The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) dedicated two dates supporting three events in celebration of Nelson Mandela Day; contributing 67 minutes of their time in the service of the Holy Cross Home in Lady Selbourne, Pretoria; Muyexe Village, Giyani and Etuka Group, Daveyton in Benoni.

”This is our joint effort working together and involving all spheres of government. We believe that this approach will have a longer-lasting impression through follow-up visits to the project,” said the team leader, Mr Isaac Miti, the Acting Deputy Director-General of Corporate Services.

The department, together with a presentation from the City followed the lead of the nuns in starting household food gardens and distributing seeds, fertiliser and trees to close to 53 families in the care of the Holy Cross Home in Soshanguve XX block.

The Giyani activities ranged from assisting needy members of the community to establish food gardens planting spinach and onions as well as mango trees to building an ablution block for the local school.

Back in Gauteng , the DAFF planted food gardens for needy communities in Sgodi Phola in Daveyton, where a group of community members ready with messaged banners and posters supported the spirit and essence of the day. As a start, a food garden was planted at Melodi School , completing the effort started by the learners and their teachers. The activities were taken to nearby houses, spreading the message through food gardens and enjoying the support of celebrities, this time Bafana Bafana player Pollen Ndlanya also lending a helping hand.

The effort is part of celebrating Mr Nelson Mandela's birthday, and giving effect to the global initiative of the Nelson Mandela Foundation together with 46664 launched to celebrate the life, values and ideals of Nelson Mandela.

This was also pronounced by Pres. Jacob Zuma in the State of the Nation Address, when he called upon all South Africans to dedicate 67 minutes of their time on 18 July 2009 towards performance of acts of goodwill and “service to humanity”.

The campaign ideals inculcate Knowing thy neighbour and Lending a helping hand under the national theme of the campaign “Working together for the common good of our nation”.

“We are humbled by your visit which is unknown and yet still very much known to many,” said Sister Emmanuel, the Matron of the Holy Cross Home. In truth, the facility has been around silently and graciously witnessing the mushrooming and growth of the surrounding area. In early days it served as a clinic, a hospital where many babies were born. It provided education, medical care and served as a shelter from social misfortunes. Currently, it is a haven for indigents, families living in abject poverty and those in squatter camps. The sisters take turns doing family visits, distributing food parcels, providing aftercare and home care. Back in its grounds, the home has a clinic, a frail-care centre and a hospice unit.

Speaking on behalf of Tshwane Metro, Japhta Magolela stated “we are humbled by the dedication of the Sisters who actually spent not only 67 minutes, but their entire lives, in acts of goodwill among the communities. This moment is creating a marriage among us and therefore we will follow it up with another visit.”

These would not be empty words for as soon as the soil turning, planting and watering began, it became evident that the seeds that were placed in the ground, would need nurturing for the households to provide the food on the table.

In Giyani, the contribution of DAFF was well received with the much needed food and trees to further alleviate hunger.

The Daveyton the effort was reciprocated with an invitation to feast on the harvest in recognition of World Nutrition Day on 09 March 2010.

“We are inviting the DAFF for a celebration of the pickings from the food garden, especially the added meaning in terms of the World Nutrition Day of 09 March 2009. On this day, we will celebrate and sample the good nutritional food from the gardens.”

Back at the office, Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson addressed the departmental top management team and reiterated that this effort should feed into food security, and therefore must be expanded and supported through departmental programmes. In addition, campaigns such as the 1 million trees should build on what has already been started and further involve the participation of provincial and local governments.