On Saturday 30 November 2013, the Minister of Arts and Culture, Mr Paul Mashatile, will launch Reconciliation Month in Calvinia, where all the build-up activities for December month will be announced.
This project will be a joint event between Freedom Park and the Calvinia community, aimed at the reconciliation activities, taking place in Calvinia.
Calvinia is a small town in the Northern Cape, which has historically been characterised by deep seated divisions and immense animosity between the coloured and the white community members, which begun around the 20th century after the brutal killing of a coloured community leader and business man, Abraham Esau, who was tortured and executed by commandos of the Anglo Boer War. After his death, conflict emerged in the region in the form of demolishment of buildings, including the Abraham Esau Memorial Chapel, a situation that made many of his followers flee to Calvinia. The enforcement of the Group Areas Act upon the coloured population in the Cape, further exacerbated the situation.
Meaningful changes have taken place too slow in Calvinia as far as social cohesion and reconciliation are concerned. The two communities, Calvinia and Calvinia-West remain frozen in pre-democratic social structures and attitudes.
Freedom Park regards Calvinia as a pilot project of nationwide reconciliation, which is aimed at demonstrating the impact of promoting reconciliation and unity in two racially divided communities. It is hoped that this project will have a lasting impact not only on the deeply divided community in the Hantam region, but can be modelled in other provinces nationally, continentally and internationally.
Date: Saturday, 30 November 2013
Time: 9h00 to 12h00
Venue: Hantam Park, Calvinia
On the evening of Emancipation Day, Capetonians will take to the streets and participate in ‘A Walk in the Night’ in celebration, recognition, and remembrance of those who were enslaved and also ultimately emancipated.
On November 30, at 21h00, Capetonians, including people from other parts of the Western Cape Province, will gather at the Slave Church in Long Street where poetry, song and stories will remind participants of that day. Once completed, there will be a re-enactment of the events of the day with a procession starting at 22h00 from the Spin Street Slave Tree, to the Slave Lodge, Greenmarket Square, Nurul Islam Mosque in Bo Kaap and ending with a picnic at the Prestwich Place Ossuary. At each stop participants will listen to storytellers, poets, musicians, minstrels, and watch dancers and movie projections. Thereafter there will be a youth event.
This walk is in celebration of freedom, and to commemorate the trauma and violence associated with the past.
Date: Saturday, 30 November 2013
Time: 21h00
Venue: Slave Church, Long Street, Calvinia
For more information:
Elsa Daniels
Public Relations Officer
Tel: 012 336 4006
Cell: 079 515 3371/ 082 710 4832
E-mail: Elsa@freedompark.co.za
