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Evita Bezuidenhout and other ‘Desperate First Ladies’
– Debbie Myburg, thesouthafrican.com, 27 November 2011
Last Wednesday night, Rhodes University Trust (UK) hosted an evening which saw the skilful collaboration of two brilliant charities come together to host an evening of pure delight for South Africans in London. Guest star, Pieter-Dirk Uys performed his hilarious new and exclusive show entitled ‘Desperate First Ladies’ and as always, his various costumes and characters left the audience squealing with laughter, most especially when legendary Evita Bezuidenhout took to the stage!
You know the evening is going to be a success when the secret guest speaker introducing the evening’s event ends up being none other than our ex-President FW de Klerk.
He fully supports and is passionate about both causes and expressed his gratitude in working with them saying “It’s a privilege working with Pieter-Dirk Uys and the Rhodes University Trust. It’s a night to celebrate two brilliant causes that celebrate hope”. In fact it’s fitting, as Pieter himself holds an honorary doctorate from Rhodes, although he claims he “still can’t spell so Rhodes University must have liked my legs!”
The occasion also doubled as the UK launch of Evita Bezuidenhout’s bestselling cookbook Evita’s Kossie Sikelela, of which all the royalties go directly to the Darling Trust. All guests were generously treated to South African food from Evita’s beloved recipe book as well as gorgeous SA wines – simply divine.
Pieter began the show explaining why exactly he was taking to the stage and what the night was all in aid of. In 1995 Pieter was driving in SA and took a wrong turn. He ended up in the small town of Darling, where he now resides. This was the “best mistake of his life” as this small town epitomises all that’s wrong in SA life. Probably not where most people would want to live, to be fair, but Pieter took it upon himself to be socially responsible and he thus established the much needed Darling Trust in this remote town.
The aim was to create an “extraordinary renaissance” for the community, with huge emphasis being on the children living in this town. The vision of the trust is quite simple really: it’s to keep the people healthy and strong through education and care and to empower people through developing talents that will forever assist them and then be a blueprint for other neighbouring communities. This of course, is with the help of the town’s much adored Evita at hand.
Pieter’s focus on children being leaders for tomorrow is not far off from Rhodes University motto ‘Where leaders learn’. Rhodes is an outstanding respected academic institution that inspires a love and respect for knowledge and learning. Rhodes promotes community engagement with diverse communities and the values of building an institution that embraces human dignity and respect are prominent. This is exactly what Pieter epitomises and what Rhodes hopes to instil in all its scholars.
There were some incredible silent auctions available on the night but the Rhodes University Trust were especially keen on people purchasing scholarships that help instil a lifelong love of learning for students in SA.
To find out more about the projects, direct your mouse to The Derek Jacobs Scholarship Fund of Rhodes University Trust (UK) www.rhodesalumni.co.uk and The Darling Trust www.thedarlingtrust.org
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