International Mandela Day
22/07/2011

Monday 18 July saw the legendary icon Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela celebrating his 93rd birthday. Mandela, known lovingly as “Madiba” (his Xhosa clan name) by fellow South Africans served as President of South Africa between 1994 and 1999. He has received more than 250 awards in forty years, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

Madiba is respected and loved by so much of the world and one of the ways in which he is honoured is in celebrating his birthday, 18 July, through the annual international Mandela Day, which has been adopted by the United Nations. The principle behind the day is for organisations, individuals and communities to give 67minutes of their time in aiding others in some way, in commemoration of Madiba’s 67 years given for the “struggle”.

In the words of the official website: “The overarching objective of Mandela Day is to inspire individuals to take action to help change the world for the better, and in doing so build a global movement for good. Ultimately it seeks to empower communities everywhere. “Take Action; Inspire Change; Make Every Day a Mandela Day.”

Adams & Adams proudly participated in the festivities of the day. In the four offices across the country, the staff gathered for tea and cupcakes at 10H00. A brief speech was given in the firm’s head office in Pretoria, by Dario Tanziani, Chairman of the firm. The staff thereafter joined the Adams & Adams choir by singing the special Lead SA version of “Happy Birthday” in grand style.

After the celebrations, the firm set a challenge to staff to pledge monetary donations over a period of 67 minutes. The staff of the firm raised R8,300 with an anonymous donor pledging a further R4,000. The partners of the firm joined the cause and matched the R8,300 pledged by the staff. This brought the total amount of money raised to R20,600 in a time of 67 minutes.

This amount will be donated to Vukauzenzele Primary School in Mamelodi, Pretoria. The firm has worked with Vukauzenzele Primary for some years now and the money raised will be used to pay for needs identified by Vukauzenzele in an ongoing plan to support the school and empower its learners.

At Adams & Adams we embrace the principles of Mandela Day. We like to take action, inspire change and work towards making each day a Mandela Day.

Happy 93rd birthday Madiba!