5,000 expected to attend Mandela memorial

Pall bearers carry Nelson Mandela’s casket into the Union Buildings in Pretoria where he will lie in state for three days. Photograph: Marco Longari — EPA

Senior Reporter
ABOUT 5,000 people will today converge on Bulawayo Amphitheatre for a memorial service in honour of the late former South African president Nelson Mandela who died on Thursday last week aged 95. The icon of the anti-apartheid struggle, Mandela, will be buried in his ancestral village in Qunu, Eastern Cape province, tomorrow.

The Bulawayo City Council, in solidarity with their neighbouring South African citizens, gave the Freedom of the City award to Mandela on July 20, 1994 for his unprecedented contribution to democratic development and restoration of peace and stability in South Africa in a period spanning more than three decades.

Although council passed the resolution, the conferment ceremony was not held.

“We expect more than 5,000 people to attend tomorrow’s memorial service for Mandela. Invitations have been sent to different church denominations, cultural groups, residents, the business community, political leadership and civic society,” said Reverend Useni Sibanda, one of the event organisers.

Bulawayo Mayor Councillor Martin Moyo urged residents to come in their numbers to honour Madiba and said the programme would start at 9am.

Zimbabwe, Bulawayo in particular, shares a close link and identifies with South Africa in its moment of grief, Clr Moyo said.
Bulawayo has a twinning relationship with South African cities of Durban and Polokwane.

Bulawayo churches had planned to hold a memorial service for Madiba at the Small City Hall on Thursday but the event was moved to today after residents felt there was a need to make the occasion bigger.

Today’s programme includes among other things prayers and solidarity messages from different groups of people.
The demise of Mandela plunged the international community into mourning with world leaders describing him as an icon of the anti-apartheid struggle, a humble yet fearless and principled man.

An emotional memorial service for Mandela was held at a packed FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Tuesday where world leaders from more than 90 countries, including President Mugabe, gathered.