With just R2, help KFC & Gift of the Givers feed hungry kids this holiday season
KFC has partnered with Gift of the Givers to provide food to SA's hungry children, matching every customer's R2 donation this December - listen to Dr Imtiaz Sooliman's appeal.
Motheo Khoaripe interviews Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, the revered founder of Gift of the Givers.
In South Africa and other corners of the world, Gift of the Givers seems to be everywhere, helping people in need.
Now KFC has partnered with the disaster response organisation to help feed our hungry children over this festive season.
GOTG founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman talks to The Money Show about the campaign and the situation specifically around child hunger in our country.
The long-running KFC programme 'Add Hope' requires customers to add just R2 to their payment, and the money goes to providing over 33-million meals to children in need every year.
Having worked with KFC in the past, it made perfect sense to join forces this holiday season to work to "Add more Hope", says Dr Sooliman.
“For millions of South African children, there is no holiday from hunger, particularly with the economy in the state it is in after the incredibly hard years of the pandemic."
The man who many South Africans want as their president, sketches just a part of the picture of the hunger and malnutrition blighting our country.
"We've already started that partnership with KFC, last year when they gave us R5 million... and then of course we had spoken about the increase in hunger in the country... People may not know how bad the situation is. It started initially with COVID during lockdown when there was a lot of hunger, where we delivered a lot of food parcels and set up a lot of feeding centres."
Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, Founder – Gift of the Givers
"Over the past two years we found that when we go to a local disaster, in most cases fire or flood... normally the people in informal settlements will tell you they want building kits... but these last two years when you get there they ask where's the food... and in the nearby communities, hunger was there also."
Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, Founder – Gift of the Givers
"So we started increasing our feeding programmes, and then in February this year, in the Eastern Cape we found that a lot of children were dying from malnutrition. By the time they got to the clinic it was too late..."
Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, Founder – Gift of the Givers
He says KFC came up with the plan to give every R2 donated to 'Add Hope' to Gift of the Givers this December, AND to match it with another R2 to double the amount.
Khoaripe asks how important the role of the private sector is in addressing hunger in South Africa.
It is critical, is Dr Sooliman's response.
"Everybody says government is supposed to do everything but you've got to be realistic, they don't have all the money. Yes, we talk about corruption and all that... but even if those things didn't happen we don't have a big enough tax base in our country to look after 65 million people."
Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, Founder – Gift of the Givers
It is not just the responsibility of the private sector he says - it is our responsibility collectively as a nation.
"Whatever we can give - R5, R10, R50... The fact that we can eat and have a little surplus, there is somebody on the other side who doesn't have a meal for a day or four or five days."
Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, Founder – Gift of the Givers
"Go and give the KFC R2, find the people in your area and see what you can do around you... We've seen the hardship, and we appreciate KFC and other people who come forward to help us make a difference to the people in this country."
Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, Founder – Gift of the Givers
Scroll up to listen to the interview with Dr Sooliman