Long walk in honour of Mandela

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Limpopo-born athlete Malesela Mokonyama is hopeful that this year his Long Walk for Tata Mandela will raise awareness of social ills, spread love and inspire communities.

The 63-year-old athlete from Ga-Mashashane, outside Polokwane, has embarked on a 900 kilometre walk from Polokwane to KwaZulu-Natal.

The walk is part of the annual Mandela Walk Centenary.

For more than three days, Mokonyama will go via several towns in honour of Tata Nelson Mandela.

He will stop in Mokopane before making his way to Pretoria and ultimately Durban, where his journey will end.

Mokonyama is dedicating his walk to raising awareness of gender-based violence and fighting substance abuse amongst young people.

“The social ills [being focused on] are the same as the walk I did last year. This one includes 936 cases [of GBV], it was a long walk from Polokwane to Durban to fight the social ills that encompass gender-based violence.”

Famously known as ‘King’, Mokonyama hopes his long journey will inspire the young and the old to keep fit.

“I urge youth to stay far from drugs and also the elderly and pensioners to join me in sports so that they avoid chronic illnesses and promote healthy lifestyles.”

Some locals, who started the journey with Mokonyama are inspired.

“This is very inspirational as you can see the type of things he wants to achieve with walking is all about social ills in support of Madiba. It inspires us a lot especially as youth. It says anything is achievable. It motivates us to be with him as he started his journey with his long walk to freedom in support of Madiba.”

Mokonyama has called for more sponsors to come on board to raise about R12 million to build a soccer stadium at his home village of Ga-Mashashane.

He will conclude his journey on Mandela Day in Durban.