Pretoria – Tshwane residents will get into the swing of celebrations next Friday, to mark the country’s 20 years of freedom and democracy through an interactive exhibition.
In preparation for the 20 Years of Freedom: Creating a New Legacy Exhibition, 12 trucks carrying the exhibition material today travelled through Pretoria in a procession to showcase and invite residents to the event next week.
The trucks travelled from the Tshwane Events Centre through Sophie de Bruyn Street, into Jeff Masemola and then into Paul Kruger, where they proceeded through central Pretoria to Government Avenue, driving slowly past the Union Buildings and back to the Tshwane Events Centre.
The procession forms part of the Department of Rural Development’s initiative to observe 20-years of Land Restitution in South Africa.
The exhibition will also mark 100 years since the promulgation of the 1913 Natives’ Land Act by the apartheid government.
In an interview after the truck procession, Chief Land Claims Commissioner Nomfundo Gobodo told SAnews that today’s event was a showcase of what all government departments have achieved since 1994.
“We strategically used the 12 fleet trucks to invite people of Tshwane to our exhibition which will start next week Friday, January 31, until February 9 at the Tshwane Events Centre, as part of celebrating the 20 anniversary freedom and democracy.
“As government, we viewed it crucial to host this exhibition which will be an interactive live exhibition where people will get an opportunity to experience life before colonialisation, apartheid era and to the dawn of democracy where we are currently celebrating Mandela’s legacy.
Gobodo said the exhibition, which will be free for members of the public, will start at 8:30am, until 5pm.
“Through this exhibition we will be showcasing what we’ve achieved since the dawn of democracy in 1994. We know that we still have a lot of work to do ahead of us, but for now we are celebrating our 20th anniversary.
“We want our people to go to the exhibition in the numbers; especially our youth because we want them to know our heritage, so that they can be patriotic about their country … We also want to showcase the new legacy government has created since 1994,” she said.
The chief land claims commissioner said the department’s plan is to take the exhibition to all nine provinces. – SAnews.gov.za
