Throughout South Africa Nelson Mandela’s 92nd birthday was celebrated this weekend with Mandela day. “It is important for young people to have days like this to be reminded that racial equality can exist.”

By Serginho Roosblad

The 18th of July is not only Nelson Mandela’s birthday; in fact it is the birthday of every single South African. Even though Mandela, nicknamed Madiba, has not been the president for ten years, to many South Africans he’s still the father of the nation.

In the case someone woke up in the morning forgot that Madiba’s birthday was on the 18th of July, that person was quickly reminded that this day is Nelson Mandela day. Different media reported extensively on the day that the former president turned 92 years old.

On Cape Town’s local radio station the radio host reminded everybody that Mandela’s birthday was not only a day of celebration, but also a day on which South Africans could do their 67 minutes of contribution of service to the world. This meant that anyone could do something good, like Yulia Bergevoet from the Netherlands who attended the Ubuntu festival in Cape Town in celebration of Mandela’s birthday.

Yesterday I volunteered by cooking food for homeless people,” says the 24-year-old student. “But in the meantime this event was also master class from some of South Africa’s most famous chef’s.”

According to Yulia, the interest was so big that after the one hour and seven minutes, the participants were kindly requested to pass on the kitchen knife.

The Ubuntu festival, named after the South African philosophy of ‘I am because you are’ was organised for the second time. “But it is not only a philosophy that is used on days like this. On my university we are constantly reminded of Ubuntu, especially because we are with so many people with different backgrounds.”

And this difference in population was clearly noticeable at the Ubuntu festival in central Cape Town. Many visitors, mainly young people enjoying the sun and performances of the dozen artists, still think they owe South Africa’s first president in many ways. “Because if it wasn’t for him, we would not be standing here together, side by side,” says Angelique Albanie a 22-year- old Capetonian.

With the magic of the World Cup still in the minds of many South Africans, it may seem that South Africa is a united nation. But nothing could be farther from the truth. “Of course I cannot know what Madiba thinks about the current state of South Africa, but I think he would reckon we still have a very long way to go,” Angelique believes. “And in the pace we are going in now, it will take a long time before we will have a society with total equality.”

Even as an outsider, in the eighteen months Yulia has been living in South Africa, she has seen the urge for especially young South Africans to be reminded of racial equality in the country. “It is important for young people to have days like this to be reminded that racial equality can exist.”