In a world that has become more inward-looking, the principle of ubuntu should continue to be a crucial part of how we show up as a nation this Mandela Month, writes Neo Semono.
This week, we celebrate what would have been President Nelson Mandela’s 108th birthday on Saturday, 18 July. One can say that selfishness and not taking others with us as we progress in life are taking us away from how we were raised.
Many were raised on borrowed cups of sugar and flour from neighbours. We were taken in by neighbours if our parents were not yet home by the time we came back from school. There was an overall culture of sharing what little we had with others.
We cannot afford to lose our innate hospitality. While commemorating the birth of our first democratically elected President, Nelson Mandela, 18 July and the month of July are, at their core, about caring for one another.
“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead,” the late statesman said back in May 2002.
And while we all want to get ahead in life, especially in tough economic conditions exacerbated by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and geopolitical tensions, such as those around the Strait of Hormuz, the ongoing unemployment challenge and cost-of-living crunch on home soil are also adding to the unpleasant cocktail.
Measures like the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI) continue to connect young people to earning opportunities, of which 155 161 new opportunities were secured during the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year.
Other initiatives like the SA Youth.mobi recruitment platform, which now has more than 5.7 million young people registered, have been created to connect job seekers with potential employers. In addition, the Department of Employment and Labour’s Budget Vote in May 2026 announced a R350 million commitment towards a government and business partnership aimed at placing 130 000 young people into learning and employment opportunities.
Government has also been calling on young people to become entrepreneurs who create work for themselves and others and is supporting this through the National Youth Development Agency’s grant programme, which is designed to provide entrepreneurs with the opportunity to access both financial and non-financial business development support, among others.
Other government initiatives, including the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), while temporary in nature, are a deliberate attempt by the public sector to use expenditure on goods and services to create work opportunities for the unemployed.
Given our inherent nature to care for one another, government also continues to provide social grants and free basic services for the most vulnerable in society.
Our humanity, based on the principle of “I am because you are”, must remain and apply to every human being.
Nelson Mandela Day and Nelson Mandela Month are a call to action for individuals, communities and organisations to reflect on Tata Madiba’s values and principles of nation-building, social cohesion and reconciliation, among others, and use them to contribute meaningfully to change in society.
Cabinet too has called on South Africans to dedicate their time and efforts during Mandela Month to help build a South Africa that works for South Africans.
As you mull over how to spend your 67 minutes with this Mandela Day, symbolically representing the number of years Tata Madiba devoted to the quest for justice and freedom, remember that time spent in the service of others is not wasted.
So, whether you will be helping to paint an orphanage, cooking for the elderly, or contributing towards buying groceries for a child-headed household, it will help to grow and regenerate the fabric of our society. Simple things like sharing a meal or a cup of tea with the elderly who seldom get visitors can make a world of a difference to those who feel marginalised or isolated.
It also need not be a once-off affair; 67 minutes in the service of others can spark a lifelong friendship you never saw coming; teach you a new skill you can pass on to others, or teach you new things about yourself or the world.
We must not lose touch with the culture of caring for one another in our own quest to make it in the world. No person is an island.
“A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of,” Madiba once said.
Let us make Mandela Day and Month this July count.
*Neo Semono is a Features Editor at SAnews.gov.za
