THE Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality launched a well-researched liberation heritage book, titled, A Walk Through Our Past, at the Nangoza Jebe Hall recently.
The Eastern Cape MEC for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Bulelwa Tunyiswa, announced a number of critical liberation heritage projects currently ongoing in the province during her keynote address at the event.
“I am taking this opportunity to extend a hand of gratitude to the municipality for embarking on an ambitious journey of developing a book which will take the resistance and liberation heritage route dream forward and make it a reality,” Tunyiswa said.
The coffee table book with international liberation icon, Nelson Mandela, on the cover was handed over to several family members of profiled liberation heroes and heroines.
The book highlights salient events from 1800 to 1994.
“As we speak, the province has identified and submitted to the national government three Eastern Cape resistance and liberation heritage route pilot projects, namely Oliver Reginald Tambo Cultural Landscape (Mbizana), Bhisho Massacre Heritage Precinct (Bhisho) and Sarah Baartman Centre of Remembrance (Hankey) for development purposes,” Tunyiswa said
All three sites received financial injections and are at a final construction phase.
Tunyiswa added, “Other sites will also benefit from this initiative, as the plan is to ensure that all districts have iconic sites that trigger socio-economic growth and development in the areas where they are located.”
In addition, the province has submitted two sites associated with Nelson Mandela, namely University of Fort Hare in Alice, and Mqekezweni Great Place in Mthatha, as part of a tentative list of 10 South African sites that will be proclaimed a World Heritage Route.
“Let us grab this opportunity with both hands and work in unison to ensure this ambitious programme betters the lives of the people of Nelson Mandela Bay and the Eastern Cape as whole,” Tunyiswa said.
