Karega in Umuganda to mark Mandela Day

The Rwandan High Commissioner to South Africa, Vincent Karega, alongside other diplomats, participated in community service, commonly known as Umuganda in Rwanda, to mark the Nelson Mandela Day on Monday. The gesture was at the invitation of the South African Minister for International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoane Mashabane. Celebrated on the birthday of South Africa’s anti-apartheid hero, on July 18, the International Mandela Day serves as a key platform to honour Nelson Mandela by giving a portion of 67 minutes to community service. The diplomats carried out various activities at the Diepsloot Primary School, in South Africa which hosts 1500 pupils. These included planting trees, building a fence, painting, among others. “Diepsloot Township is an underprivileged settlement in Johannesburg. It is a time for South Africans and all good wishers worldwide to remember Mandela’s long walk to freedom and the liberation of South Africans from the institutionalised oppression through Apartheid,” the Rwandan High Commission in South Africa said in a statement. In addition to participating in the community work, Karega donated scholastic materials to the school. Rwanda shares much with South Africa such as a history of discrimination, a liberation process, reconciliation and the challenges to creating prosperity for the general population left behind by a legacy of poor governance, the statement added. The 95-year-old former South African president is currently in a Pretoria hospital where he has been for the last seven weeks receiving treatment for a recurring lung infection.

National

Karega in Umuganda to mark Mandela Day