South Africa has experienced extreme hardship during the last six months of the Nationwide lockdown due to the COVID 19 Pandemic. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread across South Africa, the closing of businesses and the loss of jobs means that many more South Africans are unable to provide for themselves and their families.
Whilst it gets more difficult each day for ordinary citizens to sustain their households, South Africa is in desperate need of little light and love. Therefore, LottoStar and Jacaranda FM’s Good Morning Angels have teamed up to shine some light in these dark days. In a two-part initiative (from the 19th August to the 4th September and the 21st September to the 7th October), LottoStar will be providing financial assistance through the Good Morning Angels segment to various families and causes during this difficult time. We will be sharing the love in the form of daily contributions of up to R800,000, over a 5-week period to South African citizens in need.
Good Morning Angels
Good Morning Angels (GMA) is a Jacaranda FM breakfast feature, that allows people or listeners to nominate those in need in their communities, by connecting them to the right sponsors or funders to assist. It airs every Wednesday on “This is Breakfast with Martin Bester” between 6-9 am. Jacaranda relies on sponsors and funders to assist those in need, however, this initiative will take place daily.
LottoStar and Jacaranda FM’s Good Morning Angels have collaborated in many causes and have helped changed many lives. Now, more than ever, we know that we have to step up and help as many South Africans as we can. Together we hope that we can ease some of the burdens that so many people face as the effects of Covid-19 Pandemic worsen.
Share the love with LottoStar and GMA
Join in and share the love with LottoStar and Good Morning Angels by nominating a friend/family or cause in need of financial aid during this difficult time. You can nominate someone in need and help us spread light and love throughout South Africa.
Remember to tune into Jacaranda FM every morning to listen to each story/contribution.
Recipient 1
Natasha & Willem
LottoStar and GMA came together to share the love with a mother and her son in the form of R10,000. Natasha who fled from an abusive relationship with her son, Willem, a few weeks ago could not afford to send her son back to school. LottoStar has contributed R10,000 to help Willem realise his dream of going back to school and learning how to play soccer. R5,000 will go towards Willem’s new school uniform and the other R5,000 will be used to enrol him in the Euro Soccer Schools Academy and will also cover the costs of his soccer kit.
Recipient 2
Esmeralda Kruger
LottoStar shared the love with Esmerelda in the form of R35,000. Esmeralda was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. After aggressive chemo and a mastectomy, Esmeralda was in remission. However, late last year, the cancer was back – this time in her brain and right lung. The brain cancer affects her balance and eyesight, she does not have medical aid and receives treatment from a state hospital but because she is employed, she has to make co-payments, which have amounted to R27,000. Esmeralda cannot afford to pay off this large amount of debt, therefore, LottoStar has contributed R35,000 so that Esmeralda can pay off her medical debt.
Updated on: 20/08/2020
Recipient 3
Veli Mbali
LottoStar and GMA shard the love with Veli and his family in the form of R 15,000. Veli Mbali is a father of two. His children are all he has left after losing his wife and mother to a devastating car accident last year. Veli lost the use of both his legs as a result of the accident and has been wheelchair-bound ever since. He has not been able to work since the accident and relies on the church and hand-outs to provide for his children. However, this has not been possible because of the lockdown. Veli is heartbroken as he cannot provide for his children. LottoStar has contributed R15,000 to Veli and his family for food and essentials. We hope that this contribution will provide some much-needed light for Veli and his family.
Last updated: 21/08/2020
Recipient 4
Bessie & George Hattingh
LottoStar and GMA share the love with an elderly couple in the form of R15,000. 77-year old Bessie and 81-year old George Hattingh are residents in the Huis Vergenoeg retirement village in Pretoria. They enjoy their independence in their little home and still drive themselves to the shops and doctors as they need to. They have recently had some bad luck with some of their old major appliances, packing up all at the same time. Their fridge and stove are both beyond repair and their washing machine is old which makes it extremely difficult for Bessie to do the laundry. The elderly couple contemplated selling their car which they have had for 30 years, however, this would leave them stranded if they needed to go to the shops or the doctor. LottoStar has stepped in and assisted Bessie and George with R15,000 so that they can buy a new fridge stove and washing machine.
