For those who will be attending the congress, the organisers, IPRA and PRISA would like to invite delegates to enjoy cocktails and aperitifs, while watching an African sunset and superb views of the city on 27 September at one of Johannesburg's most historic landmarks - Constitution Hill.
This celebrated venue tells the fascinating, tragic story of real South Africa; a history in which injustices abounded on social, cultural and political levels. However, this is also a story of victory, as South Africa won back its freedom and now protects the rights and dignity of each citizen.
Dinner guests will be able to explore the Old Fort (part of Constitutional Hill) built in 1893 to protect the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek from the threat of British Invasion. Guests can change into a prisoner's uniform and visit both the Women's Gaol and Number 4 - getting a real experience of those dark times in South Africa's history.
The Women's Gaol was built in 1909 and the grace of this Victorian Brick Building obscures the pain and suffering experienced by the women imprisoned there. The infamous murderer, Daisy de Melker was once held here. Both Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Albertina Sisulu were incarcerated here.
Number Four is the place where thousands of black men were imprisoned and brutalised and many defied their jailers such as Mahatma Gandhi and Robert Sobukwe, one of the South Africa's greatest but often forgotten heroes of the struggle for freedom.
The stark juxtaposition of the abuses of the past (as symbolised by the prison buildings) with the hope and enlightenment of the future (as embodied by the Constitutional Court) lay at the heart of the Judges' choice of this site as the permanent home of the Constitutional Court. As a result, Constitution Hill is uniquely positioned as a place where both the difficulties of the past and the possibilities of the future can be experienced.
IPRA and PRISA have had an unprecedented response to this Congress and we urge those who have not yet registered to do so as quickly as they can. This auspicious cocktail event is just the start of the many memorable highlights you can expect from the 60th IPRA Congress.
For more information or to register:
Jacky Groenewald
+27 (0)11 483 1135
az.oc.levartmuinnellim@gykcaj
