Life of icon Jakes Gerwel to be celebrated
THE legacy of the late Jakes Gerwel, anti-apartheid icon, ex-UWC vice chancellor and DG in the Nelson Mandela presidency will be celebrated with a commemorative function at the Centre for Humanities Research in Woodstock.
The Jakes Gerwel Foundation and UWC, who are hosting the function jointly, described Gerwel as a humble leader, academic and businessman of note. They are to celebrate his life in a variety of ways on November 10.
At the celebratory event, internationally acclaimed author Achmat Dangor will deliver the Jakes Gerwel Memorial Lecture with the theme “Imagining Post-Apartheid Futures”.
The programme will kick off with exceptional music by Reza Khorta, Luis Gimenez and Valmont Layne,, while visual artist Dhatini Mzayiya will complete a special portrait of Gerwel.
Film students from UWC – with guidance from film-maker Francois Verster – will showcase their documentary work on Gerwel’s life and work.
There will also be an exhibition of special images of the late icon by wellknown photographer Rashid Lombard.
A panel discussion featuring historian and writer Bill Nasson, Andries du Toit from UWC’s Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies and advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, author of The Land is Ours and member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s land reform advisory panel, will discuss important issues facing the country, including the interpretation of history to understand land reform.
Hein Willemse, Imraan Coovadia and Mercy Kannemeyer, with Melanie Verwoerd will talk about the role and of the intellectual in the current socio-political context of South Africa.
Political and social activist Jay Naidoo will lecture about the ethics of privilege and how South Africans should live in a country with poverty.
Pupils from Grassy Park High School and Weltevrede Secondary School in Wellington will recite poetry and rap.