Last updated: 24/08/2020
Recipient 5
Thando Ndlangisa
LottoStar and GMA share the love with a single mother of seven in the form of R20,000. Thando is a 34-year-old single mother of seven children, aged between almost 2 and 18. Thando had a partner but sadly he passed away. She found love again and was expecting triplets with her new partner. At the time, her boyfriend had a job and medical aid and Thando had saved up some money to have the babies in a private hospital. However, her surprise was not complete. When the doctor began delivering her babies, they found out that there were two more babies, making it a total of four girls and a boy!
Thando was very emotional when her babies were born as she did not know how she would care for them. Shortly after the quintuplets were born, her boyfriend lost his job and left. She made up her mind to raise her babies on her own and has been working hard as a receptionist at a gym in Germiston, living in a four-room house with her mom, three siblings and seven children to make ends meet. Unfortunately, Covid-19 struck and due to the national lockdown, she could not work for five months. Although Thando returns to work this week, she is struggling to make ends meet and provide for her family. LottoStar has contributed R20,000 in AngelRands for food, clothing and essentials for her seven children, parents and siblings. We hope that this contribution will provide some light and relief in Thando and her family’s lives.
Last updated: 25/08/2020
Recipient 6
Joanie Fredricks
LottoStar and GMA share the love with a ‘woman on a mission to save her community in the form of R50,000.
Joanie Fredricks, from Tafelsig in Mitchell’s Plain, has been working in her impoverished community feeding the hungry for many years. The devastation brought upon the already needy and marginalised communities in the country by the national lockdown has left many in her community in dire circumstances.
Joanie has issued many letters and messages to the president, asking him to fulfil the COVID-19 assistance promises to help those in need. Joanie simply wants to know: “What about the people?” Marc Löttering, the well-loved comedian and entertainer, came across Joanie’s Facebook posts, messages and pleas for assistance and pitched in to help spread the word. He also wrote a song, performed by Craig Lucas and made a video, highlighting the plight of the poor.
LottoStar contributed R50,000 to Joanie so that she can provide a meal for as many people in need as possible.
Last updated: 26/08/2020
Recipient 7
Susan le Grange and her son
LottoStar and GMA share the love with a mother and her son in the form of R25,000. Susan le Grange, from Nelspruit, has been looking for a stable job for more than two years. When she turned 60-years old, her employer asked her to retire, therefore, she had to live off her pension. Susan and her 32-year old son, JP, are both unemployed and have both been doing odd-jobs to make a living. Susan has sent her CV to several places without any response and JP has not been able to find any stable employment as well. They have lived in a rented flat for many years and due to the lockdown, they have fallen behind on their rent of R3 830 a month. Susan says she paid towards rent as much as she could, however, they are R19 500 behind and have now been asked to vacate the flat by the end of the month.
LottoStar contributed R20,000 to Susan so that she can pay off her rental debts and extra R5,000 to help her and JP find a new home to stay.
Last updated: 27/08/2020
Recipient 8
Chrisna Lubbe
LottoStar and GMA share the love in the form of R20,000 with a little girl who dreams of walking one day.
Chrisna Lubbe, is a hardworking, proud and single mother to her daughter, Christie, who was born prematurely and was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Therefore, Christie has never been able to walk but she has been fighting on since birth. As a single mother, Chrisna works long hours, does extra baking and anything else to pay for Christie’s medical needs and physiotherapy. Chrisna and Christie believe that she will be able to walk someday. However, this dream is becoming very difficult to fund as Chrisna’s medical aid has been depleted. Chrisna has co-payment bills piling up to the point that she would have to give up the physiotherapy that Christie needs.
LottoStar contributed R 20,000 to Chrisna so that she can pay some of Christie’s medical and physiotherapy bills.
Last updated: 28/08/2020
Recipient 9
Jessica Jonker
LottoStar and GMA share the love with Jessica Jonker in the form of R20,000.
