Honourable MECs
Heads of departments present here
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
September marks the observation our heritage and tourism. During this month, the Gauteng Provincial Government and the whole country pay tribute to our heritage and promote the provinces and the country as a whole.
This month is dedicated to teaching all of to observe and remind ourselves of our pride as a collective. We pay attention to issues relating to what defines us as a people; what our national and provincial symbols and treasures mean.
The department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation (SACR), in partnership with the Gauteng Tourism Authority, we have lined up a mouth-watering month-long programme of activities to showcase and celebrate our heritage including our tourist attractions.
The activities lined-up will attract more visitors to the “Home of Champions” taking advantage of the positive legacy left by the hosting of the FIFA 2010 World Cup spectacular. Importantly, we will be going the extra mile to encourage locals to explore their own province and partake in different activities to promote social cohesion.
This year the national theme for Heritage Month is ‘celebrating our living human treasures'. The province has taken this theme a step further and has adopted the theme “celebrating our living treasures”. This, we believe, allows us to broaden our activities to include more than just the living “human” treasures.
The Fly the Flag momentum will continue throughout the month and we calling Gauteng residents to heed the call as they did during the World Cup to fly their flags as it promotes unity and the pride for our country.
The following activities will be organised to celebrate Heritage Month:
• 11 September 2010 - Thank You Gauteng Campaign
During the MTN-8 Semi-final match between the giants of our South African football - Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, we'll use the occasion to thank the people of Gauteng for their good behaviour and for being good hosts during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We will also host and thank the sporting legends and government volunteers who were involved in the successful hosting of the soccer tournament.
• 24 September 2010- Heritage Day
The Heritage Day will be celebrated at the historical Cradle of Humankind in Maropeng. The people of Gauteng will be bussed to the venue to commemorate the origins of humanity.
• 22 September 2010- Review of the Language Policy – Colloquium on Language Development
This is aimed at completing the process of reviewing language development in the province by engaging in a dialogue with stakeholders such as the Provincial Language Committee, the National Language Services within the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC), Pan South African Languages Board (PANSALB), Language practitioners and municipalities.
• 30 September 2010 Celebrating the life of OR Tambo
A memorial lecture will be organised with the Ekurhuleni Metropolian Municipality to kick-start the process of paying tribute to the life of OR Tambo. More activities will be organised in October to celebrate the Liberation stalwart. There will also a centre build in his honour.
• 27 August - 26 September 2010 : Vaal River Carnival
A variety of activities along the Vaal River have already started – kicking off with a media tour of the majestic Vaal by the Executive Mayor of the Sedibeng District Municipality and the Mayor of the Emfuleni Local Municipality, Other activities for the Carnival include music, arts, exhibitions, Formula 1 Powerboats, an air show and a beer garden – among others.
• 2- 26 September 2010: Arts Alive
To be held at various venues around Johannesburg through activities including festivals, exhibitions, poetry, dance, music, etc.
• 23 September –01 October 2010- Know Your Province, Know Your Heritage Sites
This will involve young people over the holiday periods with the aim of promoting domestic tourism aimed at learners through excursions to different sites.
Gauteng is the playground of nature, bush, cultural attractions, game lodges, restaurants, farm stalls, adventure activities, hiking, culture, historical monuments, shopping, guest houses and mines.
We therefore invite people of Gauteng to utilise the September month by digging deep in their souls to observe our heritage by taking time off to visit any heritage venue even if its museum and when doing so they should take their families along especially their children, for children to appreciate these venues at an stage in their lives.
We are also calling on visitors from different provinces and outside our shores to make a turn in the vibey city to bring the much-needed job opportunities for our people and boost our economy. As we all know its “Start in Gauteng” and spread across.
I thank you.
