Remarks by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on the occasion of the announcement of the discovery of a new species, Maropeng, Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site
Esteemed Guests,
Members of the Media,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today will be written into the history books as one of those moments in which the world learnt something new and remarkable.
The discovery of a new species of primitive hominin in our own genus reveals much about our ancestors. In time, it may reveal much about ourselves.
This find will generate interest from beyond the scientific community. It will inspire poets and writers to revisit Africa’s rich oral traditions, and to imagine ways to retell the story of our common ancestry.
It will encourage us to enquire further about the whole scope of human existence, the world around us, and the world before us.
We expect that it will catch the imagination and stimulate the interest of people across the world – people who are excited about knowledge and learning.
We are delighted that discoveries that we would never have imagined have been found here at the southern tip of the African continent.
Maropeng, the visitor centre to the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, was opened almost 10 years ago.
At the time we said that this would become an iconic place, a place of pilgrimage, a place belonging to the people of South Africa, Africa and the world, the place where our collective umbilical cord is buried.
We did not imagine then that a new species would be unearthed telling us more about our human journey than we knew before. We now know that research in the Cradle of Humankind will yield yet more information for decades to come.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The legendary Professor Philip Tobias, a stalwart of the University of the Witwatersrand, is no longer with us.
But I am quite sure he would have reminded us that these finds again underline the fact that Africa, our continent, is the home of great scientific discoveries, the home of our humanity, the home of our culture.
These discoveries underline the fact that despite our individual differences in appearance, language, beliefs and cultural practices, we are bound together by a common ancestry.
Government has fulfilled its international responsibility to UNESCO to protect, preserve and showcase this site of outstanding universal value to the world.
On behalf of the people of South Africa, I invite the world to visit the Cradle of Humankind Visitor Centre, Maropeng where this new find will be on display for one month.
This discovery is the result of outstanding research by a large team of collaborators from across the world.
This research was conducted by the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of Witwatersrand, host to the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence in the Palaeosciences.
We wish to congratulate the Vice-Chancellor of Wits University Professor Adam Habib, Professor Lee Berger, Professor Paul Dirks, Professor John Hawks and all those who have been involved in bringing the world this historic moment.
There was once a period in Africa’s history where our ancestors existed in a capricious, precarious environment that demanded innovation, adaptation and resolve.
Within our own age, the scientific achievements of these ‘underground astronauts’ give us hope that we may have the means to overcome modern day challenges of hunger, social exclusion and underdevelopment.
These achievements give us hope that we may preserve the species and achieve shared prosperity.
These men and women of science are not only interested in our past. They are interested too in our future.
They are interested in what makes us who we are, where we have come from, and where we are capable of going.
Today, we unearth our past.
Today, we catch a glimpse of our future.
I thank you.
