Zakes Bantwini visited Ubuntu Pathways in Port Elizabeth's Zwide township to hand over his donation of royalties from his high-profile collaboration with global hitmaker Lauv.
Ubuntu Pathways is a non-profit organisation that provides a transformative support system to 2000 vulnerable children and their families in the townships of Port Elizabeth.
The South African producer’s remix of Lauv’s smash hit “Modern Loneliness” was released in May this year as part of the Modern Loneliness Remix EP from the world’s most successful independent artist.
Bantwini announced the donation during a motivational talk at Ubuntu Pathways in September.
His presentation drew on his experience as a multi-award-winning musician and producer and, since 2015, as a UNICEF South Africa celebrity advocate.
“It is an honour to play a meaningful role in the vital work that Ubuntu Pathways is doing,” said Bantwini.
“I am also grateful to Lauv for the opportunity to remix ‘Modern Loneliness’. Working with this gifted songwriter who takes his independent spirit into the realm of social impact is something I will never forget.”
“When the Modern Loneliness Remix EP was conceived I wanted to work with handpicked collaborators from around the world as a way of taking the message of ‘Modern Loneliness’ to many more people,” said Lauv.
“I am very happy to be able to donate the royalties from the superb remix that Zakes did to an organisation like Ubuntu Pathways.”
With over 600 000 Covid19 cases, South Africa has the seventh-highest number of confirmed cases worldwide.
Ubuntu serves a disproportionately vulnerable community - pregnant mothers living with HIV; immuno-compromised children growing up in unsafe homes; elderly heads of households; and at-risk, unemployed youth.
In March, Ubuntu suspended all non-essential services, launched an Emergency Covid-19 Strategy, and fully diverted all efforts to providing timely and targeted rapid response support - life-saving medical services, food security, and wraparound interventions to those most at-risk.
The organisation is providing nearly 30 000 community members with monthly food packages and supplying critical PPE and medical equipment to over 25 local organisations that have been on the brink of closures, including clinics, shelters, and soup kitchens.