Parliament will tomorrow, 5 July, be hosting a prayer service for Nelson Mandela, our first democratically elected President, at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town.
Prayer Service: St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town
Date: Friday, 5 July 2013
Time: 14h00
The arrangement of the prayer service follows a letter from Parliament to all political parties, encouraging them to join in or initiate activities and prayers to wish former President Mandela well and to offer strength to his family.
An appeal was made in the letter for parties to rally people across all sectors in their communities around the call to pray for Madiba.
Referring to the hospitalisation of former President Mandela, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms NomaIndiya Mfeketo, noted that this had been a reflective time for our country and, indeed, the world.
The arrangement of a prayer service scheduled for Friday and the call for political parties to get involved in prayers in their communities follows a statement from the Speakers’ Forum last week noting the reported seriousness of uTata Mandela’s illness, conveying its support to him and his family in these trying times and thanking the doctors and the medical team who continue to take care of him.
The Speakers’ Forum, comprises the Speaker of the National Assembly (chairperson of the Forum), the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces and Speakers and Deputy Speakers of the nine Provincial Legislatures.
The Forum resolved to sustain Madiba’s legacy in upholding constitutionalism and the rule of law.
It also pledged to work vigorously for the benefit of the South African population in exercising its oversight role as envisaged in the Constitution and committed itself, the legislatures and Parliament to more intensive consultation with the public in redressing the inequalities of the past and improving the quality of lives of the citizens of South Africa.
