6 Ways to Make Your 67 Minutes Count
DKMS Africa is calling on South Africans to use their time, resources and voices to support patients who are searching for life-saving stem cell donors. Whether through registering as a donor, returning a swab kit, making a financial contribution, donating blood, volunteering or spreading awareness, every action can bring hope to patients and their families.
For many blood cancer patients, a stem cell transplant offers their best chance of survival. However, finding a matching donor remains a major challenge, particularly for patients of African ancestry who are underrepresented on global stem cell donor registries.
Here are six meaningful ways DKMS Africa is encouraging South Africans to make their 67 minutes count this Mandela Day.
1. Support our Beyond 67 minutes campaign
Make a lasting impact beyond 67 minutes this Mandela Day by supporting DKMS Africa's. While Mandela Day encourages us to dedicate 67 minutes to serving others, your financial contribution can help create hope that extends far beyond a single day. Every donation helps fund the essential resources needed to grow South Africa's stem cell donor registry. Your support covers the cost of stem cell swab kits, donor registrations and transport for trained volunteers who travel to schools, workplaces and communities across the country to host donor recruitment and awareness drives.
Here's how your donation can make a difference:
- R167 brings us one step closer to registering another potential stem cell donor.
- R670 could fund a portion of a donor registration, bringing us closer to expanding the registry and giving more patients hope.
- R6 700 can contribute towards the cost of a donor recruitment activation, helping to cover the essential expenses such as swab kids and volunteer transport.
This Mandela Month, help us go Beyond 67 Minutes. Your contribution doesn't just fund a programme, it funds hope, access and the possibility that one day, a family will hear the words: "We found a match."
Take action: Donate today at: Beyond 67 Minutes
2. Register as a stem cell donor
For someone living with blood cancer, you could be the one person in the world who is their only hope for a life-saving match.
Joining the DKMS Africa stem cell donor registry is simple, free and starts with a quick cheek swab. If you are eligible, your details are added to the registry and if you are a match, you will be contacted as for a patient in need.
Every new donor strengthens the registry and increases the chances of patients finding the match they desperately need.
Take action: register here to become a donor
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3. Remember to return your swab kit if you have already registered
If you've already requested a swab kit, don't let it sit in a drawer.
DKMS Africa's swab kit return rate has declined significantly, dropping from 81% in January to approximately 55% currently. This means nearly half of the people who request a kit do not complete their registration, representing thousands of missed opportunities to give patients hope.
Completing the cheek swab takes only a few minutes, but it could one day save the life of someone living with blood cancer or another blood disorder.
Take action: Contact DKMS Africa on social media for assistance Instagram Facebook YouTube LinkedIn or call us on 021 701 0661
4. Become a DKMS volunteer to make your 67 minutes count
Mandela Day is about turning compassion into action.
Volunteer at a local charity, support a cancer awareness initiative, help with fundraising activities or offer practical assistance to families affected by blood cancer. Your time can make a meaningful difference.
Take action: Learn how to get involved through DKMS Africa’s volunteer programme: Apply to become a volunteer
5. Support DKMS Africa through Woolworths MyDifference
The findings revealed large areas of the country where Black African donor representation is almost absent. Entire provinces contribute too few donors for researchers to meaningfully analyse matching patterns. Of the fifteen subpopulations large enough to analyse by language and province, seven were White communities.
The two least genetically diverse groups in the study were Afrikaans-speaking White people in Mpumalanga and isiXhosa-speaking Black Africans in the Western Cape. Because people in these communities are more genetically similar to one another, each new donor has a better chance of matching someone who needs them.
The registry is at least heading in the right direction. Fifty-six percent of new registrations come from people of colour. But it holds just 200,000 donors across all population groups, and the destination is a registry of a million Black African donors alone.
6. Join DKMS Africa’s Mandela Day community activations
DKMS Africa will take part in two meaningful community activations focused on awareness, compassion and support.
On Friday, 17 July, the team will be at Maponya Mall in Soweto, engaging with community members and leaders to raise awareness about blood cancer, the importance of recognising symptoms such as persistent fatigue, unexplained bruising or bleeding, recurring infections, swollen lymph nodes, unexplained weight loss and prolonged fevers and the value of seeking medical advice early.
The DKMS Africa team will also visit the Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa (CHOC) to deliver care packs to children receiving cancer treatment and their families, offering practical support and encouragement during a difficult time.
Through these initiatives, DKMS Africa aims to make its 67 minutes count by educating communities, supporting families affected by cancer and inspiring more South Africans to take action.
Consider what that means for a patient like Sbahle, a six-year-old girl diagnosed with aplastic anaemia before she could pronounce the word. She has spent four years, most of her life, waiting for a donor. She is stable, back at school, and still without a match. Not long ago, a family in her position would have been told the odds were against them, and there was little to be done. We know better now. For a patient still waiting, the donor who could save them may already be out there, alive, healthy, and simply not on the registry.
Every action matters
Whether you register as a stem cell donor, return your swab kit, make a financial donation, donate blood, volunteer your time or help spread awareness, your contribution brings hope to patients waiting for a second chance at life.
This Mandela Day, DKMS Africa is encouraging South Africans to turn 67 minutes into meaningful action. Together, every contribution can help more blood cancer patients find hope, a match and a second chance at life.
About DKMS
DKMS is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the fight against blood cancer. It was founded in Germany in 1991 by Dr. Peter Harf and DKMS together with the organization’s over 1,200 employees and has since relentlessly pursued the aim of giving as many patients as possible a second chance at life. With over 13 million registered donors, DKMS has succeeded in doing this more than 115,000 times to date by providing blood stem cell donations to those in need. This accomplishment has led to DKMS becoming the global leader in the facilitation of unrelated blood stem cell transplants. The organization has offices in Germany, the US, Poland, the UK, Chile, India and South Africa.
DKMS is also heavily involved in the fields of medicine and science, with its own research unit focused on continually improving the survival and recovery rate of patients. In its high-performance laboratory, the DKMS Life Science Lab, the organization sets worldwide standards in the typing of potential blood stem cell donors.
DKMS Africa received its WMDA certification in 2025, cementing its position as South Africa’s biggest and most diverse stem cell donor registry.