It is exactly a year and four days since the passing of Ferguson Films co-founder Shona Ferguson.
He died after being admitted to the hospital due to Covid-19-related complications.
On 5 August, the Ferguson Foundation was launched with a gala dinner at The Venue in Houghton Hotel.
Attended by high-profile guests including Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu, brothers Collen and Cecil Mashawana, and children from the Emdeni Royal Academy, the event was hosted by radio personality Bridget Masinga.
Guests were treated to traditional Setswana music and dance and the family shared a tribute to the late Shona by sharing previously unseen video clips from his television shows.
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At the gala dinner, Connie shared with guests how they planned to launch last year but things did not go according to plan when Shona passed away.
“One of the dreams Sho and I had together was to start a foundation,” Connie told guests.
“We wanted to put our money and make a difference. One of the conversations about the foundation was that many people in our industry work from hand to mouth and it's hard to manage finances well,” she said.
“We first started by working with actors in helping them save money. But, as a CEO of a company, we couldn’t do that and we decided to open a foundation and get sponsors and funding to assist in changing the industry, donate to those less fortunate and make a difference."
But then before most of their plans could be executed, Shona passed on.
“Then Covid happened before we launched the foundation,” she says.
“Both my husband and I got sick. Unfortunately, we lost Sho. Rockville was his last show and he was supposed to go to Kings of Joburg. But he was gone,” she says.
“Thank God we are here now. He may be gone, but he is very much a part of our lives and I want to thank everyone in this room, the nation, and anyone who has ever spared a moment to pray for our family. We didn’t know how we would get through this, but God is good. One year later, we are here.”
