- Almost 30 years after apartheid ended, some Cape Town residents have mixed views about the relevance of Mandela Day.
- Nelson Mandela would have celebrated his 104th birthday this year.
- The theme for Mandela Day was "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are".
As South Africans celebrated what would have been the late statesman Nelson Mandela's 104th birthday, some Capetonians felt that Mandela Day had no relevance because, 30 years after the demise of apartheid, many people still live in poverty.
Smoking on the sidewalk outside a busy intersection on the Foreshore in Cape Town, Aiden, 24, from Athlone, said she did not think Mandela Day was still relevant.
"We have massive poverty, most people are living below the poverty line. But I think we do have to give back where we can, so it does make a difference if a lot of people do it," she said.
A security guard, Joseph Jones, 51, said he found nothing relevant about Mandela Day.
"It's irrelevant. Well, it's been 30 years, and nothing has happened, and nothing has changed as far as I'm concerned. And the values Mandela brought into this country at that time… there's none to be seen," he said.
Speaking to News24 on Monday, Freeman Nofemele, 29, who lives in Khayelitsha, said he would've spent his 67 minutes doing something special if he was not working.
He believed the day was important.
"I think, at some point, it is, because some other people on this day are doing a lot of things - like fundraising or painting the walls or whatever - so I think, in other people, it does matter. I think it is relevant; it is important," he said.
A call centre agent, 26, said more hours should be dedicated to helping others.
"Why should you go on helping people for 67 minutes in a year, when you can do it every day? It really doesn't make much sense," she said.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation set this year's theme for Mandela Day as "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are".
The foundation focused on the climate crisis affecting the availability, accessibility and affordability of food.
In his weekly newsletter, President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged that South Africans were faced with several challenges, including corruption, violent crime and load shedding, among others.
He called on South Africans to recommit themselves to the values embodied by Mandela and to use the day as a reminder that these challenges could be overcome.
He said South Africans had previously done this by protecting and defending human rights through religious and other community-based organisations.
He said:
There were numerous charity initiatives across the country to mark Mandela Day.
Cape Town residents collaborated with a non-profit organisation, Ladles of Love, for a notable Mandela Day initiative - and apparently broke the world record for creating the largest food can mosaic of Mandela's face.
The mosaic took six hours to create, using 56 636 food cans.
The Guinness World Book of Records has not yet officially awarded the record.
However, the team, by far, surpassed a 2019 record, previously set by a US-based organisation, Doordash, which created a food can mosaic with 6 800 cans.
The Johannesburg team created a South African flag mosaic, using 32 040 food cans.
The food cans used in the mosaics will be donated.