While Mandela Day encourages 67 minutes of service, some organisations are turning the spirit of July 18 into year-round action. Tourvest, a leading travel and tourism group, has launched a series of impactful projects across Africa focused on education, sustainability, and community development.
In Johannesburg, the company is refurbishing libraries at Crown Reef Mines and Khulanolwazi Primary Schools to promote literacy and digital learning in under-resourced communities. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” Nelson Mandela once said — and Tourvest appears to be putting that belief into practice.
In Victoria Falls, the installation of biogas digesters is offering rural families clean energy alternatives, reducing deforestation, and freeing women and children from hours spent collecting firewood. In Cape Town, Tourvest is helping set up an agricultural tunnel with Living Hope NPO, promoting food security through a local farm-to-table system.
Environmental awareness is also taking root in Soweto, where Tourvest staff are cleaning rivers feeding into the Orlando Dam while educating school children on pollution and waste management.
In the North West province, the company is building a home for the Pule family — a child-headed household — while also repairing local roads and supporting the elderly with blanket drives.
Meanwhile in Tanzania, a donation to the Meserani Snake Park Clinic has provided critical blood analysis technology, improving access to lifesaving diagnostics for over a million people.
These efforts form part of Tourvest’s “Vision27” strategy aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. For the company, Mandela Day is more than an annual event. As Madiba once said, “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others.”
And through these projects, Tourvest hopes to leave more than it takes.
