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South African race in remembrance of Gandhi
A race on Feb 5 will allow participants to pass several sites that Gandhi was associated with during his stay in Johannesburg.
A unique race here Feb 5 will see participants pass several sites in Johannesburg with which Mahatma Gandhi was associated during his stay here at the turn of the 19th century.
More than 1,500 people are expected to take part in the inaugural Mahatma Gandhi Remembrance Run and Walk organised jointly by the Daxina Striders Athletic Club and the Oriental Plaza shopping centre in Fordsburg, which will serve as the start and end point for the race.
The idea of the race came from veteran sportsman Mohan Hira, who is also chairman of the Mahatma Gandhi Remembrance Organisation, which has undertaken similar initiatives involving races and walks at historic Gandhi sites across the country, including a walk from Johannesburg to Durban.
"We have moved the race to central Johannesburg to help promote the development of Johannesburg as a city and also create greater awareness of Gandhi's legacy in Johannesburg," Hira told IANS.
Sites the runners and walkers will pass include the Newtown Mosque neighbouring the Oriental Plaza, where Gandhi mobilised locals for the Passive Resistance Movement in 1908.
Gandhi, whose political activism began in this country, inspired South African Indians to burn 12,000 of the passes that were compulsory for "Asiatics" to remain in the then Transvaal province.
The Gandhi Square in central Johannesburg, where the young lawyer Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had his law offices; the remains of the Empire Theatre in the centre of the city where Gandhi held many meetings; and the Gandhi Hall, built by the Indian community in 1935 before they were forcibly removed under the Group Areas Act to Lenasia will be among the other places on the route.
Perhaps the most significant one will be Constitution Hill, which now houses South Africa's Constitutional Court. Before its conversion to this status, the area was known as The Fort, a place of incarceration for political prisoners that once housed Gandhi and his followers.
Commenting on the decision by the Oriental Plaza to sponsor the race, Ahmed Bobat, chairman of the Body Corporate, said: "The Mahatma did not like to play cricket and the other games which were compulsory at his high school. Instead, he liked to go for long walks in the open air. These walks helped to make him fit and healthy. What better tribute can we pay in a humble way than to have this walk on the actual land that Gandhi had trod on a century ago?"
The race will be administered by the Daxina Striders to ensure compliance with the rules of the national regulator, Athletics South Africa, as many professional runners are expected to participate in the 21 km and 10 km races.
For the less frequent runners, there are 10 and 5 kilometre fun walks as well.
All finishers will receive curry and rice to regain the energy spent along the way, and there will be a range of cash prizes and medals for winners in various categories as well.
