A campaign to pay for university registration fees was started by a young YouTuber, Lasizwe Dambuza. Over R2-million has been raised in just a week after the YouTube star asked South Africans to donate at least R10 to the campaign.
YouTube sensation Thulasizwe Dambuza (22) who is famously known as Lasizwe has raised over R2- million rand which would be used to help pay for university registration fees.
Dambuza, with the help of the Duma Collective (formerly Mbuduma) team (an entertainment boutique owned by Sibu Mabena), and two other social media influencers Nkateko Maswanganyi and Ayanda Mhlongo managed to raise R2-million in just a week.
They, through social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter, challenged South Africans to donate as little as R10 to help struggling students pay their registration fees. And some people opened their wallets to donate to the #R10GoesALongWay challenge.
The team behind this amazing initiative, which was a response to revived #FeesMustFall protests by students at various institutions of higher learning, wrote on their Facebook page 5 days after starting the campaign: “We are so glad to finally announce that together, we have raised over R1million in 5 days!!!!”
Some of the people who responded to the challenge were local celebrities who donated big amounts of money to the fund that was set up by the Duma Collective team.
Students Don’t Have Imali to Pay for Fees
The #Asimali and #SizofundaNgenkani2021 which have been trending for weeks now have seen students taking to the streets, calling for university management and the Department of Higher Education to allow students to register for the 2021 academic year.
Over the last few weeks, we have witnessed violent protests on the media, a 35- year-old masters graduate Mthokozisi Ntumba was allegedly killed by four armed members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the second week of March. Ntumba, the father of three children and a husband, was not part of the protests when he was killed.
These protests have, in other years, led to the deaths of both students and security personnel hired by university management.
Students have in previous years organised marches to the offices of the department, in a bid to ask for historic debts to be scrapped and for all deserving students (who applied on time) to be covered by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
The students who would be ideally be covered by the scheme would include those who are financially and academically deserving – meaning learners who can’t afford to pay for their registration and tuition fees and those who had good grades in their matric results.
The #helpR10GoesALongway challenge
In an interview with Global Citizen, Mabena was quoted saying what inspired Dambuza to start the challenge was his own personal story.
“Lasizwe has a really touching story about how he didn’t get to go to university because after his mom passed away, things didn’t work out financially. I am also a bursary beneficiary with the GCRA [Gauteng City Region Academy], I got to study because of a bursary. There are many stories like this of different people who made it as a result of other people’s money.”
Global Citizen also reported that once the target had been reached Dambuza and the team will be handing the money over to organisations that work to support students with accessing funding, and those organizations will distribute it to students.
Editor’s Note
Investing in the education of young people and children should be our responsibility as people. As young as he is, Lasizwe Dambuza is doing a lot to help get young people in South Africa. Even though he couldn’t get himself educated after his mother’s passing things. Including finances, didn’t go as he has planned. Dambuza being open to help struggling students with registration fees is something that should make us want to help young people who want to study further but can’t due to their financial situations.
Thato Mahlangu
Editor
