Heritage Day Provincial Celebrations, Dinokana Stadium, Lehurutshe
24 September 2006
Programme Director
MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture, Ndleleni Duma
Ramotsere Local Municipality Mayor and councillors
Our honoured traditional leaders
Our indigenous artists and musicians
Our local artists and musicians
Professional choreographers and dancers
Our guests and neighbours from Botswana
The communities of Lehurutshe
Members of the media
Ba gaetsho dumelang!
My heart and certainly the hearts of all the people of North West and of
South Africa are filled with pride today as we celebrate once again our living
heritage on this important day in our national calendar, Heritage Day 2006.
Earlier today as part of our heritage celebrations, we had a memorable
opportunity to unveil a monument in honour of the heroic courage of the rural
women who played a critically important role in the fight against pass
laws.
While most of the historic events that led to the liberation of South Africa
have been recognised and celebrated, I believe the contribution made by the
rural masses of our population, particularly women, still need to be
acknowledged and celebrated, hence our delight at being finally successful in
laying a monument in honour of these unsung heroes of our liberation and
democracy.
Indeed, it is a measure of pride that one of the historic rural women's
uprising against pass laws, took place right here in Lehurutshe. In 1957, in
Gopane, only eight women out of the population of 4 000 purchased passbooks
from the passbook mobile unit. Similarly, in Dinokana, only 76 out of a
population of 4 000 women purchased passbooks. In Lekgopung, women instructed
the chief to be absent when the mobile pass unit comes to their village and he
complied. In Motswedi, the unit had to come three times without issuing a
single passbook despite the chief's instructions for women to co-operate.
You will remember also the critical contribution of this area of Lehurutshe
in the liberation, particularly in facilitating the escape and entry route for
liberation soldiers.
This area is also unique by its heritage of traditional leaders who stood
tall among their people in the struggle against apartheid. In particular, we
are proud of Kgosana Moiloa of Borakalo, Kgosana Sebogodi of Braklaagte who
fought against the Bophuthatswana incorporation; Kgosi Ikalafeng who stood
against imposed taxes; Kgosi Bois Moiloa who was imprisoned at King Williams
Town for his role in the fight against pass laws, as well as Kgosi Ramotshere
of whom the local municipality is named after.
Their stories will live forever in our collective memories because they
represent an incredible tale of resilience of both the women veterans of 1956
from this province, some of whom are with us today, to fight for their humanity
along with the rest of the progressive masses, including our honoured
traditional leaders, until the defeat of apartheid and racial oppression in
1994.
We unveiled this monument therefore in honour of these women, and it now
forms part of our proud Heritage as the North West province, under the theme,
"Age of hope through struggle to freedom".
We are proud of this heritage and the whole historical role of this area of
Lehurutshe in the struggle against apartheid. As a matter of fact, we are
looking, together with the National Development Agency, into writing a
comprehensive book around the struggle in Lehurutshe.
Nevertheless, there are other elements of our heritage that we are
celebrating today. At the beginning of the year during our State of the
Province Address in February, we had the presence of blessings and the honour
to single out for special recognition some ordinary yet distinguished citizens
of our province. Among those distinguished citizens of our province we honoured
that day was Rre Rex Rabanye, who put our country and province firmly on the
world music map during difficult times. Among other songs, Rre Rex Rabanye
brought us that famous song "O kentsang".
Today, we are filled with utmost pride once again to raise the name of Rre
Rabanye and many of our musicians past and present as we dedicate 2006 Heritage
Month to our musical heritage, underpinned by the theme, "Celebrating our
music, our heritage."
As you know, it has become custom and a common source of pride that each
year we celebrate as South Africans across all nine provinces our living
heritage, meaning those tangible and intangible aspects of our inherited
culture that include cultural tradition, oral history and traditions, popular
memory, skills and techniques, indigenous knowledge systems, our approach to
nature, society and social relationships, rituals and festive events, knowledge
and practices concerning nature and the universe as well as our traditional
craftsmanship.
In the North West province, as in the rest of the country, music is an
important element of this Living Heritage. Moreover, for decades music played
an important role in the fight for freedom and bringing about democratic
change. It is therefore one of the key industries in our Cultural Industrial
Growth Strategy and government is totally committed to harnessing its full
potential.
Our commitment is based on the recognition of the role music plays in
facilitating cultural awareness and competence and therefore as a vital element
in creating and sustaining social cohesion.
Our musical heroes and heroines past and present: Oom Rex, Tuks Senganga,
KB, Merafe, HHP, Salome Sechele, Wendy Ramokgadi, Tlokwe Sehume, Arthur
Mahlatsi, Simon Nkosi, Tshidiso, Matshidiso from Malaika, the Alabama Student
Group, Margie Spaumer, Awie van Wyk, Johnny Mokgadi, The Rustenburg Boys,
Shaneng Seven Rocks, Groovy Guys, Teenage Lovers and Harry Moyaha, Crowded
Crew, Thebe and Bongo-Maffin's Stoane Seate, Bafixhile, Guffy, Ishmael, The
late Mjekejeke from Skeem, Lucas Senyatso, Ezbie Moiloa, Diratsagae "De"
Makgotla and Oupa "Poys" Makhubela, music teacher Professor Hans du Plessis and
many other distinguished musicians of our province have helped South Africa
nurture the development of an array of distinctive styles of music and have
contributed significantly to music heard across the continent of Africa. We are
eternally proud of all these musicians.
In the same spirit, we would like to pay tribute today to Mr Mathibe who
passed away this year. He was a producer, a conductor and distinguished
adjudicator of choral music and a former teacher. Some of you may remember him
as a conductor for the Hebron College Choir.
All these luminaries and many others I have not mentioned have contributed
immensely to our musical heritage. We owe to them to pass this valuable
cultural heritage to the coming generations.
Ba Gaetsho
In addition to the cultural value that all these musicians bring, we are
acutely appreciative of the fact that music plays another important role in our
country through generating significant copyright revenue.
We are therefore gathered here today in Lehurutse not only to celebrate our
heritage, our music, but also to promote public awareness and understanding of
South Africa's overall musical heritage. We are here to highlight the
contribution made by the musical heritage in the struggle for freedom and
democracy. We are here to profile our pride, the contribution made by the
cultural industry in general and our music in particular to the economic
development of our province and of our country.
Most of all, we are here to promote the role of music in building a unified
nation and the national pride that should fill every South African on this
important day of heritage.
I am 100% sure that you will agree with me when I say South Africa's music
is fast-growing and has boundless potential to grow further. Therefore, being
one of the country's most significant cultural industries, the music industry
is a powerful means of enhancing our national identity and pride, while
simultaneously creating employment opportunities, developing human skills as
well as generating social capital and cohesion.
What sets apart musicians from any other workers is the fact that most if
not all of them get into music not out of desire to make a quick buck, but
through a combination of passion, talent and the quest to unleash their full
creative potential and share it with others and the rest of humanity.
However, as with other South African industries, our local music industry is
infused with the legacy of apartheid's political economy. The industry has even
suffered additional setbacks because our indigenous culture was actively
suppressed and distorted by the apartheid dispensation. This inevitably
resulted in a situation where we find that today; about 80% of the music sold
in our country is produced elsewhere, while our local music itself is
developing at a rate much slower than expected. This is clearly
unacceptable.
We are also aware of many of our musicians' complaints that they do not
receive enough air or television exposure. I therefore call upon Motsweding FM
and all other radio stations and television channels to play more of our local
music. We must increase the local content.
We must ask ourselves how, in countries like the United States, when an
artist like Eminem or 50 cents releases a CD, it is sold out completely and
instantly in their own countries before it is even available in other parts of
the world. Let us learn from this and create as well as promote our own 50
cents!
In addition, our music industry is plagued by criminal acts of piracy and
"writing of CDs". Hence this year we saw the launch of Operation Dudula, a high
profile artist-initiated music anti-piracy campaign aimed at eradicating the
sale of fake CDs and DVDs. I therefore call upon all of you to support
operation Dudula. Phambili ne Dudula Phambili!
Ba gaetsho
Before I conclude and allow you to get down and lose yourself in our local
music, let me leave you with a few challenges that we must commonly address in
order for our music industry, together with other sectors of our society, to
increase its contribution in a National Effort to Build a Caring and Prosperous
Society.
Firstly, we must vigorously support and promote our creative arts and
tourism in general as well as our music in particular, so that it generates
substantial income to both our First and Second Economies.
The second challenge relates to the fact that the world has evolved and so
we must adapt by ensuring that our music industry exploits all the
international opportunities brought about by the wave of globalisation and
technological advancement.
At the same time, we must continue to heighten our capacity in music to the
level at which it can compete in the world around.
The last challenge I would like to leave with this festive gathering is to
assist our local musicians in every way possible to make a contribution to the
fight against poverty and underdevelopment. Let our music be our weapon!
In conclusion, I would like to thank all the people who have raised the flag
of our music high in the trying times, in the build-up to the Heritage Month of
September and those who made this wonderful event a resounding success that it
is.
In particular, I would like to single out our Department of Sport, Arts and
Culture, the Mmabana String Section, all the professional musicians and
choreographers, public servants from the Offices of the Premier and MEC, the
North West Youth Commission as well as members of the public and the media.
To all these people I offer the words of the legendary Bob Marley who once
sang: "One thing about music when it hits you, you feel no pain. So hit me with
music!"
I would like to wish all of you a happy memorable Heritage Day. Celebrate
our living heritage; celebrate our music, our heritage. Happy Heritage Day!
I thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, North West Provincial Government
24 September 2006
