Gandhi Development Trust
IT 890/02 and 022-195-NPO
PBO Ref. No. 93001872
Vat Reg. No. 4840218947 P.O. Box 477,
Hyper by the Sea, 4053
E mail info@gdt.org.za website:  www.gdt.org.za
Telephone:  +27312012067

Trustees : Gerald Patrick Kearney, Ela Gandhi, Vasudevan Swaminathan Gounden, Lunga Khumalo, Kidar Ramgobin, Uma Mesthrie, Bonganjalo Goba

 

2010 events

Introduction:

In keeping with the 2010 legacy of the 150 years of the coming of the first batch of Indian indentured workers to South Africa,  and the 50th anniversary of  the award of the  Nobel Peace Prize  to Inkosi Albert Luthuli, we will be hosting the following programmes.  Before presenting details of the programmes we would also like to clarify that some of these programmes have been annual programmes for the past few years.  The focus in 2010 will be on the  2 anniversaries mentioned.  We would be delighted if the Premier  will participate in our programmes personally or by sending representatives  to any or all of the functions. 

We have organised previously the following:

1. Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination
2. Mahatma Gandhi Salt March
3. A speech and essay festival 
4. Mahatma Gandhi Annual awards
5. The Day of nonviolence on the 2nd October.

2010 marks an important year not only because of the 150 anniversary, the 50th anniversary  and the soccer cup but also because these important dates help us to focus our energies towards building a united nonviolent South Africa.

In keeping with this we have looked at three aspects of  our legacy.

1. Establishing the importance of nonviolence as a way of life
2. The importance of tapping our inner potential in building self sufficiency
3. Building human dignity, self esteem and nationhood through our shared history

We believe that these are some of the lessons we learn from the lives of our forefathers and these lessons need to be once again invoked in order to give hope to the new generation of South Africans.   Programmes held by us will attract many and diverse  people.  We are intending to streamline our events better and more effectively so that not only will we be able to gauge its impact on our own South African community but also on the guests coming to our country.

Programmes planned for 2010

Emersion of Gandhiji’s remains (ashes) early morning of 30th January

A small portion of Gandhiji’s ashes which were brought to South Africa in 1948 have recently been discovered and are now in our possession.  According to custom we are not allowed to keep these ashes.  They have to be immersed in the sea.  We plan to have this ceremony on Saturday 30 January.  The ashes will be placed in state at Phoenix Settlement from 4 p.m. on the 29th.  People will be encouraged to come and pay their respects and offer prayers at the Settlement.  We will be staying there for the night in a night vigil and will leave the Settlement at 4 a.m.   We will then proceed to the esplanade to take a boat to immerse the ashes in the deep sea.   We have approached the SA navy to assist us in this as well as the provincial and local government and we have been offered assistance and support by both.  The SA navy’s and if possible the Indian navy’s participation would have been a great tribute to Gandhiji but time is a constraint and we have not heard from the Ministry as yet.   Nevertheless it would be great to have the two Navies assisting with the final rites.   
 

Commemoration of Mahatma Gandhi’s 62nd  Death Anniversary 30 January .

We commemorate this day to further consolidate inter faith harmony and faith in nonviolence and the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi.  We focus once again on the evils of prejudice and fanaticism and promote diversity and interfaith respect.  The indentured workers cast aside their diversity when they came to South Africa and forged a unity which bound them together during the difficult years of indenture.  We celebrate this unity on this day.  Gandhiji helped them to unite in action.  Inkosi Albert Luthuli promoted inter racial and inter faith harmony. 

We plan to commemorate the 62nd  death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on Saturday 30  January, in partnership with Gujarati Sunskruti Kendra, the Consul General of India and Satyagraha           

An appropriate interfaith prayer service will be organised with a  few speeches by prominent personalities.   This event will be held at the Luthuli Hall in the Durban City Hall at 2 p.m. on the 30th January.   

Exhibition – 8 March International Women’s Day.

