Eastern Cape to host official Mandela Day celebrations

The official Mandela Day celebrations will be hosted in the Eastern Cape in 2022, with the Nelson Mandela Foundation partnering with NMU, the Green Development Foundation and Shoprite.

The theme will be centred on the foundation’s food and nutrition programme, calling on the public to “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are”.

Some of the sub-themes for the celebrations will be focused on fruit and indigenous tree planting, community and backyard gardens, and positive climate action.

This is aimed at highlighting the problem of climate change and its impact on  the availability, accessibility, use and affordability of food.

Nelson Mandela Foundation chief executive Sello Hatang said: “The foundation enjoys an interactive working relationship with Nelson Mandela University, consolidated since the institution was named in honour of our exemplary leader.

“This is premised on the alignment of the university’s values and principles with those espoused by Mandela.

“On July 18, we will visit the community of Zwide in Gqeberha, where we hope to create awareness on the intersections between food security and climate change, in a real, demonstrable way, grounded in local communities”.

NMU vice-chancellor Sibongile Muthwa said: “We are united around the common purpose of social justice advocacy.

“We deploy our respective strengths, resources and capacities through collaborative endeavours informed by scholarship and research, and we converge together with communities on projects with a deliberate human rights focus.

“We have positioned the university to be in service of society, working collectively with the foundation and people in communities to explore more deeply the possibilities linked to environmental, economic and social resources available where they live.”

The programme for Mandela Day, with partners, and other activities will be released in the coming weeks.