Pretoria – Residents of Setlagole in Ratlou Local Municipality in the North West will get an opportunity to interact with Public Service and Administration Minister Faith Muthambi on Friday.
The visit is geared at empowering communities through building strong social partnerships between government and citizens.
Minister Muthambi will use the imbizo to officially mark her department’s countdown to this year’s Mandela Day.
“As envisioned in the National Development Plan (NDP), an informed and active citizenry is critical towards totally eradicating the triple challenge of inequality, unemployment and poverty by 2030.
“We realised that there is no better way of keeping the legacy of our late President, Nelson Mandela, than to engage in dialogue of empowerment with residents of Setlagole and the surrounding areas, with the view of improving service delivery in their area.
“The izimbizo approach promotes participatory democracy, where people can voice their concerns, opinions and suggestions to their representatives, which they elected into office. Through this community imbizo, we are hoping to solicit inputs on how to enhance service delivery at the coalface of the public service,” said Minister Muthambi.
Minister Muthambi said izimbizo are one way government shows its dedication to bettering the lives of South Africans.
July is a significant month in South Africa. On July 18, South Africa and the world at large celebrate Nelson Mandela International Day. Everyone is encouraged to do something for the good of humanity.
In 2009, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared 18 July Nelson Mandela International Day in recognition of the former President Mandela’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom.
Mandela Day is an annual international day of humanitarian action in celebration of Madiba’s life and legacy. It serves as a catalyst for everyone around the world to realise that they have the ability to change it through action.
Mandela Day is particularly geared towards people doing work in their communities. It is not necessarily event driven, and it shouldn’t just be a one-day event or holiday.
Nelson Mandela spent 67 years of his life actively devoted to promoting and bringing about social change. On Mandela Day, people are asked to symbolically give at least 67 minutes of their time in service to their communities in whichever way they choose. – SAnews.gov.za
