Programme Director
Paul Mashatile , Minister of Arts and Culture
Winnie Madikizela Mandela, Member of Parliament
Professor Pitika Ntuli, Chair of the Adjudication Committee of the Mbokodo Awards
Carol Bouwer, Chairperson of Carol Bouwer Production
Leslie Sedibe, CEO of Proudly South African
Miller Matola, CEO of Brand South Africa
Artists in the various art forms
Honourable guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Today, we celebrate the second episode of a very important event in the calendar of the arts, the Mbokodo Awards. This awards ceremony is increasingly becoming a key component in the drive towards defining the inner-soul of who we are and what we stand for artistically as a people.
The cultural workers in South Africa have for a very long time been part and parcel of the struggle for the emancipation of our people from slavery. And have, to a large degree, also acted as purveyors of the hope and optimism of the masses of the people through the various art forms and media.
Arts and Culture have in many ways been identified as potent weapons both for the oppressor as well as those that are the oppressed. As Amilcar Cabral clearly articulated in his seminal work return to the source, that for the agenda of the oppressors to be successful they would have to either obliterate or tamper with the cultures of those that they oppress.
Today, as we celebrate the exploits of those who have demonstrated meritorious achievements in the different art forms, we are also reminded of the role that arts and culture have played during the dark days of apartheid tyranny.
Lest we forget, that when the marauding forces of the apartheid regime violated the territorial integrity of Botswana in 1985, in pursuit of the freedom fighters, to kill and maim, they did not spare cultural workers.
During this particular raid, one of our greatest fine artists, Thami Mnyele, was killed. As if that was not enough, the soldiers also shot through the trunk that contained paintings and other works of art that belonged to him. This action of cowardice and barbarism on the side of the soldiers was a clear demonstration of the power the arts, and thus demonstrated the backwardness of the philosophy upon which apartheid was premised.
Programme Director
Cultural expression, be it in music, dance, creative writing, theatre, crafts, painting and many other forms, is a phenomenon that touches the hearts and minds of those who may not even understand your language. We are all too familiar with the music and song of many prominent women who kept the flag of the struggle flying and became the ambassadors of our struggle internationally.
The names of mama Mirriam Makeba, and Sathima Bea Benjamin are still vivid in our memories; may their souls rest in peace. And tonight, the illustrious Sathima Bea Benjamin, who passed on recently, will be receiving the Mirriam Makeba Lifetime Achievement Award post-humously.
I dare say, in this regard, that the notion of art for art sake does not resonate well with the experiences of those who had to engage in fierce fights for the emancipation of their people. History is an important pathway toward understanding where we come from in order to garner more strength to move forward. Indeed, the cultural workers of today need to know that there are others who came before them and that they do not have to reinvent the wheel, but rather carry the baton to move the disciplines of arts and culture to greater heights.
Programme Director
These are now new times and the emphases of our struggle are somewhat different. Today, we have to grapple with the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality directly. Not that these challenges never existed before, but rather that the new democratic dispensation has put these at the centre of its policy articulation within the notion of a developmental state.
The historical position of women has for many years been the one of subservience. Women have, for far too long, been viewed as servant of a system of patriarchy which has tended to dehumanise them and never accorded them the status they deserve as equal participants in all strata of society.
There is nothing that embodies the triumphs and tribulations of women more succinctly than the theme chosen for this auspicious occasion tonight, aptly referred to as: The Phoenix Within Me, African Women Rise. The theme is inspired by Maya Angelou’s famous poem, Still I Rise. In the words of the widwife of the project, Carol Bouwer, the theme expresses “the power of women to rise above all kinds of adversity and still to walk tall in the world.”
The aura of this occasion, today, propels me to offer you the taste of Maya Angelou’s poem, as an affirmation of the power of women to rise:
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with you hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
The poignancy of the poem is there for all to feel and to marvel at. All the women who have been nominated in the various categories deserve the accolades, because they are the ones who said they will not be pulled down, whether by other women, men or society, but will rise up. We honour all of them.
Various categories of awards will be covered tonight, ranging from Indigenous art to story Telling, creative writing, painting, music, dance, theatre and a host of others disciplines. Let us sit, relax and savour the moment of pure excellence and joy.
Once the Awards are over and done with and we all go to our respective areas of responsibilities, we need to carry with us the tonight’s message that says hard work pays off. In our small ways let us all find mechanism to support those that need our help for them to reach greater heights of artistic expression and patriotism.
This awards ceremony should help make us focus on the key ingredients of social cohesion and nation-building and how to make a meaningful contribution towards the transformation of South Africa in becoming a truly non-racial, non-sexist, just and prosperous country.
I wish to reaffirm the view that there is no vehicle more capable of bringing about effective social cohesion and nation-building, with vigour and efficacy, than the arts in their various forms. If we are to consolidate the gains of our democratic dispensation we need to open up spaces for these conversations to take place and flourish to their full glory.
In the context of the aforementioned, the creative economy is demonstrably becoming even more important as a new generator of jobs, opportunity and wealth.
The United Nations estimates cultural and creative trade to represent 3.4% of total world trade and are growing at a rate of 8.7%. According to United Nations conference on Trade and development (UNCTAD) “the creative industries are emerging as a strategic choice for reinvigorating economic growth, employment and social cohesion.”
With these few words I welcome you all to Gauteng, the craddle of human kind. As our pay-off line states: It starts here!!
I wish you all well in the event tonight.
Let creativity begin!
Let the party begin!
Dankie, Ngiyabonga.
