Daily Maverick
Dailymaverick logo

South Africa

South Africa, Maverick Citizen

SA’s unsung heroes given their flowers for unseen work that uplifts society

SA’s unsung heroes given their flowers for unseen work that uplifts society
Recipients of Accountability Lab's Integrity Icon Awards and Civic Leader Awards gathered at GIBS Business School in Johannesburg, on 14 October, to be celebrated for their dedication to ethical public service. (Photo: Supplied / Accountability Lab SA)
Lerato Mutsila
By Lerato Mutsila
15 Oct 2024
Facebook
0
Many good deeds often go uncelebrated, especially when it comes to public servants who are often seen as corrupt, and community leaders whose work usually goes unnoticed. The Integrity Icons and Civil Leaders Awards are changing that perception, honouring dedicated government employees and active citizens who deserve it the most.

Many South Africans generally have the perception that the nation’s public servants are either quick to take a bribe, uninterested in working, or both. Accountability Lab’s Integrity Icon awards are working to shift this perception, showcasing the many men and women in public service who go beyond the call of duty to create a just and accountable society.

On Monday, 14 October, members of civil society, public servants and community leaders gathered at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in Johannesburg to celebrate South Africa’s unsung heroes. This year’s ceremony featured a new addition, the Civic Leaders Ceremony, which spotlights grassroots leaders, activists and community champions who are in public service and whose tireless efforts to uplift their communities deserve recognition. 

In the keynote address, Mandela Rhodes scholar and deputy chairperson of the Public Service Commission, Zukiswa Mqolomba, said: “People often say that public servants are people who cannot be trusted because they are corrupt and don’t contribute to society... But the people in this room are exemplary leaders who show us in meaningful and practical ways the importance of civic duty towards society. They demonstrate to us that it is possible for men and women of integrity to contribute [to society] in ways that make a meaningful difference in the lives of ordinary people. This is not easy work. The work of anti-corruption and transparency is unsexy work, but it is work that needs to be done by people of integrity.”

This is exactly what the winners of the Integrity Icons People’s Choice Award and Civic Leaders People’s Choice Award embody.

Chantal Chetty Ogle (left), founder of Lovechild Media F & P, was recognised for working as a civic leader in transforming personal tragedy into action by giving a voice to marginalised communities in Finetown and Ennerdale. She is pictured with Accountability Lab’s global director of communications, Sheena Adams. (Photo: Supplied / Accountability Lab SA)



Integrity Icons Accountability Lab’s Sheena Adams with Sister Thokozile Portia Kunene. A dedicated nurse in Diepsloot, Kunene has significantly improved health outcomes through her early antenatal services and after-hours education programmes. (Photo: Supplied / Accountability Lab SA)


‘Arresting a  mindset’


Sergeant Thando Kodwa from the Indwe District in the Eastern Cape won the People’s Choice Award for his tireless efforts in going beyond what his badge required by leading innovative community policing programmes and spearheading work in gender equality.

“I ended up in police (service) because seeing the picture of the crime, I wanted to make a difference and a change. I have a passion for working with people and that is why I am involved with all community activities,” Kodwa said.

Kodwa works to ensure the officers at the Indwe police station embed themselves in the communities they serve and champion what he terms social crime prevention.

“In social crime prevention we are dealing with the mindset of a person – not just physically arresting the person but we are arresting the mindset of the person. That is why we have so many awareness campaigns. I organised a campaign, Theta Ndoda and Upe Ndoda conference, where we gather with boys and men and we talk about these issues of gender-based violence. We just want to find what is wrong with men [regarding this issue],” Kodwa said.

Recipients of Accountability Lab’s Integrity Icons  and Civic Leader Awards in Johannesburg on 14 October 2024. (Photo: Supplied / Accountability Lab SA)



Active citizen Khalil Ahmed Mohamed is the first winner of the People’s Choice Award for Community Leader. “Integrity and accountability to me mean being honest to yourself, being honest to the community even when no one is watching,” he said.

Mohamed is very active in Lenasia, Johannesburg, where his community work addresses any issues related to service delivery. He is also a member of the Lenasia community policing forum in the area and is a contributing editor for a digital newspaper. 

“I’m a social activist, I do a lot of the work on my own but I am also a part of many organisations. On the crime-fighting side, I am a part of the Civilian Crime Intelligence Network, a collective of crime fighters, security companies, and anybody that has to do with crime. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to do what I am doing,” Mohamed said

Other public servants and community activists honoured at the ceremony:

  • Sister Thokozile Portia Kunene, a nurse working in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, received an Integrity Icon Award for improving health outcomes in the community by providing early antenatal services and offering after-hours education services in the area;

  • Ntosh Dyani from Gqeberha was awarded for her work in strengthening sustainable agriculture and subsistence farming in an area where food insecurity has become an unchecked crisis;

  • Community activist Chantal Chetty Ogle, founder of Lovechild Media F & P, was recognised as a civic leader for using her personal experience of surviving GBV and turning it into a media company that gives a voice to marginalised communities in Finetown and Ennerdale, Johannesburg.


“Tonight we honour these individuals who have gone over and beyond to defend integrity. Often at great personal risk, you have been voices of truth in times when silence would have been easier. You have acted when action was difficult and fought for accountability when it would have been easier to turn a blind eye. To the nominees and winners tonight, your work is proof that integrity and accountability are not just ideas but are lived ideas,” Sadia Khan, Accountability Lab’s South Africa director, said. DM

Categories:

Tags: