Johannesburg - Could Jacob Zuma be a force for good? Joburg digital marketer Ryan Smit certainly thinks so with his campaign with a twist calling on South Africans to help JZ pay back the money - but with the good intention of every cent donated going to a Joburg home for HIV-positive children.
Smit deliberately launched his “Help Zuma Pay Back The Money” campaign on April Fool’s Day on the online crowdfunding site, Generosity, which bills itself as “a no-fee platform for human goodness" and is run by Indiegogo.
The campaign calls for donors to raise Smit’s estimate of R14.7 million for the amount the president must pay back for his personal security upgrades to his Nkandla homestead.
The beauty of Smit’s cheeky campaign is that every rand raised within the fund-raising period of 104 days will go to St Jane’s de Chantal Home, a home in Sandton for HIV-positive and abandoned children.
Smit said: “The idea came to me while sitting at my work desk and I thought it might be an interesting and effective way of using April Fool’s Day and the national debate around Nkandla to grab some attention for a good cause.”
The 30-year-old, who is completing a course in futures studies at the University of Stellenbosch Business School, said he hoped the method would prove effective.
“Most people have become desensitised to fund-raising campaigns for good causes, so my hope is that satire will capture people's attention and translate into donations.”
The campaign says of its mission: “We want to raise as much of the R15m (Zuma) is probably going to need to pay, and we have only 104 days to do it before the payment deadline, so please be generous.”
The campaign includes donation levels , such as R76 to pay for chickens for the chicken run, R152 for the firepool, and R757 for binoculars for the amphitheatre.
It was a pitch that initially backfired when Facebookers who saw the post were enraged by the thought of forking out for Zuma. Because they didn’t read the campaign pitch to the end, they didn’t realise it was a joke for a good cause.
Bernice Tomlin replied on Facebook: “Excuse me, (Zuma) has a net worth of $215m, according to the Forbes' rich list. He stole the money let him pay it back.”
François du Toit said: “So, after we’ve already paid, interest hikes, petrol price increase, electricity increase, inflation and toll gates. someone has the nerve to ask us to pay again.”
Jeanne Kimmitt commented: “This is unreal; I hope to goodness the people of South Africa are not that stupid.”
Smit, married and dad to an 11-month-old boy, said: “This is my first attempt at doing something significant and hopefully it works.”
He said while at first it was funny to see people’s displaced outrage, he hoped more would start realising it was a parody and make a donation.
“Fortunately we have about 100 days to go with the campaign, so hopefully those who misunderstood will come back and make a donation.” The site has raised R2 532, but Smit is continuing to target R14.7m.
Saturday Star