Twala resurrects Mandela’s memory board
ALEXANDRA – Twala re-instals Mandela's board on 7th Avenue.
Philanthropist Linda Twala urged for urgent action against the rumoured destruction of former President Nelson Mandela’s room in Alex.
The place, conferred a heritage site by the Joburg City Council and which is across the road from the Alex Museum on 7th Avenue, is a nondescript hallmark of the beginnings of Mandela’s journey towards iconic global status that also catapulted the country into a democracy.
Worried that the rumour will obliterate Alex’s role in the eyes of the world in shaping Mandela’s initial steps, Twala said that, without Mandela’s emblems, the township would be further marginalised in the founding history of the country’s struggle.
He reacted first by remounting next to its former position, a board of the former statesman which was uprooted and discarded. “It’s shameful that something like this can occur under our eyes and, watch by many in leadership positions. It reflects the deceptiveness of comfort which lulls leaders from engaging actively against self-destruction and social malaise.
“We ignore these negative realities at our own peril,” Twala said while alluding to the eyesore of rubbish piled up in and outside the yard which he sought the City’s PikiTup cleaning unit to clear.
“The yard and precinct should be a revered spot, a place of pride and protection by the residents and, a point of envy by tourists who by now should be flocking in to endear themselves with the country through the footstep of its iconic leader.”
He urged for a concerted effort by leaders and residents to safeguard the room’s historical significance while balancing this with the interest of those with title to the place.
Officials at the museum and social activists also urged for the intergenerational protection of heritage sites through increased and continuous public awareness on their importance.
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