celebrations
26 September 06
Dumelang, Sanibonani, Molweni
Welcome to Maropeng, the place where we once lived and the home of our
ancestors. We are here once more to celebrate the rich and diverse cultural
traditions and heritage that define us as a people and citizens of the
world.
Last year we were here to officially launch this place and it is indeed
proper and fitting that today we have returned to this internationally
acclaimed heritage site to celebrate our living heritage as expressed in our
traditions, oral history, music, performing arts and indigenous knowledge
systems.
It is here that the world's most famous and important human ancestor
fossils, among them Mrs Ples (now believed to be Mr Ples) and Little Foot, an
almost complete ape-man skeleton were discovered. Ples is estimated to be 2.5
million years old while Little Foot is estimated to be between 3 and 3.5
million years old.
A few metres from where we are, early hominid stone tools were excavated,
indicating our early experimentation with technology and our capacity to make
tools.
I hope that you will find time to visit this place again in your leisure
time to undertake a journey of discovery that will give you a sense of where we
have come from and where we are headed in the future.
The sub-theme of our heritage celebrations this year is 'From Kwela to
Kwaito, celebrating our music our heritage'. It is significant that we chose
this theme because music has immense power to transcend racial, gender,
ethnicity and age boundaries and unite diverse people.
As we build a competitive city region it is important for us in Gauteng to
pay and even closer attention to the development to music and the creative
industries in general.
As one of our province's most significant creative industries, music is a
powerful means of enhancing the identity and distinctiveness of Gauteng as
competitive city region while simultaneously creating employment, developing
human skills, generating social capital and cohesion.
As an industry, indigenous African music has suffered because of past
policies that sought to suppress the cultural expression of African people.
This created an environment where foreign music was promoted leading to a
situation where today 80 percent of music sold in this country originates from
outside of the country.
The potential of our artists to earn a living is also compromised by piracy
and limited venues for live music performance. As a province we have developed
a strategy to deal with these challenges and to promote creative industries in
our province. Through this strategy we are seeking to:
* promote creative industries to maximise their contribution to the economy,
community development and urban regeneration
* provide a coordinating framework for investment and implementation in the
province
* explicitly align creative industries activities with the Gauteng Growth and
Development Strategy.
We have decided on a strategy premised on these principles because we
understand that throughout the world cultural experiences, cultural services
and cultural products are part and parcel of strategies of city regions to
promote tourism, social and economic development.
The government of Gauteng is prepared to support the creative industry by
maximising the resources and infrastructure currently available to our artists.
We are also committed to investing in further development of the creative
workers and their enterprises.
Through the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller we are seeking to build the
capacity of emerging arts organisations to enable them to undertake arts
projects, leading to more people participating in the arts. This capacity
building includes business training to ensure that our artists have the
necessary skills to manage and develop their businesses.
We have to bring to an end the common phenomenon where our musicians die
penniless after years of practising their craft. One thing that I know we can
do together to assist them is to stop buying pirated CDs and DVD. If you buy
these products you are robbing our artists of a livelihood and you are also
hurting the economy.
Let us therefore stand together to protect rights of our musicians to make a
living and promote our identity and cultural heritage.
Now sit down and enjoy the music here at Maropeng. I wish you a safe journey
back home.
Thank you.
Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government
26 September 06
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government (http://www.gautengonline.gov.za)
