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SURVIVOR SA - NEWS AND VIEWS
Channel grills celeb contestant over charity
TONIGHT - TV & RADIO NEWS
M-Net is investigating all the charities nominated by competitors after this newspaper's exposé on Ithuteng Trust
January 30, 2010
By Candice Bailey
Gospel rapper Jub Jub may have walked out of the Survivor SA challenge, but broadcaster M-Net is still far from done with him, or the controversial charity he chose.
Following the Saturday Star's exposé last week, the pay channel has asked for the official registration and tax documentation of Ithuteng Trust, before it hands it any donations from the S urvivor SA Santa Carolina series.
The charity, along with those of other voted-off contestants, is due to get an undisclosed amount of money, based on the time each contestant has spent on the island.
The celebrity version of the popular Survivor reality TV show, shot on the Mozambican island of Santa Carolina, was launched on M-Net two weeks ago.
Each of the 18 celebrity contestants has chosen a charity to which half their R1 million winnings would be donated should they win. But now it emerges that because they were already celebrities, each contestant will receive a daily stipend for taking part to offset lost earnings during their time on the island.
Last week the Saturday Star revealed that Jub Jub, whose real name is Molemo Maarohanye, had elected Ithuteng Trust, the beleaguered school directed by his mother, Mama Jackey Maarohanye, as his charity of choice if he won the challenge - even though it was nothing more than a shell.
The school is defunct, its grounds vandalised by the community, following allegations that Maarohanye had mismanaged funds and used the pupils to get international funding.
Funders included talkshow queen Oprah Winfrey, who gave more than R7 million after a feature on the school was flighted on the American TV channel HBO.
But then, in 2007, Maarohanye was convicted of kidnapping a former student.
Rapper Jub Jub became the second celebrity contestant to walk off the Survivor series this week, claiming his genitals had become infected by a rash which had turned septic.
He told the show he was concerned that his penis would fall off, and he did not want to risk his manhood and become a "rotten cabbage".
Four contestants are now off the show. Last week, model Christina Storm walked off the island and comedian actor Garth Collins was voted off. This week, TV presenter and former Miss South Africa Cindy Nell was voted off at tribal council.
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But despite Jub Jub's departure, the investigation into the charity continues, and the controversy has prompted M-Net to investigate all the celebrities' chosen charities.
The channel has also had a meeting with Jub Jub over his charity choice.
Spokeswoman Lani Lombard this week said they were still investigating.
"M-Net's corporate governance demands proof of the registration and tax requirements of the charity before donations are approved. We are in the process of acquiring the necessary documentation from all the charities, and if there are any other issues during this process, we will ask the relevant contestant to choose a different charity."
According to M-Net, the Ithuteng Trust is operating in Orlando, Soweto.
But when the Saturday Star visited the organisation in Klipspruit last week, the building was dilapidated.
The community was using the grounds as a thoroughfare. The roof had been torn off, the building burnt, and residents were stripping what was left of the walls.
Last week Jub Jub denied the school was defunct.
"I don't think I would have mentioned it if it didn't exist," he told the Saturday Star, adding: "My mom is still helping the students. It is still operating from an undisclosed location. I can't disclose where it is, because there are things going on in the community."
It is understood that the school may be operating from the Vaal area.
Jackey's attorney, Ike Motloung, this week refused to give the newspaper access to his client, saying he did not wish to speak after the initial article.
Lombard said Jub Jub would tell the media exactly how his donation was used.
"Jub Jub has indicated that it is very important for him that needy people benefit from any donation he receives through Survivor," she said.
She said they were also giving the voted-off contestants the opportunity to raise awareness for their charities.
"It's imperative for M-Net that all donations go to a worthy cause, and therefore we are checking the legitimacy of all the chosen charities," she said.
The amounts given to the charities will be revealed only in April, when the show ends.
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