South African Small Businesses Join Forces to Raise Funds for The Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation
“We have all been reposting words of activism from the comforts of our own homes, to the point where GBV and Black Lives Matter threads echo throughout feeds as if they are trends - rather than real issues that require action, not simply attention” says Sarah-Jane Deeb, founder of The Hems on why she (along with 10 other brands) have decided to take a tangible step towards fighting Gender Based Violence in South Africa.
The proceeds of this month’s competition will all go to the Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation-as women in the country continue to cry out for real change.
Yesterday marked a year since the brutal rape and murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana at a local post office in Claremont, South Africa. The UCT Student arrived at the post office to collect a parcel, and was attacked by the man who worked there. The community quickly mobilized to spread word of her disappearance, but her story ended in tragedy- like so many other women who go missing in South Africa.
This signals a moment of reflection for how little has changed in the last year, and how South African women are in a constant state of mourning. The Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation(UMF) was formed as a proactive response to the femicide and gender-based violence that is plaguing South Africa.
In an exclusive interview, BREAKROOM spoke to the founders of the local businesses that are joining forces to raise funds for the UMF and why this initiative hits so close to home.
The below interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
BREAKROOM: What made you decide to put this initiative together?
Sarah: We're all familiar with Instagram giveaways. In fact, we've all either spammed a friend or been spammed by our friends in the hopes of winning some pretty-looking hamper and discovering some new local brands. So much so, that I personally don't bother entering anymore because of the sheer volume of entries! It is well known that brands host collab-giveaways to leverage off of each other's following in order to increase their own audience. So essentially, giveaways are pretty selfish on both ends.
I wanted to change that. Over the lockdown, we have all been reposting words of activism from the comforts of our own homes, to the point where GBV and BlackLivesMatter threads echo throughout feeds as if they are trends - rather than real issues that require action, not simply attention. So I thought, why not use the opportunity of Women's Month to give people a chance to actually take a small step of action, around something that so desperately calls for it?
How does it work?
I gathered up 10 fellow local brands and 1 local fashion/activism influencer, and together we formed our giveaway. You can find details of each brand involved, their contributions, and the steps required to enter on our Instagram post here. I set up a BackABuddy link to hold the funds, which we'll be directing to a local anti-GBV foundation (it is currently set to be the Uyinene Foundation,
What has the response been like so far and what do you hope to accomplish with this initiative?
The giveaway launched on Women's Day and will run throughout August. Within one week we had raised R 10 000. We're seeing a healthy mix of small donations and larger ones - as we asked for a simple amount of R 15 or more to really make this as much of a no-brainer as possible. We've just crossed the R14 000 mark. Our target is R 50,000 - I so hope we make this, but it will definitely require another wave of momentum. We are so grateful - even at R 14,000 alone, that's funding that didn't exist before and will touch a lot of girl's lives! For me, it's the beautiful messages people have shared with their donations - it's created this beautiful sense of community and togetherness (see attached).
My goal is to change how the small local business community uses their voice - even small brands, when you bring them together, can have a big impact. I hope to make "Giveback Giveaways" a new normal. Because why shouldn't they be?
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