Museum, religious group join forces for kids on Mandela Day
Nelson Mandela Museum joined hands with one Mthatha’s most philanthropic church groups at the weekend to provide meals and face masks to 100 homeless people of Mthatha as part of the Mandela Day celebrations.
Nikelwa Nomandela, spokesperson for the Ibandla Lasemthini Evangelical Movement (ILEM), led by Archbishop Tshepo Machaea, said working with the museum had helped them assist many people struggling to make ends meet.
The celebration was held in two phases of no more than 50 people a session at the Mthatha railway station on Saturday.
Museum spokesperson Nontlahla Tandwa-Dalindyebo said it was part of a series of programmes held to remember Madiba on his birthday.
“The museum spent their 67 minutes cooking for more than 100 street kids at the King Sabata Dalindyebo municipal area. We cooked breakfast and a hot lunch for them and celebrated the day together, showing them love and care as Madiba would do if still alive,” said TandwaDalindyebo.
“This year’s International Mandela Day event came at a time when the museum was celebrating its 20 years of existence and preservation of the Nelson Mandela Legacy while, on the other side, the world is faced with the challenge of the Covid-19 outbreak.”
Nomandela said the lockdown had affected many and people were starving on the street.
“They cannot even get the odd jobs they normally get. They feel neglected and fear the Covid-19 pandemic.”
A virtual dialogue was also hosted in the afternoon on the socio-economic impact of the coronavirus disease.
Speakers included Prof Bonke Dumisa of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Professor Bheki Mngomezulu of the University of Western Cape, clinical psychologist Phaphama Mkhaliphi of Livingstone Tertiary Hospital and Dr Vukile Khumalo, who is the KwaZulu-Natal provincial archives director.
“On the same day, the museum launched two exhibitions, one called Freedom and the other, Mandela Quilt Exhibition. Freedom was produced and donated by the UK’s University of Winchester in 2018. This exhibition was developed using information collected by film students who visited SA earlier that year. The exhibition is about the views and opinions of the community of Mthatha on what freedom means to them,” said Tandwa-Dalindyebo.
The Mandela Quilt Exhibition was produced by SA and American artists who collaborated to make quilt art pieces to honour Nelson Mandela.
“This, like the Freedom exhibition, is aimed at expanding the scope of the museum’s travelling exhibitions and to continue taking the museum to the people, especially those who cannot visit the physical structure of museum. The two exhibitions will be available online for virtual tours.”