Pretoria - Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) will celebrate former President Nelson Mandela’s 95th birthday on Thursday by giving back to 20 communities in and around its airports.
This year’s Mandela Day celebrations coincide with ACSA’s 20th anniversary. Over 7 000 lives will be touched on the day in line with the anniversary theme ‘20 communities in our 20th year’.
ACSA spokesperson Unathi Batyashe-Fillis said: “Airports Company South Africa is committed to taking action by expanding its efforts and inspiring change in 20 communities in our 20th year.
“Mandela Day gives us the opportunity to extend our commitment to improving the lives of people living in communities around our airports. Reaching out to 20 communities in our 20th year allows us, with our employees and our partners, to take responsibility and help improve the lives of people in communities around us.”
ACSA is working closely with Sbusiso Leope (DJ Sbu) Education Foundation (SLEF), Ster-Kinekor, Robben Island, the Departments of Home Affairs; Health; Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities and Gordonia State Hospital in Upington to extend themselves more fully within the communities.
As part of ACSA activities lined up for Mandela Day, the company’s corporate office, in partnership with SLEF, will spend the afternoon at J.B. Matabane Secondary School in Ivory Park doing volunteer work.
A total of 1 311 learners will benefit from the maintenance work, and food parcels will be donated to the school. The team will put up signage and bookshelves for its two libraries and two staff rooms.
ACSA’s Women Volunteer Programme will take care of 70 disabled children at Sithandiwe Home for the Disabled in Lombardy East, where they will plant a vegetable garden.
The women will also prepare meals and look after the children for the day, while the home’s caregivers will be pampered for their daily labour. A donation of blankets and car seats will also be included.
The O.R. Tambo International Airport team, in partnership with SLEF, Top Turf and Ster-Kinekor will also continue with their Winter Warmer Shoe Drive Campaign, where they will donate 370 pairs of school shoes to needy learners of Chivirikani Primary School in Katlehong.
A vegetable garden will be planted by Top Turf to provide fresh vegetables to the school’s feeding scheme.
Ster-Kinekor, through their relationship with SpecSavers, will provide a mobile clinic to conduct vision testing for the 1 400 learners at Chivirikani Primary School.
Children found to be in need will each be provided with spectacles.
Events around the country
In Cape Town, the international airport team will take 67 learners from five schools to Robben Island. The learners will spend Wednesday night at the Robben Island dormitories.
On Mandela Day, they will be exposed to panel discussions and tours of the island with former prisoners.
An apple tree will be planted and a plaque placed by the learners in an area where Mandela used to hide his letters.
The learners will create a Mandela mural made up of motivational letters from the schools, which will be exhibited at Cape Town International Airport.
In Durban, King Shaka International Airport will donate their winter warmer collections to over 500 children who live in homes around the airport as well as a home in central Durban.
The Bram Fischer International Airport team in Bloemfontein will hand over full school uniforms and backpacks to 120 needy children identified from the rural areas of Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu near Bloemfontein.
The children, aged between five and 13 years, will have a supply of new school uniforms.
In the Eastern Cape, the Port Elizabeth International Airport team will be spending 67 minutes preparing food, dishing up and cleaning for over 150 disadvantaged and underprivileged members of the community at the Zizamele Soup Kitchen in Walmer Township.
A donation will be made of pots, crockery, cups, plates, soup bowls, utensils and a gas cylinder to increase Zizamele Soup Kitchen’s capacity and output.
The George Airport team has adopted Geelhoutboom Primary School, which has 109 children, where each child will receive a full winter uniform and a backpack with stationery supplies.
The school’s covered assembly area, built by the airport, will be painted, while their ablution facilities will be revamped to include separate facilities for boys and girls.
The Grade R class will receive junior tables and chairs, and the George Airport team will restore the damaged floor surfaces of all seven classrooms.
The East London Airport will reach 3 254 children from five primary schools and a crèche that will benefit from their Mandela Day activities.
The team will also donate chairs, tiling, burglar bars and carpets for some of the schools. The crèche will have carpets fitted and a ceiling installed, as well as the donation of foam mattresses.
Mandela International Day or Mandela Day is an annual international day in honour of the living legend, which is celebrated on his birthday, July 18.
The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009. - SAnews.gov.za
