Former Deputy Minister Speeches
It is a privilege and a pleasure for me to welcome you all to this dialogue session.This year we are celebrating the 90th birthday of one of our greatest, world-renowned icons of the century, uTata u-Nelson Mandela. It is, therefore, commendable that the Nelson Mandela Foundation organised a series of programmes to celebrate the life of a truly remarkable person, the father of our nation, the son of our beloved country and, indeed, a statesman who is loved and revered by the whole world. Please join me in wishing him a happy 90th birthday year, good health and happiness. Happy birthday, Tata!
Once again, I am privileged and feel very honoured to be invited by OHASA to open the 5th Annual National Oral History Conference. I am delighted that OHASA has chosen the Eastern Cape to host the conference.
It is, indeed, an honour and my pleasure to host this dinner tonight considered pleasure to host this dinner tonight on behalf of the Ministry and Department of Arts and Culture. What is even more delightful and inspiring for me is to be amongst people who I consider to be present day leaders and future leaders. I am particularly pleased to be in the company of a cohort of young women who represent the global leadership dedicated to social development.
Firstly, I would like to thank the organisers for inviting me to open this important conference and workshop. My task this morning, as I understood it, is just to do the official opening. The keynote address is someone else's responsibility.This groundbreaking conference and workshop offers all of us working in the arts, culture and heritage sector a fresh perspective which, I am certain, will assist us in dealing with some of the challenges that confront the sector.
Chairperson, since this is my very last Budget Vote Speech before I retire, I wish to dedicate it to the victims of the recent incidents of violence in our beloved country which is referred to by some as “xenophobia”. What is xenophobia ? My understanding is that it is ‘strong and unreasonable dislike and hate or fear of people from other countries'. But surely, people from other countries who have lived with us and among us in our communities for so many years do not deserve to be treated in the manner it has been demonstrated recently.
Indeed it's been a very good evening and Good evening to all of you. My name is Ntombazana Botha, SA Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture. I bring greetings from the people of South Africa.Ladies and gentlemen, what you have just seen and experienced is what we would like to share with the rest of the world in terms of our heritage which has been carried out from generation to generation. We are proud of who we are. You have just been exposed to traditional creative expressions which have been transformed into current fashion trends. The catwalk displayed diverse cultures, namely Ndebele, Xhosa, Zulu, Tsonga and Sotho amongst others. In South Africa we recognize that culture is not static but dynamic, hence the fusion of tradition with modern designs
It is indeed a pleasure to be invited, once again, to open the 5th Annual Arts and Culture Fashion Seminar. This is the fourth year that the Department of Arts and Culture is supporting this initiative. I am delighted to see the tremendous progress we have made, in both the quality and scope of the content of the seminar programme as well as the marked increase in the number of delegates.
I feel extremely privileged to be invited by the Project Director of the South African Literary Awards, Mr Seakhoa, to address you this evening and to hand over the prestigious awards for literary excellence to the winners. This ceremony is usually addressed by the Minister of Arts and Culture, Dr Pallo Jordan, but he is presently out of the country, so, Raks requested me to perform this task which I humble accepted. Of course, the Department of Arts and Culture is one of the founding partners and we are very proud to be associated with this initiative.
Topic: “Arts, Culture and Heritage as strategic resources in the transformation of the South African society”. Firstly I would like to congratulate the National Heritage Council (NHC) as well as members of civil society, heritage institutions, heritage practitioners and other stakeholders, who participated so passionately in the process of crafting the draft Heritage Transformation Charter.
Let me state upfront that I accepted the invitation to speak at this Fundraising Gala Dinner because I believe that we, in South Africa, have once again come to a moment of truth – a moment in time when each one of us must stand up and be counted. Within the current international and national political climate each of us must contemplate our yesterday, our today, and find the right path towards our tomorrow.