Mandela Day clean-up campaign
MBABANE – To continue the legacy of the late icon Nelson Mandela, the South African (SA) High Commission office, joined by the Municipal Council of Mbabane, cleaned the Mandela Avenue yesterday.
July 18 was declared Mandela Day by the United Nations (UN). This is the day when the former SA president was born and on the day, citizens are encouraged to spend 67 minutes of their time in service to others in need.
These 67 minutes are in appreciation of the 67 years that Mandela spent fighting for justice, equality and human rights for all. In an interview with the SA High Commissioner Advocate Thokozile Sipamla, she stated that they had been given the honour by government to name the street Mandela Avenue, hence they felt it was important to acknowledge the honour by doing something along the street.
Sipamla said they were hoping to grow the partnership with the municipality to include the Coronation Park to make sure there were other activities that accompanied the clean- up campaign. “Next year, we will have flowers to beautify the street more than just cleaning it,” she said.
She commended the municipality for keeping the city clean, adding that she was worried when they chose to focus on cleaning Mandela Avenue.
Furthermore, Sipamla described Mandela
as a legend who had made a name for South Africans in the whole world. Sipamla said July 18 was the day Mandela was born and it was actually not SA that declared it Mandela Day but the UN. The high commissioner said they saw it fit to accord Mandela this particular privilege of having a day dedicated and named after him by the UN.
“All he wanted was to make sure that we do something for others. He always informed us that we must have 67 minutes in making sure that we do well for others and not ourselves.”
According to Sipamla, the greatness of the day was in ensuring people did good for others. She said while everyday should be a special day to do good for others, Mandela Day was important because it was an icon’s birthday who did a lot of good for others.
Sipamla stated that on this day, Mandela would build schools, clinics and get his hands dirty cleaning up, because he enjoyed the pleasure of doing so.
Mayor Zephaniah Nkambule said they had a partnership with the SA High Commission which is why they selected a street to name it after Mandela.
Nkambule said the entire world celebrated the icon, Mandela, who encouraged others to do good every minute they had.
The mayor emphasised the importance of keeping the environment green which was what they were intending to do in partnership with SA.