/ 2 October 2010

Patrice Motsepe donates R10m to Zuma’s foundation

Businessman Patrice Motsepe will donate R10-million to the Jacob Zuma Foundation over the next five years, the mining magnate announced during the foundation’s fundraising dinner in Durban on Friday night.

Businessman Vivian Reddy also bought President Jacob Zuma’s T-shirt for R1-million, auctioned during the dinner at Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre.

The foundation aims to assist poor people with housing, education and clothes.

Motsepe said he had made the donation because he believed it was important to share what he had with the poor.

Reddy said he had decided to buy Zuma’s T-shirt because the president had worn it during the election campaign which changed the political landscape in South Africa.

Zuma said his education trust had focussed on paying school fees, but had been unable to pay for uniforms, and other “poverty challenges”.

The trust was formed in 2001 and has paid for the education of thousands of children.

Zuma spoke for almost two hours about the work the foundation had done since its formation in 2008 and the challenges it faced.

It had also built houses for the poor, helped people to farm and assisted people who could not afford wheelchairs.

The foundation was not only aimed at helping young people, but all needy people, Zuma said.

“I saw the need to establish the Jacob Zuma Foundation in order to respond to the plight and needs of poor people, beyond those that are education-related,” said Zuma.

“The foundation is broad because it does not only help children but also adults who are needy,” said Deducible Myeni, chairperson of the foundation. – Sapa