March in honour of Tutus

Cape Town - Seen by South Africans as the nation’s moral compass, the City of Cape Town wants to officially honour the Tutus for exactly that.

Mayor Patricia de Lille announced in October that the city had plans to celebrate the life and work of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and his wife Leah, in promoting peace, reconciliation and equality in South Africa.

In a statement by De Lille’s spokeswoman, Zara Nicholson, the city announced that a march in honour of the couple will be held on December 16, when South Africans celebrate the Day of Reconciliation.

The public holiday was instituted in 1994 and has significance to a number of South African cultures. Afrikaners celebrated the Day of the Vow, commemorating the victory over the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River in 1838. It is also celebrated as the anniversary of the founding of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC, in 1961.

Nicholson said the city would like to honour the Arch “as a Freeman of the City and as a principled man and leader who not only spoke truth to power during apartheid but continued to do so in our new democracy”.

In partnership with the provincial government, the city will host a march that will start at the Prestwich Memorial, corner of Buitengracht Street and Somerset Road, in Green Point.

“We have also had the hand prints of Mama Leah and the Arch done and these cement hand prints will be placed at the Prestwich Memorial.

“The march will start at 11am and we will proceed down the Fan Walk and the mayor is calling on all communities to come out and join us on this march to the Cape Town Stadium Forecourt,” said Nicholson.

The couple will welcome the crowd before an interfaith prayer. That will be followed by a free concert by the Soweto String Quartet, Jimmy Dludlu and Alistair Izobell and Friends.

“The Purple march is for People, Unity, Reconciliation, Peace, Love and Equality. We will pray for our city, our country and for the world.

“On this day we hope to revive the spirit of reconciliation and peace which Mama Leah and the Arch have been instrumental in spreading across our country.

“We want to create a wave of purple to show our solidarity in the work of reconciliation, so we encourage people to come out wearing purple.”

Nicholson encouraged attendees to bring along posters and banners in line with the purple theme “to show our appreciation for the Arch and Mama Leah and our commitment to continue the work of reconciliation”.

There will also be a craft area at the start of the Fan Walk for people to make posters before the march.

yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

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