200 children benefit from Now or Never project

SHARPEVILLE. – It is a project that continues to change the lives of children of Emfuleni Local Municipality.

Every year, ArbiterDJ real name Ramokabai Sefatsa partners with Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) to give back to various communities in the municipality.

This year, the Now or Never community project donated 200 pairs of school shoes, stationery packs and bags to children of Phumas’bethane in Sharpeville.

During the handover ceremony at the Nkalimeng Leutsoa Library on Tuesday, parents accompanied their children to receive their gifts, a day before schools reopened for the 2020 academic year.

Speaking at the event, Councillor Penny Sengoatsi, Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Libraries and Information Services, and Parks and Cemeteries, commended ArbiterDJ for the helpful initiative.

“We are grateful to have a young man who cares about others and goes out of his way to help our children. His great work proves we can all contribute towards the future of our children,” she said.

Also present at the handover ceremony was the Assistant Manager of the department, Mary Makwetlane and Semakaleng Moeketsi.

The man of the moment, ArbiterDJ (real name Ramokabai Sefatsa), said learners who had worn-out school shoes or no school shoes at all, suffered from low self-esteem which affected their quality of life and academic performance.

“We realized many children needed school shoes, with many not even going to school because they didn’t have shoes. Those who made it to school without shoes were usually stripped of their dignity and laughed at by fellow learners. This is why we started this project four years ago, to help change this situation,” he explained.

Every year in December, ArbiterDJ hosts the Now or Never music festival in partnership with ELM to raise funds for charitable projects.

ArbiterDJ said they decided to bring the annual charity project to Phumasbethane after coming across a child who was wearing his mother’s boots in the streets of the informal settlement.

“We were planning and preparing for the 2019 edition of the Now or Never music show when we came across this young man and we realized there and then that we needed to help,”