adminProsper Ndlovu Senior Reporter
THE Bulawayo City Council has posthumously granted the Freedom of the City Award to the late former South African president and anti-apartheid struggle icon, Nelson Mandela, who died last on Thursday last week at 95.
The decision, Bulawayo Mayor Councillor Martin Moyo said yesterday, was done by councillors on behalf of the Bulawayo community to honour Mandela’s legacy.
Bulawayo churches had planned to hold a memorial service for Madiba at the Small City Hall yesterday but the event was postponed to tomorrow morning at the Bulawayo Amphitheatre after residents felt there was a need to make the occasion bigger.
Through the council’s spokesperson, Nesisa Mpofu, Clr Moyo said the resolution to award Freedom of the City to Mandela has been concluded and was awaiting signing.
“It (the award) has been granted to Mandela through a council resolution but the signing ceremony of that order has not been done,” Mpofu said.
The Freedom of the City Award is the highest civic honour the city can give to an individual.
Clr Moyo said Zimbabwe, Bulawayo in particular, shares a close link and identifies with South Africa in its moment of grief.
“There is an overwhelming interest across the city to do something about the death of the world icon. We have many of our citizens in South Africa and here in Zimbabwe we have many Xhosa speaking people,” said Clr Moyo.
“Really Tata Mandela is one of us. Today’s meeting has been postponed for a good reason — Bulawayo people want to organise a big event on Saturday to celebrate Mandela’s life.”
Clr Moyo said he was at the South African Embassy in Harare with other dignitaries on Wednesday where he conveyed a condolence message from the city to South Africa.
Bulawayo has a twinning relationship with the South African cities of Durban and Polokwane.
Scores of residents and pastors including politicians and members of Parliament such as Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, Gorden Moyo, Siphiwe Ncube and Nhlanhla Dube had gathered for the service at the Small City Hall but left after being informed that the event had been postponed to tomorrow.
Mpofu said tomorrow’s programme would start at 9am.
She said: “After thorough consultations people felt we needed to organise a service befitting the stature of Mandela. Our programme will start at 9am at the Bulawayo Amphitheatre.”
One of the organisers of the event, Reverend Useni Sibanda, said tomorrow’s programme would include among other things, solidarity messages from the business community, different church denominations, cultural groups, traditional leaders, residents and politicians.
He said: “We want everybody to celebrate the life of Mandela. Our leaders have represented us in South Africa and we want to reaffirm that here in Bulawayo.”
The demise of Mandela plunged the international community into mourning with world leaders describing Madiba, as he was affectionately known, 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.
Mandela will be buried in his ancestral village in Qunu, Eastern Cape province, on Sunday.
Online Reporter