Community leaders and associations had received acknowledgement for their active participation in the community at the provincial Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport awards ceremony, at the Artscape Theatre on Tuesday September 26.
The Wynberg East Civic Association (WECA) was honoured when they were nominated in two categories – one for “Contribution by a Conservation Body, Heritage Organisation or Museum towards the Promotion of Local History, Heritage or Renaming of Geographical Features” and the other category which they also won the award for “Best innovative Project in the Field of Museums, Heritage and Geographical Names.”
Yunus Karriem, chairperson of WECA, said: “We feel very honoured and humbled, firstly for having been nominated and recognised and secondly, having won in one of the categories.
“We are very grateful for the recognition from our residents and peers. This is in relation to the project we did last year – an oral history project called ‘Wynberg Rewind’ where oral history memories were recorded. We are in the pipeline to record more history to add to the list.
“The oral history can be watched on our YouTube channel https://youtube.com/@WynbergEastCivicAssociation
Wynberg resident and historian Mogamat Kamedien, who was nominated by WECA in the category “Winner at the Artscape: the active volunteer of the year in museums, heritage and geographical names”, which Mr Kamedien won. He said: “It was an extraordinary moment to be called up to the podium at the Artscape. I was in awe of being a recipient, since I’ve simply been a dedicated cultural activist assisting and advising the likes such as the local conservation body, WECA with their two Oral History projects for the awards period under review; one the 2022 Wynberg Rewind Heritage Day programme and the other one where WECA closely collaborated with Wynberg library for the Provincial Library Services’s own Oral History Programme, which included the Wynberg Oral History DVD ministerial handover this year, June 2023.
“I am deeply humbled, honoured and privileged that WECA saw fit to nominate me as an active cultural volunteer in the heritage sector for this awards review period, which seemingly has not gone unnoticed by many silent observers.”
Librarians and the services they offer at Lotus River library were also in the spotlight when they were nominated in the category of “Substantial Contribution towards the Advancement of Reading and Literacy”.
Senior librarian Amina Essa, said: “It is an absolute honour as Lotus River library has never been nominated for an award before and being appointed as the new senior librarian in October last year, it has been awesome working with such a passionate team. We try to serve our patrons to the best of our ability each day and being recognised and nominated feels even better than winning.”