Jessica Jonker has been providing shelter for her aunt and uncle for almost three years now. Both her uncle and aunt lost their jobs in 2016 and have been residing in a caravan in Jessica’s backyard. However, the caravan is not sealed and gets very cold at night. Jessica’s uncle, Douglas, works as a car guard and with the little he earns, he can’t afford any other living arrangements.
Jessica has been trying to build a small living area for them but she does not have the funds to do so. From the several quotes she had already obtained, the one on call would cost her a total of R20,000. She tried to raise funds online but was only able to raise R518,46 in two months.
Jessica’s last resort was LottoStar and GMA, therefore, we were honoured to share the love with her in the form of R20,000 to assist in providing comfortable and warm shelter for her aunt and uncle.
Recipient 10
Gugu Zikalala
LottoStar and GMA share the love with a determined mother in the form of R15,000. Gugu Zikalala is a single mother to her seven-year-old daughter, Asemahle. While completing her 3-year degree in Education, Gugu found a job to earn an income. She was determined to create a better future for herself and her daughter, however, two months ago, Gugu received a letter of retrenchment due to the lockdown. Gugu has applied for UIF but she had not received any money and she has been baking and doing what she can to earn an income and provide for her and Asemahle. Her daughter has gone back to school, however, she does not have a lunchbox and has grown out of her white sports shoes needed for school. Gugu cannot afford the basic living essentials for her and her daughter and she can no longer afford baking supplies to help create an income.
LottoStar contributed R15,000 to assist Gugu with buying food and new white sports shoes for Asemahle!
Last updated: 31/08/2020
Recipient 11
Yola
LottoStar and GMA share the love with Yola and her family in the form of R30,000.
Yola has experienced immense loss throughout her adult life. 30 years ago, her daughter died of brain cancer at the age of seven. Yola now has three daughters – a 32-year-old, who has a seven-year-old daughter of her own, a 26-year-old daughter, who had meningitis when she was younger which sadly stunted her brain development and a 21-year-old daughter, Nikki, who has cerebral palsy. Yola and her daughters and granddaughter all live together in the same home.
In February this year, Yola’s husband left for a job in the Congo and that is when she was confronted with a traumatic revelation. Her seven-year-old granddaughter had told Yola that her grandfather had been molesting her since she was six. When Yola’s 26-year-old daughter found out what had been happening to her daughter, she broke down and revealed that the same had happened to her, for the past 21 years. Yola is devastated that the man she loved could have done this. To make matters worse, Yola found out that her 21-year-old daughter, Nikki was also traumatised by this as she had witnessed what Yola’s husband had been doing. It has been an extremely difficult time for Yola and her family and when the national lockdown came into place, Nikki had to go for another operation. Despite all the trauma and difficulties, the family have faced, Yola is determined to get through this difficult time and carry on.
LottoStar has contributed R30,000 to Yola so that she can buy a new tumble dryer for Nikki’s clothes and bedding and put some of it towards their rent and new art materials.
Last updated: 01/09/2020
Recipient 12
Michael Cilliers
LottoStar & GMA share the love in the form R50,000 with a family fighting to save their loved one’s life.
Michael is 19-years old and currently a student at the University of Cape Town. Just before the national lockdown was implemented in March, Michael went home to his stay with his family at their home in Randpark, at this stage, he was a healthy, happy young adult with a bright future ahead of him. During the lockdown, Michael discovered that he had a painful lump on his neck which his doctor removed and sent off for testing. Unfortunately for Michael and his family, the result was devastating. Doctors found that Michael had a very rare, aggressive form of cancer called a NUT Carcinoma. To make matters worse, doctors advised that Michael’s life expectancy was only six to seven months.
Since then, Michael has been for chemo and numerous treatments available in South Africa, these treatments were paid for by his medical aid. However, given the time limit in which Michael was given to live, his family decided to investigate alternative treatments abroad. Unfortunately, these treatments would not be covered by his medical aid. His sister, Marchelle, created a donation page, “Fighting for Mike”, in efforts to raise R500,000 which would possibly allow her brother every opportunity to find a treatment. Thus far, Marchelle has managed to raise R375,000 through their donation page, however, the family still require another R125,000 to have a shot at saving Michael’s life.
