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Let me begin today by saying how pleased I was to receive this invitation to speak at the launch of "Back to the Land" by Marlene Winberg and Achmat Dangor. This is an important book that comes at an important time in South Africa's history. The struggle over land has been and remains one of the most emotive and pressing issues of our times. I believe that in many ways access to land is linked to another key issue facing all South Africans. This is the quest for cultural expression and identity.

The history of South Africa has had at its core a struggle over land. It is therefore no surprise that much of the artistic and cultural work that has come out of South Africa - the books, the plays, the paintings - have arisen from and reflect this history. South Africans. Through the decades and centuries have, in their own words and their own languages, tried to claim the land as their own.

One slogan, though, struck me when I first saw it. It was a slogan on a poster and it inverted this claim over the land. It said "We belong to the land". This too has been reflected in much of our cultural practice.

Amilcar Kabral has said that the struggle for nations that have recently emerged from the horrors of an oppressive system is, "A struggle of memory against forgetting". This is certainly relevant for South Africans today. Surely reconciliation does not depend on us forgetting the forced removals perpetrated in the name of apartheid, and the struggle against those removals? Surely if the reconciliation process is to fulfil its objectives of healing the country and encouraging the insight necessary for us to move forward, then it requires that we remember and understand our past.

The arts and culture are important in this act of memory against forgetting it is through the songs and the stories that we will be able to gain understanding and remember. I think, for example, of the enduring image of Lena in Athol Fugard's "Boesman and Lena" trekking across the stage with the entire contents of her life on her back. Lena is a symbol, scared into our memories, of forced removal and dislocation.

South Africa has a wealth of knowledge offering a diversity of interpretations that, together, begin to represent the intense oppression and resistance that characterise our history. Now however it is important that we begin to reflect the triumphs and the transformations on which we can build. The arts and culture will, once again, be important in this process.

It is in this respect that "Back to the Land", a book that illustrate the return of communities to their land, is so important. It provides us with a level of hope on which we can build in the ongoing process of restitution and redress. Through this book future generations will have a record of the scope and complexity of the land reform process that forms such an important part of our history.

The intersections between land and culture go beyond the arts. Not only can culture contribute to land restitution and development programmes in a range of significant ways but, as international experience repeatedly demonstrates, it has become increasingly clear that development strategies without a keen awareness of the cultural dimension are doomed to failure. The Director-General of the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA), for example, argued in 1991 that it is, "an error of judgement" for a development agency to perceive culture as "extravagant", rather, he continues, cultural development must be understood as a prerequisite for material growth.

This is acknowledged in the base document of the Reconstruction and Development Programme, the essence of which is people-centred, people-driven development. Involving people actively in development programmes is seen as crucial to building a sense of commitment and ownership. Any people-centred approach must acknowledge that without an understanding of the cultural universe of the community, developers are less likely to overcome the many obstacles that emerge in the development process. Delivery of basic amenities is not a culturally neutral process; it is influenced by and should engage a community's customs, social practices and world-view.

Developers can build houses and towns, but only culture can build homes, neighbourhoods and communities. When planners talk of people-centred development, they envisage lively, healthy communities. People can only be proud of the communities in which they live if they are equipped with the necessary physical spaces and facilities for recreation and culture - such as the parks, sports stadiums, community arts centres, libraries and cinemas where people spend their leisure time. It is important to include this cultural infrastructure in the construction of new communities.

As the same time, recreational and cultural facilities can be designed such a way as to provide opportunities for local entrepreneurs to produce and market a wide range of goods, thus reducing dependence on government for recurrent costs and contributing to job creation and economic growth.

There is so much still to be done in redressing past imbalances and effecting real transformation in South Africa. I am firmly of the belief that different sectors need to come together in order to approach these tasks in an integrated and holistic way. I have tried to sketch a few of the areas where access to land and access to cultural expression and identity overlap and compliment one another. There are many more such examples.

I would like to congratulate the writers of "Back to the Land" in providing us with a book that will have enormous relevance to all of us as another step in the path to building strong and cohesive communities in South Africa.

Thank you.

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