Brand South Africa’s lively “Play Your Part” Road Show recently rocked the Durban University of Technology, with students lapping up the music and dance and the Road Show’s message that it is up to each and every individual to make South Africa a better place.
Curious, but maintaining their distance at first, the students were drawn in by the performers and the words of MC Sandile Zulu, with Brand South Africa giveaways sweetening the pot for the onlookers. To earn the giveaways, though, the students had to tell how they are playing their part each and every day.
Its objective is to lift the spirit of our nation by inspiring all South Africans to contribute to positive change, become involved and start doing – because a nation of people who care deeply for one another and the environment in which they live is good for everyone.
Play Your Part is a nationwide campaign created to inspire, empower and celebrate active citizenship in South Africa.As young adults, Zulu explained, the Play Your Part crew is able to interact well with school children and university students.
The performers included dancers from The Reptilez, Freeze Frame and Clinch Crew, who all performed with American Hip-Hop superstar Kanye West when he toured South Africa.
Zulu was a student at university, but had to drop out after his mother was retrenched. He instead signed on with brand activation company Zinto, which provides edutainment. “I found I had a passion for inspiring people,” he revealed with the energy that surely makes him inspiring.
His interactions on the Play Your Part Road Show have changed him and his future plans. “I want to go and study marketing, where I was studying civil engineering before. Sometimes they say you have to come off path to find where you are going,” he smiled.
DANCE AGAINST DRUGS
Dancing and the message of Play Your Part is the glue that keeps the Road Show crew together.
Brandon Grobler AKA B-Styles of Freeze Frame lives and breathes dance, but he is also the DJ for the Road Show. His background in community activism began with DAD – Dance against Drugs.
“The kind of music we play is entertaining music to get people to come together and enjoy the vibe, so they can hear the message we have,” he explained. That means also playing music that does not carry a negative message.
Grobler revealed that he had a personal reason for becoming involved with DAD. Having been brought up in community where drugs were rife, he was an errand boy, delivering drugs for dealers. When his mother passed away, he recognised that he had not spent enough time with her because of his involvement with drugs.
“For me, this is my way of giving back. The time that I wasted and lost then is the time I am using now to try and make a difference in other people’s lives. For me it is very personal.”
The response the Road Show has received has been “amazing”, Grobler shared. “We’ve received a lot of love and a lot of tweets from people trying to link up with us.” Facebook has been so inundated that a second profile needed to be opened.
When the conversation turned to dance, Grobler’s eyes lit up. Dance, he said, can be very influential. “It’s one way we are using to reach people and engage with them.
“It’s fulfilling to know that we are making a difference,” he added.
THE PLAY YOUR PART MESSAGE
Michelle Leigh Oppenshaw, the only female in the group, is part of Clinch Crew, which has been going for over 10 years, and is now into its fourth generation. Zinto, she said, pulled a hand selected team together for the Road Show that they thought would be elite. Judging from the reaction of the students, they hit the nail on the head.
Being the only woman among the men has been a lot of fun, she laughed. “Especially in the schools, the boys come out first and all the kids react to that. They expect the boys to be able to dance well. They always call me out last and the crowd wonders whether a girl can dance. Can she live up to the boys’ standard?”
And what is the reaction to her dancing? “They love it! They go crazy, so they always leave me for last.”
Dancing draws the youth in and helps to get the Play Your Part message across, Oppenshaw said. “That’s what they connect with now. Once they look at you and admire and respect something about you, they are open to hear what you are saying.”
Looking back on her experiences in taking the Play Your Part message to people in different communities around South Africa, Oppenshaw said: “I’ve learnt so much about the different cultures and how the struggles in the different communities are actually the same.
“I’ve been amazed to see how young kids have been thinking the way we want them to think, but they haven’t yet realised it.”