Meet the van der Walts: Caxton introduces new content pillars showcasing local family

Caxton Publishers will be introducing five new content categories to its websites, and Express will be unveiling each one through the lives of the Van der Walt family from Kempton Park.

Hannes van der Walt is Kempton Park’s top 10 contender for the 2020 Mr SA title. He is married to his best friend Natasha. They both smile spontaniously when they speak about their daughter Leané (16) and son Jovan (12). The content pillars; lifestyle, kids, motoring, property and finances will be highlighted as we showcase the Van der Walt family’s day-to-day lives during the next few weeks.

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Lifestyle
Express paid a visit to their classically quant casa in Glen Marais to get a taste of their lifestyle and how their family dynamic surrounding Covid-19, community work, cooking, outdoor activities and holiday styles go together.

Covid-19
In the light of Hannes’s Mr SA campaign, his family has engaged with him in this pursuit – and Covid-19 didn’t slow them down.

“When lockdown started, we created a schedule for the family to stay in a daily routine that was something like: 8am the children clean their rooms, 9am homework had to be facilitated, games and recreational activities were allowed at 11am if the children completed their tasks, 1pm was lunch time, homework again at 2pm, family home exercises at 3pm, dinner time at 5pm, followed by 6pm family quality time in front of the TV,” Hannes explained.

Also read: WATCH: Mr SA finalist, Hannes vd Walt, updates on #Shineon

Ideal family meal
Natasha gleefully indicated that she’s the main cook.
“But when dessert is concerned, dad is hands down the chef,” she said.

“We try to eat healthy, which mainly include chicken, fish, any white meat served with a veg. But when we want to go wild, our ideal family meal would be Flame Diner’s ribs and chips,” Natasha added.

The outdoors
Their outdoor activities agenda generally aims to join a parkrun.

Hannes explained: “We are super excited to get in the car with our jogging gear to go on a parkrun. This way we as family get our exercise in and at the same time spend quality time together. Our medical aid gives us great healthy benefit points for taking part in such activities.”
The van der Walts unanimously agreed they are happy campers.

“We love the outdoors, so camping with our caravan would be our number one weekend away.
“With the whole family we do the camping thing, but when it’s me and Natasha alone, luxury lodging is definitely the ultimate,” dad said.

Also read: Kemptonian reaches Mr SA Top 10

Natasha said they enjoy ATKV Buffelspoort since it caters for the whole family. She added: “The Kruger Park and Margate would be our favourite destinations in South Africa.”

Community work
With tremendous help from his wife, Hannes said they started with community work in 2016 by bringing relief to people on the streets.

“During lockdown we felt the urge to matter and to bring change and relief in these challenging times. We started providing food parcels for families in the surrounding areas of Kempton Park, with volunteers from all over town.

“From that momentum, we started our own NPO – ShineOn Projects – where we tackle different aspects where there is a need to ShineOn.”

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Family activities
Leané and Jovan said their favourite family games include Rummicub and UNO.
“We would play with sweets and with each round we all put in pieces of candy in the pot like with poker and the winner gets everyone’s stake,” they explained.

The family said they enjoy shopping together for necessities, home décor and other essentials.
“Leané loves shopping when it’s for her closet,” Natasha joked.

Are they a DIY family?
“Once we feel the house could use some new touches or elements, we enjoy decorating, painting the walls and gardening,” Natasha said.

Keep an eye on Kempton Express to follow the van der Walts in each of these categories as a new one will be introduced in the coming weeks.