Families visiting Elephant Springs in Bela Bela and Shangri-La outside Modimolle during the Youth Day long weekend (16 June – 19 June 2016) are in for a nice surprise. All children will receive a little gift from South of Africa!
The goal of celebrating this important public holiday, says Managing Director Stef Venter, is to give back to the youth. Education is the most important gift a child can receive, and although many enjoy the holiday without putting much thought into the reason behind it, Venter says that this day was granted this special status by government for a reason. “Forty years ago the youth fought for their right to be educated, and today many take this for granted, while others still struggle to get the proper education they deserve,” he says, referring to recent events in the news where universities and campuses underwent riots from protesting learners.
Venter also says that “the gift of crayons and colouring books to our guests’ children is a small token of our appreciation of the youth of today. We’re investing in the little ones, from pre-schoolers to young primary school children for a reason as they will one day lead our beautiful country and also hopefully run and manage South of Africa of the future.”
The announcement came as a last minute surprise for guests who will be staying at the Elephant Springs Hotel & Cabanas in Bela Bela, as well as the Shangri-La Country Hotel & Spa outside Modimolle (which boasts a fantastic kiddies playroom).
The 5-star Abalone House & Spa in Paternoster will celebrated this special day by inviting local children to a morning of fun and games, giving back to the community that has stood by it since opening in 2010. “Even though Abalone House only caters to guests with children ages 12 and up, the children of Paternoster are part of our daily lives,” says manager Leigh Longden as she refers to the recent birth of waitron Nicole Phillips’ little girl, an employee of Abalone House.
MORE ABOUT YOUTH DAY
Youth Day on 16 June is a public holiday in South Africa and commemorates a protest which resulted in a wave of protests across the country known as the Soweto uprising of 1976. It came in response to multiple issues with the Bantu Education Act and the government edict in 1974 that Afrikaans be used as medium of instruction for certain subjects in black schools.