Edited: There will be a wreath-laying ceremony of remembrance at the grave site of Sarah Baartman in Hankey in in the Eastern Cape (EC) Province of South Africa today.
This is to be a main part of the launch by the South African Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) of the ‘Milestones of Freedom’ campaign with the EC Province and Kouga Municipality (KM) today at Vusumzi Landu Hall. The Milestones of Freedom Campaign is focusing on young women entrepreneurs and honouring Sarah Baartman.
Sarah Baartman was born in 1789 in the Gamtoos Valley Hankey town and relocated from Eastern Cape to Cape Town in the 1770s to perform domestic duties. She was later taken to European countries including France and London. Owing to her seeming unusual body features she was subjected to exploitation, racism and humiliation through public exhibition of her body by her captors. She died at age 26 in Paris in Francis.
MEC for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Nonkqubeka Pieters, local Khoisan Chiefs and local municipal leaders will visit the grave of Sarah Baartman at Vergaderingskop near Hankey where she was born. There will also be a podcast panel discussion with women entrepreneurs.
The Milestones of Freedom campaign was launched nationally by President Ramaphosa on 18 June.
Sarah Baartman was born in 1789 in the Gamtoos valley and relocated from Eastern Cape to Cape Town in the 1770s to perform domestic duties. She was later taken to European countries including France and London. Owing to her seeming unusual body features she was subjected to exploitation, racism and humiliation through public exhibition of her body by her captors. She died at the age of 26 in Paris in France.
Her remains were returned to South Africa in 2002 and reburied on Women’s Day, 9 August 2002 in her birth town of Vergaderingskop.
The wreath-laying ceremony aims to fulfill the core of the objectives of the Milestones of Freedom campaign that provides an opportunity to contemplate the South African journey, share narratives, and consider the nation’s achievements over the past 30 years of the Constitution.
Today there will be an ‘Intergenerational Women Entrepreneurial’ panel discussion and keynote address and MEC Nonkqubeka Pieters will join women entrepreneurs in an empowering podcast conversation that seeks to position young women as drivers of economic development.
Following the panel discussion, the MEC will deliver the keynote address, highlighting the significant milestones in South Africa’s democratic journey, , including the 30th anniversary of the Constitution; the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Youth Uprisings; the 70th anniversary of the Women’s Anti-Pass Campaign; and the 60th anniversary of the forced removals from District Six.
St Francis Chronicle 