PRESIDENT Kgalema Motlanthe says South Africans must not forget the poor when they celebrate during the festive season.

PRESIDENT Kgalema Motlanthe says South Africans must not forget the poor when they celebrate during the festive season.

We have lived through one of the most difficult recessions. Many of our countrymen have nothing to celebrate because they are unemployed and unlikely to find a job soon.

We are all exhorted to give so that we might gain more. It is the time to give food, clothes and comfort to those who are suffering. Let us remember that we are brothers and sisters.

We must build pillars of goodwill that will sustain us in the coming year. There is no guarantee, only hope, that the next year will be better.

So, while cavorting with Bachus, making merry, let us not forget the other God who counts charity as a grace. We are going to need the goodwill when our problems return to to our lives.