Sanlam to release 'One Rand man' to schools

The documentary covers the journey of the 'One Rand Man', a 32-year-old architectural consultant from Cape Town, who lived entirely on R1 coins in National Savings Month, July 2014. The 'webisodes' were edited into five documentary episodes and hosted online. Conversations around savings took off, and by the end of July 2014, the webisodes had notched up over 900 000 views.

Requests for more information

Just over six months later, the impact of this remarkable project is still being felt, with educational institutions requesting permission to use the series during lectures underscoring the success of the social experiment.

"We do not have a savings culture in this country, so just talking about the importance of saving was not going to have an impact. We needed to hold up a mirror if we really wanted to make South Africans stop and think about the way we spend," explains Yegs Ramiah, chief executive Sanlam Brand.

"This unique experiment taught us that in a world of plastic and credit where money is easy come, easy go, there is a need to reconnect with our cash. To touch it, feel it and save it! We managed to illustrate the importance of saving in a novel way, changing the way people think and hopefully behave, empowering them to be able to live their best possible lives. Because the reality is that the relationship we have with money today will determine the kind of life we have in the future," he concludes.

The 20-minute One Rand Man documentary can be viewed here: