E Surty: National Schools Indigenous Games Music and Movement
Festival

22 September 2006

Programme Director
MECs for Education and Arts, Culture and Sport
Heads of Departments and senior officials from all departments present
Traditional leaders present
Senior Manager, Marketing and Communication from Soul City Institute
Provincial co-ordinators
Distinguished guests
Parents, teachers and learners
Ladies and gentlemen

Sanibona! Dumelang! Thobela! Lotjani! Ndi masiari! Absheni! Molweni! Goeie
more! Good afternoon!

I am delighted to be here today to open our annual National Schools
Indigenous Games Music and Movement Festival. The festival forms part of our
celebrations during Heritage Month and I am extremely pleased to see so many of
our beautiful children gathered here from all corners of our culturally diverse
country being part of these celebrations.

May I also add that we could not have chosen a more appropriate venue for
the celebrations! This stadium is named after "a roaring young lion" a freedom
fighter whose entire life epitomised the struggle of our people to reclaim our
cultural traditions and heritage. Comrade Peter Mokaba, may his soul rest in
peace.

Some of you who were present at last year's indigenous games in Witbank,
Mpumalanga, may recall the statement I made that the National Indigenous Games,
Music and Movement Festival are more than just a festival. It is a celebration
of South Africa's diverse cultures, which I believe is a key component of
development because of its potential to promote social cohesion, nation
building, a common national identity and pride. It relates directly to the
challenge of the creation of a non-racial society.

It is also important that we recognise the fact that our country has become
part of the global village and that our people cannot escape the impact upon
its way of life of many foreign cultural influences, which may enrich or weaken
our own indigenous cultural values and heritage.

Events such as the indigenous games music and movement festival are critical
in enabling us to adapt to the global village on our own terms and in providing
our people with the capacity for selective incorporation of cultural values,
norms and practices from other countries, particularly those that can enrich
our own cultural values and norms.

It communicates the important message that we are one people, regardless of
race, colour and historical origin. It is the base from which we can proclaim
that we are Proudly South African and African.

The event is also about our collective identity as a people. When we say we
are proudly South African, this must be because we recognise that we have a
common heritage, that we have a joint responsibility to nurture and promote all
our languages, cultures and religions and that we share a common destiny.

To celebrate our heritage and cultural diversity does not only mean that we
have a day to sing and dance. It also means that we must reflect on the
challenges that stand in the way of building a non-racial society.

It means that we should rededicate ourselves to the upliftment of all our
peoples, that we take responsibility to rectify the imbalances with respect to
the development, usage, status and promotion of our indigenous languages and
cultures.

It further means that we must re-appraise certain cultural assumptions,
which may be at variance with the notion of fundamental human rights especially
in so far as these affect children, women and other disadvantaged groups in
society.

Women and girls tend to suffer the most from the effects of cultural
stereotypes, attitudes, indirect and direct marginalisation in various areas,
including in particular, decision-making, inheritance, succession, ownership of
property and leadership. In our country we have made significant strides in
addressing these imbalances and we are proud of that.

The presence of so many girls at this festival makes the important statement
that we are determined to address the negative stereotypes about women to the
best of our ability. Specifically, it demonstrates that we are committed to the
recognition of and respect for women and that we are serious about addressing
the inequalities that exist with respect to gender.

In some areas, cultural practices have also disadvantaged children and not
assisted them to grow and cope with external pressures. These include lack of
information on sexuality, gender relations, etc. Culturally-based practices
have also inadvertently led to silence, among youth, children, and parents, on
issues pertaining to domestic violence, sexual abuse and rape.

Our children are the mirrors of our society through which we see our
achievements, and can gauge our potential for the future. Our children
therefore constitute an irreplaceable resource and heritage. Our challenge is
to make sure that youth and children are properly guided and moulded in our own
culture so as to preserve our nation's identity and pride.

This festival clearly demonstrates that our children are embracing our
diverse cultures, especially in the area of performing arts. They make us proud
in traditional song and dance, theatre, choral music, art and crafts.

Provincial teams, from both General Education and Training (GET) and Further
Education Training (FET) schools, consisting of up to 1 400 participating
learners and 216 educators, are representing their respective provinces today.
The learners will be participating in games such as dibeke; hop-scotch, juksei,
kgadi, kho kho, morabaraba, ncuva, upuca, blikkies, and tik tok (a Khoi and San
indigenous game).

While we are obviously pleased with the opportunities this festival provides
in terms of promoting intercultural dialogue and respect for our cultural
diversity, a single event however good it may be, is not a school enrichment
programme. We need more schools to participate. Schools should also integrate
music and movement into their daily programmes.

It is only proper for me to emphasise the fact that teachers and parents are
critical in ensuring that learners with special educational needs, be they
physical, emotional or intellectual, will no longer be isolated. It is pleasing
to hear that there were learners with these needs who took part in this
festival last year.

Programme Director; let me salute the effort made by teachers and parents
against great odds to ensure that learners are ready to participate in this
festival. Without their sacrifices, support and encouragement this event would
not have been possible.

Clearly our success in the sustenance of these initiatives rests squarely on
a strengthened foundation for learning and knowledge acquisition laid by many
dedicated teachers and parents, including the ones who brought learners to this
event.

To the beautiful young South Africans present here, I wish you success and
thank you for your dedication and patriotism to rebuild our nation. Let us
continue to join hands as South Africans, to promote unity in diversity, and
make our schools safe places for learning and teaching.

God Bless Africa. Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika!

Let the games and the festival begin

Good luck to all participants

I thank you

Issued by: Department of Education
22 September 2006