Madiba magic on Kilimanjaro peak

‘It was like taking a piece of the (Nelson) Mandela magic up Kilimanjaro with me,” Vis Naidoo says about taking a replica of the shirt made famous by the late South African statesman to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania.
The 2016 Trek4Mandela expedition up Africa’s highest peak aimed to provide 350 000 schoolgirls with sanitary towels, as part of the Caring4Girls programme, to ensure that the teens do not miss school due to menstrual challenges.
Naidoo hosted a benefit dinner in Johannesburg, South Africa, earlier this month to raise funds for Caring4Girls before the expedition.
“At the benefit dinner, we managed to raise R100 000 (about $6 940) through ticket sales and the auctioning off of items,” he said.
The fundraiser was organised in conjunction with businesswoman Desre Buirski, the designer of the iconic shirts.
Naidoo wanted to thank Buirski for her sponsorship by summitting Kilimanjaro with the shirt.
“At the fundraiser, I said to my sponsors: ‘If you help me sponsor the [benefit dinner], I will happily take up a flag or a banner of your company to the top of Kilimanjaro to show how much I appreciate your support.’ [Buirski] did not have a banner for me, but they asked that I take one of their shirts with me,” said Naidoo.
“For me, carrying the ‘Mandela’ shirt up with me, summiting on Mandela Day (July 18, Mandela’s birthday) and taking a photo with the shirt, was hugely significant,” he said. “It was almost like taking the legacy of Mandela and his memory all the way up Kilimanjaro.”
Naidoo was speaking to African Independent shortly before attending the memorial service of Gugu Zulu, the motor racing personality who died during the Kilimanjaro expedition.
Naidoo said Zulu’s death had affected him greatly. “In the past six months (prior to the climb), I got really close to him. Gugu and I were always up to mischief and I just loved spending time with him.
“Everyone talks about his smile, his infinite smile, because he was always smiling. He was filled with warmth and I will miss all of that about him. I was hoping to do a lot of things with him but that’s not going to happen now,” he said.
Despite this tragedy, Naidoo said he was still passionate about climbing the mountain if it meant aiding Mandela’s legacy of helping those in need.
“The important thing for me is to continue his (Mandela’s) legacy of building the continent of our dreams. That is why Mona (his wife) and I are involved with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, especially Caring4Girls, because we will do anything to better the life of just one person,” he emphasised.
In conclusion, he said he hoped to do the next expedition with his 21-year-old son.