MEC to help renovate homes of elderly

Friday, July 16, 2010

Ermelo - Mpumalanga MEC for Culture, Sport and Recreation, Vusi Shongwe will spend his 67 minutes on Sunday doing work for the less fortunate in Morgenzon near Ermelo.

He will help renovate two houses, hand over a mobile library and donate soccer and netball kits in Ermelo on Sunday to mark Mandela Day.

"For 67 minutes on July 18, MEC Shongwe and high-ranking officials from his department will work hard to make a difference in the lives of Morgenzon residents by painting the home of two people who are in their 90s," said his spokesperson Sibongile Nkosi.

She said he would also donated blankets to senior citizens, launch a mobile library and hand out soccer kits and soccer balls.

"The activities might last for 67 minutes, but they will leave a lasting legacy and will also inculcate a culture of volunteerism and inspire the community to work together to do more good," she said.

Mandela Day coincides with Mandela's birthday.

The day's activities in Morgenzon will include a netball and seven-a-side soccer festival in which the winners will walk away with kits.

"If we make every day Mandela Day in South Africa, we would be the envy of the rest of the world," said MEC Shongwe in a statement.

"In Mpumalanga we must use Mandela Day as a vessel through which we fight poverty, unemployment, disease and other social ills."