Saffers fork out almost R80m for virtual strangers

A Gauteng girl who needed life-saving heart surgery in the US, a two-year-old needing a diabetic alert dog and internet sensation Vernon Koekemoer won the hearts of donors on South Africa’s biggest crowdfunding platform.

According to BackaBuddy’s annual statistics  released to TimesLIVE, the crowdfunding site raised R79m this year.

The Hope for Kyleigh campaign raised the highest amount, R4.7m, online and offline, for Kyleigh Kista from Benoni, Gauteng, to have a complex congenital heart defect corrected with a procedure at Boston Children’s Hospital in the US.

In March the three-year-old had a cardiac catheterisation when her arteries were ballooned, a stent was placed and the dual supply was fixed. The procedure was a success and Kyleigh recovered quickly.

Jenna-Mae van der Vyver of Krugersdorp benefited from the generosity of strangers when 67 donors donated at least R65,000 for her parents to acquire a diabetic alert dog for their daughter. 

South Africans dug deep into their pockets to pay for medical treatment and comprehensive care for Cassie Booyse, better known as Vernon Koekemoer or “SA’s Chuck Norris”, when they donated more than R100,000.

Koekemoer, who became an instant celebrity in 2008 after a photograph of him at a H2O Party went viral, was fighting for his life this year following three failed hip operations.

BackaBuddy spokesperson Zane Groenewald told TimesLIVE that through the generosity of donors locally and abroad, the crowdfunding platform raised more than R13-million this year compared to 2021.

“In 2022, more than R79m was raised on BackaBuddy, bringing the total funds raised on the platform since our inception to R378m. More than 13,500 campaigns were created on BackaBuddy in 2022. This represents an additional 2,000 campaigns compared to 2021, or a 17% increase year-on-year,” he said.

Groenewald said most campaigns were to fund medical procedures or events.

BackaBuddy CEO Patrick Schofield said with people significantly financially poorer after the pandemic, many are more aware of the struggles of others and are more understanding and more likely to give.