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Cape Town has officially given the Freedom of the City on David Kramer and the late Taliep Petersen at a Special Council sitting at City Hall.
Kramer was present to personally accept the honour, while Petersen’s posthumous award was received by his daughters, Jawaahier, Fatiema and Aeesha Petersen.
Watch the livestream event here:
The ceremony featured a moving musical and video tribute celebrating the duo’s extraordinary creative legacy, including highlights from District Six: The Musical and Kat and the Kings. In his address, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis praised Kramer and Petersen as cultural icons whose work preserved memory, challenged injustice and gave voice to Cape Town’s shared humanity, affirming that culture and storytelling are as vital to a city as political leadership or scientific achievement.
‘Thanks to you, David and Taliep, future generations will know not only what happened here, but how it felt. They will hear our accents, laugh at our jokes, feel our spirit, dance with the ghoema, and rise with the hope of a city that is culturally richer and more whole, because of you,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
The honour places Kramer and Petersen alongside a small group of Freedom of the City recipients, including Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Dr Christiaan Barnard.
UPDATE: 3.30pm, Monday 20 January - Two of the Mother City's most creative sons, David Kramer and the late Taliep Petersen, will be honoured in a Freedom of the City ceremony taking place this afternoon at City Hall, with a live stream available to the public.
Petersen, who died in 2006, will receive the honour posthumously, with his family accepting on his behalf.
Members of the public unable to attend in person will be able to follow along online as the city bestows its highest civic honour on two figures who shaped South African musical theatre and Cape Town’s cultural identity.
This iconic duo gave South Africa some of its most celebrated stage productions, including the landmark District Six: The Musical (which premiered in 1987 at the height of the apartheid era) and the internationally acclaimed Kat and the Kings. Both of these icons helped shape the country’s cultural landscape - and my own love of theatre - with unforgettable performances at the Baxter Theatre in Rondebosch.
As Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said in his announcement of their upcoming, this honour recognises how Kramer and Petersen “not only entertained generations but helped shape the cultural heritage of the Western Cape and South African musical theatre.”
It also places Kramer and Petersen among a select group of Freedom of the City recipients that includes SA's first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.
ICYMI: David Kramer shares his favourite corners of Cape Town with us!
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