On 26 May 2022, Accountability Lab South Africa (AL SA) will host the second installation of its annual Meet the Icon (MTI) dialogue series. Through the MTI series, we will meet some outstanding public servants who are helping shift behaviours and building the trust that is essential for a functioning and accountable government.
The series is part of our Integrity Icon campaign – which connects and celebrates exemplary public servants around the country. Nominations are currently open for 2022. Send in the names of excellent public servants in the health, education, emergency services, housing or administrative departments and help us name and fame public servants who are consistently going above the call of duty.
The Meet The Icon series enables these individuals to share their personal journeys, what they have learned and what they are doing to strengthen government services.
“By putting ‘Batho Pele‘ – people first – these public servants are role-modelling the social norms and behaviours required to build a just and more humane society. From the security guard protecting a village clinic to those working in the Union Buildings,” said Sekoetlane Phamodi, Accountability Lab’s Country Director for South Africa.
For this instalment of Meet the Icons, we have partnered with Nandi Msezane, a feminist activist and care worker who operates Turning Tides, a shelter and wellness centre for displaced LGBTIQ persons in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni. Msezane will lead a conversation highlighting the role and importance of social work with two social workers and Integrity Icons, who work with the Department of Social Development in the Eastern Cape.
Integrity Icon South Africa 2021 winner, Vuyokazi Nkevu Langbooi is a Social Worker from Ibhayi in Gqeberha. She has seven years of field experience where she has built mutual aid networks and community support for the government shelter she manages. She also works closely with local NPOs to support vulnerable and displaced LGBTQI youth. In addition to being recognised as an Integrity Icon, Vuyokazi’s dedication to her profession earned her recognition as a Mail & Guardian Powerful Woman in 2021.
We will also meet 2020 Integrity Icon South Africa winner, Unathi Filita, from Kwa-Nobuhle in Kariega. He has 16 years experience in the as a social worker, working to uplift local young peple, and community organisations, including facilitating a workplace readiness programme for youth in his community to gain skills and employment in the automotive industry. Unathi was also part of a delegation that established the Victim Empowerment Programme Forum, that advocates for the rights of gender-based violence survivors.
“South Africa urgently needs to rebuild a social compact founded on compassion, integrity and accountability,” said Phamodi. “Social workers like Vuyokazi and Unathi embody what that compact should look like in the public service.”
The event will be hosted on Zoom – register here – and live-streamed on both Facebook and YouTube.
For more information about Integrity Icon South Africa, see our website at – https://integrityicon.org/south-africa/
For media inquiries:
Deekay Sibanda
Operations Officer: Integrity Icons
Accountability Lab
deekay@accountabilitylab.org
Sekoetlane Phamodi
Country Director for South Africa
Accountability Lab
sekoetlane@accountabilitylab.org
Please find photos of our Vuyokazi and Unathi here.
About the Accountability Lab
The Accountability Lab is building a new generation of active citizens and responsible leaders around the world. We support change-makers to develop and implement positive ideas for integrity in their communities, unleashing positive social and economic change.