Cape Town: Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis announced that the City of Cape Town will bestow its highest Civic Honour ‘The Freedom of the City’ on two of its cultural icons David Kramer and the late Taliep Petersen, at a forthcoming ceremony in Jan 2026. The city will also award Civic Honours and Mayor’s Medals to a range of luminaries at a Council ceremony in Nov 2025.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said that they are looking forward to extend award to the Freedom of Cape Town to two very special individuals who count among the city’s most-loved, most famous and influential cultural ambassadors: David Kramer and the late Taliep Pieterson, who tragically left us in 2006, and whose family have agreed to accept the award.
Taliep and David took their place alongside titans of history like President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who are among only a handful of individuals to be awarded with the freedom of Cape Town.
This legendary duo has entertained them over the generations and have fundamentally shaped South African musical theatre and the rich cultural heritage of the Western Cape. Aside from their countless individual creative achievements, who can forget their masterpiece theatrical collaborations for “District Six: The Musical”and “Kat and the Kings”?
According to Lewis, the genius of these timeless productions, is how Taliep and David blended entertainment with social commentary and activism, telling powerful stories of forced removals and community resilience. As they are excited for Capetonians to join them at the ceremony early next year to celebrate these icons on the Grand Parade, an occasion that will bring to life the rich cultural flair of Cape Town that these artists are known for.
At a Council ceremony this November, the City of Cape Town will further confer Civic Honours and Mayor’s Medals on a range of individuals or organisations who have distinguished themselves through extraordinary acts of service, outstanding contributions to the wider city community, personal sacrifice and contributions to nation building.
Mayor Lewis is promoting the pride of the city, they revived the tradition of Civic Honours in 2023 after a hiatus of 12 years, and they have now made these awards a regular fixture every two years. Civic Honours are about recognising the contributions of remarkable people who have delivered exceptional public service, in any field of social, community or civic interest.
Honours recipients have generally achieved extraordinary acclaim in their chosen field and have won international recognition for their talent or contribution or distinguished themselves with extraordinary community service. Further they are looking forward to honouring the 2025 recipients at a ceremony in November 2025.
The awarding of honours follows a public nominations process held earlier in 2025, followed by Council approval of nominations, confirmation of acceptance by nominees, and finally the awards ceremony, to be held in City Council Chambers on 14 November.