Islamabad: 80th birthday celebrations

 High Commissioner Ismail Coovadia

cutting tile cake in honour of

President Mandela's 80th birthday

The Minister of Information, Mr.

Hussain is looking on.

By Maqhawe Mthenjane, Islamabad, Pakistan

Meintjeskop Ditaba No II/1998

The South African High Commission in conjunction with the Marriott and Holiday Inn Hotels had arranged a series of events to celebrate President Mandela's 80th Birthday.

On the President's birthday, 18 July 1998, the following programme was scheduled: 

The Marriott and Holiday Inn Hotels hoisted a large "Happy birthday President Mandela" banner in their various hotels throughout Pakistan, particularly in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. The Mezzo Restaurant (Islamabad) also announced that it would be celebrating the occasion.

The hotels played South African music throughout the day, provided by the High Commission. (There is something to be said for the sight of a heavily bearded Imam swaying gently to the music of Jonas Gwangwa). The inauguration videos were also screened.

On the tables were "Happy birthday"  cards thanking the people of Pakistan for participating in the joyous occasion.

The highlight of all these events was the cutting of the cake. In Islamabad (Marriott Hotel) this was officiated by the Minister of Information and Media Development Mushahid Hussain Syed.

The final event was the reception hosted by the High Commissioner at the official residence Among the guests were the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and representatives of government, business, media and the diplomatic corps.

An auction (of autographed cricket bats by the visiting South African team in 1996), was held in all the designated hotels and the proceeds (20 000 Rupees) will be donated to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.

From the Mission's perspective, the celebrations were a resounding success in light of the fact that we were able to simultaneously hold the celebrations in different parts of the country. An added bonus was that all events were graced by the presence of leading government, business and diplomatic representatives.

For newly arrived transferred officials like Maqhawe Mthenjane, it truly was memorable to witness High Commissioner Ismail Coovadia performing a kwaito dance to braaivleis boeremusiek sung in English. But as they say in this part of the world "If it is not love then it's the bomb, the bomb, the bomb that will bring us together".

The important aspect though was that the people of Pakistan as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps ensured that the celebrations were both dignified and thoroughly joyous. At one stage it was not even clear whether we were celebrating the President's birthday, wedding, or both, but celebrate we did Khula uze ukhokhobe Madiba.