Hanover Park crime fighters have launched an after-school project to keep young girls in their community safe.
Concerned about the recent spate of child killings, rapes and kidnappings, the group of parents who make up the Ryston Road Neighbourhood Watch have been hosting classes with meisies each day where they get assistance with school work and other educational programmes.
Shanaaz Scholtz of the neighbourhood watch says for the past three weeks, the girls aged between five and 15 have been attending the classes, held by the group of 35 volunteers, every day after school.
“The programme culminated in the Miss Ryston Road pageant which was held at the Lansport Community Centre on Saturday,” says Shanaaz.
“Nearly 300 residents attended the event which also served as a fundraiser for the neighbourhood watch.
“The project is hosted to inspire hope but also to shine a light on what is happening with the child killings on the Cape Flats.
“We want to show the girls that there are people in their community who care about their safety and they can come to us.”
A total of 25 girls took part in the pageant, which included a motivational talk by Keegan-Lee “Apple” Croy of Hanover Park, the former Miss Pre-teen South Africa, who also did the crowning.
“There were three age categories and the girls modelled three different outfits which included casual, traditional and evening wear,” says Shanaaz.
HOPE: Shanaaz Scholtz with “Apple” Croy
“Taskia Johnson was crowned as the queen along with Amaarah Williams who was named First Princess and Kieyarah Coetzee who is Second Princess.
“We would really like to thank all the sponsors and the community for their support.”