WATCH: Humanitarians honoured in Ward 55

The Ward 55 Humanitarian Awards in conjunction with the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in the Office of the Speaker were held at Apartheid Museum on November 9.

Certificates of appreciation, medals and trophies were given to deserving recipients for going the extra mile during Covid-19. The awards are the brainchild of Ward 55 Clr Rashieda Landis who is also a humanitarian.

In her welcoming address, Landis said, “Thank you for your availability when I called you. Maybe you asked yourselves who am I? I am a Muslim, a councillor but I am a humanitarian first. We are nothing on earth without assisting. We must grow like seeds silently because if you grow like a tree you fall very hard. Thank you all for coming and honouring my invite.”

There were various speeches of appreciation from attendees including Booysens SAPS station commander Brigadier Hennie Jones who said, “Thank you for recognising us in the fight against crime. We will continue to do so and we love working with you. This is out of this world, we hope for more of these events. Tonight we are out of the boots and at least we can put on some nice clothes.”

Miss Soweto 2021 Ludina Ngwenya said, “This one is for the books. Thank you councillor you are super amazing, always there for people. We appreciate you, your heart is so amazing. You are an example in my life as you give so much, always there and ready to help the community. We can also be like you and help where we can. I will go back to Soweto and brag about this.”

Kgomotso Dlamini from Sanca thanked and appreciated the opportunity to be recognised. “Thank you for seeing the hard work that we put into the community. It is not the easiest because in my day job we deal with addicts.

You will have people say that your services or treatment are not working, and people forget that in terms of addiction it is a voluntary thing. If you won’t be honest with yourself and say I need help, hold my hand, it is hard for us to help you.

Nonetheless, we carry on because we are doing it for the love of the community,” she said.

Alexander Iheme: It is not difficult to make a difference, start where you are, at home with your children and look at them as people who will influence others.

Also at work, start with your colleagues, an act of kindness with light up someone and light up others. Every work we do is a ministry, every one of us has been called, irrespective of where you are or what you do. We are called to serve.”

Southern Courier was honoured for their effort in the community.

Landis thanked everyone, especially her family who stood by her since day one. She also wished her husband, Gayroedien a happy birthday since it was his day.