The new Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Michael Bear, celebrated his southern African roots this morning by joining a group of Zulu dancers for a shield and stick dance on the roof of the City’s newest development, One New Change.
The dancers, members of the touring Mighty Zulu Nation Theatre Company, saluted Alderman Bear (who was born in Kenya and studied at Wits University in Johannesburg) and serenaded him, singing “we salute the Mayor of London.”
They will take part in this year’s Lord Mayor’s Show on Saturday 13 November after Alderman Bear is sworn in as Lord Mayor on Friday 12.
The Show, which has been running for almost 800 years, begins at Mansion House at 11am and 6000 people take part in the three-mile procession through the City streets.
The Lord Mayor travels in the 253-year-old State Coach to the Royal Courts of Justice, where he swears an oath of allegiance to the monarch, before returning to Mansion House.
The Lord Mayor’s Show ends off with a spectacular fireworks display at 5pm along the Thames between Blackfriars and Waterloo bridges.
Alderman Bear is the 683rd Lord Mayor of London.
Read an interview with the new Lord Mayor of London at southafricantimes.co.uk.
