The International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Dr Naledi Pandor, will join South Africans and the international community in marking the annual Nelson Mandela Day on Tuesday, 18 July 2023.
Pandor will visit the Bophelong Community Centre in Mamelodi East in Pretoria, Gauteng.
She will be joined by the visiting Irish Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin and several Heads of Diplomatic Missions accredited to Pretoria.
Bophelong Community Centre was established in 2000 by Pastor Titus Sithole as a community-based, one-stop centre of hope, which provides free and easily accessible social and welfare services to the community of Mamelodi and surrounding areas.
“Minister Pandor visited the centre 10 years ago, in 2013. This year’s visit will, therefore, serve as an opportunity for the Minister to observe how the centre has grown over the past decade and what challenges remain to be addressed,” the statement read.
In November 2009, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a unanimous resolution in recognition of the former South African President’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom.
The General Assembly declared 18 July ‘Nelson Mandela International Day’.
The day marks Mandela’s life and is used as a global call to action for people to recognise their power to make an imprint and change the world.
The International Nelson Mandela Day for the year 2023 will be celebrated under the ‘The Legacy Lives on Through You: Climate, Food and Solidarity’ theme.