Scrolling through social media pages today, it is easy to know that there is something big happening in South Africa – and indeed the world. After all, today is the birthday of the late Nelson Mandela.
To many he is father of the South African nation. To others he is they symbol of freedom and selflessness. Indeed there are others who still think of him as a saint of some sort.
But you would have to be reading social media partially if you miss those who remain unhappy about the legacy of Madiba and they make it well known. Good for them.
Then there is a chorus of voices that is making loud sounds about why the 67 Minutes campaign to mark the International Mandela Day is a cheap public relations exercise.
This group of people laments a few things. They are unhappy about showing compassion for 67 minutes and going back to our normal ways the next 364 days of the year.
They are critical of white and corporate South Africa whom they say exploit many on the one hand and turn around to be angels of mercy for 67 minutes on a day like this.
They remind us that the poor want land and jobs and dignity and housing and electricity and many other things more than they need a “gimmick” for 67 minutes.
I agree with this group of people. The needs of the poor and the disadvantaged require more than one day of activism. And until we address their needs, days like today will remain controversial.
Yet, I am not sold on the idea that because there are bigger problems, we should wait until those problems are solved. Days like today give us a chance to individually and collectively make a difference, even if it is for 67 minutes.
Take for instance the white gentleman I followed in Houghton this morning who took out his jacket and gave it to a woman begging on an intersection.
I am sure that woman could use money to buy food for her little child with whom she was basking in the unfriendly winter sun of Johannesburg. I am sure that woman could use a job more than a used jacket.
But I do not know whether she was going to be better if the motorist did not give her the jacket. My suspicion is that the value of what that jacket can and will do goes beyond 67 minutes.
Could the motorist have done more? Perhaps. Should he do more? Certainly. Does he do more? Hopefully.
I should hope that today thousands of poor, needy and disadvantaged people felt slightly warmer because of people like that Houghton motorist. I should hope that others got more food elsewhere.
Yes the poor people deserve at least 67 percent of land denied to them. The disadvantaged should be owing at least 67 percent of the wealth of this country.
It goes without saying that far more than 67 percent of the opportunities of wealth, jobs, land, housing, security and electricity is still enjoyed by the minority in this country.
But should that stop CEOs from their “public relations” exercise of sleeping in the cold for one night to raise money for good causes? Should that stop celebrities from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for sanitary pads for disadvantaged girls?
Should I be vilifying my friends who yesterday had a family fun day where they collected clothing and non-perishables for the needy?
What should my attitude be to tons of corporates that today went out to old age homes, orphanages, townships and rural areas to give 67 minutes of time, gifts, food and money?
I would like to wake up tomorrow where government would deliver at least 67 percent of the time; where 67% of the unemployed would get a job; where 67% of the current landless were given a piece of land; where 67% more women and children are safe in their homes.
But I know that day is not coming soon. I know that day is a pipe dream for the woman in Houghton whose only hope is the motorist who gives her a jacket, and hopefully others that will drop a coin or two, while she waits for 67 years of nirvana.
Like everyone I hold my views about Mandela and I confess some of them are not flattering. But like a whole of people, I know that in his time, he did his best to make a difference in some people’s lives.
I should hope that those of us who are concerned about illness, poverty, unemployment, lack of education, landlessness, racism, homophobia and other ills, will do whatever little we can, even if it is just for 67 seconds.
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