7de Laan supports 'Casual Day'

Members of the 'Casual Day' team visited the set of 7de Laan in Lonehill and got a chance to share the message of the 'Casual Day' campaign and to talk to some of the show’s actors. 'Casual Day' will be celebrated on Friday, 1 September and the theme is 'Celebrate diversity with persons with disabilities'.

Therina Wentzel, the national director of the National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), says the theme is an important idea to share with all South Africans, as diversity makes our families, communities, and society stronger.

"At its very heart, 7de Laan is about diversity and has been from episode one. The creators and producers of the show made a very conscious decision to create a new kind of television show that was inclusive and that showed audiences new ways to imagine relationships," says Frances Maposa, 7de Laan’s line producer.

Maposa was speaking backstage at a visit to the 7de Laan’s set by a team from 'Casual Day'. "There is a great need to create inclusive spaces for persons with disabilities; to create access to social and economic opportunities for a great diversity of disabilities. 'Casual Day' has been running for 23 years and we are very proud of the work that it allows us to carry out," she adds.

This 'Casual Day', says Wentzel, South Africans are being asked to buy their R10 'Casual Day' stickers and show support for and solidarity with persons with disabilities, and to celebrate the differences between people.

"Disability is a part of our society’s diversity – persons with disabilities contribute to our strength as a country and to our sense of being proud citizens of a proudly diverse country," says Wentzel.

Speaking backstage, R&B singer, KB Motsilanyane, who plays Lesedi on the show, says that being South African means that 'we need to be able to live with each other because this country is home to a lot of different people'.

"As South Africans, we need to teach ourselves; we need to embark on a journey where we learn about other people and not be uncomfortable about other people being different from ourselves," she adds.

Motsilanyane concludes, "This is what celebrating diversity means; it means we can find out that we are not so different from each other. That there are commonalities. That is why I will be celebrating diversity with the rest of the cast and crew of 7de Laan this 'Casual Day'."