As per tradition, employees of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) joined millions upon millions of people worldwide to mark the 2024 International Nelson Mandela Day.

Led by the DPSA’s Deputy Director-General for Administration, Ms Linda Dludla, Team DPSA handed over relief gifts for the elderly at the Tshepo Ke Lesedi Home Old Aged, in Hammanskraal, nearly 50 kilometres north-east of Pretoria, Gauteng.

In addition to bearing gifts, the DPSA employees’ volunteering group set this year’s Mandela Day aside to help with chores, from cleaning rooms, floors and windows to tendering the home’s expansive vegetable garden.

Over the past three years, the DPSA has spent the annual Nelson Mandela Day at the Tshepo Ke Lesedi Home Old Aged, preferring to stick to one project to better observe impact over a longer time horizon.

This year, the general state of the senior’s facility seemed to be in better shape than last year and the year before. The completion of the residential section, which was under construction during the 2023 visit, gave the home a sense of “caring,” which was reinforced by the row of wheelchairs that lined the passage-ways.

During the gifts handover ceremony, DDG Linda thanked Mr Ditiro Sipato, who runs home, for the opportunity given to the DPSA in the spirit of Nelson Mandela Day.

“Our being here today helps us to continue the journey that our former President Nelson Mandela began through his exemplary conduct,” said DDG Dludla.

The DDG also praised the home for the improvements that the DPSA team witnessed this time around, saying it was a testimony to what could be achieved through working together and helping each other out.

A great statesman and father of post-apartheid South Africa, former President Nelson Mandela once said, “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.”

Former President Mandela’s words aptly describe the DPSA’s choice for its Nelson Mandela Day commemoration over the past three years. Amidst rampant unemployment and poverty, it is often the ailing and physically weak seniors who bear the brunt of helplessness, and who need most help.