EKURHULENI – The 2013 programme to celebrate life and legacy of this struggle icon got underway when the annual Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Liberation Walk took place in Bonaero Park.
Cabinet ministers Maite Nkona-Mshabane and Dipuo Peters, and other dignitaries including Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor Mondli Gungubele partook in the event, which is aimed at raising funds to develop Tambo’s first school Ludeke Primary School in Mbizaza, Eastern Cape.
October 19 is the next big date in the month long programme, where the City of Ekurhuleni will be hosting a first in the Ekurhuleni Melting Pot National Choral Festival. To be held at Carnival City’s Big Top Arena, the festival will see the country’s top ten choirs compete for the number one spot, and of course, R250 000 prize money.
Zakes Bantwini, Siphokazi and Afrotenor are also in the line-up for this musical feast.
Oliver Tambo loved classical and chorale music – having been an accomplished choir master himself. This is the reason the City decided to introduce the choral music festival as one of the elements of the month-long O R Tambo programme.
October 27, the birth date of Tambo, is a pinnacle of OR Tambo month calendar. It will be marked with a wreath laying ceremony at the Tambo Memorial Gravesite, which was declared a national Heritage Site on the same day last year by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.
Laying wreaths at the gravesite has become a custom for the City of Ekurhuleni as it is a traditional way of paying respect to the late couple. The ceremony is beneficial to members of the community and dignitaries who attend as speakers share important information about the legacy left by those being celebrated.
The other major activity has in the past has attracted high profile leaders such as President Jacob Zuma, Motlanthe, a number of cabinet ministers, leadership of the ANC and the tripartite alliance, and other political leaders.
A number of 500 learners from various high schools in Ekurhuleni will meet to debate about the influence Tambo had on social cohesion and the racial integration of South African society. This will take place on October 18 at the East Rand School of Arts.
On October 25 municipalities from all over the country will be converging in the City of Tshwane where O R Tambo Inter Municipal Games will take place.
“From whatever facet of life you come from, Tambo has been a star. Be it science, be it arts and culture, be it sports,” said Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor Clr Mondli Gungubele. “Apartheid diverted African people from focusing on issues which are key for social cohesion and social construction,” he continued, explaining how the different elements of the months programme act as a lever of cohesion.
