ARK NEWS P FREEDOM October - December 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS Editor’s Comment Chairperson’s remarks CEO’s Foreword Biography HoD Public Participation Ms M Makoela Dialogue with the nation We look back upon a year that has been so significant in terms of the many events that took place. Fulfilling our National Mandate Our mandate is to make Freedom Park visible, thereby growing its number of visitors. Team work, focus and accountability are the hallmark of how we do things. There is greater visibility of Freedom Park and the Park is on demand from other museums in South Africa Corporate Calendar/ Events and foreign governments to share its experience dedicated to peace and freedom. We have implemented a number of key partnerships with like-minded institutions. Freedom Park is Good to know one of the few institutions which deal with sensitive issues of politics and history but which enjoy legitimacy across the wide spectrum of society. The whole concept of Freedom Park and its content is unique in this country and on the continent. It integrates history, culture and spirituality in a special way and the storyline is infused in the design, architecture and landscape. That is why no person who enters Freedom Park can stay unaffected by the experience. This is a place of pilgrimage for all South Africans – every South African must visit Freedom Park once in their life-time. It is open for tourists, domestic and international, and is a treasure of knowledge for school-children and all who want to learn about our history, culture and spirituality as Africans. Foreign countries and embassies frequently send delegations who want to learn about South Africa’s transition from apartheid to democracy. This has been an eventful quarter as the year draws to a close. We can look back with pride at the many events of significance that took place at Freedom Park. This shows how deep our heritage is. Our global interaction with countries that have played a meaningful role in the liberation of our country cannot go unmentioned. ~Ms Jane Mufamadi Our struggles for freedom and the way in which our freedom was won provides us with a tool in which to position ourselves. The struggles we have fought emphasise oneness, humanity, justice and respect for human life, for each other and for international law. Peace and non-violence were employed as mechanism for resolution of differences and settlements of political disputes. These are some of the vital things that we have inherited over the years as part of our heritage. ~ Mr Ronnie Makopo Our keen respect and concern have never been restricted to the borders of our country. Our Freedom Park is about reconciliation and nation building. As we celebrate this month of struggles for freedom naturally built on ideas of Pan-Africanism. Our struggles were not only for a Reconciliation and Nation building we are promoting the message of building a non-racial, united nation, but also for a united continent. Our struggles for liberation have been a struggle non-sexist and democratic South Africa. Freedom Park urges all South Africans to forgive for humanity and unity. We only need to look at the words of our national anthem, Nkosi sikelel’ but not to forget those beacons that marked our struggle. Apart from commemorating iAfrika, words that we share with the anthems of other countries in Africa, including Zambia. this historic event that shaped what South Africa is today, we also educate and inform the Hence our dialogues with women acitivists who played a key role in the liberation of this country general public of the hardship and sacrifices that ultimately resulted in a free and cannot go unnoticed. Dialogues that have taken place during the centenary of OR Tambo are democratic South Africa. critical in terms of his standpoint on the emancipation of women and how this has shaped gender equality even in the current times in our country. Freedom Park is an icon of humanity and freedom – not only for South Africans, but also internationally. The Park tells the story of a nation and its people subjected to the most His recognition of the vital role that women in the struggle played is well documented. He brutal forms of infringement and abuse of basic human rights and thus provides a voice to affectionately referred to the women in MK as the Flowers of the Revolution and also as the the often untold history of South Africa and its people. And yet the Park weaves a tale of Mighty Few, because women in the camps were few compared to their male counter parts. inspiration. It provides proof of what we can achieve and shows what we are capable of as We were fortunate and honoured to have had the dialogue with the South African High a nation. It acts as a signpost to the future of South Africa. Commissioner of Zambia Ms HE MS.S.N.MJI, Ms Ayanda Dlodlo and Ms Nomsa Dlamini who played a formidable role in the struggle. But on the lighter side, Freedom Park has emerged as a heritage destination of choice, beautiful in design and offering spectacular hiking trails, exotic birdlife, an outdoor That being said, this spirit of tolerance and respect for unity in diversity did not come cheaply – it paradise. The aesthetic beauty and tranquillity of the Park belies the significance of this is a product of our struggles. It is the experience and insight that only comes from living through majestic monument. Key to this is the accolades that Freedom Park has received in recent something. We know that we can go to our elders for advice and guidance. Why? Because they months, one being the Best Heritage site voted by Pretoria News readers for the second have the experience and knowledge. In the same way, South Africa has become the expert year. This is indeed humbling and validation that our endeavours are paying off in terms of through experience. It is this experience that distinguishes us. We are the defender of human our offering to the nation. rights, of freedom, democracy and justice worldwide. It is our legacy! On 5 December 1956, Mandela and 155 other activists were arrested and went on trial for treason with all of the defendants were acquitted in 1961. Nelson Mandela co-founded and became the first leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), also known as MK, a NELSON ROLIHLAHLA MANDELA new armed wing of the ANC. In January 1962, Mandela travelled abroad illegally to attend a 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013 conference of African nationalist leaders in Ethiopia, visit the exiled Oliver Tambo in London and undergo guerrilla training in Algeria which earned him a five years in prison. The following July, police raided an ANC hideout in Rivonia, and arrested a group of MK leaders. Mandela and seven other defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment and spent the Nelson Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 into a royal Thembu tribe in first 18 of his 27 years in jail at the brutal Robben Island Prison. While in confinement the South African village of Mvezo. He was the first in his family to Mandela earned a bachelor of law degree from the University of London and served as a receive a formal education, Mandela completed his primary studies at a mentor to his fellow prisoners. He also smuggled out political statements and a draft of his local missionary school. There, a teacher dubbed him Nelson as part of a common practice of giving African students English names. He went autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom,” published five years after his release. In 1982 on to attend the Clarkebury Boarding Institute and Healdtown, a Mandela was moved to Pollsmoor Prison and in 1988 he was placed under house arrest. In Methodist secondary school, where he excelled in boxing and track as 1989, then-president F. W. de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC and was released on 11 well as academics. In 1939 Mandela entered the University of Fort February 1990. Hare. The following year, he and several other students, including his friend After attaining his freedom, Nelson Mandela led the ANC in its negotiations with the and future business partner Oliver Tambo (1917-1993), were sent home for participating in a boycott against university policies. After leaving for governing National Party and various other South African political organizations for an end Johannesburg he worked first as a night watchman and then as a law to apartheid and the establishment of a multiracial government. Mandela and De Klerk clerk while completing his bachelor’s degree by correspondence. were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1993. On 27 April 1994, more than 22 million South Africans turned out to cast ballots in the country’s first multiracial parliamentary elections and an overwhelming majority chose the ANC to lead the country. He studied law at the University of Witwatersrand, where he became involved in the On 10 May Mandela was sworn in as the first black president of South Africa. movement against racial discrimination and forged key relationships with black and white activists. As president, Mandela established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to investigate human rights and political violations committed by both supporters and In 1944, Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) and worked with fellow party opponents of apartheid between 1960 and 1994. He also introduced numerous social and members to establish its youth league, the ANCYL. That same year, he met and married his economic programs designed to improve the living standards of South Africa’s black first wife, Evelyn Ntoko Mase (1922-2004), with whom he had four children before divorcing population.