November 3, 2005
By Lucky Sindane
JOHANNESBURG is planning to launch a Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) that will bring together different communities from different backgrounds to deal with their challenges and problems.
The movement will be launched on Saturday, 26 November at the Diepsloot taxi rank, in Diepsloot. It is an inclusive movement that will have its roots in communities, with support from the government.
Its objective is to revive the spirit of ubuntu, using all available resources and harnessing all initiatives in government, business, and civil society organisations and institutions to work towards restoring moral fibre in society.
"The MRM programme offers a unique opportunity for South Africans to re-define and re-affirm ourselves as moral beings and collectively formulate tangible, practical and workable strategies and programmes that will see us endorsing values compatible with the new democratic South Africa," says Loshini Govender, the deputy director in the Office of the Speaker.
Johannesburg Executive Mayor Councillor Amos Masondo, says, "The MRM programme is not an organisation. It is people coming together addressing burning issues in order to better people's lives."
However, there is a lack of participation from religious leaders.
Assertions are made that religious leaders are the only best gatekeepers of morality in our society, so they should be driving the movement, Govender believes.
But Masondo will meet religious leaders to provide political leadership on how best to ensure that all faiths are represented in the MRM.
"Together let us find solutions to moral decay by jointly developing a strategy and a programme of action," Masondo says.
The MRM programme seeks to promote the principles of good governance; to demonstrate a zero tolerance of any practice that impairs human dignity and the right to a decent life; and to profile all initiatives and good work made towards moral regeneration.
"The moral regeneration process ushered in by the government makes South Africa unique in the sense that it is an indigenous concept rather than an imposed one," Masondo says.
"Meetings will be held in all the regions to familiarise residents with the MRM and to give them the opportunity to discuss the means that will ensure their participation at the launch," Govender explains.
To ensure communities are part of the launch, the City will provide transport from all the regions to the venue.
"The strides made to strengthen the City's MRM have gained pace," Govender adds, saying this gave hope that most Joburgers will soon know of the movement.
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