By Palesa Ndinisa
Daveyton Mall hosted a 5km run on August 9, 2025 in support of Women’s Day and giving back to the community. Participants had to donate at least two sanitary towels (pads) to partake in the run.
The motive of the event was to raise awareness due to lack of sanitary pads within the community of Daveyton. Stakeholders who contributed to the success of the event were Pads For Progress, which is a local nonprofit organisation (NPO) based in Daveyton that specialises in donating sanitary pads and hosting fun runs. Another stakeholder was Pedros restaurant located in Daveyton Mall, which donated a number of a 100 pads. Wow Connection Daveyton Mall donated 96 bottles of water while Old Mutual Daveyton Mall also extended their kindness by donating 30 bottled water. Pie City Daveyton Mall provided the event with 54 bottled water whereas Pick ‘n Pay Daveyton Mall donated sanitary pads and offered refreshments to participants. Daveyton Hearts Athletics Club assisted with planning of the event along with Daveyton Tourism Cycling Club. Coca Cola extended its support by sponsoring the campaign with a music truck, branding and bottled water. CareKahle Clinic located on the upper level of Daveyton Mall also offered free glucose and high blood pressure testing to participants, including shoppers at Daveyton Mall.
“Daveyton Mall is big when it comes to Corporate Social Investment (CSI) and this particular point is one we want to tackle each year. Every year, Daveyton Mall donates sanitary pads or toiletries to various schools in our community. This year, we needed the community to engage and assist us, hence we have this 5km fun run,” gladly explained Lebogang Moloi, the Marketing Manager of Daveyton Mall. The young lady also expressed that the target was to collect 2 528 pads to donate to five (5) schools in the community. “We had to associate with Daveyton Mall to make Women’s Day fun and help our community get pads. Our runners get doughnuts and a bottle of water from us. Such campaigns elevate people and we’re glad to witness that,” added Lebohang Thobela, an Assistant Manager at Pick ‘n Pay.
Daveyton Hearts Athletic Club, is an organisation that encourages individuals of all ages and races to participate in running as a way of life and keeping healthy. Speaking to its member, Rebone Malapane, attested that they assisted Daveyton Mall in ensuring that the routes participants took are safe. They also donated a bulk of pads.
Participants were captivated by the event and had positive feedback. Maimouna Diallo, 24 years of age from Bezuidenhout Valley expressed her excitement about the event. “My friend who lives around here told me about this event. We thought it was a really good course because the older you get, the more you realise that you are the community that needs to show up, so it was important to come here and show up and give the community pads. It’s amazing how many people support this course, everyone is singing and excited so it’s really beautiful that we’re celebrating our Women’s Day like this,” uttered Diallo. Another participant, Glacia Moshitwa, a 68-year-old woman from Daveyton who is part of the City of Ekurhuleni Athletics Club undoubtably revealed how cheerful she is to be a part of this campaign. “Apart from donating and making a girl student’s life easier, I came to encourage young ones to be healthy and get into fitness. Ayinabungozi lento yokugijima,” (which translates to “there’s no danger in running”) exclaimed Moshitwa.
