Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, will on Monday, 22 April 2013, officially open the Hapo interpretive centre at Freedom Park, Pretoria at the invitation of the Minister of Arts and Culture, Paul Mashatile.
The opening of Hapo museum takes place four days before the National Freedom Day Celebrations scheduled for 27 April at the Union Buildings. "Hapo” is a Khoi word which means "a dream” and is derived from a Khoi proverb "hapo ge hapo tama /haohasib dis tamas ka i bo”, which means "a dream is not a dream until it is shared by the entire community”.
According to the park's chief executive officer, Mr Fana Jiyane, the event is part of the activities of Freedom Month. "We plan to use this day to launch the best heritage museum in the country and to create a platform where the nation will come together to celebrate freedom and democracy; pledge messages of peace and hope; enhance reconciliation and nation building, to all South Africans, and the world as a whole”, Jiyane says.
Telling the story of the Southern African region dating back 3.6 billion years in an interactive manner, hapo showcases South Africa's rich and colourful history, from creation to the issues of reconciliation and nation building that we face today. "What makes ”hapo so unique is its interactivity in that it transports visitors from mere spectators to active participants, thus creating a sense of awe and wonder in Southern African history. It allows visitors to become part of the history that we leave for our children and helps the nation to live a shared dream”, says Jiyane.
Hapo is the last phase of Freedom Park, the historic monument on the Salvokop Hill at the southern tip of Pretoria, dedicated to memorialising all those who gave their lives in the struggles for freedom. Hapo will draw all the elements on this 52 hectare site together to present a united whole. Jiyane says hapo will be where the journey through Freedom Park starts. "Here you will be greeted in a distinctly African way and directed to your chosen destination, be that a tour of all the elements within Freedom Park or just a quick visit to one of the spaces - be it the wall of names, the gallery of leaders, the picnic area, our outdoor amphitheatre or isivivane”, Jiyane says.
As the country converges at the Union Building in celebrating Freedom Day on 27 April 2013 after nineteen years, Freedom Park will take its great honour of handing the museum as an eternal gift to the government and the nation.
Minister Mashatile says the opening of Hapo is an important milestone for our democracy and one that former president Nelson Mandela would be proud of. "Madiba is the father of our free nation. It was he in 1999 who said, 'The day shall not be far off, when we shall have a people's shrine, a freedom park, where we shall honour with all the dignity they deserve, those who endured pain so we should experience the joy of freedom'. So, Freedom Park is as much a gift to all South Africans as it is to him. We think of him today as we celebrate our freedom and democracy and the fulfilment of his vision.”
Mr Mashatile has hailed the way in which African, and specifically Southern African culture, history and heritage is understood and integrated at this first of its kind tourism offering. And has praised Hapo as a triumph of the African spirit only nationally but within Southern Africa.
"Freedom Park has done an excellent job in conceptualising the interpretive centre and putting it together and deserves the gratitude of the entire nation. For the first time in our history, there will be a place that celebrates and showcases our achievements as Africans - in the ambits of arts, science, technology and so forth - in a manner that has never been done before. For too long the accomplishments and triumphs of the African continent have been overlooked, disregarded and ignored. The displays and exhibitions within Hapo fly in the face of critics and naysayers, proving once and for all that Africa and its people are a force to be reckoned with. We thus join the rest of the continent in celebrating our freedom and democracy with them.”
Details as follows:
Date: Monday, 22 April 2013
Time: 12h00 for 12h30
Venue: Freedom Park, Pretoria, Gauteng province
For further information:
Rogini Govender
Cell: 082 445 2618
Sam Bopape
Cell: 082 318 5251
