Construction will start in October on the main feature of Pretoria’s Freedom Park, project manager Hendrik Prinsloo said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the Freedom Park site just outside the city, Prinsloo said: ”Sikhumbuto, the main memorial on the crest of Salvokop Hill, will include a 2 000-seater amphitheatre, an eternal flame and a wall with the names of people who laid down their lives in conflict in South Africa.”
The consultative process of gathering names for the wall is still under way.
The structure will include indoor exhibition and discussion areas, a memorial for ”the unknown soldier” and interactive touch screens providing information.
The oval Sikhumbuto structure will be surrounded by 25m-high metal poles, inspired by reeds surrounding a kraal, which can be lit up at night making them visible from afar.
Prinsloo said a tender process for the construction of the various structures will begin in September.
The entire project is said to have a budget of R565-million, with R62-million having already been spent on construction of the existing structures.
Heritage manager Yonah Seleti said construction of the memorial will start in October, followed by the construction of Moshate, a presidential guest house, as well as a museum and archive building.
”The park as a whole will highlight four elements. They are our heritage, history, culture and spirituality,” Seleti said.
He said the pan-African archives will be a ”store-house of knowledge in digital and electronic documents”.
The archives will store recordings of people’s memories as well as historical and scientific information on different eras in South Africa’s past, spanning 3,6-million years from pre-colonial times to the present.
Seleti said the park is already open for free tours to the public, including schools, tour groups and government delegations. — Sapa