By Emily Setona
BETHLEHEM – Dihlabeng Executive Mayor Tseki Tseki marked International Mandela Day by dedicating 67 minutes of community service to some of the municipality’s most vulnerable residents, delivering donations, planting food gardens and promoting long-term food security at elderly and disability care centres.
The outreach programme, held on 17 July ahead of the official Mandela Day commemoration on 18 July, reflected the spirit of the global campaign inspired by former President Nelson Mandela, encouraging citizens to devote 67 minutes to serving others.
Leading a municipal delegation, Tseki visited Khabonina Old Age Home, Thamsanqa Association for Persons with Cerebral Palsy, and Hlokomela Bana Disabled Centre, where blankets, gardening tools and fruit trees were donated while vegetable gardens were established to help improve food sustainability.
Speaking to elderly residents at Khabonina Old Age Home, the mayor said Mandela Day was about restoring dignity and showing compassion to those who had contributed to building society.
“Every year on International Mandela Day we extend kindness to the less privileged. We are here to plant peach trees and hand over blankets. You, as our elderly, are a well of wisdom and we want to show you that we care,” Tseki said.
Khabonina Old Age Home founder Agnes Mothibedi (67) said the facility started operating as a hospice in 2012 before being converted into an old age home in 2018.
“We are grateful for this kind gesture from the Office of the Executive Mayor. It means a lot to our elderly residents to know that they are remembered,” she said.
The mayor’s delegation later visited the Thamsanqa Association for Persons with Cerebral Palsy, where they planted spinach, carrots and onions as part of a community food garden initiative.
Centre manager Zandile Nhlapo welcomed the visit, saying the municipality’s support would make a meaningful difference to children living with disabilities.
“We are very happy and appreciative that the Executive Mayor has not forgotten about children living with disabilities. This support gives us hope,” she said.
The final stop was Hlokomela Bana Disabled Centre, where the mayor handed over gardening tools and joined staff and beneficiaries in planting vegetables to strengthen the centre’s food security programme.
Centre manager Joseph Makgabane Rampheng, accompanied by his daughter Nthabiseng Rampheng, praised the initiative, saying children living with disabilities often receive less attention than their able-bodied peers.
“I am happy for the support we have received from Executive Mayor Tseki Tseki and his team because children living with disabilities are often overlooked while able-bodied children are prioritised. Today the mayor came to us, and that means a great deal,” he said.
The municipality said the Mandela Day programme was designed to leave a lasting legacy by strengthening food sustainability initiatives while restoring hope, dignity and care to elderly residents and people living with disabilities across Dihlabeng.
