Cape Town - The last king of Scotland is in Cape Town and has visited Hangberg, in Hout Bay, to spread a message of peace.
Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker, who won the best actor award for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, visited Hangberg on Sunday, where he charmed residents at the “The Quarry,” a section earmarked for housing development.
Hangberg made headlines in 2010 with violent clashes between police and eviction authorities and residents.
Some residents lost eyes to rubber bullets and police and law enforcement officers were injured during the protest.
A ceasefire was later brokered through a mediator, resulting in the drafting of a peace and mediation accord to be used as the framework for the community to start “rebuilding”.
Whitaker, a UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) goodwill ambassador for peace and reconciliation and founder of the Peace Earth NGO was in town to shoot his upcoming film Zulu.
The Hollywood star, who has taken an interest in the Hangberg mediated development process, commended the mediation process, saying that the rebuilding of Hangberg could be used as a blueprint to bring about peace in other townships.
Whitaker also visited the “Sloot”, where he met rastas and community members from different faiths and organisations.
“What I saw was a passion for and a spirit in community that was very powerful,” he said.
On Sunday, the actor spent the afternoon with residents at a multi-faith service celebrating a “breakthrough” in agreements struck in the community to vacate precious tracts of land to make way for construction of houses.
Whitaker shook hands, hugged and posed for pictures with fans who huddled around him, eager to get a snap of the actor.
He said it was an honour to share the moment and that it was a “very special thing”, the way the community had set aside their anger.
“People who had lost their sight have the sight and the vision to see what you need to do for your community - it is an overwhelming thing,” he said.
Whitaker arrived, escorted by peace accord mediator Brian Williams, who said that Whitaker’s visit was a “great injection of energy”.
“There have been so many negative forces trying to destroy the peace and to have an important celebrity endorsing it is an important recognition of the work done.”
Whitaker has been conducting his own research on gangs in Gugulethu for his role in Zulu.
Cape Argus