On a historic day when the South African representative in the United Nations chose to remain neutral in a vote in support of Ukraine, one of 35 countries of 140 countries, the City of Cape Town lit up the Cape Town City Hall last night, sadly only as a once-off occurrence.

The lighting up of the City Hall follows the recent lighting up of the Western Cape Provincial Legislature on Wale Street, and was initiated by Mayor Geordin Hill Lewis.

Mayor Hill Lewis sent out the following media statement yesterday, communicating that he had been in contact with his Kiev counterpart, Mayor Vitality Klitschko, expressing our city’s solidarity :

‘STATEMENT BY CAPE TOWN MAYOR, GEORDIN HILL-LEWIS

*City Hall to be lit up in Kyiv’s colours*

Cape Town City Hall will be illuminated tonight in blue and yellow — the colours of the flag of Kyiv — as a symbol of our solidarity with the people of the city of Kyiv and Ukraine.

Today, I wrote to Mr Vitali Klitschko, the Mayor of Kyiv, to express the City of Cape Town’s solidarity with the struggle Ukraine’s capital city and indeed the whole of Ukraine is facing.

I informed Mr Klitschko that the City of Cape Town stands alongside other nations and cities around the free world in calling for peace in Ukraine and an end to Russian imperialist aggression.

The people of Kyiv are a proud, patriotic and resilient people who have endured a long history of conflict. They have built their city into a prosperous economic and cultural hub, one that faces destruction at this very moment.

The gesture of illuminating Cape Town’s City Hall in Kyiv’s colours will serve as a reminder of the torment the city and its residents are facing. Through this small gesture, we are also calling on our national government — and other governments around the world — to do more for peace to be restored and for the unprovoked and illegal aggression against the Ukrainian people to be halted.

As leaders and human beings, we must always take a firm stand against imperialism and the violence that brings, and I will not hesitate to continue to spread the message of peace and solidarity as far and as wide as possible’.

As it was such a historic action in Cape Town, and only occurring last night, I headed to the City Hall to take photographs. There I bumped into Councillor Ian McMahon, into whose Ward the City Hall falls. I was impressed that the Councillor was dressed for the occasion, wearing yellow slacks and a blue top.

I’ve asked about lighting up Table Mountain, and was told that it falls under Sanparks, which is national Government controlled. It will not be lit up. The Provincial Legislature was not lit up last night.

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whaletalesblog.com www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein, My Cape Town Guide/Mein Kapstadt Guide Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein @MyCapeTownGuide