launch of Two Titles Published by Blac, Langa Township, Cape Town
29 April 2006
What we are performing today is an act of revival. It marks yet another
milestone attained by the Government of South Africa in pursuance of the vision
enunciated in the Freedom Charter, adopted 51 years ago by the Congress of the
People. Among other things, the Freedom Charter proclaimed that âthe doors of
learning and of culture shall be opened.â The Xhosa publishing project
undertaken by Blac is an attempt to respond to that objective by producing
books in one of the official languages widely spoken in this province.
This project is a collaborative effort between the Department of Arts and
Culture and Mr James Matthews. Itâs a token of our commitment to build public
and private partnerships and making a positive contribution to the publishing
industry.
South Africa faces many challenges in Publishing but, correspondingly, there
are many opportunities. The high levels of illiteracy, as well as âaliteracyâ
unwillingness to read on the part of those who can mean that the Culture of
Reading is underdeveloped. South African publishers find a market mainly in the
schools and universities. South Africans do not read for recreation. What makes
mattes worse, in the African languages, publishing has virtually ceased. This
is a direct result of past policies.
After the introduction of Bantu Education in 1955, the Verwoerd inspired
education policy designed to make docile, non-literate servants of all
Africans, and then Department of Bantu Education stopped prescribing the books
produced by the old missionary publishers, like Lovedale, Healdtown,
MarianHill, etc. Those contracts were given to Afrikaner publishing Houses such
as APB (Afrikaanse Pers Beperk) who at some point just stopped publishing in
the African languages. Having strangled the Missionary Publishing Houses by
studied neglect, the apartheid regime effectively killed the African languages
book market.
Perhaps that had been part of Verwoerdâs design all along! If no books are
published in a language, where will the literate find material to read? Where
will teachers find the material with which to instruct?
Inevitably, the Culture of Writing was also dealt a severe blow by these
actions.
This venture forms part of a series of projects initiated by the Department
of Arts and Culture. It is one of our primary obligations to discover and
nurture new talent by creating an enabling environment for aspirant writers to
publish their works.
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate James Matthews and all those
associated with Blac, for having the courage to rise to this challenge. I
remain hopeful that seeing a small publisher like this one prepared to take the
plunge, the really big hitters in our Publishing business will emulate this
sterling example.
As a country, we do not have a National Book Strategy. Rather than waiting
for the government to give the lead with a Black Economic Empowerment strategy
for the sector, Blac has chosen to grasp the nettle in the spirit of
Vukâuzenzele. We challenge others who know and feel the need to do
likewise.
Ironically a good publishing infrastructure exists and the existence of an
industry association means that there is better co-ordination between role
players such as printers, publishers and booksellers. We are working with the
major stakeholders to develop a National Book Strategy, and we are committed to
continuing and determined efforts to stimulate a culture of reading and
writing. In this our chief partners are the Department of Education and the
Department of Trade and Industry.
The Cultural Industries and National Language Services sections of the
Department of Arts and Culture are working together in implementing strategies
to develop South African literature, particularly that in the indigenous
languages. Through all these initiatives, we hope to stimulate the growth and
development of South African literature and generate new readerships,
especially among the youth.
This project will make a meaningful contribution to addressing some of the
governmentâs obligations, including enhancing social cohesion and nation
building. Over the next few years we will be mainstreaming arts and culture as
important aspects of social development. We will actively promote
multi-lingualism and harness the economic potential of our creative
talents.
Todayâs event will probably be a minor benchmark in the development our
literary tradition. The success of this initiative, and all our projects,
depends on the participation of the public whom we are mandated to serve. We
challenge the Private Sector, Non Governmental Organisation (NGOs), Educational
Institutions, Arts Centres, Writersâ Associations, and other Language and
Literature related institutions, to find ways of partnering with the government
to engender a wider readership of our literature, particularly literature in
the indigenous languages.
Every little effort that invests in our creative artists contributes to the
cultural upliftment of our society. Every investment we make in our writers is
one more nail in the coffin of illiteracy. Every new publishing venture will
ensure that we can preserve the wealth of experience. Knowledge and wisdom of
our people for future generations and the world.
Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture
29 April 2006.
