Nelson Mandela International Day 2025 — Kurasini National Children’s Home

H.E. Ms. Noluthando Mayende-Malepe, High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa to the United Republic of Tanzania

Excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners, 

Government Officials present, 

Representatives of Kurasini National Children’s Home, 

Invited guests,

Asalaam Aleikhum,

Habari za asubuhi

Happy Mandela Day!

It is a great honour to join you today in commemorating Nelson Mandela International Day, a day that calls on all of us to reflect on the values of unity, compassion, and justice that Madiba so powerfully embodied.

I have the privilege of delivering a statement on behalf of the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres.

And I quote:

Nelson Mandela’s extraordinary life showed how one person can transform oppression, struggle and subjugation into reconciliation, social justice and unity. 

Just as Madiba’s life was a triumph of the human spirit, his legacy is a call to rekindle our global commitment to peace, justice and human dignity. 

This year’s theme reminds us that the power to end poverty and inequality is in all our hands. 

Mandela believed in the power of collective, grassroots action. He knew that ordinary people could bend the arc of history, and that lasting change started not in capitals and boardrooms, but in neighbourhoods and communities. 

Mandela’s life of service and progress continues to inspire our own efforts at the United Nations, as we celebrate our 80th anniversary. 

On this important day, and every day, let us all be guided by Madiba’s lifelong commitment to freedom, justice, equality and the rights that belong to every person on earth.

Let us honour Madiba’s legacy not only through our words, but through our actions by choosing service over silence, compassion over complacency, and unity over division.

Thank you for the opportunity to share the Secretary-General’s message. May this Mandela Day inspire us all to be agents of change in our communities and beyond.

Asanteni sana!