Pretoria - KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC Belinda Francis Scott spent her Mandela Day scrubbing floors and cooking for the less fortunate children and community of eMaphephetheni at KwaNyuswa in Hillcrest.
Most residents in the area gathered on Saturday at Thandizwe creche, where Mandela Day festivities organised by the Provincial Treasury were taking place.
Items such as blankets and outdoor playing facilities were donated, said the Office of the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Finance.
“The most important lesson from uTata, is that nobody is important than the next person. If each one of us heeded the call to simply do good every day, we would be living Nelson Mandela’s legacy and helping to build a country of our dreams.
“Madiba set an example for all of us that we need to look after each other. He also had a special love for children which is why we chose to work with less fortunate children at kwaNyuswa today,” said MEC Scott.
While the adults were at work, children were having fun, playing on the outdoor playing facilities which were donated by Durban Solid Waste.
The school principal Bajikile Gwala said: “We are thankful to MEC Scott and her delegation for these humbling gifts because for years now, our children had limited dilapidated outdoor playing facilities and have been sleeping on the floor even during the worse winter cold days, exposing them to cold associate ailments like flu, as we had no sponges and blankets for them to sleep on”.
“18 July has been declared Nelson Mandela International Day in a bid of embracing and celebrating Nelson Mandela’s life which gives everyone the opportunity to heed the call to action for people to recognise their individual power to make an imprint and change the world around them,” said MEC Scott.
South Africans and the world on Saturday celebrated Nelson Mandela’s birthday as it was declared by the United Nations in 2009 as International Day Nelson Mandela.
Mandela Day is an initiative dedicated to giving back to those less fortunate, the vulnerable and marginalised in society. - SAnews.gov.za
