Engage with us to change the future of South Africa

A message from the heart. * Feel free to share *

Gilbert Martin, Founder, We are South Africans

In brief: This is the plan to get this movement started and to make it a regular household name in every community in South Africa. It is a lengthy read but explains how to get involved and what it is we do.

Take the time to read it.

Everyone always asks me why I am asking for money on weekends or bothering partners to help with movement on their off time. It’s simple, poor people eat on weekends too and it doesn't help us putting blame on them for the situation they are in. Most are in the position they are in because of COVID and mainly because of our economy tanking due to our government. By ignoring the plight of the poor, we are dooming ourselves to a future of disaster and possibly war.

We are no longer caring about who caused the problem. We are caring about lifting the people up, giving them a gap to figure things out and to stop stressing about the lack of food. Also at the same time, we are launching efforts to help farmers and build sustainable communities that will create ACTUAL jobs so we do not have to only give, but rather uplift. This sustainability involves social justice, rebuilding communities and creating economic opportunities.

Yes, these are all the government's problems to solve, but frankly, they cannot. The will is simply not there and their offers for help are nothing more than side talk shows. The money is gone as well, so it does not help to complain. Justice will prevail in the end but we need to act because hunger makes people do bad things and hunger also leads to death and the majority of South Africans will starve to death and possibly resort to violence and theft.

We all cannot sit by and just do nothing, then we are as guilty as our government for turning a blind eye to the needs of the people. We are a nation of givers; this I believe is what has kept us safe from the type of destruction we have all witnessed in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. When you stop giving and when you stop helping, you stop building. Then livelihoods disappear and violence soon follows. History is full of these examples.

Don't judge either because it could very well be you, and don't be fooled and say this problem only exists in South Africa. It happens the world over. Our systems, like us, are fragile and fallible. It requires great courage, utter madness, rebellious hope and living with reckless abandon to truly make a change.

Many are already helping other organizations and I want to be clear; we are NOT competing with them. We are helping our members and anyone that asks us, when and if we are able. We do say no too. We are partnered and are always available to partner with other organizations that are helping. There are many such organizations, but they are NOT given the light of day because they are either too busy helping on the ground, or the media is not giving them the visibility they need. Some are also silenced by people who always question everything rather than sometimes just trusting when you see action.

When you help us, we coordinate with partners to get the best prices and help as many as we can with what is given. It is easier to negotiate with R1000.00 than it is to negotiate a better price with R10. Businesses must make profits too and many give without concerning themselves about profit because they are good people. We need to stop saying and deciding that they are not helping when in fact they are.

When we all decide we can’t help or it's too tough, that is when it only gets harder to make a difference. When you give, believe me, it comes back to you.

So, when you donate whatever you can from as little as R10, you are allowing us to engage, plead and manage a collective bargain. It is better than you buying one thing and giving it (which is also okay, but we get greater prices because of volume) and our request is for you to remember that we can do more because we are and have always been doing it, even when there were times when we ourselves could not.

Every food parcel we give is intended to help on the baseline of nutrition and sustenance to prevent hunger. In short, it’s not a 5-star meal, but it is WAY better than the food parcel and ration you would receive from the UN or Red Cross during an absolute catastrophe.

As an example, our food parcel of R150, which is our #WeActForChange parcel from Shoprite South Africa (pictured), contains the following:

1x Spinach Bunch

1x 1kg Choice Carrots Large

1x Cabbage

1x 1kg Potato Bag

1x 500g IMBO Red Lentils Pack

1x 500g Imbo Split Peas Pack

1x 1kg Snowflake Cake Flour Bag

1x 2,5kg IWISA No1 No1 Super Maize Meal Paper Pack

1x 750ml Housebrand Sunflower Cooking Oil Bottle

1x 500g Spekko Rice or Tastic Rice Pack

1x 400g Checkers Housebrand Tomato Pilchards Can

1x 500g Imbo Samp & Beans Pack

1x 1L Housebrand UHT Full Cream Milk

If you have to buy these yourselves, you would count your fuel, time and also the actual price of the goods closer to R250-R300. The same goes for our larger parcel of R250.00 which is closer to R500.00 and contains

