Dr Bouchenaki,
Speaker of the Western Cape legislature, Shaun Byneveldt,
Members of the Diplomatic corps,
Members of the Provincial legislature,
Ms Cummins,
President of AFRICOM, Cheldia Annabi,
Executive Committee members of AFRICOM,
President and Executives of SAMA,
CEO's of Public entities and heritage managers,
Esteemed guests, ladies and gentlemen.
At an occasion of great significance like this, it is quite fitting to quote from President Mbeki's speech at the fundraising dinner for the Timbuktu Project held in Pretoria last year when he said "We must contest the colonial denial of our history and we must initiate our own conversations and dialogues about our past. We need our own scholars to interpret the history of our continent".
Ladies and gentlemen, if it is also true that a people, a country, a continent and the world without its past and history has no future, then the African renaissance has no future. The establishment of AFRICOM was indeed a very important step in taking the African heritage into the mainstream in line with NEPAD ideals.
This is a very important platform that is bringing together top brains in the cultural and heritage landscapes on our continent to begin the process of reclaiming and rewriting of our own heritage as part of the NEPAD agenda and for African renaissance.
I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to men and women of our continent in particular for making this event a success and most importantly, for gracing this occasion with their presence.
The Western Cape government is proud and indeed honoured to have been selected to host the 2nd General Assembly and the conference of AFRICOM.
We value the participation of heritage practitioners of your caliber in this conference greatly. As peoples of this province, we are particularly thrilled that the conference of this immense importance is held in the Cultural Mecca of South Africa, the Western Cape Province.
This gathering of great minds must be seized with challenges that our continent is grappling with. In the political front, through the NEPAD goals, African leaders are spearheading a process to develop a new vision that would guarantee Africa's renewal.
One of the main objectives of NEPAD is to halt the marginalisation of Africa in the globalisation process and to enhance its full and beneficial integration into the global economy.
This important gathering speaks to the outcomes of the Africa's renewal agenda that, for broad and deep participation by all sectors of society there must partnership between and amongst African people. This 2nd Assembly of AFRICOM demonstrates that Africa is really coming of age and taking charge of its own destiny.
Museums, in general, are institutions in the service of society available to the public for research, communication, exhibiting, purposes of study and education. Our museums should bear relationship with the past, left by our ancestors and aim to protect our cultural heritage for future generations.
It is one of our objectives to strive to safeguard and preserve the diffusion of the Western Cape and South African cultural heritage at all our museums to present our identity and diversity in an ever-changing world.
In this regard South Africa still faces a daunting challenge of ensuring the complete transformation of museums so that artifacts and exhibits do not depict only the history of our colonial masters, but mirror the rich heritage of this continent. You all have the will and the intellectual capacity to assist this agenda.
There was life in Africa before the colonialisation; however fragmented our histories might be due to its subsequent destructions, our scholars have a responsibility to put these pieces of the puzzle together for present and future generations.
One of leading contemporary scholars on the Timbuktu Manuscripts, John Hunwick notes that these documents demonstrates that "Many Africans could write their languages long before European missionaries and colonialists came to impose their own forms of writing upon them- and in fact replacing the Arabic script and suppressing its usage in the case of such major languages as Hausa and Swahili"
In South Africa our colonial masters have driven the languages of the Khoi and San communities, the aborigines of the Western Cape to almost extinction following many centuries of cultural oppression and subjugation.
As a result of that systematic oppression, today only a handful can speak Nama and San languages, these are challenges I think this conference should attempt to provide answers and help South Africa manage the transformation process better.
Ladies and gentlemen, the vision of the Pan African Parliament provides a common platform for African people and their grass-roots organizations to be more involved in discussions and decision-making on the problems and challenges facing our continent. The African parliament acts as a voice of the people of Africa representing their opinions, their concerns and aspirations.
One of the committees of the African parliament is responsible for education, culture, tourism and human resources. The purpose of this committee is to assist the Pan African parliament to promote policy development and the preservation of culture.
This confirms a protocol that will strengthen continental solidarity and build a sense of common destiny among the peoples of Africa.
Undoubtedly, as experts in the field of heritage and having covered quite some ground during the six years of your existence as AFRICOM, you have a huge contribution to make in realizing some of the objectives of the Pan African Parliament.
The Western Cape is in the process of reviewing its current legislation applicable to museum services. The new legislation will address the cultural, political and economic divide to ensure that our museums depict the history of all our people to advance the strategic goal of building a non-racial South Africa and a Home for All.
In an attempt to give practical effect to the transformation agenda, we piloted a scrapbook project and an oral history project, bringing previously marginalized histories into our museums. We certainly look forward to the outcomes of this conference and be able to take some lessons to accelerate our own transformation agenda.
In conclusion I want to quote from President Mbeki "Through our collective actions, we are setting the tone of the new discourse and we are asserting an African Identity and sense of purpose, of place and history of the great cities and states of our continent. We are asserting our right to tell our own stories, about our glorious history, and we do this to honour our past and claim our future."
I want to wish the new leadership of AFRICOM success in steering the ship to desired destination during their new term of office. There is huge task ahead of them and as government we will be there to lend a helping hand because we ascribe to the goals of AFRICOM.
I thank you.
Enquiries:
Annerie Pruis
Assistant Director
Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport
Protea Assurance House, Green Market Square, Cape Town
Private Bag X9067, Cape Town, 8001
Tel: 021 483 9730
Fax: 021 483 9711
Email: apruis@pgwc.gov.za
http:www.capegateway.gov.za/culture_sport
