Homeless Talk, most often seen on the dashboards of the well-heeled from Johannesburg’s northern suburbs, is now going online.
News provider I-Net Bridge said this week that it will be bringing the popular community newspaper to its subscribers at a cost of R500 a month.
Business manager Chris Lazarus said he will be marketing the newspaper to companies, who will carry it on their intranets as a ”lighthearted” component of their regular news and business feeds.
”It’s like the lighter part of coming to work — we don’t all think business 365 days a year,” he told the Mail & Guardian Online on Thursday.
Lazarus said he was sure that the newspaper’s online presence will not eat into the profits of vendors.
”I can’t see me not wanting to spend four of five rand just because my company has spent R500. More people buy it from a donation aspect.”
Homeless Talk, which was started in the early 1990s, is a non-profit organisation and operates with limited manpower and financial resources. Dr Philip Coetzer, secretary of the Homeless Talk Board of Trustees, said it would be wonderful to see corporate donors contributing to the paper’s revenue.
He said it costs R12 000 in printing costs to produce 30 000 copies of the newspaper every month. Between 380 and 420 vendors buy the newspaper for R1,50 and then sell it for a R3 or R5 donation. The more successful vendors can make between R2 200 and R2 800 per month.
”Some people see the vendors as a ‘beggar with a paper’ but we would like them to be seen as entrepreneurs who are trying to better themselves,” he said.
”Not many people know that it’s one of the largest poverty alleviation projects in Johannesburg. The guys who contribute stories get an income, and the vendors, many of whom are women, are also able to make a living.”
Coetzer said the paper also runs a crèche for the children of the vendors.
He envisaged establishing a fund that could be used to pay for entrepreneurial training courses.
”We’re like a family. If someone comes to us for help in paying for funeral costs, or if they have medical needs … and at the end of the day someone has to help.”