Newsroom

PERCCI - Derek Watts breakfast

Kevin Hustler, PERCCI CEO; Derek Watts and Beulah Lumkwana, Community Chest CEO.

The Chamber and Community Chest partnered in bringing Derek Watts down to the local business community to discuss his work at Carte Blanche and a few inspirational stories that have made an impact on his life. As a journalist and presenter for one of the country’s biggest investigative journalism shows, Watts has a passion for what he does and refers to it as an ‘addiction’. “Each day is different, and it drives me quite intensely,” he said. He rates meeting various inspiring people as one of the privileges he’s enjoyed through his 22 year career with the show.

Watts explained that the production of a 10 minute story on Carte Blanche, can take a few hundred man hours in planning and production. “No other programme has a higher budget per minute,” he added. “Seeing a response to a story is amazing. The proof to our viewership’s response, is our 20^th birthday campaign where we aimed to raise R20-million towards helping organisations that need assistance. At the moment, the amount is approximately R66-million.” This initiative towards helping the community is mirrored by the work done by Community Chest in Nelson Mandela Bay.

Established 57 years ago, the organisation supports approximately 80 organisations within the metro through various initiatives including skills development, job creation programmes and feeding schemes. Beulah Lumkwana, chief executive officer, encouraged business to show their support in keeping these projects running, and to increase their reach.