South Africa has lost one of its most inspiring and iconic figures of our time. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela will be remembered for many things. He will be remembered as a freedom fighter, world leader, reconciler, a grandfather, father, friend and mentor to many of us who got to know him. Importantly, Madiba will be remembered as a friend of the downtrodden, the marginalised, the poor, the sick, the vulnerable and the voiceless.
One such group of the vulnerable that uTata Madiba was passionate about, is the women of this country. Cognisant that women bore the greatest brunt of the apartheid system, former President Nelson Mandela has throughout his life strived to promote women’s development and emancipation.
As part of the Ten Day Mourning Programme for Madiba, the Gauteng Provincial Government will on Thursday, 12 December 2013 host an Interfaith Women’s Day of Prayer at Orlando Stadium. This is to afford women of all religious persuasions in the province an opportunity to reflect, pray and celebrate the role of Madiba. The programme will include representatives from different religious groups including Christians, Muslims, Bahai, Jewish, Hindu and African Independent Churches.
We undertake this event aware of the unbreakable thread that Madiba shares with this province. Mandela spent a great deal of his life as a worker in the mines, as a student at university and as a leader of the African National Congress residing in what is today known as Gauteng.
Some of the epoch making developments under apartheid took place within the geographic confines of Gauteng, including the history-making Defiance Campaign in 1952, the adoption of the Freedom Charter in 1955 and the equally-important Women’s March of 1956. The Women’s March ultimately became the defining moment of women’s role in the battle against apartheid.
Today we are a stable thriving multi-party democracy, thanks to him and leaders such as Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Albert Luthuli, Ahmed Kathrada and many others. We have an independent judiciary, a Bill of Rights, a free press, and an unfettered trade union movement; it is all thanks to their leadership and sacrifices they made. Let us therefore all gather in prayer and worship to pay tribute to the great Madiba.
Event details are as follows:
Venue: Orlando Stadium
Time: 09h00
When: Thursday, 12 December 2013
For more information please contact the call centre on 0860 0011 000
