Our Stories

In honour of Mandela Day, we are re-sharing a poem written for our nation’s father by Malwandla Ubisi, a former Madlala High School student

Nelson Mandela’s birthday is also known as “Mandela Day”. It’s a day  to inspire individuals to take action to help change the world for the better, and in doing so build a global movement for good. Generally individuals and organisations are free to participate as they wish, following the mantra “service to one’s fellow human.”

As a former volunteer ambassador and activist for the 1 Billion Rising and V-Girls movement in Mpumalanga’s Madlala community, Malwandla actively served her fellow human beings throughout the year. For that, we salute and admire her.

For our readers not from South Africa, “Tata” means father and “Madiba” is Nelson Mandela’s original clan name.

Tata Madiba
By Malwandla Ubisi

Tata Madiba
The father of all nations, the guider,
The protector of Africa,
You are more than unique,
You are more than a conqueror,
You are everyone’s dream,
You are our role model.

You did the impossible that no man can do,
You sacrificed your life for us.

27 years in prison is no joy
But to you it was just the beginning of a new life good life,
Of a united nation,
Of a free world,
A world where everyone is welcome!

Without you, we wouldn’t have made it,
We wouldn’t be here
We wouldn’t be having the life we have today
We wouldn’t have succeeded
Unity lies within you, forgiveness is what you are.

You are the greatest
You showed us that there is more to life than the pain we felt during apartheid.

You showed us the brighter side of the world
Even though you trembled and fell, you never gave up,
You kept going, you gave your all.

What you did is amazingly amazing
We will forget to forget you and
Remember to remember you always.

You walked great steps.

Now it’s time for us to follow them
You will live forever in our hearts
Your legacy lives forever.

We love you Tata Madiba.

Thank you
Malwandla