The 'Letsema/Ilima' campaign: A smokescreen or an essential strategy to deal with the unemployment crisis in South Africa

Abstract

Speaking from the podium, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the African National Congress (ANC) in Durban, President Thabo Mbeki made the following call: "During this year, we must focus on the mobilization of our people actually to engage in the process of continuing to be their own liberators, of occupying the frontline in the popular struggle for the reconstruction and development of our country."1 In his speech Mbeki declared 2002 the year of the volunteer. This, according to Mbeki, was a call for South Africans to engage in voluntary work in the spirit of 'letsema' or 'ilima.' It must also be noted that voluntarism in South Africa did not start only after the pronouncement by Mbeki. Individuals and voluntary organizations continued to   operate long before the pronouncement.