Sitting comfortably beside Santa Claus (Derick Beukes), Nadia Olivier beamed as he belted out his trademark “ho! ho! ho!” while handing out gifts to throngs of excited children at CR Swart Park on December 7.

“I’m so happy. Santa is here to bring smiles to a lot of children and it’s exciting to see the smiles on their faces. It feels good to give gifts to the children. It’s fun,” she said.

Dressed in all red, Olivier said the festive season means giving back to the community and spending time with her family.

“This is a season to give and spend time with family. I’m going to be enjoying time with my family and enjoying the holidays.”

Olivier was part of the lively Santa’s Route that travelled through Benoni, spreading festive cheer and delivering joy to hundreds of youngsters across the community.

The annual event, an initiative by the CPF sectors one and two to give back to the community, started at the CR Swart Park entrance, through Rynfield, Northmead, Airfield and Farrarmere before concluding the journey at Northmead Swimming Pool.

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The CPF’s Clive Patterson said after their crime-fighting efforts and successful partnership with the community throughout the year, they always strive to conclude by putting smiles people’s faces during the festive season.

“With all the crime levels we have, it’s imperative to see the children and adults smiling. It makes the effort we put in throughout the year worth it. This is one day we schedule for children. It makes everything we do for the community worth it,” he said.

Sunine Strydom, also from the CPF, said the event was a reminder to people to be joyous, cheerful and promote the spirit of community.

“Christmas in our community is a reminder that we need to hold onto hope, bring the festive cheer and that it’s not all doom and gloom as we’ve seen throughout the year with all the scenes we attended. Today is important to remind people of joy, cheer and community.”

Ward 27 Councillor Lornette Joseph lauded the CPF for its crime fighting efforts.

“The CPF and I have quite a long journey. This is their Christmas present for me by letting me be a part of this. It’s an amazing time. They know how much I love Christmas. We were involved in many drives like fundraisers, children awareness and Youth Day events.”

Sharing her earliest Christmas memory, Joseph said, “It was my brother telling me there’s no Santa because I got a bigger gift.”

Patterson urged the community to keep fighting and reporting crime.

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