Steve Tshwete Municipality
24 November 2006
Programme Director
MECs, MPLs and MPs
Mayor of Nkangala District Municipality, Honourable Councillor Speedy
Mashilo
Mayor of Steve Tshwete Municipality, Manthlakeng Mahlangu
Executive Mayors from Nkangala District and beyond
Our esteemed cultural workers from South Africa and abroad
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
It gives me profound pleasure and a deep sense of pride as the government of
Mpumalanga to speak at the inauguration dinner of the Mpumalanga Arts and
Culture Festival tonight. For the next seven days our province will play hosts
to thousands of people from around the country, the continent and the world as
we put on display some of the best local and international artists in such
diverse music genres and art disciplines as Jazz, Gospel, Choral and
Traditional music, Fine Arts and Craft, Theatre, Film and Video.
As a country that is beginning to discover itself after many years of
neglect and suppression of our rich and diverse culture and heritage, we owe it
to all those who gathered in Kliptown in 1955 who declared that "the doors of
learning and culture shall be opened to all." Indeed we owe it to those who for
many centuries kept our cultural heritage alive by passing it on from
generation to generation.
This province, like many other provinces in South Africa, has been home to
people from different cultures for a very long, long time. Many people who know
Mpumalanga as their home can trace their ancestries from across the world.
African and Indian, Muslim and Jew, Christian and Hindu, Coloured and White,
all these and others have brought to this region of the country a part of their
souls and cultures.
That diversity was a valuable asset to those who shared a common vision in
striving to defeat apartheid and replace it with a South Africa that belongs to
all who live in it. Ask anyone of the older generation in this town in Nazareth
or Overline, KwaGuqa or Mhluzi and they will recall their close familiarity
with each other's lifestyles before apartheid divided us. When apartheid was
finally defeated we set ourselves the task of building a new country, populated
by a people who were aware of their possibilities of building a culture that is
truly South African.
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa has a preamble which among
other things, says: "We, the people of South Africa, recognise the injustices
of our past and believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united
in their diversity." It goes on to say: "We therefore adopt this Constitution
as the supreme law of the Republic so as to heal the divisions of the past and
to improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each
person."
That is why as patriotic South Africans we rallied to a new patriotism and
promised to commit ourselves to a common national agenda which would include a
common fight to eradicate the legacy of apartheid and to protect and advance
the interests of all the different cultural, language and religious groups that
make up the South African population of today. We believed, as we still do,
that our actions would enable us to confront the economic challenges facing our
country in a manner that simultaneously addresses issues of high and sustained
growth, and raising the living standards of especially the black poor. This
call was an all-embracing effort to build a sense of common nationhood and a
shared destiny, as a result of which we can entrench into the minds of all our
people the understanding that however varied their skin complexions, cultures
and life conditions, South Africans belongs together.
It was that great African thinker Amilcar Cabral who said, "The liberation
movement, as a representative and defender of the culture of the people, must
be conscious of the fact that, whatever may be the material conditions of the
society it represents, the society are the bearer and creator of culture. The
liberation movement must furthermore embody the mass character, the popular
character of the culture, which is not and never could be the privilege of one
of some or the other sector of society."
The fact that the African National Congress (ANC) is today in government
does not diminish our responsibility to weld our nation into one powerful
force. As President Thabo Mbeki put it, "the arts belong to that phenomenon of
human existence called culture. Together with crafts, religion, customs and
norms, endowments of society, they create a situation in which the soul can
sing and sing louder to restore a social morality." We believe that arts and
culture can play a crucial role in nation-building, reconciliation and the
development of a new national identity and ethos reflective of our new
democracy. Arts and culture play a pivotal role in the moral renewal of our
society. Arts and culture also has the potential to make a significant
contribution to economic development and job creation.
That is why as government we will support and encourage all efforts to
correct the distortions and imbalances in our heritage landscape through the
creation of new monuments, museums, the naming of places and generally
affirming the neglected history and culture of the majority of South Africans.
We will also, in partnership with all those willing to lend a hand, encourage,
promote and support all cultural activities that celebrate the rich and diverse
cultural heritage of all South Africans.
We believe it is essential that we support all efforts to establish viable
and sustainable cultural industries; the development of cultural tourism,
especially for the benefit of the urban and rural poor. We call on the private
sector to support the development of arts and culture and support it at all
levels of government. The private sector must support government efforts to
advance this goal in order to broaden our front in attacking poverty and
realising a better life for all.
The exhibits, performances and workshops of this Festival will provide a
broad view of the heritage and remarkable accomplishments of our country. We
expect the festival to grow in stature such that our province Mpumalanga
becomes associated with South Africa's world acclaimed cultural exploits. May
this festival grow from strength to strength.
I thank you.
Issued by: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
24 November 2006
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government (http://www.mpumalanga.gov.za)
