Mapungubwe National Park and World Heritage Site, in partnership with Tinkawu Theatre Laboratory, is celebrating this month with a temporary exhibition of former president Nelson Mandela at the park museum.

The Mandela Legacy Exhibition kicked off last Wednesday. For the first five days tourists, pupils and locals benefited from a free-entry treat to the exhibition.

Mapungubwe National Park and World Heritage Site’s manager, Conrad Strauss, said it was heartwarning to stage and host an exhibition of this nature. “Everyone who comes to the park and enters the museum will experience the wisdom and significance of love which this great statesman demonstrated in his lifetime,” he said.

He added that it was also educational to see the living history of Mandela being told through different pictures and quotations from his speeches. “Telling the story of the struggle for freedom and how obstacles can be overcome is something that the country should once again embrace in going forward into our new history,” he said.

Tinkawu Theatre Laboratory director Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya said the exhibition aimed to celebrate the memory of Mandela and keep his spirit alive. “It is in your hands is the theme for this month in our exhibition,” she said. “This theme emphasises the responsibility that we as South Africans should carry on the legacy of Tata. We have seen through the Nelson Mandela Fund that he believed in nurturing children through stages of growth, the same as change needs catalysts to bring about a difference.”

Lerule-Ramakhanya said all programmes that were being introduced by the government, be it in business, education, sport, arts and culture, needed to be embraced by all South Africans.

“We need to arrive at a point where we believe in what Mandela had always believed in when he motivated people by saying ‘It always seems impossible until it’s done’. And in that way, we conquer the fear and take the country forward.”

The acting mayor for the Musina Local Municipality, Sewani Kaunda, said the municipality was excited about the exhibition. “It is expected that the exhibition that we are launching here today will fuel positive debates among our people, both local tourists and those from elsewhere,” he said. “They will view and interprete South African history and its achievements from more informed perspectives.”

The national archives and records services public programming officer of the Department of Arts and Culture, Seipei Mashishi, said they had partnered with SANPARKS by contributing some material from the national archives to add to what Tinkawu Theatre Laboratory had provided.

“We believe this exhibition will create much interest among the communities around the park and reach a wider audience of tourists,” she said. “The exhibition in a national park is like a diamond put on a pedestal for all to see from many miles away.”