WATCH: Dance-off on day off
CHALLENGE: Heritage Day celebration in Eastridge kicked off with the Jerusalema dance
There was a festive mood in Mitchells Plain yesterday where Eastridge residents celebrated Heritage Day.
Mense took on the Jerusalema dance challenge dressed in an array of colourful traditional clothes.
Families brought their camp chairs, gazebos and braai stands and the dance groups represented residents from five different streets in the area.
The large groups of young and old residents took turns to jol to the beat on the veldjie in the area as the music klopped
Na-eema Jabaar says they started organising the event about two weeks ago and everyone had a chance to learn the moves.
“When I came up with the idea, I posted it on Facebook to see how the community would react and everyone loved it so we decided to form an organising committee.
“The idea was basically to have the community together, however the challenge is not a competition, all the groups are winners,” she says.
She says it was also a way of taking kids away from the bad things in their community.
“There is a lot of crime here and some youngsters get involved in it because there are no events such as this to entertain them,” says Na-eema.
“The people came out in their numbers, we did not expect this and this will not be the last such event.”
Resident Cherylene Solomons says she loves what is happening in their community.
“This is a very good idea as you can see all our children are here instead of out there in the streets. I came to show my support because this will go a long way in getting children off crime and drugs,” she says.
Ward 79 councillor Solomon Philander says he is proud of the community for organising the event: “They planned this on their own without any help from the government or the City. We have been indoors for a while.
“This is good for the community, because it is uniting us.”