DJ Sox, Mama Elphia Ngalo 'bead' down the competition in the annual Relate challenge

This year's contest, dubbed The Battle of My 67 Beads, took a slightly different format from previous years with the Beading Gogos and Tatas each paired up with a celebrity to try and bead the winning bracelet. Not their first time round the beading block, Matthew Booth, Sox Georgiades (aka DJ Sox), and Quintin Goliath (aka Jitsvinger) took up the challenge once again, along with newbs to the competition; Lindy Hibbard, Zoë Brown, Zola Nene, Schalk Bezuidenhout, Roxy Marosa, Liezel van der Westhuizen, Matthew Gold and Kamini Pather.

With just 67 minutes to plan, design and thread a winning bracelet, each celebrity-senior pair was rated on their team spirit, threading technique, use of colour, and more. The Busy Beads designed their bracelet, 'The Cell', with a 46664 bead pattern, representing Nelson Mandela’s prison cell number.

Lucky draw

Bracelets created on the day can be won in a lucky draw with all funds raised going to the Nelson Mandela School Library Project. Anyone who purchases a Relate Mandela Day bracelet, available in selected Tourvest Destination Retail at a cost of R67, can enter the lucky draw.

“We felt this event would be a fitting tribute to the great man Nelson Mandela in what would have been his centenary year, while celebrating the seniors who work hard to produce the bracelets that support so many worthy causes like the Nelson Mandela School Library Project,” said Relate Trust CEO Neil Robinson.

“These remarkable seniors, like Nelson Mandela did, are still contributing so much to their country, their communities and their children and grandchildren, and we are extremely grateful for their role,” Robinson added.

For more info, go to www.relate.org.za.