Honourable Speaker
Honourable Premier
Colleagues in the Executive Council
Honourable members of the Legislature
Ladies and gentlemen
Comrades
Tomorrow we will be observing the national heritage day celebration to mark one of the important date in the calendar of our nation. I know others would prefer to call this important day national braai day and so on. I suppose that if braaing is part of our heritage we will also incorporate this as part of our national heritage celebrations. However, this day is officially called heritage day and maybe we should stick to that.
Understanding of the meaning of heritage as a notion and as an expression is important so that we do not lose sight of what is it that we want to achieve. This understanding should then assist was with clarity of purpose which must in turn guide us in our actions. The South African Concise Oxford Dictionary defines heritage as “property that is or may be inherited.” This definition is further clarified in a statement issued by the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology on 17 September 1996 where heritage is defined as “that which we inherit: the sum total of wild life and scenic parks, sites of scientific or historical importance, national monuments, historic buildings, works of art, literature and music, oral traditions and museum collections together with their documentation.”
Heritage day is, therefore, a day on which the above mentioned take centre stage. In our country it is a public holiday created to recognize aspects of our South African culture which are both tangible and difficult to pin down, i.e. creative expression, our historical inheritance, language, the food we eat as well as the land we live in. The events accompanying such a celebration are powerful agents in the promulgation of a South African identity, the fostering of reconciliation where diversity becomes the cohesive centre.
In an address marking Heritage day Former President Nelson Mandela said: “When our first democratically elected government decided to make Heritage Day one of our national days, we did so because we knew that our rich and varied cultural heritage has a profound power to help build our new nation. We did so knowing that the struggles against the injustice and inequalities of the past are part of our national identity; they are part of our culture.”
Honourable members, the intention and purpose of heritage is to enhance social cohesion, nation building and national unity. During his address at the current COSATU Congress and during the State of the Nation address, President Jacob Zuma identified the national question as one of the critical questions that are still confronting our nation. The issue of the unity of our nation, social cohesion as well as a common and shared South African identity still troubles us as a nation. The recent events such as the support provided by only a particular section of our society to our national athletes who represented the country in Germany is one classical case of a nation still divided. The perception out there is that athletes of a particular cultural background would be supported only by a group of people from the same cultural background. This perception was further fuelled by the apparent failure of the other section of our society to show the much needed support to one of our athletes, Caster Semenya, who faced international humiliation unparalleled because of public questioning of her gender.
The clarion call that we are therefore making as this government is that as a nation we need to rally together to face common challenges which makes our fate to be common. We are called upon by our forefathers and our ancestors, black and white, to rally together and appreciate all that is South African about us. Our national symbols: the national flag, the national anthem, the national coat of arms, the national animal (the springbok), the national flower (the giant or king protea), the national fish (the galjoen) as well as the national tree (the real yellowwood); all these must form part of our national identity that separate us from any other national. As our national teams dawn the national journey with the springbok or the protea embroiled on them it is national pride that must fill our hearts.
Speaker, as the Free State we will observe this important date in the history of our country through the staging of a celebration in Ficksburg at the Ficksburg Show grounds. At this celebration we will showcase our various cultures in the Province. We have extended the invitation to houses of traditional leaders in Lesotho, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal. Our own house of traditional leaders, which has been officially launched today, will form a formidable part of this celebration. This year’s national heritage day is celebrated under the theme “Celebrating South African Crafts – Our Heritage”. We have customized this theme for the Free State to mean “Bonono – Letlotlo la Rona”. Crafts from various cultural groups will therefore be exhibited and showcased at this celebration.
During the tabling of our budget vote statement we announced that this theme has been informed by, amongst others, sector consideration of the following realities:
* Nature of the variety of products that reflect various aspects of South Africa’s economic, social and cultural traditions
* The use of natural resources and recycled products that reflects creativity, innovation and resourcefulness of South African crafters and
* The fact that whilst the industry is estimated to have more than 1,2 million entrepreneurs and employees, estimated to be worth R3,4 billion per annum, and the fact that it has huge potential for creating sustainable jobs within rural and peri-urban communities, it is still an unregulated market, and we still do not have reliable statistics on the contribution of crafts to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In his Budget Vote Speech on 8 June 2007, the former Minister of Arts and Culture, Dr Pallo Jordan made the following remarks:
“1, 2 million people earn their living through crafts and related trade sectors. Worldwide the turnover of cultural industries makes them the fifth largest economic sector, comprising design, the performing arts, dance, film, television, multi-media, cultural heritage, cultural tourism, the visual arts, the crafts, music and publishing. Viewed from that perspective the cultural industries, what we mistakenly call "entertainment", have globally emerged as important economic engines. We are consequently paying increasing attention to them in the hope that they can assist transforming the social and economic landscape of the country. This sector is serious business”
Speaker as we celebrate heritage we must therefore not do so in a very abstract way. Heritage must also serve as the basis for the socio economic development of our communities without necessarily being subjected to the negative market forces which will result in the mere commercialization of our cultural identities. We must be able to properly manage the process of ensuring that our people use their heritage resources to sustain the lives. Cultural activities such as production of crafts, for example, must be at the centre of socio-economic development of our societies. It has already been underscored that cultural tourism, next to sport tourism and so on, has become one of the basis for economic growth and development.
Honourable members, may I take this opportunity to call upon the people of the Free State to present themselves at the Heritage Day celebration in Ficksburg tomorrow or wherever any arrangements have been made to celebrate this day. Let us encourage and teach our young people and children to see this day not just as any day but as a special day for the recognition of their national identity and their future.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Free State Provincial Government
23 September 2009
