To celebrate Mandela, the coffee brand, will be building a ‘Mandela mosaic’ out of cups of Jacobs coffee, and sharing the joy by teaching underprivileged children to play board games.

Last year at Nelson Mandela Square, Jacobs together with renowned artist James Delaney, brought Mandela Day to life with the creation of a phenomenal visual mosaic of Madiba’s portrait, made from 2,700 cups of coffee. With the aim to inspire, this year Delaney and Jacobs are reuniting to go bigger and better. Jacobs pledges to recreate the magic with 5 000 cups of Jacobs Krönung coffee – double the coffee and double the soul.

As the Jacobs Mandela Day event aims to celebrate Madiba’s virtue, courage and life, it is fitting that Constitution Hill plays backdrop to this year’s Jacobs mosaic. ‘Con Hill’ when it was the Old Fort Prison Complex, was the first location Mandela was held in custody before his many years at Robben Island, and today, stands as a strong symbol of our idol’s struggle for our nation’s freedom.

In response to the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s international call for people to contribute 67 minutes of their time, Jacobs will also be dedicating 67 minutes on the day to teaching underprivileged children from the Active Learning Libraries to play board games. The vision of the ALL-SA organisation is to positively promote the development of active learning toy and leisure libraries that will provide an environment of equal opportunity in support of the right of each individual to reach his or her potential.

New and used board games, puzzles and books will be collected, leading up to the event and on the day to donate to the ALL-SA organisation. Collection bins will be stationed at Constitution Hill on 14 July, or can be dropped off at the Jacobs Board Game Café at 69 11^th Street, Parkhurst prior to the event.

Taki Tsanwani, Jacobs senior brand manager at Kraft Foods South Africa, says that the Jacobs team are excited to be contributing to Mandela Day again this year. “It’s an appropriate time to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela, in our own unique way and in doing so giving back to the community,” she says. “In the spirit of Mandela Day, we will pay tribute to our favourite statesman and give back to his beloved children. We hope that our unique gesture adds some magic to this international event.”

“We hope that our artwork and giving on Saturday will inspire people to give of their time on Mandela Day to improve someone else’s life. 67 minutes is not a lot of time – but you’ll be amazed at the difference it’ll make in someone’s life” concludes Tsanwani.