Cape Town - The celebrations for former South African President Nelson Mandela's birthday on 18 July, is gaining momentum with Cabinet endorsing a call to declare the birthday, a global Mandela Day.
"Cabinet endorsed the call to declare July 18th, former President Nelson Mandela's birthday, as global Mandela Day," Government spokesperson Themba Maseko said on Thursday, following an ordinary meeting of cabinet.
Cabinet called on all South Africans, civil society organisations and the citizens of the world to support the Mandela Day initiative by doing good in their communities.
He said the campaign led by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, seeks to encourage all of humanity to spend 67 minutes of their time doing something that would make a difference in their communities.
"This is in recognition of the 67 years that Madiba spent fighting against the evils of apartheid," he said.
Mr Maseko further noted that Mandela Day will not be a public holiday.
According to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Mr Mandela's life has been an inspiration to the world.
To date, the foundation and 46664 campaign has focused mainly on supporting projects in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa where current needs are greatest, particularly for those infected or affected by HIV and AIDS.
Major international events are planned around Mr Mandela's birthday each year, such as concerts, exhibitions and speeches.
This year, a series of special events will take place in New York involving many of the charity's global ambassadors from the worlds of entertainment, music and film.
The 46664 and the Nelson Mandela Foundation together with the New York City Department of Education will also host a group of middle and high school students in South Africa this month.
The students are expected to visit the offices of Mr Mandela to see the work of the foundation as well as to meet South African students in order to develop a student charter that applies Mr Mandela's ideals to their day-to-day lives and local communities.
All money raised from Mandela Day will support the ongoing work of 46664 and the Nelson Mandela charitable organisations.
