Cape spent R42m on Mandela memorial events

Cape Town - 131208 - Hundreds of people attended an interfaith service at the Grand Parade in memory of Nelson Mandela. Several dignitaries were present including Chester Williams, Patricia de Lille and Trevor Manuel. Several artists, including Vicky Sampson, performed on stage. Reporter: Neo Maditla Picture: David Ritchie

Cape Town - 131208 - Hundreds of people attended an interfaith service at the Grand Parade in memory of Nelson Mandela. Several dignitaries were present including Chester Williams, Patricia de Lille and Trevor Manuel. Several artists, including Vicky Sampson, performed on stage. Reporter: Neo Maditla Picture: David Ritchie

Published Feb 19, 2014

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Cape Town -

The City of Cape Town spent close to R42 million in honouring and mourning the death of Nelson Mandela through broadcasting events and hosting tribute services.

Days after Mandela’s death on December 5, city manager Achmat Ebrahim set in motion the city’s contingency plan and approved a budget of R72m to honour the statesman.

One of the biggest events was the memorial service at Cape Town Stadium on December 11. Others included an interfaith service at the Grand Parade, a day of commemoration and prayer and broadcasting the state funeral.

The city also had various commemorative sites across the metro where mourners could lay flowers and write messages in condolence books.

In a report before mayco on Tuesday, it noted that the city spent R41.7m of its approved R72m budget for events to honour Mandela.

The saving of more than R30m came as a result of scaling down events based on the response from communities. The events report showed that about 2 000 people visited the Grand Parade commemoration site on a daily basis, and 40 000 people attended the memorial service at the Cape Town Stadium.

More than 27 000 messages were written for Mandela at the Grand Parade and other commemorative sites. These messages will be bound into a book to be sent to the Nelson Mandela Centre for Memory.

Cape Times

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