Cape Town – Freedom Park, a national heritage site, in Pretoria, will on Wednesday, July 13, host a public lecture as part of the centenary of Dr Antonio Agostinho Neto, the founding president of the Republic of Angola, the heritage site said in a statement.
Agostinho Neto, who was a member of MPLA in the war that led to Angolan Independence, was a leading African intellectual and nationalist in the three decades following the close of World War II.
Participants in the public lecture will include South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, Angolan Ambassador to South Africa Josefina Pitra Diakite, and representatives from the ANC, SACP and Nato foundation.
According to the national heritage site, the lecture will be preceded by a donation ceremony which includes Dr Neto’s bust, as well as literary and audio-visual material produced by the Dr Antonio Agostinho Neto Foundation (FAAN) for the enrichment of the library collection of Freedom Park’s Pan African Archives. The ceremony is set to take place on Tuesday, July 12.
The donation follows a series of discussions between Freedom Park CEO Jane Mufamadi and the board members of the FAAN after a 2018 ministerial joint statement was signed between Angola and South Africa in which the two countries committed to several programmes in honour of those who were involved in the liberation struggle.
Dr Neto is included in the Gallery of Leaders at Freedom Park alongside Che Guevara, Charlotte Maxeke and Kwane Nkrumah among others.
IOL