This is the tear-jerking moment a kind stranger ran onstage to dance with a little girl when her classmate abandoned her in the middle of a performance.

The heroic dad, Donovan van Dieman, sprang into action to spare the youngster from embarrassment when she was left alone while the other kids danced with their pair during a graduation ceremony interlude at the Searidge Park Primary School in Western Cape, South Africa on December 3

Footage taken by Donovan's wife Nuraan shows the children swaying to the music, with the girl nudging her mortified partner several times as he was frozen in place.

The two stood awkwardly for more than a minute before the boy was dragged off the stage by a teacher, leaving the hapless girl by herself.

She was standing on stage looking lost.

But as the song crescendoed into its climax, Donovan ran onto the platform and dropped to his knees, taking the stunned, tiara-wearing girl in his arms and urging her to finish the routine.

Loud applause and cheers erupted from the delighted audience, who admired the parent's moving display of compassion.

Nuraan said: 'When the little boy didn't want to dance with her, my husband ran up the stage instead. He almost tripped because he wanted to make it there before the song ended. This is why I love him.

'The audience thought he was her father. After the dance, we learned that her dad had passed away. We were sad, but also glad that Donovan could be there for her at that moment.'