Infectious caring to help South Africa
HOUGHTON - INFECTIOUS caring, was the sentiment and attitude Trevor Manuel advocated at a Mandela Day strategic stakeholder session.
In the build up to International Mandela Day on 18 July, a special gathering of various corporate donors and charitable organisations met at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory in Houghton to present, reflect and discuss preparations for the day.
The vision of Mandela Day is mobilise members of the public to give 67 minutes of their time to a worthy cause in commemoration of the 67 years Nelson Mandela spent fighting for freedom.
Dr Sello Hatang CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation said, “As custodians of Mandela Day the Nelson Mandela Foundation continues to intend to make [it] a living tribute to [him]. Madiba lived by three core principles: free yourself, free others and serve every day.”
Former Minister in the Presidency, Manuel reflected on what was required to build a durable democracy in South Africa.
“It’s an apposite question we ask ourselves today as we consider the events around Mandela Day and what the import is on the quality of [our] democracy,” said Manuel. He added that the lesson people drew from the life of Mandela was that it was caring and infectious.
Manuel indicated that infectious caring could form a part of the solution in addressing problems in the country.
He said the Mandela Day campaign would be undermined if the focus of goodwill was only on that particular day. “We need to engage in communities and with people who are outside of our comfort zones… its about building new relationships… what is important is continuing [those] relationships,” he said.
“We must recognise that the greatest error in a country such as ours is indifference to the needs of the majority of our people. Let us use the opportunity to mobilise as many people as we can.”
According to Hatang activities on Mandela Day will be organised around the four pillars identified by the Nelson Mandela Foundation which are education and literacy, food security, shelter, and service and volunteerism.
