The travelling exhibition, A Conscience for the Nation, toured her home city, Cape Town in September 2024. It is a version of the temporary exhibition on the life and works of Dr Sindiwe Magona. It has also toured her birthplace, Gungululu Village in Tsolo.

In Cape Town, it was hosted by the Centre for Multilingualism and Diversity Research (CMDR) at the University of Western Cape (UWC) on Saturday, 21 September. Iziko Museums of South Africa hosted the second and last leg on 23 September.

Both host venues developed two different invitations aligned to their own branding. These were shared widely, resulting in the vibrant audience that graced the two events. Entertain was in abundance, and catering was offered for the learners and the audience, as well as the birthday cake for Dr Magona.  

 At UWC, Prof. David Attwell gave a touching opening and welcoming and presented Dr Sindiwe Magona emanating from the Sindiwe Magona 2023 Scholarly (hybrid) Conference held in April in honour of her 80th birthday. Supported by Prof. Quentin Williams, the two distinguished Professors directed the programme nicely. There was music, storytelling and praise-poetry by the SA Youth Choir, Assitej artists and Ndilisa Goba who took the audience to lunch with her solo symphonic music performance.

The Iziko Museums event was a prelude to the Heritage Day the next day, with the attire really telling. Nancy Richards steered the heritage rich performance programme in the right direction. The Acting CEO, Dr Bongani Ndhlovu welcomed everyone. Unathi Kapa gave a background to the development of the small book of extracts recently published especially for the event. Mr Hylton Arnolds appreciated the collaboration and thanked everyone for their attendance. The Iziko Museums vibrant cultural celebration programme was full of traditional music, dance and praise poetry. Assitej SA artists once again performed storytelling accompanied by music. Opera Songstress Ndilisa Goba was back, and she closed the event with dignity that it deserves.

Responding, Dr Sindiwe Magona termed her talk, “Hello and Goodbye”. She reminiscent that she was sceptical when she first got the wind of what Amazwi was planning for her 80th birthday. “Why would they want to celebrate me?” she asked herself. She was surprised when she got to Makhanda only to find a big gallery space featuring one artist, her. Dr Sindiwe Magona appreciated all that was done in honouring her, including the outreach programmes. With the stage and the space allowing, Dr Magona was herself best, mingling with the learners. She talked, warned, read some poetry and taught a lesson or two.

The curtains to the year-long temporary exhibition, opened at Amazwi in Makhanda in September 2023, were drawn at end of September 2024. It honoured Dr Sindiwe Magona’s lifetime and her works. It was in 3 languages, i.e. English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa. It featured Dr Magona’s biography, extracts, bibliography and some of her manuscripts. A virtual (on Amazwi website) and a travelling exhibition were later developed.

Amazwi South African Museum of Literatures is proud to have collaborated with all the stakeholders that ensured the success of the event. On behalf of Amazwi staff, management and the Council, Amazwi sent special thanks to everyone who gave up everything else to attend the event, and especially to:

Prof. Quentin Williams – CMDR Director

Avril Grovers – CMDR

Dr Ndhlovu – Acting CEO at Iziko Museums

Busisiwe Gasa – Programmes Coordinator

Nancy Richards – Woman Zone Cape Town

Yvette Hardie – Assitej South Africa

Praise-Poet, Dinilezinyanya

SA Youth Choir and Ndilisa Goba

The Magona family especially Dr Sindiwe Magona and her daughter, Ms Thoko Sayedwa