UPINGTON - President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Tuesday open the Sandile Present community library in Upington, Northern Cape and participate in a reading session with pupils as part of Heritage Day celebrations.
This year's celebrations are held under the theme "Celebrating South Africa’s literacy classics in the year of indigenous languages", a statement from the presidency said.
"At the Sandile Present Community Library, the President’s Reading Circle, which encourages all citizens to become enthusiastic readers, will host a session in which President Ramaphosa and learners will read in an indigenous language.
This session will be led by Ms Katrina Esau, affectionately referred to as Ouma Geelmeid, a recipient of the 2014 National Order Baobab in Silver for her work in heritage preservation. This activity is primarily aimed at showcasing and appreciating South Africa’s rich literary heritage which must be preserved and sustained for generations to come,"
the statement said.
Ramaphosa will later address crowds at the Mxolisi Jacobs Stadium.
The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture has collaborated with the National Library of South Africa and the Publishers Association of South Africa to produce a volume of works written in African languages titled “Writing in Nine Tongues: A Catalogue of Literature and Readers in Nine African Languages for South Africa", the Presidency said.
The work showcases more than 4,000 titles in isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sesotho, Sepedi, Setswana, SiSwati, Tshivenda and Xitsonga, written in different genres.