In the current political status of our country, with Eskom leaving us in the dark, high percentages of people immigrating to seemingly greener pastures and the ever-increasing unemployment rate, it is not always easy to find the reasons to join the #ImStaying movement.  But this story will change your mind, or at least get you thinking.One of our charities that is on the Loving Thy Neighbour platform, Garden of Life was asked by the revolutionary organisation Dare to Love, to start a veggie garden in the heart of Marabastad, where things not only looked like death, but certainly smelled like it too.On the 7th of September 2019, Dare to Love, Garden of Life and a few other NPOs collaborated to clean up the streets and start a vegetable garden.  In the words of Garden of Life’s founder, Steven Barnard: “Spent the morning with Dare to Love team. A wonderful humbling experience. Turning a war zone where people were killed a few days earlier into a place where they now can grow their own food...”

It is people like these, who will help us transform our country. Organisations that are willing to take a stand against poverty, against fear and that will act upon their convictions that will bring about much needed change.  Yes, we are a country in disaster, yes, we are a country with divides, but can we change it?  And the answer simply is, YES, WE CAN.  When we take hands, when we give out of our abundance or sometimes just out of the little, we must give.  It is when we partner with organisations, just like these, that we can, at least bring hope to begin with, and later change will be evident.   We might not see the change today, or even tomorrow, but we will see it, if we all work together.

Garden of Life trains these people, just like Joyce Sithole (seen in this picture) to mend their gardens and generate not only food but create a small business that can generate income to families in impoverished areas.  Today, the 24th of October, more than a month later, these veggies are flourishing, growing and feeding some of the families of Marabastad.    Joyce is even able to sell some of these veggies and generate an income for her family.

On the Loving Thy Neighbour platform we strive to bring people together, people who have something to GIVE.  Not always money, but sometimes just of their TIME, other times of their TALENT and then most times of their MONEY, to enable organisations to continue their good work.  As we all decide to STAY, let’s work together to see South Africa become the beautiful country that we know it to be! Find out more about organisations similar to Garden of Life on our website, at www.lovingthyneighbour.org.

According to the World Health Organization, as many as 15% of all South Africans live with a disability. Many of these people are children – and in too many cases, they’re not receiving the basic support they need.

International NPO, Human Rights Watch, estimates that half a million children with disabilities aren’t being offered access to quality education. South Africa’s Department of Basic Education statistics for 2017 indicated that 11 461 children with disabilities were on special school waiting lists.

With so many overwhelming statistics, it’s easy to focus on the logistical problems and, in the process, forget about the children who make up those figures. Many of these kids say the hardest part about being disabled is the discrimination. Being treated like a number only makes it worse.

“Sometimes all these kids need is just some love and attention. They are children after all and they deserve to have some joy in their childhood, says Nicolene Mostert founder of NPC, One Chance At Life (OCAL) Global. Mostert’s organisation does much to combat the stigma associated with disability.

The organisation’s goals are to provide wellness activities, economic opportunities and sustainable skills development programmes for differently abled people. With the assistance of DSC Attorneys, a law firm specialising in personal injury and Road Accident Fund (RAF) claims, the organisation is tackling the issues one step at a time.

One of the projects OCAL Global is currently running involves working with differently abled children in the Pixley ka Seme District in the Northern Cape. The goal is to bring some normality to these children’s lives, through simple, fun activities like colouring-in, face-painting and playing games. Mostert has been working in this area for several years and has identified over 2000 children under the age of 12 who have disabilities and who haven’t once seen a doctor or been properly diagnosed.

12-year-old Thato (name changed), for example, suffers from cerebral palsy and needs his mother’s constant assistance to perform basic day-to-day activities. Because he can’t walk, his mother often has to carry him on her back, covering long distances when she runs daily errands.

On a recent trip, DSC Attorneys and OCAL Global delivered a wheelchair to Thato and his mother. The simple donation has made a real difference to the boy’s and his mother’s lives. Thato reports feeling much more independent and his confidence has grown. His mother says, “It’s the first time in 12 years that I’ve felt hope”.

