Most South Africans have begun making their mark to celebrate Madiba Month in multiple ways that impact several communities in efforts to ignite hope in the spirit of Nelson Mandela.
With everyone extending their humanitarian hand, the Central Gauteng Lions chief executive officer Jono Leaf-Wright has made his 67 minutes count at the Wanderers Stadium in Joburg, where he was one of 450 people ensuring some families would be fed.
His cricket players came out in numbers to lend a helping hand – along with all partners, who were at the ground to help pack food parcels.
Leaf-Wright, who has been involved in the world of cricket for more than a decade, shared with The Star the essence of Mandela Day.
"Today is just a magnificent day. It is a celebration of being proudly South African. It is a celebration of what Mandela taught us.
"And we are all here today packing 5 000 food parcels to give back to those communities within South Africa as we celebrate Mandela Day.
"There are 450 people on the ground from different corporates, our partners, our players, and our staff packing these.
"So we collaborated with Ashraful Aid, which is one of this country's biggest NGOs that does magnificent work globally.
They identified a lot of communities, not only in Joburg, but throughout the country that these 5 000 parcels would go to."
He said they had worked closely during the pandemic, donating food hampers worth R5 million to various communities around Joburg.
Yusuf Nabee, the COO of Ashraful Aid, said Nelson Mandela Day was all about bringing people together to be able to give back, particularly in these tough times.
