Latest news with #ubuntu
News24
3 days ago
- News24
Gift of the Givers ‘water mafia' intimidation an attack on ubuntu, says Mchunu
Staff members of the humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers staff were threatened while distributing water to victims of the Mthatha floods. Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said the attack was 'an attack on the very principle of ubuntu'. The minister said no one would be allowed to profit from disaster or compromise the safety and well-being of people. Describing the 'water mafia's' intimidation of Gift of the Givers staff in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, as 'an attack on the very principle of ubuntu', Police Minister Senzo Mchunu urged officers to deal with them. Mchunu went to the town on Saturday and in a statement on Wednesday, he said the police would not tolerate any attempt to intimidate or obstruct people who were working tirelessly to save lives and bring relief to those affected by the flooding in the area. 'Gift of the Givers has consistently been a source of hope and dignity to South Africans in their hour of need,' Mchunu added. READ | 'Mafia' tells Gift of the Givers to stop providing free water to Mthatha flood victims The minister said no one would be allowed to profit from disaster or compromise the safety and well-being of people. 'The SAPS will ensure the safety of all humanitarian workers in the area and hold those responsible fully accountable under the law.' The Gift of the Givers relief workers were distributing water to flood victims over the weekend when a group of people confronted them and demanded that they cease the relief operation. 'This happened on Saturday when the Gift of the Givers was busy distributing water to flood victims when the criminals directed them to stop what they were doing,' the municipality said in a statement on Tuesday. Confirming the incident, Gift of the Givers spokesperson Ali Sablay said the incident was perpetrated by the 'water mafia'. 'While our teams were busy distributing water, they received a threat from one of the service providers to the [OR Tambo District] Municipality. They were concerned that Gift of the Givers was giving water to the communities free of charge,' Sablay said. Mchunu added that police were also alerted to theft from deceased flood victims' homes. 'Police have been deployed to ensure the safety of the property of the deceased,' he said.
IOL News
23-04-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Did JD Vance go through a damascene conversion after visiting Pope Francis?
The Pope is dead; long live the Pope! The original version of this expression is normally used by royalists to mourn the death of a king or queen while in the same breath celebrating the accession of the new one, thereby ensuring the life of the monarchy in perpetuity. This proclamation signifies that kings and queens will come and go but the throne will stand forever. Perhaps in the case of the dearly departed Roman Catholic pontiff we should say, 'Jorge Mario Gergoglio is dead; long live Pope Francis!'. The pope was many things to many people. He was the 'People's Pope', while to others he was an 'intellectual', a 'progressive', 'radical', 'warrior', 'leftist' or 'liberation theologist' and so on and so forth. For me, he was a genuine human being who preached Ubuntu without using the Southern African word. The pontiff didn't just live the philosophy of Ubuntu – 'humanity to others' – he espoused it more and more in the twilight of his life. And there's still a lot of work to be done in this regard around the world. Pope Francis tried to preach ubuntu indirectly to US President Donald Trump and his leadership as he began wreaking havoc in the Land of the Free and around the world at the beginning of the year. The pontiff wrote to his bishops condemning the massive deportation and ill treatment of migrants, referencing the Catholic concept of ordo amoris – the order of love. Francis wrote that "it is only by affirming the infinite dignity of all that our own identity as persons and as communities reaches its maturity". He stated that 'love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups'. He argued that the 'true ordo amoris' that needs to be promoted widely is that exemplified by the parable of the Good Samaritan, a love that 'builds a fraternity open to all, without exception'. US Vice President JD Vance, who paid a very puzzling visit to the Vatican just before the pope's passing, has a very different view about this love principle: 'You love your family, and then you love your neighbour, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country. And then after that, you can focus and prioritise the rest of the world.' They say good things come to those who wait, but I don't think it's advisable for any migrant or citizen of the 'rest of the world' nations like South Africa, China, Lesotho and so on, to wait for the Trump administration's love. But perhaps, a damascene conversion happened when Vance visited Rome. To honour Pope Francis, let's all Make the Order of Love Fashionable Again!
