With the intention of leaving a trace for posterity (and helping media people find everything in one place), we posted an update yesterday with names of thirty five celebrities participating in this year’s charity fund-raising drive on bidorbuy. To our absolute delight, already this morning the list of celebrities rose to thirty seven, with good chances of increasing further before the close of  Celebrities for Charities auctions on Tuesday 30 June.

The newest additions to this star-studded event are Mike Bolhuis and Callie and Monique Strydom.

Mike Bolhuis is a PI which, of course, stands for Private Investigator. Most South Africans are as likely to be familiar with his name as they are likely to remember the legendary TV PI Magnum, to whom he is compared in the listing. And a lunch date with Mike Bolhuis promises to offer a more exciting glimpse into what goes into being a real-life PI than any TV show can hope to achieve.

Talking of TV -  if you think that survival-type reality show are gruelling, wait till you hear Callie and Monique Strydom recount their really real-life survival saga in a jungle, surrounded by hostile armed terrorists. Callie and Monique were among the group of hostages who were held for four months in a remote island in the Philippines in 2000. Their ordeal and subsequent release had the whole nation – and indeed the whole world – hold their collective breath in unbearable suspense.

It is really wonderful to see Mike Bolhuis, who in his “line of duty” must of necessity be exposed to some brutal sight, and Callie and Monique, who were forced to spend a part of their life in brutal conditions, donate their time for the charity they are endorsing, Matla a Bana, an organization that works closely with SA Police on eradicating child abuse.