The power of doing good

After a particularly violent and destructive series of strikes and tragic news that swept this country, I looked desperately for some sign of unselfish South Africans who did not desert their hospital posts and leave babies to die or try to beat trains at level crossings killing school children in moments of reckless haste.

I turned to one of my favourite websites, www.sagoodnews.co.za, where I found this delightfully inspiring article written by Themba Makamo, about a delightful fellow called Mr Traffic.

“You won’t read about him in newspapers,” wrote Mr Makamo. “His face doesn’t appear on billboards or magazine covers, and I doubt you’ll ever see him on TV or hear about him on radio, but he’s the kind of person Nelson Mandela spoke about when he said that ‘we must use time wisely and forever realise that the time is always ripe to do right’.”
And, Mr Makamo said, “Mr Traffic is doing exactly that”.
“As one of South Africa’s many unemployed, he realised that he had time on his hands; time he could put to good use for the benefit of others. So, morning after morning, he takes to the streets, clad in his reflective jacket, and braves the biting cold to take his position at a busy pedestrian crossing on Sontonga Street in Katlehong, a township in Ekurhuleni.

“His duty: to ensure that pedestrian learners cross the busy roads safely on their way to school.
“He stands with the children, some as young as six-years-old, teaching them the rules of road safety. At the end of it all he won’t be paid nor will he receive a reward. He’s doing it out of the goodness of his heart.”

Mr Makamo wrote that Mr Traffic is what he—and Madiba—call a “good citizen”, adding that there are “hundreds of thousands like him, unsung heroes who toil tirelessly for the benefit of others”.

He points out that there are 58000 registered non-governmental organisations in South Africa. The corporate sector gives R5 billion to “social investment”, but private individuals donate an estimated R9 billion.
Makomo cites John F Kennedy’s famous exhortation: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

Mr Traffic evidently has taken that to heart. He realised that not all working parents could supervise their children on their way to school, on which they might cross busy and dangerous roads, and decided to do something about that.
And, wrote Mr Makamo, “it seems that many South Africans are also waking up to the call of doing good for the country in the name of nation building”.

In his view, that is good timing as the country faces challenges such as attacks on foreign nationals, youth apathy, affirmative action and BEE, unemployment, poverty, crime and lack of service delivery.

He attributes the change to the 2010 World Cup which, more than the 1994 elections, “have signalled that as a nation we are capable of great things”.
“In 1994 it was the power to forgive. Now, in 2010, it is the power to actively demonstrate good citizenship.”

He is under no illusion that the process will take time, and quotes Kofi Annan, the Ghanaian former secretary-general of the United Nations: “No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime.”

But we are getting there. For the World Cup, 70000 South Africans applied to be volunteers in a programme that had 18000 places in fields such as transport, hospitality, media, accreditation and marketing.

“The World Cup volunteers were the unsung heroes of the tournament,” Mr Makamo wrote. “They once again demonstrated what could be achieved if we work as a collective towards a shared vision.

“And as we labour towards our goal of a ‘better life for all’, the actions of Mr Traffic and the World Cup volunteers should continue to inspire us into being good citizens and dedicating our time to the good of others.”

Mr Makamo concluded: “It is well-documented that the greatest source of happiness is in ‘doing good’, making a difference to the lives of others. But most of us don’t know where to start. Happily more and more ‘public good’ initiatives are becoming part of the South African character.

“So, if you want to emulate Mr Traffic, tap into the growing social network of South Africans who want to demonstrate good citizenship and make a difference. You’ll be amazed at the results!”

Wise words indeed from Themba Makamo. Thanks to him and people like Mr Traffic, my faith in nature—the backbone of South African society—has been firmly set back on the path to
restoration.