Excitement was clearly visible on the faces of hundreds of people who converged at the Ikhwezi Community Centre to be part of history and witness the unveiling of the official Gugulethu logo and anthem. The logo and anthem, the first for a Cape Town township, were unveiled on Thursday 22 September.
They will be used to market and promote Gugulethu as a tourism destination. The logo is expected to feature prominently at strategic places including entrances into the area, schools and clinics.
The logo has been in the making for several years and the initiative has been spearheaded by Dr Mzwandile Plaatjie, a researcher, a psychologist and former history teacher.
The marathon process saw hundreds of high school learners from around Gugulethu coming up with various logo designs with a hope of having their names etched in history books.
Speakers described the event as the first of its kind. They said the aim is to promote and unite Gugulethu.
Those who attended the event included former provincial human settlements minister Whitey Jacobs, former subcouncillor chair 14 and councillor Ntombende Landingwe.
Plaatjie described the ceremony as a historical event. He said there are numerous programmes in place to promote the emblem and anthem.
“The amblem will unite all the stakeholders in the community. Our first programme we are intending to do is to market the log by ensuring it is all over Gugulethu. We will put it at schools, mall, clinics etc to ensure that people see it. We will also have a music competition where we will promote our anthem,” said Plaatjie.
He stated that the event is also about reviving hope to young people and showing them that anything is possible. He stated that it wasn’t a smooth journey to make the event happen. He said the concept of creating the logo has been there for such a long time.
“It wasn’t easy to fulfill the mission. The idea of creating the logo has been there for years, but doing it took us six months. We had no funds. I had to take money out of my own pocket to fund it in order to be able to be successful,” he explained.
Ward 39 councillor Thembinkosi Mjuza declared that Gugulethu has lost its values. He said the area was no longer the same.
“Gugulethu is not the same. We lost our values of ubuntu. We were united. We used to know each other, especially people who are living in the same street. There was no way that we could see a new person without being introduced to the community. But these days that thing is no longer happening and that is one of the things that leads us to crime,” he stated.
He urged the people to look after their community. “In wealthy suburbs you’ll never see a person peeing on the street or littering something even if there is no one watching you, but you can’t do that. But in our communities we do as we pleased. Let’s stop that, let’s respect our community and keep it clean,” said Njuza.
Gugulethu Development Forum Vincent Domingo described the event as a great initiative. He said GDF supports anything that is developing the community. Domingo said he believes young businesses in the area will benefit from marketing the emblem.
“There will be some T-shirts and caps that will have our logo. Those things need to be done by our own people in Gugulethu. There is nothing that can be done for us without our involvement,”he said.