Programme Director
The President of the Pan African Parliament, the Honourable Dr. Idriss Nde’le’ Moussa
The Chairperson of the Permanent Committee on Education, Culture, Tourism and Human Resources: Honorable El Houderi Mohammed Elmadani
Honourable Members of the Pan African Parliament
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Our artists
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Thank you for inviting me to speak on this important historical occasion.
As we gather here today to commemorate 50 years of African independence, let us also celebrate the cultural achievements of this period.
Let us acknowledge that; the idea of an ‘African culture’, the assertion of an ‘African identity’, the projection of an ‘African personality’ and the notion of a ‘Renascent Africa’, were rooted in the realities of the anti-colonial struggles, which we fought together and are now part of our collective heritage.
We must also continue to make the point that; the achievements of African independence were also cultural and literary achievements.
As Sekou Toure, the First President of Guinea, said:
“To take part in the African revolution it is not enough to write a revolutionary song, you must fashion the revolution with the people.”
Sekou Toure emphasised the need for the existence of artists and intellectuals who would be at one with the people of Africa and “the suffering of humanity”.
In this way arts, culture and heritage helped to further encourage an African identity.
Arts, culture and heritage also encouraged us to embrace a greater humanity and indeed the values of Ubuntu; which teach us that; I am because you are.
Programme Director, the struggle for Africa’s independence was led by those on the African continent and in the African Diaspora who understood their tasks as part of a spiritual, cultural and philosophical journey from enslavement to freedom.
African liberation movements were led by those who sought to transform Africa from being positioned at the periphery of world power, to a vibrant cultural, political, social and intellectual space.
They sought to ensure that Africa becomes a place where we would build our economies, relying on our own wisdom and resources, and thus fulfill our dreams together.
It is in this context that we meet here today also to assert the cultural component, a pillar that is central to the success of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad).
The promotion of cultural values is also central to the success of all African Union (AU) initiatives aimed at ensuring Africa’s sustainable development.
Africa has been blessed with visionaries in arts and culture, artists who have taken pride in their history and who believed in dialogue and peace-making.
These visionaries used the power of the word and of music to change the African landscape for the better.
We must continue to celebrate the contribution of these visionaries!
We must also pay tribute to our filmmakers, our multimedia and visual artists, our sculptors, and our crafters, who through their artworks give us a better sense of who we are and present a new vision for the future.
Today in a free Africa, we need to continue to build on the foundations laid by our forebears and to promote the development of our cultural values throughout the Continent.
As South Africans who have achieved our freedom and democracy only recently, 16 years ago, we are proud to be the children of Nelson Mandela and to walk in the footsteps of this extraordinary icon.
We are proud that our liberation was a product of a titanic struggle that brought together great minds and drew overwhelming support from the peoples of Africa and the world.
As we continue to deepen freedom and democracy in our country and in the Continent, our artists must play a leading role in efforts to build a Better Africa and indeed A Better World. This we say because it is out of our history and out of our culture that we can create new art forms and new ideas that open new pathways to economic and social development.
Programmer Director as the Department of Arts and Culture in South Africa, we will continue to support programmes and activities that seek to strengthen African Unity.
In this regard:
- We are supporting continental efforts to make the third World Festival of Black Arts to be held in Senegal in December this year, an overwhelming success.
- We continue to be involved in reconstruction and development efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in Burundi and in Sudan, emphasizing the role of arts and culture in Post Conflict Reconstruction and Development.
- We have also made strides in the first Nepad cultural project, which is the preservation of the Timbuktu Manuscripts, as well as the construction of the new building for the Ahmed Baba Institute.
- Our Heritage Initiative, the National Liberation route, also seeks to identify connections between liberation movements in various African countries and in this way to document their involvement in our shared struggles for freedom.
As part of “the African Decade for Women” as adopted by the African Union , working together with other African governments we will continue to support projects aimed at promoting women in the arts.
Together as African governments we must also do more to support projects that promote regional centres of excellence in the arts.
Through these centres we must create opportunities for our young people to develop their skills in arts, culture and heritage and to promote exchange programmes in various African countries.
As Kwame Nkrumah, one of the greatest African leaders and intellectual, reminds us that:
“… it is vital that we should nurture our own culture and history if we are to develop the African personality which must provide the educational and intellectual foundations of our Pan-African future.”
In conclusion, as we celebrate these 50 years of African independence, let us also pay our respects to those who lost their lives in the car bombings in Abuja on Nigeria’s Independence Day.
We also send our best wishes to those who are recovering from their injuries.
Honorable Members despite these incidences, we must remain resolute in our efforts to strengthen and safeguard freedom on the continent.
As Kwame Nkrumah, also reminds us:
“Freedom is not a commodity which is ‘given’ to the enslaved upon demand. It is a precious reward, the shining trophy of struggle and sacrifice…. We have to guard closely our hard-won freedom and keep it safe from the predatory designs of those who wish to impose their will upon us”.
Let us use arts and culture as one of the vehicles to protect our “shining trophies of struggle and sacrifice” so that we can pass them on to future generations.
I thank you.
