Theme: “Our Indigenous Knowledge, Our Heritage: Towards the Identification, Promotion and Preservation of South African’s Living Heritage.”
Introduction
Programme Director, I would like to start by thanking everybody present here for being able to put aside time to come and attend this event. You could have been at your various homes with your families but because you value your own heritage and culture you are all here today.
As South Africans, the month of September is time for us to come together and celebrate the very rich Heritage and Culture which our country has. This is the time when we are actually get to be reminded of the many cultures that make up our very diverse and colourful nation.
I like what Dr Simon Thurley said when he addresses the Historic Churches Committee in February 2005, he said:
- By understanding cultural heritage- people value it
- By valuing it-people want to care for it
- By caring for it-it will help people enjoy it
- From enjoying it-comes a thirst to understand
I am particularly happy to be back again here in Hluhluwe to celebrate Heritage Month with this wonderful community. Through my interaction with the community, I have realised that culture is at the epicentre of this community.
Take or instance, there is a group of women here whom I have had the pleasure of seeing perform their traditional dance on two occasions and I must say that each time I saw them perform the nostalgia of our traditional dance and the way we celebrate when we are happy grows.
Anything that is done out of love and appreciation for one’s culture and heritage will ignite curiosity for others to want to learn more. Culture is not something we are born with, but is something that we, during our childhood years learn from family, school, religion and even through television and other forms of media. Indeed issues of culture and heritage are with us 365 days a year. Issues of heritage and culture are the cornerstone of social cohesion and nation building. A child is born into a cultural setting, with a rich heritage which, through the process of parenting and socialisation shapes his or her well-being throughout the stages of life.
Our culture instils in us the norms and standards of relating towards each other and behaving in society as a whole. It shapes our identities as well. We all remember what uTata Nelson Mandela said when he addressed parliament in Cape Town on 05 February 1999, he called for the reconstruction of the soul of the nation, "the RDP of the Soul: by this we mean first and foremost respect for life; pride and self-respect as South Africans rather than the notion that we can thrive in senseless self-flagellation."
I believe he said this in realising that in reality there is a mismatch of what our culture teaches us versus our behaviours as society. There is also that need for us as a nation to go back to the principles of “ubuntu”, which is really what our constitution is based upon.
Culture attracts people to a place and creates an environment in which other industries, goods and services can grow. If we value our culture, more value can be added to our local economy.
Heritage Month
Our unique Heritage Month commemoration recognises aspects of our culture which are both tangible and intangible. These include creative expression such as music and performances, our historical inheritance, language, the food we eat as well as the popular memory.
Various heritage sites and infrastructures in South Africa are named after the liberation struggle icons and many of those site attract tourists from all over the world. This all happens because the information about these sites and the sites themselves are preserved not only in the physical but information about them is digitised.
South Africa Connect – National Broadband Policy
South Africa’s Broadband Policy was published on 06 December 2013. South Africa Connect gives expression to South Africa’s vision in the National Development Plan (NDP). South Africa Connect outlines a number of activities to improve broadband in South Africa. The vision for broadband is that by 2020, 100% of South Africans will have access to broadband services at 2.5% or less of the population’s average monthly income. A four-pronged strategy, with both supply- and demand- side interventions will close the identified gaps between the current status of broadband in the country and the vision in the NDP. The four interventions are:
- Digital readiness – laying the foundations for South Africa’s broadband future
- Digital development – addressing needs and measuring sustainable roll-out
- Digital future – roadmap for public and private investment in the next generation broadband networks
- Digital opportunity – ensuring that South Africa harness the benefit of broadband based on skills, R&D, and innovation, entrepreneurship, and relevant content and applications
The department has revised its Strategic Goals and Objectives to focus on specific Broadband Programme priorities. With regards to Digital development, the purpose is to catalyse broadband connectivity, aiming to provide access to broadband to 50 per cent of the population by 2016 and 90 per cent by 2020.
There are endless uses which broadband can be put to once rolled-out. Digital libraries can educate people around the world about our way of life, our culture and heritage. The preservation of our own culture and heritage can help us create economic centres.
I like what our President, His Excellency Jacob Zuma said during the State of the Nation Address, he said: “The year 2015 will mark the beginning of the first phase of broadband roll-out. Government will connect offices in eight district municipalities. These are Dr. Kenneth Kaunda in North West, Gert Sibande in Mpumalanga, O.R. Tambo in the Eastern Cape, Pixley ka Seme in the Northern Cape, Thabo Mofutsanyane in the Free State, Umgungundlovu and Umzinyathi in KwaZulu-Natal, and Vhembe in Limpopo.”
You will realise that these districts municipalities excludes municipalities in the golden triangle, which is Gauteng, Durban and Cape Town. This for me effectively means that a chance has been given to rural areas to improve. ICT sector is an enabler, with it a lot can be achieved.
As government and the society we can develop economic potential of our digital cultural heritage by:
- Increasing digitisation
- Improving online access and reuse
- Contributing to long-term preservation
Some of South Africa’s Heritage Sites
South Africa is also home to eight of the 981 World Heritage Sites which are recognised by the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organisation as places of outstanding cultural and historical importance. These sites are:
- Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape in Limpopo
- Robben Island in the Western Cape
- Cradle of Humankind in Gauteng
- the Cape Floral Region in both the Western and Eastern Cape
- Vredefort Dome in the Free State
- uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park
- Isimangaliso Wetland Park in KwaZulu-Natal
- Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape in the Northern Cape.
These sites should teach us of the values that we should embrace as enshrined in our constitution and our value system as a country.
