A group of fashionistas, otherwise known as Amapantsula in townships, who identify themselves as the Brotherhood Social Club, have, from their own pockets, bought 39 pairs of school shoes and more than 50 packs of sanitary pads, which they donated to the Zimbane Primary School in Mthatha on March 4.
The group, who are identifiable by their designer clothes and shoes, which they wear daily, say the donation of the items to the school was part of their social intervention programmes.
“In townships, the word, Amapantsula, is associated with criminality and people who are of no good to their communities, but ours is made up of men of different ages who strive to be good examples to young boys, who will be men one day.”
“We are a group of 26 members currently and are part of changing the negative perception of Amapantsula. We do various social intervention programmes, including making sure that young people are in schools and stay away from social ills like substance abuse,” says Brotherhood Social Club interim secretary, Yanda Makhongwana.
Makhongwana said, as part of their programmes aimed at championing education, they had visited the school sometime last year, which was when they were alerted to the needs of some of the learners who were struggling without school shoes, while young girls were struggling without sanitary pads, and they immediately decided that they needed to intervene.
Makhongwana said their aim was to find sponsors so they could run more social intervention programmes in the future.
