Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe in Stellenbosch: Get your ticket now

There are still tickets available for the inaugural Oscar and Rose Mpetha Memorial Lecture that will be delivered by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe in Stellenbosch on Thursday, 20 September 2012.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe

Stellenbosch University students and staff members are welcome, as well as members of the public. Admission is free, but seating is limited and only ticket holders will be admitted. RSVP as soon as possible (to rsvp@sun.ac.za or 021 808 4977) to register. Tickets can be collected from Admin B, or the SRC Offices (3rd Floor, Neelsie) or the Centre for Student Affairs (9 Bosman Street).

Proceedings in the Kruiskerk on the corner of Victoria and Ryneveld streets are scheduled to start at 17:00, but guests are requested to take their seats by 16:45. The SU Choir will also be performing at the event.

The lecture is presented by the Oscar Mpetha Foundation, and will be hosted by Stellenbosch University (SU). Prof Russel Botman, SU Rector and Vice-Chancellor, will deliver the welcoming address, and Motlanthe, a former Secretary-General of the National Union of Mineworkers, will be the main guest speaker.

Oscar and Rose Mpetha made important contributions to the struggle for a democratic, non-racial and non-sexist South Africa.

Oscar Mafakafaka Mpetha (1909-1994), a trade unionist, was elected President of the African National Congress in the then Cape Province in 1952.

He became a Co-President of the United Democratic Front in 1983, but was imprisoned in 1985 and released in 1989.

Rose Constance Nomabhunga Mpetha (1919-1986) was one of the founders of the Federation of South African Women (Fedsaw) in the 1950s.

She participated in the historic women’s march to the Union Buildings in 1956. She took a decision never to carry a pass and died in 1986 without ever carrying one. Oscar died in November 1994 after taking part in South Africa’s first democratic election.

The Mpethas are survived by a daughter, Esther Nomakhosi Mpetha, and a son, Themba, who is the driving force behind the Oscar Mpetha Foundation.