Alex historian receives books from Cape Town

Alex historian Thabo Lerato Mopasi recently took delivery of a variety of books pertaining to the colourful history of the iconic township.

The 36 books were donated by Jo-Anne Duggan, a Cape Town-based South African historian, director of the Archival Platform of the University of Cape Town (UCT), who won the tender of the City of Johannesburg to establish the Alexandra Heritage Centre which was built by the Alexandra Renewal Project.

Mopasi said the bulk of the books will be delivered to the centre in 7th Avenue while a handful of them have already been distributed to various members of the community and organisations involved in humanitarian work within the township as recognition of their outstanding work.

Some of the organisations and individuals that benefited from the book donation included 12 books handed on 26 September to students of the Freedom House Civic Literacy Programme which runs a course for students on civic matters, and five books to the students of tenants of the Sankopano Centre who were running a cultural event for Heritage Day.

One book was given to the Black Seeds Dance Group and two to the Gift of the Givers for their outstanding work and support for the community of Alexandra over many years. More recently, during the hard lockdown, one book was given to a student of Ikusasalethu organisation and a young girl who runs GBV classes in the township out of her own pocket.

Some were raffled on Facebook. Mopasi is still to hand the books over to the winners of a competition he ran as part of a project to ease up the stress of lockdown.

Communication is ongoing with the City to facilitate a date for the official handover of the books destined for the Heritage Centre.

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