Let us all join in and help preserve and spread awareness of our heritage resources. They are not just symbols of our past, but they are the foundation for our future as well.
The Culture of Quality Education
The power of a belief system and values in having impact at a broader scale cannot be ignored or underestimated. The youth of 1976 through the leadership of people such as Hector Peterson defended education system of the time and fought for quality education. Today we have monuments of these heroes who set a trend in the whole world.
Today we are witnesses of this trend that children should not be subject to poor education. As a country we have a good story to tell about our education system. Education in this country receives the lion's share of South Africa's national Budget.
A lesson can be learnt from a young education activist and a 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. At the age of 17 years she is already in ranks of the likes of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Tata Nelson Mandela. She triumphed from a specific cultural context which embroiled certain values.
Against all odds she managed to stand out and showed extraordinary courage and continues inspire hope in the lives of other young girls. She openly objected to gender inequality and women oppression; and advocated for young girls' rights to education. She even got to a point where she was shot in a school bus for being vocal about issues which affected young girls and the right to equal chance to education as the boys counter parts.
Our youth should not be subject to the negative image they are been portrayed with, alcohol abuse, substance abuse and exposed to risk.
As a nation we ought to learn from other cultures, look at our fellow Indian communities. They have been here since the past 150 years but in no way has their culture been diluted or influenced by our varied cultures. If you look at their education system, their houses of faith and their work ethic; they stick to their tradition throughout and that is the reason why they are successful.
The Schools Connectivity Project
During a media briefing to launch the FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust, the president said: "We want the children of Africa to remember the first Soccer World Cup on African soil as one that planted seeds of true universal access to education and a better life".
The Schools Connectivity Project has been identified as one of the legacy projects of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Project. This project came about from the savings derived by Telkom for the 2010 World Cup. As such the savings was used to connect over 1650 schools. The savings amounted to R374.2m. This is one of the key projects driven by my department, the Department of Telecommunications & Postal Services. In this area we managed to connect Hluhluwe high school and we hope that the message we have left is upheld. In our view, connecting a school is similar to connecting a village.
Values Enshrined in the Constitution
South Africa has been called the rainbow nation because it is made up of so many diverse cultures. Our own culture must be used to pursue reconciliation and social justice. Through our culture and religion we can amend the past social ills. We all know that in the past the colonial laws highly prejudiced our cultures and as a result they are now still underdeveloped.
Our democracy is still at its youthful age and this gives us an opportunity as the society to sop up the values which our democracy subscribes to. We have our Constitution, promulgated in 1996, provides the foundations for building a democratic and inclusive state and is undeniably one of the most progressive in the world. It embodies the noble ideals of unity in diversity, and tolerance and respect for all our cultures and religions. Our Constitutions also promotes values such as truthfulness, openness and integrity as a basis of promoting aspects of our culture which underscores ubuntu. All of these values can be amplified through our cultural conduct and religion.
It is through processes such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that we have achieved the progress we are realising today as a nation. In any situation where hostility, violence and war have divided the people, made them enemies and there is distrust and misunderstanding prevailing amongst them; national reconciliation will be a precondition to building that nation.
The TRC was meant to show and teach the world true meaning of ubuntu. The emphasis was on forgiveness but at the same time holding people accountable and ensuring that this does not happen again.
Department of Telecommunications & Postal Services Mandate
One of our core functions at the Department of Telecommunications & Postal Services is to contribute to the development of an inclusive information society. This is aimed at establishing South Africa as an advanced information-based society in which information and ICT tools are key drivers of economic and societal development.
We are also tasked with the duty of e-Skilling the nation for equitable prosperity and global competitiveness. We are working towards a point wherein all content will be available digitally. This will most importantly help in recording our cultural heritage so as to preserve it for our future generations. Schools are now acting as technological hubs; educational content is now available digitally. A cellular phone is no longer just a means of talking to another person but a source of digital information whereby people can gain access to a wealth of information on the internet.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to encourage all of us to go back to basics. Our old traditional ways is the good way since they include in them the opulent culture of ubuntu.
Our rich heritage and culture should be used as an instrument to uphold high morals and standards in our society. We should all contribute to the preservation of this inheritance left for us by our great-great grandfathers. With the combination of technology our communities and the nation at large can be bettered.
The continuing moral decline visible in actions such as alcohol abuse, substance abuse and risky behaviours can be countered with a strong cultural beliefs system. Women in particular should go back to basics. We are in most cases the first point of support to our children; we should therefore be a perfect example to them.
From the onset heritage day celebrations were meant to bring this rainbow nation together. How do we then say that we are building a nation if we still have people attacking others because they are foreign nationals? How do we say that we are building a nation if we still have high levels of child rape? How do we say that we are building a nation if we still have gruesome murders of young children?
We must cultivate within ourselves, our families and societies a culture of non-violence.
Culture can be used to prevent this kind of behaviour within our society. Joining hands as men and women, we must as a nation strongly condemn gender based violence. It does not matter how culturally diverse we are as a nation; each culture has an element of respect towards a fellow human being.
Our indigenous knowledge and our belief systems can and must assist us in overcoming the challenge of gender-based violence. There is also a salient role which music can play to bring people together and reconciling them with their culture. This can be done through the message packaged in our traditional music aimed specifically in nation building.
Let us all commemorate heritage month with the promotion of human dignity in our minds whilst upholding the good value systems embodied in our various cultures.
We must also remember that every chance that we get to celebrate our various cultures, it also becomes an opportunity to teach and enlighten others about who we really are and where we come from.
I thank you.
