Durban - Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe has asked South Africans to continue giving to others selflessly.
Speaking at a ceremony of the Closure of the Moral Regeneration month in Kwadukuza, Motlanthe said examples of sharing positive values were seen when South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup and on Nelson Mandela Day.
"In almost all of our neighbourhoods across the country, the majority of South Africans were united in showing to the rest of the world those qualities we possess such as valuing and respecting human life, botho/ubuntu," he said.
The 2010 Moral Regeneration Month, with the theme 'Together Reclaiming our Humanity through the Charter of Positive Values', encouraged South Africans to practice positive values which concentrate on building rather than destroying.
"We saw children reading to the elderly, politicians volunteering to paint and clean schools, those with food to spare setting up soup kitchens for the homeless and various other acts that portray us as a caring people," the Deputy President said.
He added that he is convinced these are not isolated incidents merely done for glory or self-praise, but for many other South Africans, this is a daily life of service to the people.
Government feels that the fighting against corruption and greed in both public and private sectors must continue.
"Let us remember that greed and corruption robs the poor of services they rightly deserve and need the most such as access to quality healthcare and economic development services," Motlanthe said.
In addition to the fight against greed, Motlanthe said morality demands that people speak out against violence on women and children.
"Acceptable moral standards speak about naming and shaming individuals who participate in criminal activities. After all, it is not in our culture to rob and inflict violence on fellow human beings. To do so would be to go against our basic humanity and the moral fibre which inspired our struggle against the policies of discrimination and prejudice," the Deputy President said.
He pointed out that moral regeneration does not only revolve around children and young people and the starting point to the concept begins at home and in communities.
"It is also a duty of parents to explain to their children the risks of participating in unhealthy behaviours and dangerous lifestyles.
"If we are to effectively undo and reverse the social ills bedevilling our families and communities - challenges like teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, crime and theft, school absenteeism, and violence against women and children - then we need to fix the home as well as our communities," Motlanthe said.