“Sometimes we think we need to make some big change to have an impact, but even the smallest effort can have a huge effect on someone’s life. I was really grateful to see that”, says Jacqueline Hudson, associate attorney at DSC Attorneys.

OCAL Global is focused on making persistent impact at grass roots level, “because that is how we bring change and hope to those who need it most,” says Mostert. She says much change can be brought by companies just evaluating their approaches to corporate social investment.

Anyone who’s interested in supporting OCAL’s cause can contact Nicolene Mostert on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call on 083 314 7349.

• Every commercial sector will change more in the next three years than in the past thirty. Digital disruption is undermining the viability of the business models of established companies at an accelerating pace, leading to worldwide closure of brands, companies, and even entire industries.
• With the help of the Own the Future workshop, South African leadership teams are now identifying disruptive opportunities for their business models and brands, and crafting strategies to thrive in the expanding chaos.

Cape Town – South African companies are urgently rethinking how they do business in the digital era.  Digital marketing has produced a growing wave of startup companies who are challenging the overhead-heavy dominance of major established businesses. But, more radical than this, some of these startups are actually disrupting the established way in which whole industries do business. The best known are Uber, Airbnb and Netflix. These have fundamentally changed the very nature of global transportation, hotel accommodation and television as well as a range of related industries.

According to digital transformation expert Godfrey Parkin “Today, every industry has its radical innovators. Their impact is fundamental and unforgiving. To survive disruption and remain relevant, companies often have to rethink their business model and restructure their organisation – not once, but continuously. Company culture usually gets in the way, so getting all your team members and on the same page is absolutely vital to success.”

The CEO of Britefire has launched an initiative to help South African boards and management teams understand disruption, and learn how to actively exploit it. Named “Own the Future”, the one-day workshop demystifies digital, and clarifies scenarios for the immediate future of business. It provides methodologies for identifying disruptive opportunities in your business model, and for creating strategies to exploit them.

Built on work Britefire has done over recent years in a number of South African companies, Own the Future is a high-impact actionable experience which engages top team members across all the disciplines in a company. 

Parkin believes that many South African companies are currently at a point known as the edge of chaos, where the pace of innovation in the competitive environment accelerates upwards just as the company's ability to change plateaus. He says "To survive in this world, you have to be supremely agile. To thrive, you have to be the one creating the chaos.” 

The opportunities for success are tremendous, but without an explicit management commitment to continuous change, businesses are endangered. Own the Future provides business leadership teams with the frameworks, tools and inspiration to identify opportunities, and to manage change with confidence.

Britefire is a future-focused business strategy and digital marketing company based in Cape Town and operating worldwide.

For more information visit britefire.com or phone 021 794 7838.

Contact details
Godfrey Parkin, CEO, and workshop facilitator: 021 794 7838   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

EduOne is an education technology startup that has captured the attention of over 1.5 million South Africans, 2000 teachers and has been recognised by a number of exclusive international startup societies for their work.

A big day has arrived for the team at EduOne, based in Cape Town, to launch new versions of two of their most popular websites. This is the biggest single launch for the company to-date and includes major structural and design changes to both EduConnect and EduFunding.

The redesign and development of new features on these sites began in late 2016. Inspired by user generated insights and industry best practices, the redesign is aimed at improving user experience, data usage and usability for site visitors. 

“It has been a number of late nights and early mornings over the past few months, but I’m very glad to be at the launch date with two quick, stable and ridiculously good looking  websites. It’s a job well done by the team,” says James Kieser, the company's CTO.

This launch is one of the first of what will be many iterations in a new design approach for the company’s products. In addition, one can expect a number of new features and entire products to be released in 2017.

For a more detailed view on the changes to EduOne’s sites on 31 March 2017, see a previous press release for the launch. The EduOne team encourages users to continue sending through feedback on their work through this form.