The Gandhi Development Trust has approached the local history museum for the use of space in the Old Court House Building in Aliwal Street.  We have been given one room in this building to exhibit starting from February,  on our legacy of nonviolence.  We will  have a number of themes for the exhibition during the year among which one will be on  Kasturba Gandhi, Veliamma, Charlotte Maxeke and other women of the early 20th century who contributed to the struggle for nonviolence in our country including  women indentured workers.  Their plight as well as the plight of the African women who were protesting against the pass laws will be highlighted in this exhibition.  In addition the legacy of Dr John Langalibelele Dube, Gandhiji  and Nkosi Shembe, all neighbours in Inanda will also be highlighted with particular reference to their ideas on education for self development.   Other sub themes will also be considered in future exhibitions.  We have asked Mr Anil Nauriya, Dr Varsha Das, Prof. Mriddula Mukherjee and Tushar Gandhi to serve on an Indian team to oversee this project.  During the exhibition  we will be promoting the importance of handwork and  will invite prominent  people to make presentations on this theme.   
 

Gandhi Media Lecture-March/April

The date for this event is still to be finalised.  We have invited Barkha Dutt, the NDTV journalist to deliver this lecture for 2010.  She will be speaking to the Students of Journalism at the Durban University of Technology as well as to a community audience.  This is a lecture to highlight Gandhiji’s role as a journalist and his emphasis on ethics in media.  As the influence of the media increases with modernisation there is an urgent need to re look at the role of journalists in the community.  This is therefore an important initiative taken jointly by DUT and GDT. 

 

Speech and essay Contest:

This event will be held in March 2010, after preliminary rounds in the first week of March.  The contest will focus on current issues affecting students among which will be sports and its value in our country and in society, the effects of colonial domination on people vis-à-vis  indenture, prejudice and how it arises and what it does to people with specific relevance to indenture and slavery and other topics.   

These essays are meant to stimulate thought both on current issues as well as on personal development.  For 2010 we are focusing on the system of indenture and all the consequences of it.  We also focus on the taxation laws to enforce African workers to work in the sugar fields and mines and in homes.  These questions will help young people grapple with issues faced by their  forefathers no matter of what descent  while developing writing and speaking skills.  In this project we have a number of educators both as support groups, as organisers and as judges.  We have outstanding English language scholars, we have journalists, DUT’s Department of journalism as well as some Gandhian scholars as advisers and judges. 

This event is an annual event and has been growing each year as more people hear of it and participate in it.   During 2010 we are hoping to attract a large number of people to enter this contest.   Participation from  other countries would be great in the essay competition.  We are also encouraging other organisations to run similar contests and then perhaps elect the finalists to gather together.  This is a long term plan.  The following is a notice sent to all schools.

NOTICE TO PRINCIPALS

Entry to speech contest only for grade 7 pupils
Entry in Essay contest only to grade 10 pupils- only 2 entries per school

The Gandhi Development Trustis a non-profit organisation based on Gandhiji’s ideals of non-violence, respect, harmony and - national and religious reconciliation. By hosting the annual speech contest, our organisation hopes to inspire in people the values and principles espoused by Gandhiji and other advocates of non-violence. Hopefully in this way to help to build a healthier and better universe, a more responsible nation and a dedicated, peaceful and caring people.

To this end we invite:
Grade 7 learners to participate in our annual speech contest. The contest is divided into a prepared speech segment and an impromptu speech. A list of prepared speech topics is provided.  Prepared Speeches will be of 4 minute duration  The impromptu segment will follow on the completion of all prepared speeches. There will be 5 minute preparation time for the impromptu speech .The impromptu segment is when learners are given a list of topics at the contest and are given 2-minutes to talk on it.

Deadline :     Host schools will decide on date time and venue of each preliminary contest.  Ten finalists names and details have to be submitted by the 23 of April 2010.  The final round of the contest will take place on Saturday 8 May, 2010 at 10 a.m. at the Luthuli Hall City Hall Durban.  Only one participant per school is allowed.
Impromptu:
The impromptu topics will be given to the school by a representative of Gandhi Development Trust, after every student is finished with the formal speeches.

Participants will deliver their 4-minute speech and their 2-minute impromptu speech. Winners from this round will go into the finals. All participants would receive a certificate of participation.

The Essay contest
All grade 10 pupils are eligible to participate in the essay contest but only two entries per school will be accepted.  Topics are listed below.  Entries have to be in before the 30 April.  Entries in the Isizulu will be accepted.  Style, independent thought, research and innovative ideas will be considered in allocating marks.  All entries must be accompanied by an entry form and must have a school stamp.   

