5FM DJ uses her award to pay for woman’s studies
JOHANNESBURG radio DJ Sureshnie Rider is no stranger to doing good deeds — but this time she topped it all when she made a young woman’s dream of completing her studies a reality.
Rider, who is the host and presenter of the award-winning
5FM Top 40 weekend show and a news reader on Rob Forbes’s show on weekdays, said she was committed to helping young people.
“I won R100 000 in the MTN Y’ello Rose award [which recognises people who are role models and who give back to their communities] two years ago and decided to donate it.
“I waited for the right opportunity or project to come along, and when I heard about Rhodes University BSc student Gugu Mahlangu’s story earlier this year, I said I wanted to be a part of making her dream come true by helping her to complete her studies,” she said.
Rider heard about Mahlangu from Mum Nomsa of Agang Sechaba, an organisation that helps local women to achieve their goals. Mahlangu was being helped by the organisation, said Rider.
She donated R90 000 to Mahlangu’s tuition and R10 000 to the Chatsworth Youth Centre in Durban.
She teamed up with 5FM’s corporate social development project, Youngblood 5, and came up with a further R10 000 in equipment for the centre.
“With this donation I want to leave a legacy. Gugu has struggled financially all her life — I want to make her life a little easier. When she graduates and gets a job, she will financially assist a new student to follow their dream. This way our donation lives on,” she said.
Mahlangu said Rider had given her the opportunity to become an educated member of society. “She has allowed me to work towards my dream and that is the biggest gift any human being can give to another.”
Clive Pillay, programmes coordinator for the Chatsworth Youth Centre, said the donation was most welcome because the youth centre is a community project that relies on funds from well-wishers.
“Sureshnie contacted us and asked how she could help us. We told her what we desperately needed and she made it possible. We were given much needed garden equipment that will help us better sustain the youth centre,” said Pillay.
Rider has also started a campaign against crime called Blow the Whistle, which is endorsed by the SABC. The project was launched last week. For more information, visit whistle.co.za