrate the impact that this year’s Budget will have on South Africa’s diverse nation.
Gibs used its inner “master builder” and created an easy, original and understandable summary of the 2017 Budget using the brick-building toy.
The video, framed through a TV news report, used Lego figurines, a parliament, some government buildings and even a newsroom - all built out of plastic Lego bricks in a bid to make the Budget more accessible to all South Africans.
Lego props like fake money and even a safe were demonstrated to explain some of the figures announced during the long-awaited speech delivered by Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday.
A yellow figure standing in the Lego parliament wearing glasses and a smart black suit with a silver tie represented Gordhan while MPs were dressed in plain black, different coloured smart suits, dungarees. Some were dressed in red, representing the EFF.
Several buildings were built to represent the SA Social Security Agency, universities and even a farming area. They were used in the video as examples to summarise certain aspects of the speech, including the money that will be spent on social grants and NSFAS, as well as money that will be transferred to universities.
The farming scene built out of Lego used brown platforms, scarce vegetation and plastic Lego bones to highlight that food inflation continues to be high due to the drought.
A Lego tourist figurine holding a camera also stood in front of what looked like Table Mountain and Cape Town built from a range of bricks, while the budget for tourism was explained.
Part of the brilliance of the video was the diversity of Lego figurines used to represent all types of South Africans from varying backgrounds, from students, to the working class, middle-class, adults and children and the wealthy in the country.
A fake bar and even a petrol station, all built creatively with colour and character from Lego, uses mock-alcohol and cars to illustrate scenes that represented the increase in the fuel levy and excise duty for tobacco and alcohol.
The importance of State Owned Enterprises and the role they play in the private sector was also displayed, using well-built Lego hospitals, police stations, ambulances and police cars dealing with emergencies and criminals.
The video went viral across social media.
Users praised Gibs, describing it as “brilliant” and “top stuff”.