Meet the good Samaritans from Salt River who are spreading kindness during Ramadaan by handing out dates to hungry motorists stuck in traffic at boeka time.
The Date Drive was started last year and sees the team gather at the intersection of Liesbeeck Parkway and Station Road in Observatory each day before sunset to hand out dates and water to passing motorists.
One of the founders, Quaanit Bester, explains they came up with the idea when they saw Muslims sitting in the traffic during boeka time.
“It was very sad for us to see people sukkel in traffic when they should be at home. We can’t change the traffic but we can help those who are in the traffic,” he says.
Quaanit Bester hard at work distributing dates to motorists.
They collect donations of dadels, toothpicks and bottles of water which are handed to both Muslims and non-Muslim motorists.
“When we first did it, we found that many non-Muslim people were curious and wanted to know what the dates were for. We explained to them and opted to provide the dates to anyone who wanted one,” says Quaanit.
Each day they make up trays of lekker sweet dates and toothpicks are used to ensure that motorists can quickly grab the date of their choice before driving off, thus not causing traffic jams.
Yesterday, just after 5pm, due to robots not working, the intersection turned into a stop and go, and dates were quickly handed out to motorists in a hurry to get home.
“ Dankie! Yoh meneer, dis lekker,” a truck driver said as he grabbed his dates.
For this year’s date drive, the friends teamed up with Darul Anwar Islamic School in a bid to expand the campaign.
“We wanted the project to grow so we are very excited to have partnered with Darul Anwar. “Many of the dates were purchased with our own money and so donations of dates and water are always welcome,” adds Quaanit.
If you would like to make a donation, call Quaanit on 084 064 3033.