Influencer and YouTuber Thulaziswe ‘Lasizwe’ Dambuza (23) and his celebrity friends, Nkateko “Takkies” Dinwiddy, Sibu Mabena, and Ayanda Mhlongo are yet again coming together to help raise funds for the class of 2021.
Last year the friends raised R38 000 between the four of them. They went on to ask their families, friends, and followers to help by contributing just R10 and they raised R2,3 million towards paying for the education of 106 students in March this year.
This year the founders of the #R10GoesALongWay education funding initiative have launched the second phase of this inspirational campaign, inviting all South Africans to come together and invest in the dreams of the next generation.
A few months ago, Lasizwe received backlash from people who questioned whether the money raised went on last year’s campaign reached the students. “This is the last time I address this and talk about this.
"First of all, I’d like to thank every person that contributed to the R10GoesALongWay initiative,” Lasizwe responded.
“Secondly, myself and my team members are not crowd funders; we’ve never done crowdfunding before, it is our first time. Due to it being our first time we said we don’t want to make any mistakes and let us partner up with an organisation called Fundi because they have access to universities. They have access to see which students have registered. We transferred all the money to Fundi’s account and even some companies were waiting for tax clearance and those companies were told to transfer that money to Fundi’s account and they would administer everything.”
He then asked students who benefited from the initiative to come forward.
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The criticism did not sit well with Lasizwe’s sister Khanyi Mbau who called out critics.
“This breaks my heart, not only because you are my brother but how a good gesture could turn so bad, and we forget the intention behind it.”
With all the criticism, he has chosen to come back and try again this year to raise more than they did last year. Lasizwe says he is not going to give up on his passion for helping those who need it the most.
“It’s not about me and my ego and negative people, but it’s about helping those who need it the most,” he says.
“The R10GoesALongWay is about the power of collective positivity; starting a movement to create meaningful change,” he explains.
“While Covid-19 has kept us apart and challenged each of us in so many ways, it’s also reminded us of what can happen if enough of us rally around a cause and commit to doing something together.”
Donations towards this campaign can be made directly through the dedicated microsite: https://fundifoundation.org/CaseSinglePageR10
