Click here to listen to the mp3 advert for The Salvation Army's anti-human trafficking message

Click here to watch the footage taken by News24 at the Long Walk for Rhino's Mandela Day initiative at Robben Island School. (QVC donated Media Liaison to this initiative as part of its Mandela Day initiatives)

 Quo Vadis Communications on a field trip to KwaZulu Natal for client, Siyazisiza Trust.

Victoria Makalima, assistant Director for the Johnson and Johnson Burn Treatment Centre (left) and Roger Crawford, Executive Director, Worldwide Government Affairs and Policy for Johnson & Johnson (back right) happily assisted Nurse Ester Manson and clinical officer William Kalua from Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi throughout their two-week specialised training session at the Burn Treatment Centre at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. The training took place as a result of a public private partnership between the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Johnson & Johnson, and the University of North Carolina in USA. The hospital in Malawi recently opened a burn unit and the hands-on training Ester and William received at the leading burn treatment centre in Africa, will no doubt make a huge difference in the lives of those in need.

Released: 21st September 2011

Failure to embrace reconciliation and harmony is a threat to South Africa’s “young constitutional democracy” and undermines what should bind us as a nation together for the common good, according to Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, President and Founder of African Monitor.

  Speaking at the Walter Sisulu University in Mthatha today, where he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy, Archbishop Ndungane added that the country has many challenges facing it which need to be addressed. These include high levels of poverty and inequalities and the need for policies and actions that promote economic opportunities for young people, the poor, and people in rural areas. 

Archbishop Ndungane, whose organisation monitors development funding commitments and delivery as well as the impact on grassroots communities in Africa, said that the spirit of reconciliation and harmony that Nelson Mandela instilled in South Africa when he became president, is all too often absent these days.

He said that among the threat to South Africa’s constitution is the rhetoric from many of our leaders, as reported in the media, as well as the wanton destruction to the country’s infrastructure through strikes.

“The voice of protest must never be allowed to die in any democracy, and particularly in ours,” he said. “But what is objectionable is the violence and destruction of property that accompanies many of the protests we are witnessing in South Africa.

“This country needs to apply the concept of reconciliation and harmony so as to desert the streets of protest and build its constitution and heritage,” he said.

“True reconciliation will only occur if there is a meaningful redistribution of wealth and economic opportunity that it is not confined to the elites but that the whole nation shares in it,” he said.

Archbishop Ndungane said that collective leadership is required to promote the notion of “The Common Good”.  This notion assumes that everyone matters, and that everyone matters equally.

Archbishop Ndungane said it was ironic that, when one looked back over the 17 years of South Africa’s democracy, that the high points of the common good of the community could almost all be traced back to sporting events.

“Nation building that embraces reconciliation and harmony requires more, however, than intermittent celebrations of our sporting prowess. Building a spirit of reconciliation and harmony on the one hand and a productive economy on the other- both of which serve the common good – requires that we transcend sport and move our commitment to all realms of society,” he said.

“We need a resurgence of an infectious spirit initiated and sustained by our leaders with their considerable influence of the masses – leaders in the political, economic, business and religious spheres.”

The Archbishop said that this infectious spirit needed to be carried forward by the youth and ordinary citizens as it is important that all South Africans take responsibility for their own livelihoods and the future of their country –by holding leaders accountable for the use of resources and the direction South Africa is taking and by engaging in activities that build the nation and improve productivity.

“By liberating our mindsets and moving forward as one – “One Nation, One South Africa” - we will embrace the potential of a nation united, not just for the good of our country, but of Africa as a whole.”

Last changed: Oct 28 2011 at 4:00 PM