1 x 1kg Snowflake Cake Flour

1 x 1kg Huletts SA Sugar White

1 x 2,5kg Iwisa Maize Meal Super Paper

1 x Checkers Housebrand Cooking Oil Sunflower 750ml

1 x 500g Spekko Rice

1 x 400g Checkers Housebrand Pilchards Tomato

1 x 500g Ritebrand Macaroni

3 x 73g Maggi South Africa 2 Min Noodles

2 x 125g Bakers Biscuits Topper Biscuits

1 x 1L Fusion Dairy Blend D Blend Concentrate

1 x 1kg Checkers Housebrand Porridge Oats

1 x box Knorr Soup C-A-S Reg Chicken Noodle (4s)

1 x 410g Checkers Housebrand Beans in Tomato Sauce

1 x 500g Imbo Samp & Beans Pack

1 x 1kg Checkers Housebrand Salt

1 x Glen Tea 26's Pouch

1 x 80g Checkers Housebrand Jelly Strawberry

2 x 23g Beacon Treats Wonderbar

This contains treats for children too and should last a family of four for a month on a ration basis. Sometimes, as we did with the food drive, we are blessed with larger quantities and larger items, such as the 10kg maize which lasts for a month or two. While we would like to take everyone to Nando's and Spur Steak Ranches, it is not always possible, but we can, through our foundation make it possible to allow people to do this themselves when we start rebuilding these communities.

We also need to deliver these items and this is where our partners become key in getting help to the farmers and families in distress. Where they cannot, we use our own budget through your generous donations.

We need your trust and we need your help. Again, we iterate it over and over again, we are not a Facebook Page, a group or a bunch of “do-gooders”. We are the exact opposite, a business and a charitable REGISTERED non-profit company; two entities.

When there is a fight, we are the ones in the front; we are the ones not mincing our words and saying things plainly without fear. Most of the time with reckless abandon and we have helped our nation tremendously on many levels, not for recognition but because this is our country and our home too.

These efforts have been backed and driven by you and are not influenced by any outside parties unless you believe in God as we do. Then you will understand the main driving force behind what we do and why we have been around for 14 years and did so much with so little.

Right now, our greatest need, apart from food, is to reach the farmers and bring them hope and assistance to keep them and subsequently countless thousands of people in smaller communities alive while the pandemic, drought, fire and insects destroy and decimate livelihoods. While it is a huge leap of faith, we are aiming to bring hope and help them. We must remember that without them we would be another basket case in need of humanitarian assistance from the likes of the UN and Red Cross. So, on this one, I am pleading and BEGGING ALL South Africans to remember that even though these farmers themselves face violence, death and political rubbish daily, they are ALWAYS the FIRST to help other families in need.

Today, after your braai, when you sit and actually read what we wrote then remember this: No single man can change the world but if we all work together, we very easily can.

I say this again, the past few years have only been the beginning. There is much more coming, and much more will come long after we have left this world. What we are building is something that will last for generations, long after we have gone.

I ask again, are you in?

Have you spoken to your boss about getting your company involved? (And hey, we don't just want money. Time, fuel, effort, products, raffles to your clients and anything you can think of is welcome and will help us too). If you own your business, have you thought about what partnering with us will mean to you, no matter how small you are?

We are the largest movement of South Africans where at our peak we are reaching 11 million people in this country (excluding people abroad). So, email us at [email protected] and share your idea, how you can help, and let us engage.

For the most, if you read our posts and know what we are about, you may know someone that can help us. Simply share, engage and notify someone you know who may want to get involved, will help us to undo the damage poverty, our government and corrupt greedy people are doing to our country.

I ask again, are you in?

We are looking for community leaders that will be afforded opportunities to make money, helping us connect communities and also acting on a volunteer basis to be our representatives in their towns, villages and cities. Email us at [email protected] and let us know that you want to be our representative in your community.

Donate, donate, donate, dig deep and let us show the world what the collective and majority of South Africans stand for. That we stand for each other, that we stand for a better future for us, our families, our friends and every single person that has come to join this South African family, and calls South Africa their home.