Pretoria – The final preparations for the reburial ceremony of iconic journalist and writer, Nathaniel Ndazana “Nat” Nakasa, are on track.
Nakasa will be reburied at Heroes’ Acre Cemetery in Chesterville, Durban, on Saturday.
Organisers and family members are working around the clock to make sure that Nakasa’s final send-off is special. Nakasa’s remains were repatriated from the United States last month, where he was buried 49 years ago.
On Thursday, an ecumenical church service will be held at Chesterville Community Hall, starting at 9am, in honour of Nakasa.
The Nat Nakasa Inaugural Lecture will take place at Moses Mabhida Stadium Mixed Zone on Friday, starting at 6pm.
The lecture will be delivered by former Press Ombudsman Joe Thloloe.
There will also be a discussion by former friends and colleagues of Nakasa, including Professor Keorapetse Kgositsile and Dr Peter Magubane, which will be facilitated by respected journalist Mary Papaya.
Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa will also announce the winners of the essay and debate competitions, a joint initiative of Drum magazine and the Department of Arts and Culture at the same event.
Reburial
On Saturday, Nat Nakasa’s Civic Reburial Ceremony will take place at the Durban City Hall, starting at 9am. Guests and members of the media must be registered and seated by 8.30am.
The private reburial, which will be attended only by invited guests, will take place at Heroes’ Acre on Saturday afternoon.
Traffic and security authorities have indicated that traffic flow in the City of Durban will be affected from the morning until in the afternoon.
Nat Nakasa was a prominent journalist born in Durban in 1937. He left South Africa on a one-way exit permit in 1964 to study as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.
He died tragically in New York in 1965. His mortal remains were brought back to South Africa on 19 August 2014, 50 years since he left home and 20 years into South Africa’s democracy. – SAnews.gov.za
