In 2001 on a visit to Timbuktu City in Mali, President Thabo Mbeki pledged South Africa's support to the conservation and preservation of ancient and unique African manuscripts described as 'real evidence of African scholarship, reading and writing, at extremely high levels of sophistication, centuries before colonialism' in subjects ranging from astronomy, maths and science to religion. The manuscripts are currently housed at the Ahmed Baba Research Institute in Timbuktu, Mali.
Key players in industry and commerce from the Western Cape will be invited to sponsor tables at the dinner, which will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on April 08, 2005. President Mbeki, his cabinet, the Premier and Provincial Cabinet, Mayor and others will be guests of honour at the event. The top ten sponsors will have the opportunity of securing a seat at the President's table, while all sponsors will host a table of ten at which a guest of honour will be seated.
The Western Cape black owned company Oasis Asset Management has already pledged R3.5 million toward the project and a further R5 million has been set as the target fundraising amount for the banquet.
Western Cape Premier, Ebrahim Rasool, says, "This fundraising banquet is an important way of embracing our African identity and demonstrating - to the people in this province, South Africa and the world - that the Western Cape is a fully African province and that we fully support the role that the New Partnership for Africa's Development has to play in growing our continent."
The Premier will, meanwhile, bid a farewell to a group of academics that will be traveling to Timbutku this weekend. Their mission, among others, is to find a suitable site for a new library that will be built to restore and house the manuscripts, using the money raised by South Africa. University of Cape Town historian, Dr Shamiel Jeppie, will lead the group.
Please contact Clayton Wakeford on [082 827 8792] for any further input or clarification and or interview requests.
