Never has the Scout Law “A Scout smiles and whistles under all circumstances” been more relevant than today. So much has happened. In 2020 the world came to a standstill as we watched lives and local economies being ravaged by Covid-19. People lost loved-ones and we witnessed livelihoods being destroyed, jobs lost and the mood around the world turn sombre.

Despite all the hardships and tragedies, Scouting members didn’t lose hope. Instead, they stepped up – and continue to rise up – to help and support their communities. Just like many of you I have also had moments where hopelessness took hold. However, seeing my Scouting family in action reminded me that all is not lost. It became clear that as Scouts we can be beacons of hope.

As Scouting members we aim to serve and Covid-19 cannot stand in our way. Just look at the immense efforts made by our membership last year to ensure that people had food, had their basic essentials delivered to their doorsteps, had PPE and were assisted in educating their children. That is the Scouting I joined! Those are the Scouting values I live up to!

As we go into the new year we should be filled with hope that we will beat the pandemic so the world can go back to living. In the meantime, I urge you – my fellow Scouting members – to stand firm in our promise of building better communities and leading the way as upstanding citizens. In addition to our continued humanitarian aid to people in need, I encourage you to continue to serve the world we live in by taking on our 2021 SDG Challenge. We have opted for four more SDGs that can help us address water shortages and a lack of sanitation, energy consumption, economic growth and sustainable communities. We will see the return of the #HikeToMahikeng later in the year and in February we will honour our founding father by doing a good turn through the “Better World for BP” campaign. Participation in the “Better World for BP” action will also contribute towards the global Tide Turners Plastic Challenge and the Messengers of Peace initiative.

As Scouts we can be beacons of hope

Covid or no Covid, together we can continue to sharpen the minds of our future communities and its leaders. As we look forward to being able to meet face to face again in the future, we must do our best to continue to empower our young members to grow and to lead by example. Actions speak louder than words so let’s continue to protect one another by social distancing and by wearing our masks in public and in all institutions where we are involved.

I wish all our Meerkats, Cubs, Scouts, Rovers, parents and adult volunteers a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

Yours in Scouting,

Khonzaphi Mdaka
Deputy Chief Scout

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