14 October 2007
Premier Ebrahim Rasool will tomorrow, Monday, address a press conference
with the chief executive of the National Heritage Council, Advocate Sonwabile
Mancotywa, on the selection of former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda as the
second recipient of the Ubuntu Award.
A news conference has been scheduled for 13h30 on Monday, 15 October 2007,
at the Slave Quarters, Leeuwenhof Estate, official residence of Western Cape
Premier Ebrahim Rasool where Advocate Sonwabile Mancotywa, Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of the National Heritage Council, will officially announce that
African elder statesman Kenneth Kaunda has been selected as this years
recipient of the Ubuntu Award.
The Ubuntu Award, which is expected to grow in stature to the level of the
Nobel Peace Prize and the Ghandi Award, seeks to honour individuals whose
character, leadership, philosophy and life's work are an asset to people
worldwide because it is an embodiment of the universal values of Ubuntu, our
common humanity. The National Heritage Council chief executive will also unveil
the statutory body's plans to host an Ubuntu Imbizo where approximately 1 000
people, drawn from across South Africa and the Western Cape, will gather at the
Boschendal Estate in the historic Dwars River Valley to interrogate and
celebrate the very essence of the humanity of our young democracy.
Both the Ubuntu Imbizo and the Ubuntu Award ceremony are scheduled for 19
October 2007, with the Imbizo process scheduled to run from 9h00 to 16h00,
after which the Ubuntu Award will be conferred on the former Zambian president.
The Ubuntu Imbizo is one of the most significant events on the calendar of the
National Heritage Council, the statutory body charged with the co-ordination
and transformation of the South African heritage sector. The Ubuntu Imbizo will
provide the public with an opportunity to participate in critical discussions
about the philosophical foundations of Ubuntu within an African and global
context. The Imbizo will also examine the nature of problems that South Africa
is encountering and possible responses using Ubuntu, assess the viability of
Ubuntu as a national policy, reflect on the challenge of implementation, moving
from a cultural attribute to a public policy and interrogate the challenges of
implementing Ubuntu in a multicultural and previously deeply divided
society.
The Ubuntu Imbizo, will bring together a representative gathering of South
Africans from all cultures, interest groups, academics, political leaders,
public servants and advocacy groups in this critical discourse aimed at
evaluating the content of the humanity in our democracy and advising
policymakers through an intensive consultative process. The importance of the
Imbizo, and its significance to how our young democracy is shaped has been
underlined by National Health Council (NHC) Chief Operating Officer, Somadoda
Fikeni, who has on numerous occasions stated that, the measure of the greatness
of any society, is not how it relates to the powerful, but how it deals with
the concerns of the weak, the infirm and the marginalised.
The Ubuntu Imbizo will be immediately followed by a gala awards dinner where
African elder statesman and former Zambian president, Kenneth Kaunda, will be
honoured as the second recipient of the prestigious Ubuntu Award, by the
National Heritage Council. Kaunda, who has distinguished himself as a true
proponent of the universal values of Ubuntu (humanity), through his
indefatigable efforts in the quest for peace, conflict resolution,
understanding and justice, follows in the footsteps of the Ubuntu Awards first
recipient, former South African president Nelson Mandela.
Their inspiring example of courage under fire, inspirational leadership, and
wise counsel have opened the eyes of people worldwide to the possibilities of a
world free of conflict, where respect, justice, dignity, within the framework
of a new social contract, is possible. Discussing the reason for the
internationally revered statesman's selection as the Ubuntu award recipient,
NHC Chief Executive Officer said: "In the entire African continent, Kaunda is
one of very few leaders who have personified Ubuntu in both his political work
and community development work around the world, through his articulation of
African Humanism, which in essence is Ubuntu, the world came to know about this
African philosophy."
There is no living world leader today who has made such an immense
contribution and sacrifice in assisting African liberation movements in the
1960s, 1970s and 1980s than Kaunda. This was the best demonstration of the
spirit of Ubuntu and a towering gesture of human solidarity in face of
adversity. Advocate Mancotywa went on to observe that the downfall of
colonialism, apartheid and imperialism in the African continent has Kaundas
handprints and his continued work towards social justice makes him eminently
qualified to be a recipient of the Ubuntu Award.
The Ubuntu Imbizo and Award was inspired by a call made by President Thabo
Mbeki during the Heritage Day celebration on 24 September 2005 at Taung,
Northwest Province. At this celebration and in many other speeches he has
called on South Africans to revive and simplify Ubuntu as a potent tool that
can make a major contribution in nation building around a set of values,
philosophy, practices and norms which are contained in the African Philosophy
of Ubuntu. The National Heritage Council views Ubuntu as a strategic resource
and rich heritage that a liberated South Africa has barely utilised or
acknowledged.
Programmes and campaigns to revive Ubuntu and utilise it in many spheres
(justice system, moral regeneration, revival of an African family, industrial
relations, conflict resolution, inter-generational relations and inter-group
relations of our society will emerge from this programme but more than that, a
high level of consciousness and debate is created. The news conference
commences at 13h30 and all media representative should reserve by 11h00,
Monday, 15 October, and present proper identification on arrival at the
venue.
For enquiries:
Danny Goulkan
Tel: 072 952 2261
E-mail: danny@nhc.org.za
Zenzile Khoisan
Tel: 073 230 3213
Jeremy Michaels
Acting Chief Director: Communications
Director: Media Relations
Tel: 021 483 9955
Cell: 082 772 1122
Fax: 021 483 7196
E-mail:jmichaels@pgwc.gov.za
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Western Cape Provincial Government
14 October 2007
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government (http://www.capegateway.gov.za)
