By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
This year’s Nelson Mandela International Day will focus on sustainable interventions such as fruit and indigenous tree planting and promoting community and backyard gardens.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation is pleading with everyone who supports the campaign on 18 July 2022 to “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are”.
“The climate crisis is affecting the availability, accessibility, utilisation and affordability of food, which is overwhelmingly experienced by the most vulnerable amongst us,” the foundation said on Thursday.
With increasing global consciousness of the interdependence of climate change, food security, poverty and inequity, the Nelson Mandela Foundation is calling on the public to use 18 July to pursue sustainable solutions to the climate crisis and food security.
The foundation will be doing work on the day in Madiba’s home province of the Eastern Cape with Nelson Mandela University, the Green Development Foundation and Shoprite.
Transect Walk Dialogues
The organisation and its partners will participate in a Transect Walk Dialogue.
This is a walk through a community, led by the community to gain first-hand experience of their challenges and identify resources and opportunities at the community’s disposal.
The walk aims to foster critical conversations and find collective solutions to systemic challenges faced by the community.
The first walk will take place on Saturday, 16 July, in Mvezo, the birthplace of Nelson Mandela, and will be hosted by Chief Mandela and the Mandela family. Activities will include planting fruit trees, conducting a cleanup of the community and backyard gardens as well as sharing and promoting indigenous knowledge.
The second instalment will take place on Nelson Mandela Day, 18 July, in Gqeberha in the community of Zwide. Since 2015, Gqeberha has been in the grip of a historic drought that experts say has been exacerbated by climate change.
The organisation said it will donate two boreholes with its partners and participate in cleaning and watering backyard gardens, then planting seedlings and trees in the recently established community garden.
Other activities
While the core activities will be in the Eastern Cape this year, numerous other activities are planned in over 166 cities globally.
In Johannesburg, the foundation has collaborated with Discovery Vitality and the business community around Houghton Estate to host the inaugural ‘Mandela Day Houghton Run’ on 17 July 2022, following the same path Nelson Mandela used to walk daily.
The route for the 8km race will incorporate some iconic sites, such as Madiba’s 12th street House, the Sanctuary Mandela on 13th Street and the Nelson Mandela Foundation facilities on Central Street.
Discovery Vitality is encouraging its members to donate their Vitality rewards from the day towards buying a family a backyard garden starter pack provided by Shoprite by using, Vitality MoveToGive.
The Mandela Day Houghton Run will be followed by a special tribute concert by five-time Grammy Award winner Ladysmith Black Mambazo live at the Johannesburg Theatre. Tickets for the run are available via Ticketpro.
Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister, Thoko Didiza, will lead activities in the Qunu Village in Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape, in celebration of the annual Nelson Mandela International Day.
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed Mandela’s birthday, 18 July, as Nelson Mandela International Day in 2009, in recognition of Mandela’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom.
The main objective of Nelson Mandela International Day is to inspire individuals to take action to help change the world for the better and in so doing, build a global movement for good.
On the day and the entire month of July, South Africans and people all over the world are encouraged to dedicate at least 67 minutes of their time to do community work in celebration of the values and principles that Mandela fought and stood for.
The 67 minutes symbolises Madiba’s years of selfless service to the people of South Africa and the world in the course of his extraordinary life. Mandela spent 67 years of his life working to build a better life for all.
Didiza will lead the commemoration of 67 minutes with the National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSEC) Youth, wherein the youth will be giving back by serving in their communities, by fixing and erecting a fence at Madiba Farm and installing a new roof for the cattle shed in Qunu.
“The Minister will hand over much needed food supplies and learning material to destitute households, to bring much needed relief to the community.”
The Nelson Mandela Foundation said the focus and messaging on this year’s Mandela Day will be based on promoting community and home-based gardens, supporting fruit and indigenous tree planting, and creating awareness of the intersections between food security and climate change.
Meanwhile the foundation has also called on those who stole the world championship boxing belt that belonged to former president to return it to its rightful place.
“The belt was gifted to Madiba by Sugar Ray Leonard because of his love of boxing. We hope that whoever stole it will realise the significance of this gift and return it to its rightful place,” said the foundation.