Magashule during the media launch for Heritage Month, Bloemfontein
4 September 2007
Programme Director
Colleagues in the Executive Council
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Mayors, chief whips, speakers and councillors
Traditional leaders
Women veterans
Sport legends
Representatives of sport federations
Representatives of Arts and Culture Statutory Bodies
Heads of Departments
Officials in the departments
Ladies and gentlemen
Introduction
This morning we are gathered in this manner to kick-start the month of
September during which we will pay homage to all our traditions and heritage as
the country and the province. As we all know September has been declared as
Heritage Month. We are staging this media launch as a platform to hold hands
with our partners and stakeholders in preparation of the tasks ahead of us. It
is my view that only with the support from all our stakeholders can we be able
to fulfil our tasks.
Honoured guests, this month of September, during which we celebrate our
heritage, we will embark on a number of activities that will serve the purpose
of showcasing our programmes as the department. However, these events that we
will be staging in September as part of the Heritage Month celebration, and
indeed all the other events that we will host until the end of this year serve
other critical roles in our national agenda. They serve to deepen the
consciousness amongst our people in terms of nation-building and promoting
social-cohesion.
There is no doubt about the fact that our people, young people in
particular, must understand where we come from as a country and where we are
headed. It is the strategic role of this department, amongst other things, to
build this cohesion through sport as well as arts and culture programmes. Our
public events must thus be understood in the context of this role that we have
to play as a department. They are not a waste of public money on partying as
the opposition parties would like to proclaim. As we celebrate heritage day or
freedom day we do so as a matter of political, social and historical
necessity.
September to December programmes
Programme director, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen, I take this
opportunity to announce our programmes for Heritage Month as well as the period
remaining until the end of this calendar. I will just highlight the key
programmes. You will have a booklet in your possession that outlines all the
programmes.
May I begin by outlining the fact that this year we will be celebrating
Heritage Month under the theme "Celebrating South Africa's Poetry"? As we
explain in other documents this theme resonates with the initiative undertaken
by the Department of Arts and Culture to revitalise South African languages and
literatures both in their oral and written forms. As the custodians of the
nation's heritage, the department is committed to promoting a culture of
reading and writing as well as encouraging equitable development of all South
African languages. Poetry is one of the most resilient art forms that are
celebrated amongst societies in Africa. The tradition traces its roots from the
indigenous oral traditions in Africa.
Honoured guests, it is for this reason that this media launch is also
characterised by the rendition of poems by our young and talented poets by the
name of Aluta Poetry Group. I want to stress that all our events during the
course of this year will reflect the theme through rendition of poems and
exhibition of literature materials.
I am deeply moved by the fact that, as we celebrate Heritage Month under the
theme that expresses the importance of languages and literature, this year we
are also marking the 100 years anniversary of the Sesotho literature.
Colleagues, 100 years ago the late Thomas Mofolo, who was a Lesotho citizen,
started the process of writing in Sesotho. Thomas Mofolo is therefore a
precursor in Sesotho Literature. We will certainly mark this centenary of
Sesotho Literature with celebrations and unveiling of a bust of Thomas Mofolo
in his honour. The first such event will be held on 21 September at Qibing
(Wepener). We are in the process of engaging the government of Lesotho and the
family of Thomas Mofolo to be a formidable part of this occasion.
Ladies and gentlemen, it has been announced before that this year the
province is hosting a major sporting event in the form of the South African or
fourth South Africa Games. The event will be taking place from 23 to 29
September with the opening ceremony being on the 24 September. This event is
for us one of the major stepping stones towards the hosting of the 2010
Federation International Football Association (Fifa) World Cup. About 6 000
athletes, sport officials and dignitaries are expected. The challenges with
regard to the hosting of this event are enormous and your support will be
highly appreciated to make it a success.
Of course Heritage Day is the culmination of our programmes in September as
it constitutes the main occasion that marks our month long programme. We are
honoured again that this year's national Heritage Day event will be held in
Mangaung on 24 September. We have a huge challenge here as we can see that
Heritage Day celebration in Mangaung is on the same day as the official opening
of the South African Games, although the times differ. We will have to rise to
the occasion to ensure that both events are a success.
Programme director, ladies and gentlemen, from 26 to 28 October we are
staging an epic event in the form of the OR Tambo Games in Matjhabeng in honour
of the stalwart of our movement and struggle, Oliver Reginald Tambo.
Undoubtedly, Tambo is the historical figure on the cultural and political
landscape of not only our country but also the entire world. It is befitting
therefore that we are honouring him through this multi-coded sport
tournament.
