An aerial view shows 2 754 knitted wool blankets in the shape of the Springbok emblem on the school field at Steyn City, 9 June 2021, in Midrand. The giant blanket, created by the 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day initiative, forms part of the upcoming Nelson Mandela Day celebrations. The blankets will be given to those who need them during winter. This year the theme was 'We are stronger together' celebrating the South African Springboks rugby team winning the Rugby World Cup 2019. Picture: Michel Bega
This time of the year, we were often bombarded by corporates and organisations sharing their upcoming initiatives and plans to spend their 67 minutes for Nelson Mandela around the country.
Individuals also found their own ways of participating in the campaign and volunteering their time to a good cause. But not this year. The chaos and unrest of the past week clouded the annual Mandela campaign.
The month of July, often referred to as Mandela month, instead kicked off with the sentencing and imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma – which gripped the attention of the population as Mandela’s upcoming big day quickly escaped the mind.
Mandela’s birthday is on Sunday but the week leading up to it was marred by pandemonium and mayhem as we watched KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng go up in flames, properties vandalised and severely destroyed and endless, blatant looting at all sorts of businesses.
A sense of sadness, shock and fear was among communities and those watching safely from their televisions at home. While the 67 minutes for Mandela seemed to be the last thing on South Africa’s mind, there instead emerged the innate will by citizens to clean up and protect our country.
Communities fought back against the rioters and looters. Taxi associations, parking attendants, security companies, organisations and residents guarded shopping centres and businesses from any possible danger.
And with the drastic food shortage due to shops being looted almost each item, social media soon became a platform to seek aid for any food, while those with the necessary means offered their time and effort to help those affected.
On Tuesday night, I received an invite to join a new Facebook group called RebuildSA – Volunteer Group and was proud as a South African that people indeed want to restore peace and stability in some sort of way.
In just under 24 hours, the group had gained 25 000 members who volunteered an assortment of services and help, including an engineering company volunteering to reconstruct damaged property.
By Wednesday afternoon, the group and other social media platforms were filled with pictures of residents and community members with brooms and refuse bags, cleaning up the mess left behind by the riots.
WhatsApp group links were making the rounds for those who want to assist with rubble removal, donate furniture, food, cleaning supplies and any other monetary value to join.
It was satisfying and impressive to see South Africans come together to protect their country, its economy and their community while offering a hand to those who suffered loss of income.
Despite Mandela Day seemingly slipping the minds of our country and organisations, the spirit which the 67 minutes for Mandela was trying to promote seemed to naturally have found its way into the hearts of South Africans.
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