Finals and Prize-giving: Winners from the preliminary round will participate in the finals, which will take place on Saturday 8 May 2010.  Here also, participants will deliver a 4-minute speech and a 2-minute impromptu speech. The prize-giving ceremony will also take place immediately after the finals.   Impromptu topics for this session will be different from the first round. 

Prizes: The winning schools will win a floating trophy.  There will be a floating trophy for the school participating in English and one for the school participating in Isizulu, both in the speech  and essay contests.   In addition there will be three prizes in both English and IsiZulu categories.  For both essay and speech contests: 1st prize R 2500 2nd –R2000 and 3rd –R1500 will be given to the winner and an equal amount to the school.  The winning learner  will also receive a trophy and a book prize. 

SPEECH TOPICS

Topics for the 2010 essay and speech contests.

Give examples of how indentured workers were treated with prejudice on the estates.  Elaborate on how understanding prejudice can help us eradicate prejudice from our midst today. 

Do you think that the indentured labour system was similar to slavery ? Give examples to support your answer.

How can sport, such as the World Cup in 2010, help us as South Africans build a more united and patriotic nation? 

The indentured labour system and the migrant labour system had an impact on the lives of Indian and African workers respectively. How did these systems affect these workers? What human rights did these violate? 

Indenture of Indian workers and enforcement of African workers by  imposition of tax was an affront on the dignity of the people. Elaborate on how these systems resulted in humiliation of the workers.

Many families grew from poverty to economic success. What are some of the key factors that lead to economic success?

The indenture system and apartheid were based on exploitation of workers.  How did this exploitation affect the families of these workers? 

"I have a Dream!" How would you describe the civil rights movement in the United States? What parallels are there with South Africa? What dream do you have for South Africa?"

 

Salt March

This march while commemorating the famous Salt March of Dandi in 1930 and is also a celebration of South Africa’s legacy of nonviolence and peace.  Accordingly we  celebrate the  10th clause of the Freedom Charter which calls on our government to make peace through negotiations in the country, with neighbouring countries and internationally.  We celebrate our diversity and call for unity and mutual respect among all in South Africa.  It is therefore a call to the people to embrace the culture of nonviolence.  We are hoping to attract some prominent people from overseas as well as locally and nationally.  

This event is scheduled to be on the 18th April 2010 and we are expecting many more participants in 2010 than we had in 2009.  People have indicated interest in the event and more people are looking forward to participating in the march next year.   Again many schools are showing interest in this event.  We also want to boost our publicity so that the message of the march can be more clearly disseminated.   The Salt March committee is planning the event and information as well as registration forms for participation can be obtained on www.saltmarch.org.za   We would be delighted if  the Provincial cabinet and groups of people come from all over the world to participate in the march. 

Awards event

This event will be held in September 2010  and Dr E.S. Reddy, or Enuga Reddy has been nominated to receive the award.  He was a recipient of a Presindetial award, and also received the the Padma Shri award from India and several other awards and as India’s envoy assisted South Africa tremendously in continuously raising the South African issue at the United Nations.   The International Award for Reconciliation and Peace will be presented to Dr Reddy this year.  We will also present several Satyagraha Awards for outstanding contribution to the liberation of our country as well as for ongoing community service.  As usual we will have the event in the City Hall.  This event will focus on the 150 anniversary  of the arrival of the Indian people and the 50 anniversary of Inkosi Luthuli and appropriate local nominations and selections will be made to reflect these anniversaries.   

The 2nd October -Day of  Nonviolence

This day will be observed appropriately with lectures and discussions on  non-violence A Keynote speaker will present the annual Mahatma Gandhi Lecture.   We will organise a panel of respondents.  The focus will be on ways to reduce or do away with poverty and  focus on the economic model suggested by Gandhiji.  Can it still have a place in the modern economy will be a question that the panel will be asked to address.   As poverty is a form of violence, in order to look at non-violence we need to look at how to eliminate  poverty therefore we are planning to have a panel discussion on the Gandhian model which incorporates co-operatives and building up of village economies.  There will also be a focus on indentured workers their constraints and how they overcame these and made progress.  There will also be a focus on Inkosi Albert Luthuli and his encouragement of farmers and his use of agriculture as a means of sustainable development. 

All these events are aimed at building the social fabric of our society and trying to create a more responsible and conscientious society.  Greater participation by key individuals will add to the success of these programmes.  Each year the participation in all the events has been growing.