How SA tech startups plan to celebrate Mandela Day by reaching out to needy

With South Africa today honouring the legacy of former president Nelson Mandela, a number of SA tech startups have taken to celebrating Mandela Day by offering to reach out to those more needy.

Here then are how three startups have chosen to honour Madiba, or give up 67 minutes of their time in remembrance of the icon’s legacy.

Cape Town based logistics startup Pargo is running a challenge today to get clients to send food or toy parcels up to underprivileged children in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape.

A number of SA tech startups are celebrating Mandela Day today by offering to reach out to those more needy

“The goal is to send 67 gift parcels up to Mthatha and make a bunch of kids very happy,” the startup said in a blog post today, detailing where clients can drop parcels.

Meanwhile a team from Cape Town based fintech startup Yoco today donated books to professional fundraiser Community Chest.

Recruitment platform Giraffe — which claims to have placed thousands of jobseekers in full-time employment since it was founded by Anish Shivdasani and Shafin Anwarsha in 2015 — said today that it wants to provide 67 people with employment opportunities by Friday.

“Even though matching jobseekers with the right jobs is our day-to-day, we want to up our game for Mandela Day.

“We have set up interviews across the country and aim to place 67 jobseekers in full-time positions by Friday (we hope a lot more!),” the Johannesburg-based startup said in a blog post today.

In a post today SA events aggregator platform Vibescout detailed 10 ways South Africans can spend their Mandela Day — by for instance donating blood and offering to fix things at a local school or community centre — as well as events in your city that you can attend on this day.

Are you the founder of an SA tech startup? Tell us how you are celebrating Mandela Day at editor@memeburn.com.

Featured image: Durban graffiti mural of former president Nelson Mandela (oldeani0 via Pixabay)

Editor’s note (18 July 2018): We forgot to include aerial data-analytics startup Aerobotics. Fresh off landing a new funding deal, the startup is asking the public for support by making a donation to help sponsor 600 hours worth of coding for one girl, through Code for Cape Town, in association with 67give today. Aerobotics aims to raise R15 000. See here for more details.