Light SA Red: City explains why it backed Cape Town monuments turning red

Cape Town Stadium was among a number of iconic buildings #LightSARed Movement lit up across South Africa. Picture: Armand Hough/African News Agency (ANA)

Cape Town Stadium was among a number of iconic buildings #LightSARed Movement lit up across South Africa. Picture: Armand Hough/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Aug 9, 2020

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Cape Town - A number of Cape Town’s iconic monuments including Table Mountain, the Civic Centre, City Hall, the Castle of Good Hope and the Cape Town Stadium were lit up red this week in support of the Light SA Red campaign.

The campaign is aimed at raising awareness for the events industry, which has been badly affected by Covid-19, the subsequent nationwide lockdown and is calling for the national government to assist the sector through the crisis.

The City of Cape Town said that it received a request this week from the Light SA Red Campaign for assistance with lighting up the City Hall, Civic Centre, the Cape Town Stadium and Table Mountain.

“We provided permission for the use of lights on City Hall, the Civic Centre and the stadium while we also facilitated the lighting up of Table Mountain.

“For the City of Cape Town, it was important to show support to this plight because the events industry is vital to Cape Town as it creates thousands of jobs. Without an operational events industry, many artists, production companies, venues and many other workers in the value chain remain in crisis and jobless,” the City said.

“Over the last two months, the City has received distressing news from industry companies who have had to lay off staff, sell off assets to keep afloat or simply close down due to lack of income.

“This should not be the case because we have seen around the world how innovation has enabled the event industry to go back to work safely. The local events industry also has fresh ideas on how they can resume while observing Covid-19 health and safety protocols.”

The City of Cape said that this move is a plea to the National Government to relax regulations relating to events in order to ensure the industry survives and thousands of people who rely on the sector for work can continue to make a living.

“As a regulator in the events space, the City of Cape Town will ensure that all health and safety protocols are in place for a safe return to events similar to how we have enabled the film industry to resume production in a safe environment.”

Cape Argus

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