On July 12, 2010 a group of 21 motorbike riders, accompanied by a support team of around 20 people, as well as actor Morgan Freeman who is also participating, left the Nelson Mandela Foundation on a six-day road-trip to Cape Town to spread the word about Mandela Day.

The aim of the bikers is to plant a seed of goodwill throughout the country by performing a good service of some kind wherever they stop. The Nelson Mandela Foundation made a special appeal to the country’s biking community to support the Mandela Day tour by assisting the visiting group as far as they are able on arrival in their respective regions.

To this end our MMA (Montagu Motorbike Association) met and escorted the group of bikers to the Winelands SPCA on Friday 16th July.

Here everyone in the group were put to work immediately on their arrival (they have to work for exactly 67 minutes per session)! They were given the option of walking the dogs, helping to feed the animals at their customary feeding hour, or to paint the front boundary wall at the SPCA premises - first with a coat of white paint and thereafter to adorn it with any colourful pictures entirely of their own choice.

It is hoped that at each and every stop they will be planting a seed of Madiba’s values.
South African actor, Jack Devnarain said: “Part of our message is to remind South Africans that we are all inspired and our task is to inspire each other … the great goal is to remind people that Mandela Day is not just about 67 years of sacrifice and service, it is about living a lifetime of sacrifice and service.”

Mandela Day, July 18, celebrates the 92nd birthday of Nelson Mandela, and is a call to action for all South Africans to make a difference in the places in which they live and work.
Declared ‘Nelson Mandela International Day’ by the United Nations last year, July 18 is one day in the year that people across the globe can band together to serve the communities around them and work towards a better tomorrow.

At the start of the tour Morgan Freeman said that he was very happy to be here and to take part in Mandela Day in South Africa.

In the picture below, Mr Freeman is seen cuddling one of the special little pups at the kennels.

(For more photos taken at this special occasion, see the album "Mandela Day at SPCA" in the Photo Galleries section on the Homepage)