Pretoria – The countdown to this year’s edition of the Nelson Mandela Sport and Culture Day has begun, with Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa unveiling the details of this year’s campaign.
Officially launching the event on Tuesday, Minister Mthethwa said the main event, dubbed the Unite4Mandela Campaign, will take place on 22 November on the lawns of the Union Buildings in Pretoria in the form of a music concert.
At the inaugural Mandela Sport and Culture Day last year, South Africans were treated to a sporting delight. For the first time ever, the nation’s two biggest sporting codes, football and rugby, staged two big internationals on the same day in the same arena.
The SA Masters played a friendly against the Italian Masters. Bafana Bafana played a friendly against Burkina Faso. The Springboks took on Argentina.
A music concert featuring a number of top local and international artists followed the sport.
This year, Minister Mthethwa said the nation must unite in celebrating the legacy of Madiba through the Unite campaign.
“Let us live the values of Tata Mandela, whose glory still shines and an entire generation who fought for freedom, among them OR Tambo, whose birthday we celebrated yesterday; Tata Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph and others of their ilk, who have passed the baton onto us as we build a non-racial and non-sexist democracy.
“Their pursuant deference to dialogue and engagement has ingrained in us a culture of justice and inclusivity in the intellect and actions of our people,” he said.
Minister Mthethwa said the Nelson Mandela Sports and Culture Day expresses South Africa’s diverse cultural, artistic and linguistic heritage.
The campaign is a celebration of the life, values and legacy of South Africa’s first democratically elected President. The Unite campaign aims to get society to emulate President Mandela’s unwavering commitment to justice, equality, non-racialism, social cohesion, nation building, selflessness and service to humanity.
Concert details
The concert on 22 November will be open to all from midday and will feature artists from all genres of the South African spectrum of musical talent and dance.
It will consist of 67 performers (including musicians, poets, comedians, dancers and drummers), 27 creatives (crafters, designers, technical trainees, visual artists) and five young filmmakers.
It will feature jazz, soul, pop, kwaito, gospel, afro pop and maskhandi.
The line-up of artist includes Kurt Darren, Zakes Bantwini, The Parlotones, Mahotella Queens, Sbongile Khumalo, Lady Smith Black Mambazo, Sifiso Ncwane, Naima Mclean and Phuzekhemisi.
There will be 27 creative activities, five crafts stalls, five fashion designers’ stalls, three visual artists, four traditional cuisine stalls and five filmmakers to capture the event. – SAnews.gov.za
