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On 31 July 2023, the Office of the Ombudsman will host a Mandela Day event, under the theme “Reclaiming our Dignity”, where the Joburg Ombudsman, Advocate Siduduzo Gumede and his team will donate various non-perishables garden seeds, clothing, and dignity packs to learners between the ages of 13 and 18 years.

In commemoration of Mandela Month, the Office has identified Progress Comprehensive Academic School in Soweto as a beneficiary of this year’s Donation Drive. Sadly, more than 100 of the learners from the school, come from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a few coming from child-headed households; often unable to afford necessities such as food and hygiene products. A staggering reality for many children in South Africa.

Yet, despite its many challenges, the school has always managed to achieve consistent national academic results. Hence, we sought to answer the call to contribute towards the alleviation of some of the socio-economic pressures faced by the learners on a daily basis.

“We have appealed to both city officials and local businesses to donate in-kind in the hope that we can collectively ensure that this project is sustainable and impactful; which ultimately the school can be in a better position to start a small vegetable garden and with each sprouting seed, we believe that the learners will start to sprout seeds within themselves to dream a vision bigger than their current realities”, commented Advocate Siduduzo Gumede.

As an office that advocates for the protection of the human rights of the communities in which we operate, restoring dignity back into the lives of these vulnerable learners is our key focus and we believe through this initiative, we can ensure that no learner stays at home because they couldn’t afford food and/or hygiene products.

“Effective action requires not only responding to incidents of human rights violations and working to prevent individual instances but also building a culture based on alternative principles and values to those which underlie the infringement of one’s basic right to human dignity”, concluded Advocate Gumede.

Issued by The Joburg Ombudsman, Advocate Siduduzo Gumede