This morning, I spent 67 minutes with the wonderful children from the Trinity Daycare Centre in Cosmo City, to plant seeds at their vegetable garden as part of Nelson Mandela Day activities.
It was a great privilege to be joined by Ward Councillor Mapula Mosito, together with parents and residents of this community, in honour of our former late President.
Mandela Day is commemorated annually across the world in a bid to encourage people to use 67 minutes of their time to make a difference and contribute meaningfully to their communities.
Activities held at the day-care facility included planting seeds at the newly-built vegetable garden and sharing a cup of soup with the children.
This initiative forms part of my contribution towards bettering the lives of our children in the City of Johannesburg and building a community that supports one another. The gratitude we were met with was immeasurable, but what struck me the most was the genuine happiness and contentment I witnessed at the day-care. This prompted the decision to extend this initiative from 67 minutes on Mandela Day to ongoing engagements with the community of Cosmo City.
I must commend the team at the day-centre, as well as all Early Childhood Development (ECDs) facilities, particularly those in informal settlements. Whilst their contribution to the children’s lives is crucial, my experience today evoked the need for ongoing government intervention and particularly ourselves as policy makers.
As a society, I call upon all parents to support the efforts of the Social Development Department under the leadership of MMC Dr Mpho Phalatse in ensuring that we find solutions to all the challenges experienced by ECD centers in Johannesburg and in so doing, by ensuring that the children are placed in a position to reach their full potential.
A special thank you to the Social Development Department: Food Unit for their assistance in identifying an Early Childhood Development Center (ECD) in the area and also for the provision of the seeds and the tools utilized during the initiative. Together with Councillor Mosito, we have made a pledge to monitor this vegetable garden, which will be sustainable, and will improve the well-being of these children and this community.
Like Nelson Mandela once said: “To plant a seed, watch it grow, to tend it and the harvest it, offered a simple but enduring satisfaction. The sense of being a custodian of this small patch of earth offered a small taste of freedom”.
Let us continue to grow the nation by planting seeds in our communities and around the City, for feeding our physical needs and our mental growth.
Issued by:
Cllr Funzela Ngobeni
Leader of Executive Business
City of Joburg
For more information please contact:
Kutlwano Olifant
Stakeholder Manager: Office of Leader of Executive Business
Landline: 011 628 4508
Mobile: 081 434 7417
Email: kutlwanoo@joburg.org.za
