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Worthy cause: From left to right: Yusuf Abramjee, chairman of the National Press Club; Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga; artist John Adams; Gavin Koppel, from Shout SA; Terry Volkwyn, the CEO of Primedia; and Achmat Dangor, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, at yesterdays launch of the special Happy Birthday recording for Mandela Day. Picture: Chris Collingridge
THERESA TAYLOR
Theresa.taylor@inl.co.za
At 8am on July 18, the world should stop. The speakers in the cabinet should cease debating. SA’s 12 million schoolchildren should stop their lessons for a minute. The workers should put down their tasks. Everyone should open their lungs and hearts to sing Happy Birthday to Nelson Mandela.
This is the plan that LeadSA announced yesterday along with the launch of the Sing for Madiba video, which depicts various South Africans singing Happy Birthday.
Yusuf Abramjee, the head of LeadSA, said they hoped to use the video to encourage people around the world to sing Happy Birthday to Mandela at 8am on July 18.
At this time, MultiChoice will cease its broadcasting and show the video on each of its channels. The song will also be sung at sports matches on the day.
This forms part of encouraging the 67 Minutes Campaign, where individuals do 67 minutes of community service.
At the launch, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga, whose department is one of the many partners of the project, recalled how Mandela led his team when he was in office.
“I would tell him (the project) is in the pipeline,” said Motshekga. “Burst that pipeline!” Mandela would tell her, unable to tolerate slow-moving bureaucracy.
Motshekga proudly reported that her 67 Minutes Projects, in which corporates and the government have been asked to support 94 schools around the country, had functioned “above the pipeline”, giving them computer labs or better sporting facilities, and even rebuilding some schools.
lTo download the song, sms Madiba to 44009. The video is available on YouTube under the title Sing for Madiba.
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