As history would have it, only a handful of leaders had the ability to have their ideals engraved in the hearts of people long after they’ve passed on. For us, Nelson Mandela was an embodiment of selfless leadership for people across the four cardinal points of the world. It is to this end that the whole world joins hands in honouring his legacy this Nelson Mandela International Day.
As per the norm, a day has never been enough for South Africans to celebrate Madiba’s legacy and this year’s Mandela Month was no exception with the whole country commemorating the tenth anniversary of uTata’s passing with nation building activities. As advocates of active citizenship, we as Brand South Africa came in partnership with a great deal of stakeholders to uphold this year’s theme of “The Legacy Through You: Climate, Food & Solidarity” to address climate change and the effects it has on the Global South and food security.
Domestically, this year’s activities kicked off with the annual Mandela Day Walk and Run initiative by the Nelson Mandela Foundation that took place on Sunday 16th July 2023. The initiative partners included Balwin Properties, Supabets, Discovery Vitality, Clover, Vision Tactical, Mahindra and of course, Brand South Africa. Participants from all over the country came in their numbers and were in a jovial mood to take on the 5km, 10km and 21km routes for Madiba. United in our diversity, this year’s walk and run was a great display of Ubuntu which is one of Madiba’s treasured values.
To improve participation in this year’s domestic activities, we roped in the Europa Art Group to form part of ‘Team Brand South Africa’ to help us carry out our ‘Play Your Part’ programme for Mandela Day. First on the agenda was the Europa Group Digital Campaign to raise funds and blanket donations to the Smart Foundation which provides educational bursaries to the destitute children of Umlazi township and Miss Earth South Africa, a leadership and community development programme for women.
The second activity was aimed at creating a feeding scheme and the planting of fifty trees for the school learners of Solwazi Primary School in Orange Farm with the third activity being of donating food and blankets to 200 members of the Rossettenville community.
To show solidarity with our international stakeholders, we came in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the South African Consulate in Shanghai to plant 10 trees on Friday, 14 July 2023 in response to the global climate change crisis. We wrapped it up on the 18th of July with a collaboration between Aspen Pharmacare and SA Tourism to co-host a Mandela Day commemorative dinner for 120 stakeholders in Shanghai, China.
It’s clear that Madiba’s legacy lives on. Play your part by making everyday a Mandela Day.
