Sandtonites donate Bokke blankets to Alex

Blankets which formed part of a huge ‘Bok blanket’ were handed out to the shack community of Alexandra.

The blanket was an an initiative of non-profit organisation 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day which was recently unveiled at a colourful event at Steyn City in celebration of the achievements of the Springboks.

The handover coincided with a sleepover in Alexandra for some Sandton residents as part of the We Love Alexandra Community Makeover Project. Sandton resident Solly Krok celebrated his 92 birthday in the township as part of an initiative to bond the communities of the richest square mile in Africa with the ‘poorest square mile’ known as Alexandra township.

The ‘big sleepover’ as it was dubbed, was the brainchild of Krok who said the sole purpose was to highlight some of the daily challenges and struggles faced by the residents of the iconic township which was founded in 1912, well before Sandton came into existence.

The team of Sandtonites that spent the night in Alex included Krok, Marc Lubner of Africa Tikkun, Romi Lewenstein of FeedSA and Clair Jaeger, who came in her personal capacity. They were hosted by Alex philanthropist and community builder Linda Twala, described by Jaeger as the ‘unofficial mayor’ of Alexandra.

The Sandtonites handed out some of the 62 blankets, 62 scarves and 62 sanitiser and mask packs, and 1 000 loaves of bread to the shack community of Setshwetla informal settlement, including a delivery of two big truckloads of firewood supplied by Palletmen.

The donation to the community of Setshwetla came from the project run by Carolyn Steyn, founder of 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day. This year, Steyn and her knitters placed their focus on celebrating the strength of sport in uniting the nation.

Steyn and her knitters created the Bok blanket in honour of World Rugby champions, the Springboks, who were led by the Boks’ first black captain, Siya Kolisi to win the World Rugby Cup in 2019.

The blanket was part of a call and initiative on the part of Steyn to the nation to once again use the strength of sport to unite the nation ahead of upcoming series between the Boks and the visiting British and Irish Lions in July.

Steyn’s initiative was aptly summed up by former President Thabo Mbeki, who told the audience at the unveiling of the blanket that there was no more opportune time than this, to call on the nation to come together as one.

“We’re plagued by a myriad of problems of Covid-19 pandemic, the State Capture revelations, and issues around corruption and hence the call to knit the thread of unity in our country can never be downplayed,” Mbeki said.