{"id":5731,"date":"2026-04-23T18:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T16:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?p=181854"},"modified":"2026-04-23T18:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T16:12:08","slug":"what-kind-of-south-africa-do-we-choose-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/what-kind-of-south-africa-do-we-choose-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"What Kind of South Africa Do We Choose to Be?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Education_FQI-scaled.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p><em>FOUR PAWS hosts its annual State of Animal Welfare Address #SOAWA, inviting the public to join the discussion via YouTube livestream.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Cape Town \u2013 Global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS will host the annual 2026 State of Animal Welfare Address #SOAWA on Tuesday, 05 May 2026 in Cape Town. Bringing together leaders from animal welfare, government, academia, conservation and public health to reflect on the state of animal welfare in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>The influential annual platform will centre on a defining question posed by FOUR PAWS Director Fiona Miles: \u201cWhat kind of South Africa do we choose to be, one that turns a blind eye to suffering, or one that leads with compassion, justice and dignity for all beings?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under the 2026 theme, \u201cA South Africa that treats animals with respect, empathy and understanding,\u201d the event will explore the systemic challenges facing animals across key sectors, from big cats and farm animals to companion animals and the reforms needed to build a more compassionate and ethical society for all living beings.<\/p>\n<p>The public will be able to livestream the event via YouTube ensuring broader national access to this critical conversation on animal welfare in South Africa. Participants will be able to add their questions during the live Q&amp;A session.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Event information:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When: Tuesday, 05 May 2026<\/li>\n<li>Time: 19:00 \u2013 21:00<\/li>\n<li>Where: YouTube<\/li>\n<li>Register: Here<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Highlights of #SOAWA 2026 include:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Master of Ceremony: Graeme Richards<\/li>\n<li>A keynote State of Animal Welfare Address by Fiona Miles<\/li>\n<li>A panel discussion on The State of Big Cat Welfare<\/li>\n<li>Expert insights into Farm Animal Welfare and Companion Animal Welfare<\/li>\n<li>A live Q&amp;A session with speakers<\/li>\n<li>Networking with leaders across sectors<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As South Africa continues to grapple with complex animal welfare challenges that intersect with public health, ethics, conservation and social justice, the 2026 State of Animal Welfare Address aims to spark accountability, dialogue and action, placing compassion at the centre of national decision-making.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, please visit our website at www.four-paws.org.za<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/contact\/featured\/\">CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Author<\/strong>: Deidre Daniels from <strong>FOUR PAWS<strong> on behalf of <strong>FOUR PAWS<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/p>\n<h3>Track Your Press Release HERE:<\/h3>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"mypr-visibility-box\" readability=\"4.2608695652174\">\n<h4>Check Online Visibility<\/h4>\n<p>Verify where this release is currently indexed:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-pagination pagination\">Pages: <span class=\"post-page-numbers current\" aria-current=\"page\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Page <\/span>1<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/what-kind-of-south-africa-do-we-choose-to-be\/2\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Page <\/span>2<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/what-kind-of-south-africa-do-we-choose-to-be\/\" target=\"_blank\">CLICK HERE to Read the Original Press Release on MyPR<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FOUR PAWS hosts its annual State of Animal Welfare Address #SOAWA, inviting the public to join the discussion via YouTube livestream. Cape Town \u2013 Global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS will host the annual 2026 State of Animal Welfare Address #SOAWA on Tuesday, 05 May 2026 in Cape Town. Bringing together leaders from animal welfare, &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[{"did":"did:plc:revymtt5qssww7e7avbruzic","date":"2026-04-23T18:54:52+00:00","uri":"at:\/\/did:plc:revymtt5qssww7e7avbruzic\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mk6orjkmzj2z","response":"{\"uri\":\"at:\/\/did:plc:revymtt5qssww7e7avbruzic\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mk6orjkmzj2z\",\"cid\":\"bafyreihf2luy2oo4lfqsvahpnle7yjw47czfxyexjwazrccu76upazrk4i\",\"commit\":{\"cid\":\"bafyreid2k3w63tjscmnwmz7wcqx3iezmhpnf72lnjioxssf7uqcl4m2r7y\",\"rev\":\"3mk6orjkxrb2z\"},\"validationStatus\":\"valid\"}"}],"autoblue_post_url":"","autoblue_publish_document":false,"republication-tracker-tool-hide-widget":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[29],"class_list":["type-post","category-news","tag-mypr-africa","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5731\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}