Today ActionSA has launched the #ThankOurHeroes Campaign, encouraging all South Africans to Act as One to show appreciation to our essential personnel across the country.

We mark this occasion by having ActionSA leadership in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape visiting health facilities and handing over small tokens of our appreciation in the form of eats and treats.

ActionSA is calling upon South Africans to take to social media every Sunday with the #ThankOurHeroes and express their own appreciation for those who kept us safe, healthy, serviced and fed at great personal risk. These are South African heroes that deserve our ongoing respect and appreciation.

My sister is a healthcare worker in a Gauteng hospital. She has worked tirelessly throughout this pandemic and, like so many healthcare workers, she contracted Covid-19 because she cared more for others than her own safety. Thankfully she recovered, and returned to continue caring for sick South Africans.

I dedicate this campaign to my sister, whose bravery and dedication to our citizens represents the sacrifices of so many healthcare workers and essential personnel. At a time in which our country reels from a lack of vision and strong leadership, let us find hope in our fellow South Africans.

ActionSA has taken this step because the South African Cabinet nominated the Cuban Doctors for a Nobel Peace Prize and have failed to adequately recognise the selfless sacrifice of our own medical workers. South African medical professionals have endured over 43 000 infections and more than 500 deaths from Covid-19. It is also important for South Africans to find hope in other South Africans after SONA’s demonstration of weak leadership.

While medical professionals will be the focus of this campaign, we must equally show our appreciation to others who drove the taxis, removed the refuse, and stocked the shelves at great personal risk throughout this pandemic.

I ask that all South Africans to come together every Sunday to pay tribute to the heroes and heroines of our nation. Let these brave South Africans go to work on Monday feeling our appreciation and knowing that their sacrifice is not unnoticed.