Cherish the waters, cherish the earth

Because we love the earth and the waters we pledge to protect and preserve Princess Vlei, to honour its natural beauty, to safeguard its wild life and to ensure it remains a sanctuary for future generations. We pledge  care, respect and sustainable practices. We commit to nurturing this vital eco system.
     This pledge was made by learners from Levana Primary, at the ceremony to launch a floating sculpture at Princess Vlei. The sculpture is intended to honour of the Khoe princess who gave Princess Vlei its name, and to raise awareness of the history of Princess Vlei, and of the indigenous wisdom of our Khoe and San ancestors who live harmoniously with the land.
    Sometimes, all the elements come together to create something truly magical and transcendent, when all the complexity and wonder that makes Princess Vlei can be experienced. This ceremony on 12 October was one such day.
    The waterside ceremony followed a day of celebration by 200 school learners and community members. The group gathered at Retreat Civic earlier in the day, where learners had their faces painted and create headdresses celebrating our wetlands to wear on the procession.

Learners from four Primary schools (Levana. Hillwood, Harmony and Rosmead primary) performed dances inspired by nature at Princess Vlei. Their dances were followed by Captain Kwanda’s Fanplastic Adventures, by the Jungle Theatre Company. The young audience thoroughly enjoyed this lively production, while also learning about the importance of saving the oceans from climate change and plastic pollution.

After the play, the group formed a procession to walk from the Retreat Civic to Princess Vlei. They carried giant bird puppets and mandalas, all created by learners over the years, with messages about fighting climate change, deforestation, pollution,  and living harmoniously with nature. The learners also carried colourful smaller fish puppets and windsock fish that they had created. They wore t-shirts they had tie-dyed themselves.

At the water’s edge, Shihaam Domingo led a ceremony to launch the Princess sculpture. ‘The water connects us, the plants are medicine, the water is medicine. …. I invite learners to think about their mothers, and grandmothers, who brought healing plants to them. This princess would walk here and teach her children about the plants and the animals… I have seen all so many creatures honoured in your dances, snakes and birds and fish… we are all connected. Be like the princess, find that connection again.’

Shihaam burns emphepho as an offering to the ancestors

The Ceremony was attended by Zolani Mahola, former lead singer of Pan-African supergroup Freshlyground. Zolani called on ‘the spirit of the Princess, and to the spirit of all our ancestors and all the people who came before us.
‘We are all children here today, we all came from somewhere and we came onto this planet, and we are nature, we are not separate from nature, and so we look after it as we look after ourselves.’

Zolani enthralls the crowd by singing Doo Be Doo

    Several young learners stepped forward to make their own pledge to care for Princess Vlei, for our natural waterways, for Nature. ‘I commit to stand up for every wrong against nature… I pledge to keep all bodies of water clean. I shall not litter in or around the water…. I pledge to protect the mammals, reptiles, insects, amphibians, fish and birds of Princess Vlei…. Earth is my planet and yours. I pledge to teach my community and future generations to do this – to preserve all that was given to us. We pledge to protect what is ours.’
   Denisha Anand read the message of the Floating Princess, captured in a sign by the water's edge.
    Zolani enthralled the gathering by singing Doo be Doo, Freshly Ground’s iconic song about the day that politicians agreed to honour and obey, and give their love away

The wooden sculpture was created by members of the Princess Vlei Forum, the Peter Clarke Art Centre, and learners from Lotus High. It stands on a floating platform planted with indigenous Cape freshwater lowland plants such as restios and Arum lilies. It was towed out by a boat on Friday, and stands approximately 30 meters from the shore. Read about the making of the Floating Princess here.
     This project is a collaborative effort from the Princess Vlei Forum, Jungle Theatre Company, local dance practitioners and local schools. It forms part of the Princess Vlei Forum’s creative education program to generate passion for nature amongst local school learners, and to use the area as a living classroom to raise environmental awareness.
Thanks to the City of Cape Town’s Grant in Aid Funding for making this project possible.