The Big Issue continues to create jobs

      After five years of success in Cape Town, The Big Issue magazine has begun to show its bright covers and interesting content on the streets of Johannesburg.

      The Big Issue, founded in December 1996, is a Non-Governmental Organisation focused on promoting social opportunity and upliftment and creating employment for destitute members of society. Part of the International Network of Street Papers and affiliated to The Big Issue UK, the organisation follows the model of street newspapers around the world. It was launched in Johannesburg in April 2001.

      Although a non-profit company, The Big Issue works as a ‘social business’ along business principles. The monthly publication is produced by professionals and includes articles on key social and community issues as well as entertainment features, music and book reviews and celebrity columns.

      The primary workforce behind the initiative and the main beneficiaries of the project are, however, the homeless people who sell the magazine on the streets. Profits generated by sales and advertising are pumped directly back into social initiative programmes designed to assist vendors in improving the quality of their lives.

      The principle aim is to provide unemployed and destitute people with employment and a sense of hope and self-sufficiency. In five years over 7000 jobs have been created and countless lives transformed. Over R3.5 million has gone directly into the hands of the unemployed.

      The Big Issue runs on the idea that giving people a hand-up in life is better in long-term development than merely giving them a once-off handout. Those in need are encouraged to approach The Big Issue and become vendors of the monthly magazine, which focuses on both local and international general-interest stories.

      The magazines are sold for a cover-price of R8.95, of which R4.40 goes directly to the vendor. Apart from providing a means of income for many people, the organization also assists the vendors in other spheres of their lives through its development arm, The Big Step. Counselling services, education and training, accommodation and job assistance and alcohol and substance abuse support groups are just a few areas in which The Big Issue is involved. Support in these areas is always needed.

      Johannesburg has its own street publication, Homeless Talk, which is produced and sold exclusively by the homeless. With the arrival of another street magazine a rivalry between the two could have been a problem. Because of the sheer magnitude of the city and its problems, however, the publications do not feel threatened by each other.

      In the densely populated urban hubs of Cape Town and Johannesburg there exists an immense amount of poverty, unemployment and homelessness. Both publications believe that by providing people with something to do during the day and a sense of purpose in their lives, a positive change can be made to this seemingly unending cycle. Their common goal to alleviate these social issues ensures that they are able to operate side by side harmoniously.

      The success of The Big Issue both in Cape Town and in the UK, where it is one of the leading weekly publications selling 285 000 copies a week, is hoped to be repeated in Johannesburg. Staff of TBI are actively networking with other NGO’s, church organizations and government departments to inform them of the project and its real opportunities for employment and social support.

      Vendors in both cities are needed to sell the magazine and limitless employment opportunities are available. Through advertising, page sponsorship, donations and pro bono services, companies are also encouraged to support this valuable and dynamic social project.

For more information on The Big Issue, contact:

Shane Halpin, Managing Director

Tel: (021) 461 6690 Fax: (021) 461 6662

In Johannesburg: Errol Theophilus, Operations Manager

Tel: (011) 838 9066