The Western Cape Minister of Human Settlements, Bonginkosi Madikizela, will be a guest speaker at the Khayelitsha 30th anniversary celebrations Gala Dinner, hosted in partnership with the department by the Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF). Minister Madikizela is a resident of Khayelitsha, and represents one of the Khayelitsha “Gems”, or residents who have attained a noteworthy level of success in their lives.
The event, which will begin with an interfaith prayer service to honour former President Nelson Mandela, will also include awards to 30 outstanding individuals who have made important contributions to Khayelitsha. The event will be held at the OR Tambo Hall in Khayelitsha, Cape Town beginning at 17h00 on Friday, 13 Dec 2013.
The 30th Anniversary is Khayelitsha’s milestone event that aims to builds social cohesion and pride, whilst also celebrating 20 years of democracy. This event will draw together, community, business, youth, community organisations, media and visitors from all over Western Cape including tourists celebrating the community’s heritage, diversity, richness and dynamism.
The KDF is a voluntary organisation, and is a conduit for sustainable development and the development of facilitators in Khayelitsha. Human Settlements solutions cannot be provided by the department in isolation, and it is only through the resources provided through partnership, with organisations such as the KDF, that sustainable development becomes a reality. It is with this view to partnership, and recognising the important role that the KDF is playing in helping create integrated and sustainable human settlements in Khayelitsha, that the department is partnering with the KDF to make the celebrations possible.
Founded in 1983, Khayelitsha represented one of the apartheid regime’s last attempts to enforce the Group Areas Act of 1950, which designated separate residential areas along racial lines. Seen as the solution to two problems, namely the growing number of migrants from the Eastern Cape, and overcrowding in existing Cape Town townships, Khayelitsha was promoted by the apartheid authorities of the time as a model township, with supposedly better basic services and schools than what was customary in most other townships.
Khayelitsha is a fast growing township and is the second largest township in South Africa, the first being Soweto in Johannesburg and the third being Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape. Khayelitsha has an estimated 1, 5 million residents, with a predominantly young population: almost a third (29%) of the total is under the age of 14, and 75% are under the age of 35.
Date: 13 December 2013
Time: 17h00
Place: OR Tambo Hall, Khayelitsha
Media enquiries:
Mr Zali Mbali
Cell: 083 579 8554
