The event took place at the site of the new station in Hatfield, Tshwane, and hosted 160 guests, including government officials, stakeholders, and a variety of media.

VWV’s project manager, Kim Govington, said: “To give us the opportunity to add some flair and fun to the event, while still communicating fundamental campaign messages, we proposed taking everything we know and love about the world of bus travel, and presented it back to the guests in a way that delighted and informed them.” To introduce the theme of 'get on board', VWV got creative with its execution: guests arrived and had to stand in a bus stop queue; the entrance to the event was through a bus door; and clever bus stop signs with quirky insignia all helped bring the theme alive.

The inclusion of industrial theatre informed and entertained; an injection of humour was introduced through a story line that involved three lead characters. Waiting at a BRT stop, they represented the diversity of passengers, and included a young student, a city worker and a Gogo. The script unfolded around the positive impact the new BRT has had on their lives. Govington added, “Creating a piece of theatre is an ideal way to engage the audience with salient messages while keeping them thoroughly entertained.

“One of the challenges of putting the event together was that it was held in a concrete park and the entire infrastructure had to be specially brought in, as there was nothing to work with,” said Govington. “We weren’t allowed to remove anything so we had to make a plan to hoist marquees above the trees, benches and fixed structures, and with some creative planning we transformed the immovable dustbins into cocktail tables and encorporated the existing trees into the overall décor execution,” concluded Govington. VWV also took charge of the catering, the technical requirements, the set and staging, as well as the video production and the end result was an event brimming with flair and professionalism.

The programme director and the chairperson of the Oversight Committee, Cllr Jacob Masango, was joined by an impressive line-up of VIP guests, including MMC for Transport, Cllr George Matjila; MMC for Community Safety & Security, Cllr Terrence Mashego; executive mayor of Tshwane, Cllr Kgosientso Ramokgopa; strategic executive director: Marketing, Communications and Events, Nomasonto Ndlovu; Tshwane city manager, Jason Ngobeni; and Johannesburg Transport MMC, Rehana Moosajee.