Nakasa family says "Thank you"

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Nat Nakasa will be buried at his home town Chesterville cementrey.

Nat Nakasa's sister Gladys Maphumulo has thanked government, Sanef, the media and all those who helped bring home his remains.

In a letter read at the funeral service by Sibusiso Bhengu, Maphumulo says, "We thank all of you - those who have been there and the whole community.. thank you for your support. We are truly grateful. We thank God for what he has done for us."

Speaker after speaker described Nakasa as a courageous writer and shared the memories they had of him.

Family friend Don Mkhwanazi says, "There are a few personal recollections that I cherish. I'd share it if I had time. Nat was my father's student at Chesterville. Nat is a symbol of the scars apartheid had left on South African journalism."

Journalist Mathatha Tsedu, who initiated the repatriation of Nakasa's remains, says Nakasa's story evokes anger. He says, "We as a nation who can sometimes fight like cats have found ourselves today united by Nat."

People arrived at the service from all over the country. The coffin, draped in the South African flag, was carried into the venue shortly after 10am. 

Nakasa left South Africa on an exit permit in 1964 and died in New York the following year. He was buried at the Ferncliff Cemetery in the United States.

His remains will now be reburied at his home town in Chesterville.

Nat Nakasa reburial service

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This article first appeared on SABCNews site. It was done by Sthembiso Sithole (@SITHOLEEXPRESS) on Twitter.

Young people follow in the steps of Nat Nakasa

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Winner of the Nat Nakasa essay competition Sbongakonke Mbatha, with the Minister of Arts and Culture, Mathatha Tsedu and KZN Premier Senzo Mchunu

The Nat Nakasa Essay Competition will help journalism students to know more about Nat Nakasa.

Speaking in an interview with SABC Digital News, Arts and Culture spokesperson, Sandile Memela says: “He (Nat) was a young journalist himself; it was agreed that we should run an essay competition that is specifically directed at drawing the attention of young media or journalism students to get to know Naka Nakasa and his significance and impact on journalism.”

In honour of Nakasa’s significant contribution to journalism,  The department of Arts and Culture partnered with Sanef to give three university students a chance to win journalism internships. To qualify, students had to submit a 600 word essay explaining how the work of Nat Nakasa inspired them as aspiring journalists to be the best in their field.

The three winning essays had to display writing flair and show that the contestants are familiar with the works of Nakasa. Winners were selected by a panel of independent judges and members of Department of Arts and Culture staff.

The winners were  announced during the Nat Nakasa lecture at the Moses Mabhida stadium on Friday night by Director General of Arts and Culture, Sibusiso Xaba.

Arts and Culture Minister NathiMthethwa, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Senzo Mchunu and Sanef Executive editor Mathatha Tsedu handed laptops and certificates to winners Sbongakonke Mbatha, Qiniso Mbili and Nkamogelang Lebeloane. They also qualified for the Sanef supported internships.

Mbatha says: "She is grateful that her essay was selected. I am a creative person. I wrote my piece in last minutes. Nakasa had his struggle and my struggle is to liberate my writing."

The three-month long internship is tenable at participating South African media houses during the course of 2015. During the internships, the three students will acquire invaluable journalistic skills and learn from some of the best practitioners of the craft.

Nakasa left South Africa in 1964 on an exit permit; he would not be allowed to return to the country. He accepted a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard at the age of 28, and died the following year in New York.

Nakasa, whose body was exhumed from the Ferncliff Cemetery in the US, will be reburied on September 13, at the Heroes' Acre in Chesterville north of Durban. Nakasa's remains were repatriated to South Africa a month ago.

Memela says Nakasa’s return coincides with the 20 years anniversary celebrations of democracy and freedom.

This article first appeared on SABCNews site.  It was done by Sthembiso Sithole (@SITHOLEEXPRESS) on Twitter.

Nat Nakasa returns home to Chesterville

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The remains of the renowned anti-apartheid journalist Nat Nakasa will finally be laid to rest on Saturday at his home township in Chesterville west of Durban.

Chesterville was established around 1942 and is part of Greater Cato Manor Region, which includes Cato Crest, Bonella, Wiggins, Umkhumbane and Ridge View. In 1939 plans were drawn up for a new township at Blackhurst Estate, later named Chesterville.

Nakasa completed his high school education in Eshowe in 1955. He became part of a circle of writers and intellectuals in the city of Durban.

The Chesterville Cultural Club was his first cultural initiative. Nakasa intended it to be a forum for discussion of literature and debate over their own writing, and the state of nation as it then stood.

Nakasa’s career as a writer also began in Durban, when in 1956, he joined the staff of the Zulu language newspaper Ilanga lase Natal, where he became a journalist.

Nat Nakasa funeral- Chesterville, Durban

Chesterville community members gathered at Nat Nakasa's family home in Chesterville, Durban, to bid farewell to his remains ahead of the re-burial on 13 September 2014.

 

Nakasa, whose body was exhumed from the Ferncliff Cemetery in the United States, will be reburied on September 13, at the Heroes' Acre in the Chesterville cemetery.

It is a section of the old established Wiggins Road cemetery, also known as Ezinkawini, in Chesterville.

This is one of the oldest cemeteries in KwaZulu-Natal. It was opened in the 1920s and has accommodated more than 50 000 burials.

The Heroes Acre is a new section which was opened after 1994 in order to accommodate those people who were heroes and heroines of our struggle for freedom and social justice in South Africa, most of which were come from eThekwini.

Some of the heroes that Nakasa will be buried with are Johannes Mkhonto Mkhwanazi; Bongani Nduli; Mthethwa Samuel Nkosiyezwe, KZN legislature's longest serving member;  Stix Nduduzo Mdletshe a former MK operative,  Sipho Vusumuzi Bhengu, a former MK member and Albert Dlomo a member of the ANC and former political prisoner.

Nakasa's remains were repatriated to South Africa a month ago. He left South Africa on an exit permit during the apartheid regime to take up a Nieman Fellowship in Harvard.

Click here to watch: Durban's Chesterville Cemetery to be turned into an open air museum 

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This article first appeared on SABCNews site.It was done by Sthembiso Sithole (@SITHOLEEXPRESS) on Twitter.