Every year on 18 July, we\u2019re called to honour Nelson Mandela by giving 67 minutes of service. We\u2019re told to do something kind: hand out food, donate clothes, paint classrooms, or read to children. It\u2019s a beautiful gesture, no doubt. Across Cape Town, I saw schools, churches, NGOs, and corporates showing up, smiling, giving, hoping to make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if I\u2019m honest, it often feels like a performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because the very next day, everything goes back to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hungry are still hungry.
The shelter is still overcrowded.
The cr\u00e8che with a new coat of paint still doesn\u2019t have enough teachers.
And most of us? We pat ourselves on the back and move on, until next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This isn\u2019t how we honour Mandela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We forget too easily that Madiba gave 67 years of his life in service. He sat in prison for 27 of them. He lost time with his children. He endured pain and injustice, and still emerged with a vision rooted in peace, dignity, and inclusion. Surely, we can do more than one hour a year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m not dismissing Mandela Day. I\u2019ve participated in it myself. But I\u2019m tired of the selfies. I\u2019m tired of the neatly packaged kindness that disappears once the cameras are off. I\u2019m tired of the sugar-coated idea that 67 minutes can somehow fix a country as deeply unequal as ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ubuntu<\/strong>; that powerful African philosophy that says \u201cI am because you are\u201d<\/em> is not charity. It\u2019s not giving leftovers or clearing your closet. It\u2019s not about painting over poverty for one day a year. Ubuntu is a daily practice. It\u2019s about recognising each other\u2019s full humanity and building a society where no one is left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re failing that standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s not pretend otherwise. Most South Africans are struggling some living in leaking shacks, others working for minimum wage, raising children alone, or trying to rebuild after addiction, violence, or loss. Injustice has become part of our daily landscape, and that\u2019s not what Mandela fought for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we really want to honour him, we need to ask uncomfortable questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why do people still queue for water in 2025? The answers aren\u2019t easy. But looking away is worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have to make dignity part of our daily lives not just an annual event. That means seeing the people we pass on the street. It means greeting the cleaner with the same warmth we give the boss. It means calling out corruption, even when it\u2019s inconvenient. It means doing better every day, not just on Mandela Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela\u2019s legacy isn\u2019t about branding. It\u2019s about bravery. It\u2019s about building something better even when no one\u2019s watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So yes, keep the 67 minutes. But let\u2019s not stop there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s live like Madiba asked us to: with courage, compassion, and consistency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not with moments but with movement. Not with charity but with change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela Day\u2019s 67 minutes inspire goodwill,but lasting change needs 365 days of justice, dignity, and Ubuntu in 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Why are libraries closing when children need places to read and dream?
Why do clinics run out of essential meds?
Why is GBV still rampant in a country with a Constitution that promises protection?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"