Mandela lecture to be dedicated to Zindzi - NMF
The Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) says it will dedicate the 18th annual Nelson Mandela Day lecture to the late Zindzi Mandela.
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, is expected to deliver the lecture on Saturday.
The world commemorates the birthday of former president Nelson Mandela every year on 18 July, when humanity is called upon to reach out to those that are less fortunate and in need of assistance.
This year’s event comes a day after the daughter of struggle icons Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was laid to rest at Fourways Memorial Park, north of Johannesburg.
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NMF spokesperson, Sello Hatang says the lecture will celebrate both fallen struggle icons.
“We will be remembering her activism through the lecture, so the lecture will be celebrating the lives of Madiba and their legacies with Zindzi.”
He added: “It’s another important moment where we are saying let’s pause as a people and try to find solutions to some of the solutions that she had identified as problematic herself.”
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She was the daughter of late struggle icons Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. The grandson of the late former statesman says his mother has always enforced in them their history and the legacy they come from. He says his mother was a dynamic and gallant figure and that her legacy will continue.
This will be the first year that the lecture will be held virtually.
Hatang says the lecture will be a fitting send off for Zindzi.
“In her honour, let’s do everything possible to make tomorrow a huge success for the benefit of the vulnerable,” he adds.
In addition to the lecture, the foundation will distribute food parcels to various communities in North West.
“With Covid being what it is we can’t go to the extent we usually would go in terms of encouraging people to go into people’s homes,” he notes.
He added that the NMF would still announce activities being undertaken together with the Presidency to mark Mandela day this year.