A jeté above the turmoil

When gunshots ring out metres from his front door Faakhir Bestman closes his eyes, takes his disabled little sister's hand and in their dreams they pirouette above the hardships of Hanover Park near Cape Town to a better life.

The 10-year-old is so determined to become a world-famous ballet dancer that being called a "moffie" means nothing to him at all.

"My sister, Akeeda, can't talk, or walk or eat, but she smiles when I dance," said Faakhir, who is in Grade 4 at Blomvlei Primary School.

"When they shoot outside I hold her hand and rub her head.

"We are scared but I'm going to dance all over the world and I will take her with me."

Last year, he started classes in modern dance at the Eoan Group School of Performing Arts in Athlone.

School principal Abeedah Medell said: "I was doing my rounds, watching the classes, when I saw him and I said to myself 'classical ballet needs this boy'.

"I gave him a scholarship immediately."

She said Faakhir is one of the best dancers she has seen.

"I want my children to fly. The world is so much bigger than Cape Town."

When Faakhir performs, he is focused and ballet clearly brings him joy, the principal said.

He doesn't have much space in their council flat in which to practise but he is always prepared for class.

"I love ballet because it makes me happy. I can move and I feel free," he said.

Aysha Bestman cares for five of her 14 grandchildren.

"Faakhir is such a good boy. While the children play in the street he sits with Akeeda. She's five and he knows how to feed her, change her nappy and give her medicine," said Bestman.

"I have diabetes, high blood pressure and arthritis. He doesn't want his sister to end up at a home for the disabled," she said.

Yesterday, as he waited for an aunt to take him to dance lessons because his grandmother was ill, the boy sat patiently in the sun stroking Akeeda's hair.

"Look, she only smiles for him," said his grandmother.