Santa Claus will be a popular visitor to the streets of Roodepoort this month. The first stop on his Roodepoort list was the Roodekrans Neighbourhood Watch (RNW) headquarters on Saturday, 28 November.
Ridgegate Centre on Wilde Amandel Avenue was transformed into a winter wonderland as RNW welcomed the arrival of their visitor from the North Pole. Accompanied by two elves, the jolly man in the red suit treated the neighbourhood’s families to a healthy dose of festive season cheer as bewildered children received an opportunity to deliver their Christmas wish lists to the man in person.
Most of the centre’s tenants joined in the fun as patrollers and community members had the taste buds singing with their delicious boerewors rolls. RNW’s response vehicle, EV1, was almost unrecognisable disguised as a sleigh, and to take advantage of the rare gift of Santa’s presence, market vendors were invited to set up their stalls free of charge.
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RNW Chairman Andreas Oberlechtner had a special message for all involved, saying, “2020 has been a tough year with many people suffering personal and financial losses as a direct consequence of the Covid-19 crisis. The open-air nature of the market enabled us to inject a community spirit back into our residents whilst keeping within the Covid regulations to minimise the risk of exposure and possible cross-infection.
“It was gratifying to see the amount of people that came to the market, and instead of leaving after a cursory examination of the stalls, decided to stay to enjoy the atmosphere. It was an outstanding team effort by the RNW team that organised this event, making it such a resounding success.”
