5 November 2004

Honourable MEC of Cultural Affairs and Sport in the Western Cape, Mr. Chris Stali,
Members of the Executive Council here present,
Head of the Department, Adv. Solomons,
Local Government Councillors,
Religious leaders,
Veterans of the Struggle,
CEOs of Cultural entities,
Leadership of the public sector,
Cultural Activists,
Representatives of the business community
Ladies and gentlemen,

Permit me to first congratulate the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport of the Western Cape on the occasion of this awards ceremony which recognises outstanding achievements and contributions to the arts, to culture and heritage in the Western Cape.

The Western Cape is the province where the three cultural streams that have shaped the history of our continent are most readily evident. For almost three centuries Cape Town was known as the tavern of the two seas. It was onto these sandy shores that the first contingent of immigrants from Asia was dragged ashore in chains. It was here too that the first frontiers between the colonizing Europeans and the indigenous people were established. Slavery and the frontier both had an extremely regrettable impact on the history of this country. We are still wrestling with that legacy as a nation. And I remain confident that the South African endevour and achievement in the arts will play an inordinate role in our overcoming it.

The portrayal of Africa a continent frozen in time and space – with no history worth speaking of, of her people as alternately “child-like” or “vicious savages” was a function of self-justificatory myth-making, of the same order of the weapons of mass destruction that served as a pretext for a war elsewhere not too long ago. Historical lies, myths and half-truths, as we have seen, can spur human beings to commit the most extra-ordinary atrocities. Our past has imposed on us the obligation to undo much of this damage by consistently unearthing and showcasing the achievements of Africa and her peoples, past and present.

Tonight we are celebrating the outstanding achievements and contributions of the people of the Western Cape in the arts, in culture and heritage. During the past ten years we have witnessed encouraging progress to realize the creative energies present in this province.

Like so much else that the democratic state inherited, in heritage we found landscape characterized by a deliberate silencing of African voices and experiences. When they were not caricatured, the cultural expressions of the majority of the people were stigmatized as pagan, backward, primitive or otherwise lacking in worth. The built heritage, place names, and street names celebrated colonial and White domination. The performing and visual arts too were dominated by one section of the population or catered principally for its tastes.

Interventions to address this situation are not only necessary, they are essential to the moulding of a nation at peace with itself because it has come to terms with its past.

The institutions the democratic government has put in place, like the National Arts Council and the National Film and Video Foundation have helped unlock the vast reserves of untapped cultural resources that reside in the creative hearts and minds of our citizens. Through the Multimedia Language Awareness Campaign we have also begun to instill an appreciation of the value that all our languages add to the texture of our daily lives.

Minister Mlambo-Ngcuka, who preceded me in this post, launched and inaugurated the newly appointed National Heritage Council (NHC) on 26 February 2004. The NHC consists of thirty-one members made up of nominees from the national Ministry, nominees from the provincial MECs and the chairpersons of the various national bodies within the heritage sector.

The appointment and establishment of the NHC brought about a significant increase in cooperation and co-ordination on heritage sector development among DAC, its provincial counterparts, associated institutions, declared cultural institutions and other departments.

Our aim is not to deny, denigrate or to erase the cultural heritage of any of the diverse communities that make up South Africa. We seek rather to affirm the heritage of all and thus engender arts and cultural institutions that belong to all our people. Tonight’s awards ceremony is testimony to that.

There are still innumerable challenges that face us before we attain what Nelson Mandela termed the “expansion of the frontiers on human fulfillment”. They will require us to harness unique strengths of the arts and cultural endevour to fight poverty and create work. Through your achievements you have demonstrated that all our diverse people with their differing levels of skill can contribute. People in rural areas, though they might be financially poor, sit with a wealth of cultural resources, knowledge and probably undiscovered talent.

The efforts to make some of our indigenous games truly national and to have them incorporated among the international sports codes enjoy the support of my Ministry. This is a further example of how an inclusive South Africa that promotes the hidden cultural treasures of this country can enrich all humanity.

From an African perspective, addressing these challenges is critical because culture plays such a huge role in African life. Cultural activity is much more that a soundtrack for deepening and extending our democracy. It is integral to the creation of new South African nation and will be an important aspect of defining our place among the family of nations. By the promotion of regional culture and audiences, by the facilitation of mutual cultural exchanges amongst South Africans, and by stimulating a freer exchange of skills and technologies amongst ourselves we can more speedily ensure the development of our country and the cohesion of its people.

I am confident that all of you will work with the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport in the Western Cape in its endevours to develop new capabilities and seek out more opportunities in this sphere.

Thank you.

back to top