The South African High Commission organised a press luncheon on his 94th birthday.
The South African High Commissioner to Cameroon and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Chad and the Central African Republic, Mrs. Ntshadi M. Tsheole has urged African leaders to imbibe the lesson of Nelson Mandela by leading by example.
Speaking in Yaounde on Wednesday July 18 on the occasion of his 94th birthday or Mandela Day, Mrs. Tsheole said the former Head of State’s message was about peaceful transition, the need for Africans to come together and forget their bitter past in order to focus on a more positive present and future. This is the reason why each time there is crisis on the continent, South Africa is often given the opportunity to get involved, she explained.
Quoting Mandela, the High Commissioner said every country has a bitter past, warning that if people make such history a part of their present and future, they will never move forward. She said South Africans have learnt from Nelson Mandela that in spite of the pain and anger they went through under Apartheid, they we must focus on the present and future because the past cannot be changed, but the future can be shaped.
The UN in 2009 declared Nelson Mandela’s birthday a worldwide celebration dedicated to works of charity and goodwill. People are expected to set aside 67 minutes on the day for such works to mark Mandela’s 67 years in politics. According to Mrs. Tsheole, works of goodwill may include going to hospital and fondling a sick child or visiting terminally ill people and reading a word of inspiration to them.
The High Commission began celebrating Mandela Day in 2009 with the organisation of activities in the South West and later in the North West Regions. Last year, staff contributed money and bought gifts for an orphanage in Yaounde. This year, they also contributed money for entertaining journalists at the press luncheon. The occasion witnessed the screening of a film on the challenges Nelson Mandela faced in leading a hitherto racially split society.
