KZN town celebrates #ourstories

Umzimkhulu Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal experienced the joy of reading when the largest annual reading awareness campaign, National Book Week, rolled into town to celebrate #ourstories.

Hundreds of people – creche-aged children to senior citizens – made their way the TVET College Hall to join the literary activities and celebrate National Book Week.

Kholeka Mbalo, spokesperson for the municipality and social services department, said the municipality’s involvement was mo- tivated by a need to highlight the importance of education, with reading being key.

She encouraged the community to continue taking part in such events as they build the community through embracing culture, tradition and religion.

Local gospel singer Jumbo wowed the crowd by giving an outstanding performance.

Writer and performance poet Kwazi Ndlangisa gave a motivational talk on the importance of reading and how books have shaped his life. Funda Bala, the National Book Week mascot, had the audience on its feet. Project Literacy’s reading champion, 23-year-old Thulisile Ndlovu, shared her experiences about the joys of reading, while Thembile Tshuma from Wordathon entertained the children with a theatrical take on building words. National Book Week reaches a diverse audience during its annual visits across the country. Pre-schoolers, students from Grades R to 12, youth, adults, the elderly, the visually impaired, the hearing impaired and disabled persons from communities participate in the various programme activities, which are designed to accommodate every South African.