Port Employees Get into Spirit of Mandela Day

Port employees from Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) heeded the global call to mark Nelson Mandela International Day by being of service to others.

This year the Authority encouraged employees who volunteer for causes in their personal time, to nominate organisations they wished to support through TNPA’s Mandela Day activities. TNPA’s activities impacted more than 15 organisations and thousands of disadvantaged individuals across schools, old age homes, palliative care organisations, informal settlements and many more.

Staff from TNPA’s Johannesburg head office – including some of the national executive committee – cleaned cooked and repaired at the premises of the United Cerebral Palsy Association of South Africa. Head Office staff also visited Alexandra Malebese Home to deliver grocery donations and spend time with the children in the care of the home.

The Port of Durban team partnered with SAI Feeding Scheme to provide meals for close to 3,000 vulnerable people in and around Durban, visiting Wilson’s Wharf and the Raffia Road and Welbedacht informal settlements in Chatsworth.

Holy Cross Hospice in eMoyeni was where Port of Richards Bay employees chose to volunteer their time.

The Port of Cape Town team painted and cleaned at Shiloh Education Centre and donated groceries to Douglas Murray Home Retreat and Thandokuhle Arthur Makubo Foundation. They also cleaned up and painted at Zanemfundo Primary School in partnership with Beautiful Gate South Africa.

Employees from the Port of Saldanha visited the biggest NGO on the West Coast, Siyabonga Care Village, alongside other companies and government organisations. The centre provides health, social welfare, disability and early childhood development (ECD) services to the West Coast community. TNPA donated non-perishables and spent the day with the residents. Fun recreational activities included a record-breaking attempt, music, games facilitated by the Western Cape Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS) and a braai.

In Mossel Bay a 40-strong team of volunteers from the port observed the day at Aloe Crèche in the small farming community of Buisplaas. TNPA donated study material, ran a soup kitchen, redecorated the crèche, renovated the play area, installed a dry wall to section off a classroom for toilet training, fixed the ablution facilities and fixed the electrical lighting within the classrooms, among other repairs.

Port of Port Elizabeth volunteers stepped in at various local institutions including Sinako Learning, Intervention and Care Centre for Special Needs Children, Inn Safe Hands Children’s Home, Ekuphumleni Old Age Home, Khwezilomso Comprehensive School and Loyiso High School. The Port of East London team chose to spend time feeding elderly residents and cleaning at Langham House and Entembeni Home for the Aged.

Further supplementing the activities on Mandela Day, various Transnet operating divisions in the Eastern Cape held the ‘Transnet 67 Minutes with 67 Employees for Mandela Day’ initiative on Friday, 21 July. This saw 76 employees from Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), Port Terminals (TPT), Freight Rail (TFR), Engineering (TE), Projects (TP) and the Transnet Foundation assist with administrative work, cooking, cleaning, recreational activities and exercises at the Ekuphumleni Old Age Home in Zwide and the Lukhanyiso Children’s Home in Uitenhage. Employees also handed over donations of groceries, toiletries, kitchenware and appliances, crockery, bedding, cleaning materials and other items.

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