3 August, 2011 – You are invited to cover an event on 5 August, 2011 (from 10h00 to 12h00) hosted by the uMngeni municipality and the Apartheid Museum. The day marks the 49th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s arrest three kilometres outside Howick in 1962 on the R103, the main road to Johannesburg.
His capture began 27 years in prison on his long walk to freedom. This dramatic and historic moment followed Mandela’s clandestine visit to ANC President Chief Albert Luthuli’s Groutville home to report back to him on his African odyssey and call for support for armed struggle.
The uMngeni municipality, with the assistance of the KZN Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs’ (Cogta) government through corridor development fund, has acquired the property adjacent to the capture site on the R103 and has commissioned a plan for the establishment of a museum, multipurpose theatre and amphitheatre, tourism and supporting educational and cultural facilities to be situated on this site, which will create job opportunities for the local community.
The initial phase of this plan includes the opening of an exhibition Mandela: Leader, Comrade, Negotiator, Prisoner, Statesman on the life and times of Nelson Mandela. The exhibition is a joint project headed by the Apartheid Museum in association with the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory (Nelson Mandela Foundation) and the Nelson Mandela Museum (Mthatha).
The opening will take place at the Nelson Mandela Capture Site on 5 August, 2011 at 10h00. Speakers will include the MEC of the Department: Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (KZN), the Mayor of the uMngeni Municipality, the head of the Nelson Mandela Centre Of Memory, and Advocate George Bizos (Board member of the Apartheid Museum).
A light brunch will be served.
For accreditation contact Wayde Davy at wayded@apartheidmuseum.org, +27 (0) 11 309 4700