Fidel Castro receives the Ubuntu Award

The recently retired president of Cuba, Fidel Castro, was honored with an Ubuntu Award at a ceremony that was held at Limpopo’s Mapungubwe National Heritage Site, east of Musina, last Wednesday.

Presenting the award to the acting ambassador of Cuba, Mr Enrique Orta, the chairperson of the National Heritage Council (NHC), Adv Sonwabile Mancotywa, indicated that the council, in partnership with the Limpopo government, extended a special message of appreciation and gratitude to the people of Limpopo for affording them the opportunity to host the Ubuntu Awards in the province.

“The Ubuntu Award is honoring the persons who have consistently lived the humanitarian values of the African philosophy of Ubuntu. We feel proud today to announce the third recipient of the award as Mr Fidel Castro who accepted the offer to receive this gesture of appreciation and recognition from the NHC of South Africa,” added Mancotywa.

He said that the NHC chose to honor the recently retired president of the socialist republic of Cuba, who was also the commander of the armed forces of the Cuban revolution, for his contribution in the strengthening of  the values of Ubuntu for an alternative, just and human society. “This is the man who helped most of the African countries and the rest of the world in the true spirit of Ubuntu with no expected reward,” he said.

According to Mancotywa, Limpopo was selected from the six province of South Africa that were contesting to host the Ubuntu Awards. The former president of South Africa, Mr Nelson Mandela, received the first Ubuntu Award in 2006 at an event that was held at Bochabela in the Mpumalanga Province. A South African and a resident of Mpumalanga, Mr Patrick Thibedi, also received the Ubuntu honor. He became the first local person to receive the Ubuntu Award since its initiation in 2006. Thibedi was honored for having devoted himself to the community, taking care of the community in his area, including orphans and vulnerable children, as one of his projects.

In 2007, the former president of Zambia, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, received the Ubuntu Award at an event that was held in the Western Cape Province.

The newly elected chairperson of the ANC in Limpopo, Mr Cassel Mathale, in his address during the occasion pleaded with the people of South Africa and Limpopo in particular, to join hands in reviving the values of respect, love, honesty, compassion, and humanity and to promote unity.

News - Date: 03 October 2008

Peter Muthambi

Peter Muthambi graduated from the University of Venda with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Studies. He started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror as well as national papers in 2006. He loves investigative journalism and is also a very keen photographer.

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