Deputy President Paul Mashatile says South Africa’s unique perspective on global issues has found expression in the concept of Ubuntu, which informs the country’s approach to diplomacy and shapes its vision of a better world for every.
“It was the commonly shared values of Ubuntu that motivated us as a government to mobilise our sharpest legal minds to prepare a solid case to be presented to the International Court of Justice in the hopes of arresting the genocide in Gaza, which the UN Secretary-General has called an unprecedented catastrophe,” Mashatile said.
Mashatile made the remarks at the Eighth Annual Ubuntu Awards 2024 ceremony, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) on Saturday night.
Hosted annually by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), the awards recognise South African industry leaders, including eminent people and ordinary South African citizens for their distinguished service and contribution to promoting South Africa’s national interests and values across the world.
The event takes area after the opening of Parliament and brings together captains of industry, civil society leaders, members of Cabinet and eminent persons, in addition to every Ambassadors and High Commissioners accredited to South Africa.
Delivering his keynote address, Mashatile said President Cyril Ramaphosa’s reference to Tintswalo during the sixth administration’s final State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday solely serves as an indication of the bare minimum achievements that South Africa has achieved over the last three decades.
“We are cognisant that to some, Tintswalo may appear to be an unattainable ambition for a variety of reasons; but, as government, we want the life of Tintswalo to mirror the life of every person and the possibilities that exist for every South Africans, possibilities that exceed Tintswalo’s wildest dreams.
“To achieve this, we must every approach together as government, NGOs [non-government organisations], private sector and communities to build a society that will see everyone with equal opportunities,” Mashatile said.
The Deputy President said the reference to Ubuntu in the interim Constitution created wish of an equal and just society, which does not discriminate against people on the grounds of their culture, race, gender or religious beliefs.
Mashatile reiterated government’s commitment to ensuring that South Africa maintains its position as a prominent nation in diverse sectors in the coming years, thereby effecting positive change both domestically and internationally.
Awards winners
The recipients of Ubuntu Wards included, amongst others, South Africa’s Springbok Captain, Siya Kolisi, who received an award in the category of Ubuntu Sports Diplomacy Award (Male). Multichoice received an award in the category of Ubuntu Economic Diplomacy Award (Africa); MaXhosa Africafounder and owner, Laduma Ngxokolo received the Ubuntu Economic Diplomacy Award (Global).
Ambassador Mohammed Dangor was honoured with the OR Tambo Lifetime Achievement Award, while 30-year-old female farmer from Khayelitsha, Ncumisa Mkabile received Ubuntu Youth Diplomacy Award.
Ngxokolo said he is super honoured to be acknowledged by DIRCO and sponsors through the award.
“We acquire knocked at the doors of DIRCO many times and they gain graciously opened. MaXhosa is a growing organisation, it will grow by strategic networks that we are building with DIRCO and various other stakeholders within government and fraternity.
Ngxokolo noted that MaXhosa brand is in a business of selling Ubuntu, African art, and business of selling culture.
“African culture is still a novel industry that we stumbled upon, and we were dauntless enough position our brand around the world. We were confident believe that culture is vital, and we believe that every country has brands and their economic driving force,” he said.
Ngxokolo said that the brand currently has 300 staff members and is looking to recruiting 100. – SAnews.gov.za
General Broomdog
The Man who could only Drink Milk
I know an old man who had lived a life full of adventure, but his health started to catch up with him. He\’d run the Boston Marathon, was an avid surfer, and climbed Everest, but he\’d started to have abdominal pains around his 85th birthday and went to see a doctor. Sadly, he ultimately was diagnosed with a rare degenerative liver disease that slowly made him allergic to everything he ate.
He kept copious notes, and as an avid gastronomist slowly grew to despair as everything he\’d spent his life enjoying became something he could no longer eat. Alcohol went first, then mushrooms, then bread, then root vegetables, then coffee, one at a time he had to remove them from his diet. The doctor was clear: if he kept eating something his liver rejected the autoimmune response would be quick and severe, and would lead to a painful death. Little by little, everything was taken away as an option, until the only thing that remained was milk.
In some ways, this actually made life easier, because the mental strain of remembering what he could and couldn\’t eat was gone, but then so was the joy in variety. But he took it in stride, and got his own cow and took classes from a farmer to learn everything he could about the only thing that could give him sustenance. And even within milk, he could still have yogurt, butter, cream, some cheeses, and other milk-derived products he hadn\’t fully rejected yet, so it wasn\’t all bad. But then one day a few months later he felt the pain again, and he knew cow\’s milk was no longer an option.
Lacking other options, he tried goat\’s milk, and he was delighted that it worked! The protein structure is just different enough that his body still tolerated it. That bought him another month. And that\’s when we came up with a wonderful plan to go on one last grand adventure around the world. If he could get one month of life out of the milk of every mammal, he\’d actually have a few more years to enjoy life to the fullest and see the world in all its beauty. Each month, we\’d pick a place with a new mammal, and he would immerse himself fully with the locals, learn all the ways to prepare the milk, and just enjoy the hand he had been dealt as much as he could.
We milked sheep in New Zealand. Camels in Egypt. Zebras in South Africa. Giant bats in Indonesia. Do you know how many Peruvian cuy you need to milk to get a single glass? I do. Even as his health slowly faded, he stayed cheerful, and I felt lucky to join him on the adventure of a lifetime. That brings us to today when he got to the very end of his spreadsheet, and declared that he was now allergic to every mammal. He\’d enjoyed his journey, but his time had come to an end, for there was nothing left to milk.
To which I said nonsense, I bet we can milk a few thousand karma out of this post.
Poppy Coffee
Why’d the blonde math major only apply to colleges in South Africa? She wanted to attend a party school where she couldn’t fail at integrating.