The Life and Times of Nelson Mandela is a theatre project that the NAC funded in an effort to help reduce the high unemployment rate among young people from previously disadvantaged communities and persons with disabilities.

The NAC allocated R100 000 towards the project, funded under its Arts Platforms programme, to stage a play titled The Life and Times of Nelson Mandela in the
Eastern Cape, led by veteran stage actor and playwright Khanyiso Dakada.

The project successfully stimulated the economy through job and income generation, while imparting knowledge about Mandela’s life through theatrical education.
A total of 43 people were employed during this project. There were six full-time actors, two of whom were persons with disabilities, 30 on-call actors and 5 drivers. “It is through the spirit of theatre that we can heal and change the world,” says Dakada.