LottoStar has contributed R50,000 to Cilliers-family to assist them in their fight to save Michael.
Last updated: 02/09/2020
Recipient 13
The Rossouw family
LottoStar and GMA share the love with the Rossouw family in the form of R25,000.
The Rossouw family have experienced immense hardship during the national lockdown. Sarah Rossouw worked for Caxton Magazines and as a group class instructor at a gym for an extra income. When lockdown began, Sarah could no longer rely on her extra income as the gyms were closed. In April, Sarah’s husband, Austin was sadly retrenched from his job. Sarah continued to work long hours at home amid the financial stress that mounted. To make matters worse, Sarah suffered a mild stroke due to the immense pressure she was under and had to be hospitalised. Sadly, the bad news did not end there, in June, Caxton Magazines closed 11 of their 12 titles and Sarah was retrenched. In August, Austin was in hospital for tests when Sarah and their two daughters, Taegen (13) and Alyssa (7) were held up in their home during a robbery. The robbers took everything of value the family-owned as well as their sense of security in their home. The family were fortunate that they were not physically harmed and have since moved in with relatives. However, with the schools re-opening, Sarah realised that they could not afford their daughters’ school fees.
LottoStar sends some light and love to the Rossouw family with a contribution of R25,000 so that they can pay for their daughters’ school fees and buy basic living essentials.
Last updated: 03/09/2020
Recipient 14
Cobus Verwey
LottoStar and GMA share the love with Cobus and his family in the form of R25,000.
In the early hours of the morning of August the 20th, Cobus Verwey and his family’s home was destroyed in a fire. Cobus, his wife, in-laws, grandfather and grandmother all lived in this home. Cobus and his wife, Christine, were awoken in the early hours of the morning by a loud bang and terrifying screams. A fire had broken out in the part of their home where their parents were sleeping. Cobus, Christine and their father ran to where their grandparents were, at this time, the smoke was thick and everywhere. Christine got caught in the smoke which caused her to lose consciousness, fortunately, she was later revived. The family all managed to get out but sadly, their grandmother passed away from smoke inhalation. Their entire home was destroyed and the process of getting paid out by their insurance has been lengthy. The family are currently living in a shelter and have received donations of clothing, some essential appliances and furniture from the community. Despite the donations from their community, the family is in dire circumstances - Cobus lost his job in January and Christine cannot work due to ill health. Cobus is struggling to find a new job and he and his family cannot afford basic living and essentials.
LottoStar contributed R25,000 to help Cobus and his family rebuild their lives after the devastating fire and the loss of his grandmother.
Recipient 15
Lood de Jager
LottoStar and GMA share the love in the form of R25,000 with Lood and his family. 58-year old Lood de Jager survived an attack by armed robbers when he arrived home from the bank after withdrawing his entire salary in cash. The robbers parked behind him in the driveway and one of the men knocked on the window and demanded his car keys, which Lood handed over without a fight. They asked for the money too, which he handed over, at this moment, Lood's granddaughter and daughter, who live with him came to open the gate for him. Their dogs ran out to defend Lood and their 4-year old Doberman, Nikki, was shot by the robbers. Two more shots were fired by the robbers and one of the bullets went straight through his daughter’s trouser leg and into the wall. Eventually, the robbers made off with the cash and Lood’s phone.
Since the incident, their community members have come to the family’s aid. Nikki, their brave dog is recuperating at home after being treated for a bullet wound in her back by the local vet at no charge. Another community member has created a fundraising page with a target of R35,000, to help recoup Lood’s salary and assist with other expenses. They have already raised R11,000 through the fund. Lood’s wife passed away a year ago after a long battle with cancer, therefore, this money will not only help Lood with his family’s expenses, but it will go towards paying off medical bills from his wife’s cancer treatment.
LottoStar has contributed R25,000 to make up the fundraising target for Lood and his family.
