As an institution dedicated to the humanitarian legacy of Nelson Mandela, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) heeded the call to pledge time for community outreach initiatives, in commemoration of Mandela’s birthday – 18 July 2013.
Some 500 UJ staff and students, dressed in orange Mandela Day t-shirts, dedicated more than 67 minutes of their time to goodwill in and around Johannesburg. They washed windows, scrubbed cots, mopped floors and did general maintenance work in and around the Chris Hani, the Rahima Moosa (Helen Joseph) and the Charlotte Maxeke (Johannesburg General) hospitals.
Furthermore, UJ employees and students donated children’s reading books, non-perishable and prepared food. UJ volunteers walked through the hospitals, reading to and comforting young patients before they got their hands dirty, when they embarked on the clean-up campaign.
Prof Tinyiko Maluleke, the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Internationalisation, Advancement and Student Affairs, honoured the legacy of Mandela when he engaged with an audience at the Rahima Moosa hospital.
