SOUTH AFRICA: Africans bid farewell to 2008 in a colourful carnival of song and dance

Record ID: 454457

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Africans bid farewell to 2008 in a colourful carnival of song and dance
  • Date: 2nd January 2009
  • Summary: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (DECEMBER 31, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DANCERS PARADING AND CROSSING THE MANDELA BRIDGE TOWNSHIP DANCERS DEMONSTRATING THEIR SKILLS
  • Embargoed: 17th January 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA91N1AZOGGDCSYT0EBM16ZVRHM
  • Story Text: Thousands of South Africans and African immigrants took to the streets in a spectacular carnival of song and dance as they bid farewell to 2008 in Johannesburg.
    Fostering tolerance following the xenophobic attacks earlier this year, foreign nationals and locals strutted their stuff in the New Year Eve Carnival celebrations on Wednesday (December 31).
    The organisers dubbed the theme of the fifth annual Johannesburg Carnival "Unity in our diversity" - a fitting and symbolic gesture of reconciliation given the scars that residents still bear months after the brutal attacks on foreign nationals in May this year.
    The song and dance spectacle featured a mixture of modern, hip-hop and township dance, with a touch of Congolese dance thrown in.
    Organisers say the blend of youngsters from Zimbabwe, Angola, Burundi, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been expertly choreographed by local dancer Vukani Khoza.
    " This is the Johannesburg Carnival 2008, Nyakaza (Shake), unity in diversity, so, we are just showing people there is unity and diversity in this rainbow," one of the participants told Reuters Television.
    Watched by dozens of onlookers, the various carnival troupes, choirs and bands embarked on a parade that rivalled Rio.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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