Recognising all dignitaries present -
All protocol observed

It is a great pleasure for me to take part in this very important ceremony today, which marks the conclusion of the third phase of the training programme for the conservators of the Timbuktu Manuscripts who were sent here for training by the Ahmed Baba Institute in Mali.

The training programme has been undertaken every year since 2003. It is part of the overall South African Presidential Project to restore and conserve these invaluable manuscripts.

The manuscripts are part of our continent’s rich cultural and literary heritage and we are proud that these manuscripts have been inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. It, therefore, becomes extremely important for us to make an extra effort to ensure their long-term preservation.

The Timbuktu Manuscripts project is the first official cultural project of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad). We hope that our efforts to preserve the manuscripts will also inspire other such initiatives throughout our continent.

I am informed that there is also another precious manuscript heritage in the Archives of Zanzibar – an important resource of African scholarship. However, this might pose different conservation challenges because of Zanzibar’s hot, tropical, humid climate.

As you may be aware, President Mbeki established the Timbuktu Manuscripts Trust (and I’m, of course, one of the trustees). The Trust is responsible for raising funds to upgrade the existing Ahmed Baba Centre and to finance the building of a new library and archives.

We are also responsible for capacitating and skilling the Ahmed Baba Centre staff to enable them to improve the conservation environment and develop and implement strategies for long-term conservation and active preservation.

Equally important, is our responsibility to make all South Africans and the people of Africa aware of the cultural, literary, scientific and historical importance of the manuscripts.

We are very excited with the progress the project is making. The Trust has to date raised sufficient funds to begin the designing and construction of the library.

Today’s ceremony marks the successful conclusion of the initial training programme for the conservators.

The training programme was conducted in three phases with three institutions participating, namely, the National Archives, which is a unit of the Department of Arts and Culture; the National Library of South Africa and the Documentation and Restoration section at Parliament.

The first phase, which was conducted in 2003, focused on preventive conservation – cleaning the manuscripts and making protective enclosures such as rare book boxes.

In the second phase, which was conducted in 2004, the trainees were introduced to basic conservation repairs on damaged manuscripts.

The third phase, which is being concluded today, focused on paper conservation, rare book designs, leather repair and exhibition mounting.

In this phase, the trainees also focused on specialized areas of interest and had to work on three of the manuscripts from the Ahmed Baba Centre here in South Africa as part of their training.

Conservation management, conservation awareness, conservation ethics and team building were some of the important subjects which were integrated in the training programme throughout the three phases.

The training programme in South Africa was also supported by fieldwork which was undertaken by the South African trainers at the Ahmed Baba Centre.

The team of trainers also visited Timbuktu on three occasions to assess the progress of the conservators and also to work with the management of the Ahmed Baba Institute in developing the conservation strategy for the Centre.

I am pleased to say that, even though the Ahmed Baba Institute has not yet acquired a new home, there has been a considerable improvement in the conservation conditions and I would like to give credit to the Malian Minister of Education, Professor Traore as well as the management of the Ahmed Baba Institute and the conservators for the progress made thus far.

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Later this month the Department of Arts and Culture in conjunction with the Presidency, the Timbuktu Manuscripts Trust and the University of Cape Town, will be hosting an international conference in Cape Town on the manuscripts.

This important event is an indication of our commitment to raise public awareness about this invaluable and unique heritage. It is also an indication of the commitment of the South African Government to promote African scholarship and the development of studies relevant to the concept of the African Renaissance.

I wish to sincerely thank and congratulate the staff who have been involved in this training programme for a job well done.

I also wish to acknowledge the support of the other members of the South Africa – Mali Project Technical Team, namely:

In November last year I lead a delegation to Timbuktu which included all of the people I have mentioned. It was, indeed, a pleasure to work with all of them. I can assure you that they are hard workers and are very serious about making a success of this project.

But today I would like to specially congratulate the conservators who have completed their training – for their excellent performance, their diligence and commitment.

To Fousseyni Kouyate, Hamada Ahmad Ag Mossa, Souleymane Samake, Garba Traore and Mohamed Lamine Traore, I would like to say, once more, that we are very happy that you have been able to complete your training successfully.

We are confident that you will fulfil your important responsibilities back home with equal commitment and diligence.

Remember that Africa has entrusted you with her greatest treasure – the Timbuktu Manuscripts. Please look after this treasure and handle it with care. You are the pioneers of a new generation of committed African Renaissance conservators and we are extremely proud of you.

Once again, thank you so much for putting Africa first in your career.

It now gives me great pleasure to call upon the graduates to come forward to receive their certificates.

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