The Friends of Joshua Trust’s bid to bring South African struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to Bulawayo in order for her to receive Nelson Mandela’s Freedom of the City award suffered a major blow after the Bulawayo City Council distanced itself from the arrangement.
Council posthumously awarded the prestigious Freedom of the City award to the former South African president who died in December last year.
Mandela became the second former South African head of State after Thabo Mbeki to receive the honour.
The Friends of Joshua Trust, a non-profit-making organisation, set up to remember the illustrious life of the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo, had in June written to council seeking to partner it on several aspects to mark its 10-year existence.
The organisation had planned an inaugural annual Joshua Nkomo Junior Lecture series in Bulawayo in which Madikizela-Mandela would be the guest of honour.
“When we celebrate a decade in arts as Friends of Joshua Trust, it is important to mention that it was in our City of Bulawayo at the famous residence of the founding father of Zimbabwe Umdala Wethu, in Pelandaba where we launched our Trust,” the group said in a letter to council.
“To celebrate this decade, the organisation proposed an inaugural annual Joshua Nkomo Junior lecture series in Bulawayo.
The guest of honour will be Mama Winnie Mandela who will also take the opportunity to receive the Freedom of the City that was awarded to Nelson Mandela,” reads pat of the letter.
“On the same evening, the guest of honour will open a photographic exhibition at the gallery on Nelson Mandela titled ‘Madiba’.”
In response, council’s director of housing and community services Isaiah Magagula queried why Madikizela-Mandela was nominated to receive the award when she divorced the iconic leader.
“Mandela has a living spouse, Graça Machel; how then do we invite a former wife, whom he divorced to come and stand in for him?”
Magagula said acceding to the Friends of Joshua Trust’s request would be a “diplomatic blunder on the part of council that may strain relations between the two countries”.
Chamber secretary Sikhangezile Zhou weighed in saying the conferment of the Freedom of the City was a civic function and a preserve of the council and there was “no need of involving third parties”.
After considering the views by the directors, council resolved not to partner with the organisation. Southern Eye
