Mayor wants everyone to celebrate SA heritage

CAPE Town Mayor Patricia de Lille said Heritage Day on Sunday was an important day of celebrations for South Africans.

“Heritage Day is a very important day of celebrations for us Capetonians and South Africans, where we can unite and celebrate our very diverse cultures, religions and heritage,” she said.

“As an inclusive city, it is important that we honour our past and that we all work together to design our own future that reflects our diverse heritage.”

Brett Herron, the mayoral committee member for transport and urban development, said the City had produced a heritage map with up to 20 sites of interest that are easily accessible via MyCiTi bus routes.

“The sites tell fascinating stories about our history and different cultures, religions and ideas, starting with the earliest inhabitants who led a pastoral existence on the site of modern-day Cape Town, through to the early settler era, slavery, battles, colonialism, the apartheid years and, ultimately, democracy,” he said.

The map shows two of Cape Town’s most beautiful heritage spots, Bo-Kaap and the Company’s Garden, as well as the Slave Lodge, District Six, the Robben Island Museum and other memorial sites and places of worship and interest.

Herron said commuters could access the MyCiTi heritage map for free at all its stations and participating retailers, or find it at https:// myciti.org.za/docs/4325/ MyCiTi_Heritage%20 Map_2017.pdf

Meanwhile, Iziko Museums of South Africa has offered free entry to its 11 museums across Cape Town until Sunday.

On Heritage Day, the cost to visit the Iziko Planetarium and Digital Dome will be half-price.

The City’s Social Development and Early Childhood Development Department celebrates Heritage Day with a free concert in the NY111 Park in Gugulethu on Sunday, from 12.30pm until 6pm.

The City and provincial Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport will host the Dulcie September Travelling Exhibition at the Wolfgat Environmental Education Multipurpose Centre in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain.

The exhibition celebrates the life of September, an anti-apartheid activist and ANC representative who was killed by apartheid agents in France.