What does a guy do when his matric farewell is just around the corner and he doesn’t have a date? He turns to his older sisters.
But 18-year-old Christo Oosthuizen’s sisters took matters much further. The next thing the shy young man knew Chanti (28) and Alicia (26) had established a group on Facebook - titled “The Famous Date” - to help him find an escort online.
Within days more than 1 000 boys and girls had joined the search for a date for Christo. Girls sent photographs of themselves, hoping to be chosen.
When he finally arrived at the matric farewell of Hoërskool Dinamika, Alberton, with Augusta Wicht (17) of Cape Town at his side he discovered he’d become famous - people knew all about him.
The day after the function Christo and Augusta look partied out but Augusta is all smiles as they talk to us about their adventure.
Christo explains his dilemma: “Everything was organised four months in advance. I’d asked someone out and she’d said yes,” he says.
Suddenly she disappeared off the radar, even with the event coming closer and closer. “So I asked someone else,” he says. Then the girls found out about each other and both cancelled.
With the help of Chanti’s boyfriend, Matt Raven, his sisters set up the Facebook group weeks before the farewell.
Each “applicant” was cuter than the next. He invited a selection to be his friends on Facebook. Eventually he called a couple and made the final choice.
Augusta, a Grade 11 learner at Abbotts College in Cape Town, was one of his favourites from the start. A video on her Facebook profile revealed she’s a real madcap.
“I joined the group and thought it would be quite interesting,” Augusta says. “When Matt called me with the news I shrieked in his ear.”
Christo and his sisters raised half the money for the flight on Facebook and his family contributed the rest. They immediately liked each other.
She looked great in a classic soft-yellow evening gown. Delicate yellow flowers in her hair completed her look. When the proceedings became a bit too staid for Augusta she threw her dessert at her date! He responded by smearing cream on her face.
When asked if she’ll invite Christo to her matric farewell next year Augusta laughs and says, “We’ll have to see.”
First Christo must write his final exams. With that behind him he might visit his Facebook girl.
