Celebrating Tata’s Centenary
Members of the Mandela family on stage during the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg yesterday. Governments and corporate companies pledged billions of dollars to support initiatives to end poverty.
Governments and corporate companies yesterday pledged billions of dollars in support for initiatives geared at ending poverty around the world during the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg to celebrate the centenary of South Africa’s first democratic president.
Over the past six months, anticipation has been building up to the festival as the international human rights advocacy organisation asked South Africans to participate in various actions in a bid to end poverty in their communities.
The organisation said global citizens had taken more than 5.5 million actions – with over four million in SA, Lesotho, and eSwatini alone, calling on leaders to commit to tackling systemic issues affecting the world’s most vulnerable, such as ending malnutrition, reducing HIV transmission, and improving sanitation across the continent.
Kicking off the pledges was Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who tweeted to comedian and the event’s host Trevor Noah thanking him for all he was doing to celebrate Mandela’s legacy at the Global Citizen Festival and pledging $50 million towards education.
Takalani Netshitenzhe, group chief officer of corporate affairs at Vodacom, said they had spent R1.2 billion in corporate social responsibility initiatives over the last 20 years. “Over the next five years, the Vodacom Foundation will invest almost R500 million in fighting gender-based violence, enhancing sanitation in schools, and enhancing digital literacy for teachers, learners, youth, and in early-childhood development centres. And we remain committed to government’s call for the eradication of pit latrines in schools,” Netshitenzhe said.
Mozambican Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário said: “Today I am pleased to announce a $30 million partnership between the governments of Mozambique, eSwatini, South Africa, and Goodbye Malaria which will protect over six million people by 2022. I am pleased to announce an additional US$6 million for mapping of river blindness and to intensify our fight against intestinal worms and infantitis,” Rosário said.
Global Citizen worked in partnership with a number of organisations to bring the festival to SA, including the Motsepe Foundation, House of Mandela, and a number of partners, and 25 local NGOs and organisations. – ANA
I’m pleased to announce $30m partnership between the governments of Mozambique, eSwatini and South Africa.