This year we are also honouring OR in a very special way this year being the
anniversary of his 80th birthday in October. We will therefore stage the
Tribute to OR Tambo Cultural Festival as part of the OR Tambo Games during the
evening of 26 to 27 in Matjhabeng.
On 31 October, we are launching the Free State Provincial Government
Language Policy and the Implementation Plan. In the context of the theme of
Heritage Month we shall have celebrated in September, the launch of this
Language Policy should serve to underscore the importance of languages as part
of our cultural landscape, particularly those languages that were marginalised
by the apartheid system. It is important that a multi-lingual dispensation is
created in our province, that we must take the lead as the Free State to
encourage multi-lingualism in our province.
Honoured guests, at the centre of the call for social cohesion and nation
building are the programme of moral regeneration. While we will be launching
the Provincial Moral Regeneration Movement structure in September we will
continue to advance this programme of moral renewal through various efforts.
The matter of caring for the elderly or senior citizens is pivotal as part of
this programme of moral renewal.
Through sport and recreation we will continue to engage senior citizens to
be active participants in activities that enhance the quality of their lives
such as physical exercise and recreation. From 2 to 4 November we will host the
Active Senior Citizens Sport event in the Xhariep District. Like I have noted,
the purpose of this event is to encourage senior citizens to take active part
in sport and recreational activities.
During the month of November we will also be honouring yet another stalwart
of our struggle in the calibre of Bram Fischer. We will unveil the Braam
Fischer literary works, an event still relevant to the theme that we shall have
observed in September. I want to stress at this moment that we have a
responsibility as the department to ensure that the collective memory of our
people does not fade away. It is our responsibility to sustain this memory
through various efforts and programmes.
In the context of the history of our country we have to ensure that the
collective memory about our past does not fade. We have to ensure that the
memory of the matires such as Braam Fischer, Reverend Mahabane, OR Tambo and
many others is kept forever embedded in our souls. This is a programme that we
will have to develop and sustain.
The last major event that we will be attending in November is an event
called Soccerex. This event will be staged in Sandton from 25 to 28 November.
It is a networking opportunity for the soccer world community and serves as a
build-up towards the 2010 Federation International Football Association (Fifa)
Soccer World Cup. It will be staged for three years. We have an important role
to play to ensure that we not only market the province but lure international
teams for practice matches in the province. We are indeed a province with a
passion for the game.
Programme director, ladies and gentlemen three more last events of the year
will be staged in December. The first one is the Disability Games and Cultural
Festival which will take place on 3 December in Sasolburg. It is important that
the issue of people with disabilities is placed in the forefront of our efforts
to transform our society and its institutions. People with disabilities must
play a critical role in terms of all our programmes in sport, arts and culture.
The 3 December must serve to highlight the important role that people with
disabilities must play in sport and recreation. I want us to use this day as
the launch of a programme of disability sport after which we must begin to see
an active involvement of people with disabilities in sport.
The second major event in December is the Basha Youth Festival which will
stretch from 3 to 9 December. This event will happen in all the districts with
the main activity being in Dihlabeng. Basha Youth Festival is staged in
collaboration with the Free State Youth Commission, the Free State Youth
Council and Pacofs. Through this festival young people are directly targeted in
a special way to pay keen interest in matters of arts and culture.
The Mass Participation Festival will be held on 16 December in the Fezile
Dabi district. With this activity we aim to encourage the participation of
communities in sport and recreational activities.
Conclusion
Programme director, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude
by reinforcing the message of government Programme of Action towards 2009, as
adopted by the last national Cabinet Lekgotla. In terms of Sport, Arts and
Culture the following programmes, amongst others, must be undertaken by
ourselves:
* Through the Siyadlala and Schools Sport Mass Participation programmes we
must recruit unemployed youth, women and people with disabilities in rural
areas.
* Implement the Club Development and the Siyadlala and Schools Sport Mass
Participation programme in communities, hubs and schools across the province to
promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles as well as social cohesion.
This takes place under the 2010 Fifa World Cup legacy for the Youth.
* Promote a flag in every school in partnership with the Department of
Education.
I want to stress that as the department we will work as a collective to
ensure that these programmes and activities are implemented despite the
challenges of capacity and resources. However, like I have pointed out earlier,
these programmes and activities cannot be successfully implemented without the
support from yourselves as our stakeholders.
I am looking forward to your support as we march forward to implement our
programmes. Please consider yourselves invited to all those events that we will
be staging. Correspondence that will be coming to your offices for these events
will just be a formality.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, Science and Technology,
Free State Provincial Government
4 September 2007
Source: Free State Provincial Government (http://www.fs.gov.za)
