On Mandela Day 2019 Jacaranda FM ran a campaign to support the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital, specifically to perform life-saving heart operations on underprivileged children.

The two-year old state of the art facility has all the latest technology and world-class medical practitioners to perform these delicate life-saving surgeries, however they need public funding for consumables to perform these operations on children from impoverished families.

For an average of R40 000,00, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital can heal a child’s heart. This is only a fraction of the cost in a private hospital, but still out of reach for the majority of South African families.

More than 11-thousand children are born with heart defects in South Africa every year. The theatre waiting lists at state facilities are endless and many of these children will not live long enough to await their turn. The waiting list for paediatric cardio surgery in Gauteng alone is over 300.

Jacaranda FM’s Breakfast show with Martin Bester set out on a Mandela Day mission, #GMAHeartsOfHope aimed to raise enough funds to enable the NMCH to mend at least 10 children’s hearts and in this way to give them, their families and communities hope for a better future.

Lourens De Jager, Regional HR Manager for MAXAM Southern Africa Region, heard this plea and knew right away that it was something MAXAM had to be involved in. Having had a child in his family who was born with a heart defect, he knew first-hand how traumatic this kind of condition is for the child and family alike; but this could only be amplified if you didn’t have the resources to give this child the life-saving operation they need.

The minute he got to the office, he made the pledge and the paid R50000 to save one child’s life. Shortly after that Jacaranda called Lourens and asked if he would be willing to talk on air, as this could encourage other companies to do the same.

Clearly this was the case, as after three hours on-air, that total shot up to 30 hearts - with a total of R1,2 million pledged!

But the giving didn’t stop ….