Telkom kicks off Mandela Day campaign

Telkom and its employees in all nine provinces across South Africa have embarked on a campaign to lend a hand of support to various charities in honour of Mandela Day.

In aid of this week long campaign Telkom rallied 670 employees to volunteer their time to assist in activities such as painting, cleaning, gardening and renovation at the following organisations:

·        Kgatelopele Community Home in Polokwane in the Limpopo Province

·        The MTS Ancillary Health Care Service in Rustenburg in the North West province

·        Galeshewe Association for the care of the Aged and Disabled in Kimberly in the Northern Cape

·        We Care in Butterworth in the Eastern Cape

·        The Zululand Hospice Association in Empangeni, Kwazulu-Natal

·        The Soshanguve Self Help Association of People with Disability in Pretoria, Gauteng

·        The Siyabonga Life Skills Centre for the Mentally Disabled in Soweto, Gauteng

·        Child Welfare in Bloemfontein in the Free State

·        Ethafeni Day Care in Cape Town in the Western Cape

·        Obrigado Home Community Based Care in bushbuck Ridge, Mpumalanga

·        Zanele Mtshali disability Home in Carltonville, Gauteng

Telkom will also donate a laptop, a mobile WiFi device and top up internet connectivity for 24 months to each organisation.

Head of the Telkom Foundation, Sarah Mthintso says, “The spirit of volunteerism seems to be infectious amongst employees and we are all so excited to be participating in these various initiatives.”

“All of the organisations that we will be assisting are already beneficiaries of the Telkom Foundation Social Development Programme. Our hope is that by consolidating our efforts in each of these organisations that we will have a more meaningful impact on our partnership,” adds Ms Mthintso.

Telkom has also partnered with the SABC and the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory to launch a phone-in service that allows the public to leave messages for Madiba in their home languages.

The lines can be used for birthday wishes, Mandela Day commitments as well as ongoing support for the recovery of his health. All the SABC radio stations will have access to the messages and will air their selections on different programmes. All messages left by the public will be made available to the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory for safekeeping and archiving.

Callers from Telkom landline and mobile services will be able to call in and leave their messages for free – however callers from other networks will pay standard fees.

The local dial in details for the various languages follows:

“Telkom joins all of South Africa in expressing gratitude to Madiba for his immeasurable role in bringing peace, hope and reconciliation to our nation. Let us all strive to follow his example and carry his legacy into the future,” concluded Ms Mthintso.

Staff writer