Publications
Partners
DigsConnect's intention was "always good" when it planned to give away R10 000 in R10 notes at the University of Cape Town (UCT) on Thursday afternoon, co-founder Greg Keal has said.
This after the event caused something resembling a stampede on UCT's Jammie Plaza, when hundreds of students clashed to get their hands on one of the many R10 notes distributed in the air.
Keal previously told Business Insider South Africa that they were overwhelmed by student's response when the campaign distributed R2 000 in R10 notes on Wednesday.
READ: A Cape Town startup will drop R10 000 in R10 notes from a roof in a crazy publicity stunt
On Instagram on Thursday, students shared how they had to fight to get the money, while others joked that they chipped their nails and were bruised in the process.
While some criticised the move on social media as distasteful, Keal said there would always be people who have negative things to say.
"But the good has far outweighed the bad," Keal said.
"[The event] was a big success. Lots of positive responses on social media - [the] plaza was packed."
DigsConnect, which describes itself as "the Airbnb of student accommodation", already distributed R3 000 in R10 notes at UCT the past week to say "thank you" to clients.
The student rental, co-founded by 23-year-old former UCT students Keal, Brendan Ardagh, and Alexandria Procter, achieved 2 000 listings in less than a year.
It previously planned to drop R10 000 from a building at UCT, but moved it to the plaza on the university's recommendation.
On Twitter, writer Georgina Guedes criticised DigsConnect for their promotional campaign.
"In a country with endemic poverty and university students who struggle to feed themselves, making them scramble for money is in extremely poor taste," Guedes tweeted.
"There are about 4 325 better things you could do with R10 000."
Meanwhile, Keal said: "I think the main response was shock that we were literally handing free money out."
He hoped giving away R10 000 on Thursday would push up unique browsers and listings on DigsConnect's website.
The startup is also planning to work with sales website OneDayOnly for giveaways the next couple of weeks.
"Right now, our biggest focus is growth," Keal said. "More listings, more users, more interactions."
