So once again with bated breath I nervously dial my hopeful sponsor, hoping to hear that my proposal has been accepted. The all too familiar voice on the other end of the line, who is potentially my new best friend, says that all is in order except that I now need to prove that I’m Black economic empowerment (BEE) exempt so that I can be listed onto their supplier list. I presume this means that the budget committee are in agreement with the sponsorship request. I’m told that they are but I have to prove my BEE status.
To be BEE exempt, a business needs to turn over less than 5 Million ZAR (South African Rand). I wonder to myseLf how many authors in South Africa actually exceed that turnover. I mean, hey, would I actually be after sponsorship if I was selling that many books a year. But still, I forward a letter of confirmation from my accountatnt stating that I definitely turn over less than the mentioned amount. I now patiently wait for the order.
The good news is that I’ve just received a report from Mixit showing that 2743 chapters of The Power that’s Ours
have been downloaded during the month of July. The youth are reading which is good news indeed.