Hip Hop SA failing our kids.

My daughter does hip hop and enjoys it very much. She took part in the amateur division and together with her group, worked hard to go through to the SA championships in Randburg Johannesburg in March this year (2018).

We, being the parents of hip hopsters at the dance studio in the Western Cape, where told that we can order Western Province colors tracksuits through Hip Hop Dance SA, a Mr Fairchild Phiri at a cost of R600 per tracksuit. Our dance studio instructor was informed by Fairchild that all payments for the tracksuits must be in by December 2017 so that we can receive the tracksuits by end of Jan 2018, a month before the competition.

There was 66 of us going up to JHB and it was very expensive to go, but wanting our kids to be the best they can, made all our payments as requested by Fairchild. At the end of Jan Fairchild said the tracksuits are not ready and we will be getting them the end of Feb. When the end of Feb came he had more excuses and told us the tracksuits will be ready before we start with the competition.

The competition was on the 9th of March and we had to fly up a day before to get settled in. At the registration we learned that there was no tracksuits. Now we are talking about kids between 8 and 14 in these groups. They where devastated and we as the parents had to keep them motivated.

Fairchild promised us, the parents, at the competition talking to him face to face, that we will receive the tracksuits the following week. It is now the end of April, 4 months after paying for the tracksuits, and still no tracksuits, after threatening him with class action, news papers and even the competition commission of South Africa. He just doesn't care.

The world qualifiers will be representing SA in Arizona USA in August this year and our kids performed at the same venue. So this was big for these kids to look up to and dream to go overseas. The tracksuits where suppose to remind them to keep dreaming and believe in themselves.

This Fairchild took our hard earned money and still have not delivered the tracksuits. He represents the Hip Hop SA community and this is how he treats customers and parents.

Perspective parents out there that have kids that wants to do Hip Hop, please don't make the same mistakes we made. Do not trust his leis and deceit.

And I have to say shame on the organisers and management of the Hip hop community of SA for not standing up against this individual. Is this how we want to portray South African Hip Hop to the world and to our kids?