'As long as many of our people still live in utter poverty, as long as children still live under plastic covers, as long as many of our people are still without jobs, no South African should rest and wallow in the joy of freedom."
These were the words of Nelson Mandela, who passionately believed in ordinary people's power to positively effect change in a society for the benefit of all.
This month, to honour the father of our democracy, people across South Africa dedicated 67 minutes of their time to helping those less fortunate than themselves.
Driving the activities on Mandela Day was the hope that one day we would all be part of a society that is more caring and integrated, safer and healthier.
The Gini coefficient for the City of Johannesburg suggests that ours is one of the most unequal cities in the world. Certainly, Johannesburg includes many communities forgotten through years of government inaction and poor service delivery.
Increasing access to formal housing through housing projects and the upgrade of informal settlements alongside improving service delivery will make inroads into reducing social inequalities and driving sustainable urbanisation in the city.
On that score, our new administration is doing all it can to get the basics of service delivery right and create an enabling environment for job opportunities and economic growth.
However, I also believe that every resident has the power to shape their community, and our city, for the better, even through the smallest of actions.
The multitudes of people who volunteered their time both in memory of Mandela and because they believe they can effect positive change would suggest that I am not alone in this belief.
That said, we must all admit that no matter how noble, giving 67 minutes of our time in one isolated burst is not enough to turn our communities into caring, integrated, safe and healthy spaces.
To do that, we need to make every day a Mandela Day by taking ownership of our communities and helping wherever we can.
Allow me to explain.
With a population of more than one million people, Kigali is the capital of Rwanda and the country's largest city.
It has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became the capital at independence in 1962.
Like Johannesburg, Kigali is faced with the extreme pressures that come with constant urbanisation.
These include the challenge of waste management. Rising to the challenge, the residents of Kigali embarked on a clean-up campaign calledumuganda, meaning "Coming together to achieve a common purpose".
Umuganda is undertaken on the last Saturday of every month, when all residents of the city commit time to projects aimed at improving their public spaces.
Through umuganda, Kigali is now lauded as "Africa's cleanest city". The people of Kigali are reclaiming their city from dirt and grime.
There is no reason Johannesburg cannot do the same. Inspired by the example of Kigali, I have sought to engage city officials, politicians from across government and our nation's political spectrum, members of civil society, business, faith-based organisations, community leaders and public figures to find ways of bringing the spirit of volunteerism and the practice of umuganda to Johannesburg.
By making our city cleaner, we drastically improve the spaces we work, live and play in and come that much closer to living in communities we can be proud of.
We also take ownership of our communities and our city and, in so doing, build a culture of involvement, caring and communality that spreads beyond one calendar day in a year.
In the next month, I will ask residents to take ownership of their communities and help make our Johannesburg a little better by taking part in our own citywide monthly clean-up campaign.
This will be the beginning of many such opportunities for residents and the city authorities to work together towards realising the full potential of our communities.
I truly believe that the challenges faced by Johannesburg can be overcome by working hand-in-hand with the people of this great city.
• Mashaba is mayor of Johannesburg
