EQUILLORE - PRESS RELEASE - 14 April 2008

One City, Many Cultures Festival invites you to make peace in a tent

The Cape Town Festival, Equillore and the Africa Centre for Dispute Settlement at the University of Stellenbosch Business School, in association with Heart 104.9FM, have joined forces to give 30 Capetonians the chance to resolve their differences through mediation.

‘One of the things that divide us as individuals and a city is conflict: conflict between groups, families, neighbours and our communities,’ says Festival chairman, Ryland Fisher, who initiated the One City Many Cultures festival eight years ago.

Wahida Parker, CEO of Equillore, a company that enables the settlement of disputes through mediation, says internationally certified mediators – trained at the Africa Centre for Dispute Settlement - will be on hand to resolve issues brought to them by members of the public.

‘We’re asking the public to send us a motivation that outlines their dispute which our mediators will then assess. It is essential that both parties agree to go through the process and give their written consent. We believe mediation is an effective tool that gives parties closure and allows the conflict to be addressed before the parties end up in court with huge cost implications for both,’ says Parker.

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