Defy cheats X Foundation

It pains me to pen this to make public my disappointment at DEFY South Africa (the home appliances manufacturer) and Condriac Digital Communications for using the X Foundation to front. In the eight years that I have educated Umlazi youth from financially struggling families through the X Foundation using my funds and donations from various friends of the organisation, I never once thought a giant corporate would approach us, make false promises and proceed to use our name to misrepresent their contribution towards education in our country.

This is how it happened; 20 March 2018 - Condriac Digital Communications requests to partner with the X Foundation in a DEFY Future Legends Campaign due to DEFY preferring to have the CSI initiative channelled through and Non-Profit Organisation. - We agree to co-manage the project and send the required documentation to Condriac Digital Communications. - DEFY releases the Future Legends Campaign to Condriac Digital Communications.

A week later - The X Foundation requests a meeting to finalise the project implementation plan. - Our meeting request is ignored. - Attempts to contact Condriac Digital Communications are unsuccessful.

20 July 2018 - I contact DEFY’s marketing manager, Charisse Erwee to advise her of the frustrations. - She requests a meeting with the X Foundation which she fails to confirm. - Condriac Digital Communications immediately contacts us (the X Foundation) to request a meeting. - The meeting is held. - Condriac Digital Communications apologises, promises to make a donation to the X Foundation on the basis that they mislead the organisation. - They express frustrations with DEFY to justify failure to fulfil their obligations to the X Foundation. - They further advise us that DEFY is no longer making the Future Leaders Campaign a CSI project but are using it as a marketing campaign and the budget has been decreased. - Condriac Digital Communications undertakes to make a donation to the X Foundation on the 29th of August 2018. - Again, before and after August 29th, Condriac are unreachable.

26 September 2018 (6 months after initial contact) - Condriac Digital Communications contacts the X Foundation to advise us that they will exclude us from the Future Legends Campaign due to budgetary constraints, furthermore, they will not donate to the X Foundation as they had promised.

What upsets me the most is not just the many broken promises at every stage of this process but DEFY South Africa and Condriac Digital Communications’ obvious disregard for poor children’s education.