Iziko Museums of Cape Town celebrates International Mandela Day this Sunday, 18 July, by welcoming visitors to the Iziko Slave Lodge for free from 10h00 until 17h00.

On 11 November 2009, the sixty-fourth General Assembly plenary and 42nd meeting of the United Nations declared 18 July as International Mandela Day. This decision to honour the man whose vision surpassed the boundaries of time and history, arrives as nations of the world strive for peace and the sustained improvement of human relations. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, as a living treasure, embodies the qualities necessary to realise a harmonious world, steered by tolerance.

Come and see the groundbreaking exhibition entitled Mandela – Leader, Comrade, Negotiator, Prisoner, Statesman – a rich and nuanced account of Madiba’s legacy. It breathes fresh life into a story that has been told in countless books, documentaries and other exhibitions around the world. Presented in Cape Town for the first time, the exhibition was produced by the Apartheid Museum in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Museum and the Department of Education. Support from the Mott Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the National Lottery is also gratefully acknowledged. Also currently on exhibition at the Iziko Slave Lodge, the award winning and often politically incorrect cartoonist, Jonathan Shapiro, more commonly known as Zapiro, pays tribute to Nelson Mandela in his exhibition entitled Drawing on Madiba.

Iziko Education and Public Programmes department (EPP) will join in the celebration of International Mandela Day by hosting its Young Ambassador Programme. Built on the success of last year’s initiative, Iziko Museums, in close collaboration with District Six Homecoming Centre, will host a youth conference and interactive activities aimed at unpacking Madiba’s leadership qualities. The conference, which will take place on Saturday, 17 July, will feature acclaimed cartoonist, Zapiro, as well as the unveiling of a mosaic portrait of Madiba, crafted by youth from different cultural backgrounds.

Then, on 18 July, Iziko EPP department, in close collaboration with the Cape Town Peninsula Technikon’s Centre for Community Engagement and Work-Integrated Learning, will participate in community service aimed at adding value to the course of the International Mandela Day. The day will be spent painting a school and engaging 130 Grade 1 learners in interactive and edutaining activities at Nomsa Maphongwana Primary School, located in Khayelitsha.

For more information about Iziko Education and Public Programmes’ activities, please feel free to contact Wandile Goozen Kasibe on 021 481 3804, or email wkasibe@iziko.org.za, or Buntu Gwinta on 021 959 6794 or email GwintaB@cput.ac.za. For visitor enquiries relating to the Iziko Slave Lodge, please call 021 460 8200.

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