Date a celebrity for charity

Place a bid on your favourite celebrity and go on a lunch date with them - and aid charity.

Online auctioneers bidorbuy have 29 local celebrities ready to auction off their time to the highest bidders.

The online auction opened on Monday, coinciding with Nelson Mandela's birthday, and runs until July 28. The public figures involved in the auction, including comedian Nik Rabinowitz, singer Jesse Clegg and TV personalities Jeannie D and Jo-Ann Strauss, intend to raise money for charity.

According to bidorbuy CEO Jaco Jonker, the auction, a yearly event that started in 2009, has received outstanding response. When it started, 30 celebrities auctioned their time and raised more than R56000 for 10 charities.

"We're thrilled that the Celebrities for Charities event is becoming a tradition," said Jonker.

"This is the third successive year that bidorbuyers will be bidding for the privilege of meeting a celebrity and for the satisfaction of helping a worthy cause.

"This year, we have a brilliant line-up of celebrities."

The online auction starts from R1 and goes up to whatever people will pay for the experience of having a private meal with their favourite celebrity.

Singer Heinz Winckler and his wife Alette-Johanni and legendary cricketer Clive Rice are up for grabs in the auction, and socialite and businesswoman Edith Venter is also expected to bring in the bucks. A lunch date with the gorgeous musician Louise Carver should trump comedian Barry Hilton in the bidding stakes, but you never know who fans would like to spend their time with.

Lunch with a model, or get a golf lesson from a pro. Go on a trek or a helicopter flip. Each experience, promised Jonker, will be unforgettable. Charities, including Johannesburg Child Welfare, the Topsy Foundation and Reach for a Dream, to name a few, will acknowledge all participants.

For more info, click here.