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The Director-General of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology was the keynote speaker at the opening of the Transvaal Museum yesterday.

The opening exhibition, which runs for the period of 1-6 April features the original "MRS PLES", the world's most complete Cranium of Austrapolopithecus africanus, placed on public display. The opening marks the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the fossil at Sterkfontein in 1947.

The original fossil which has been nicknamed "Mrs Ples", is considered to be about 2.5 million years old, and was discovered by Transvaal Museum scientists, Dr Robert Broom and Dr John Robinson, 50 years ago.

The fossil has been studied by scientists from many countries around the world, and within 50 years, scientists have confirmed a finding implied by the name "Plesianthropus", meaning "almost human". The specimen itself is now recognised scientifically as Australopithecus africanus, the same species represented by the so-called "Taung child", discovered in 1924 and described by Professor Raymond Dart as a hominid: a member of the great family that includes all humankind.

The discoveries of the "Taung child" and "Mrs Ples" serve to confirm that South Africa has a rich and valuable palaeontological heritage - part of world heritage. South Africa can be proud of its heritage in the year in which we celebrate the 50th anniversary of "Mrs Ples", the most complete adult cranium of Australopithecus africanus. Dart had stirred up scientific controversy in 1925 when he reported in Nature that the "Taung child" was a hominid, but because the Taung child was juvenile, it had certain features which gave it more of an apelike appearance. However, following the discoveries of adult specimens of the same species at Sterkfontein - especially "Mrs Ples", the world came closer to reconising that certain Pleistocene fossils from South Africa were in fact distant relatives of all humankind.

Science and technology have developed considerably within the 50 years since the discovery of "Mrs Ples", and South Africa can be proud of scientists that have worked in this country in efforts to understand our human origins. Professor Raymond Dart, Dr Robert Broom, Dr John Robinson, Professor Phillip Tobias and Dr Bob Brain have all made significant contributions to the study of palaeoanthropology, and we are excited by the potential offered by new generations of scientists working in the same field, in a spirit of collaboration.

The Transvaal Museum is working in collaboration with scientists from many institutions, locally and abroad, and new techniques are being made available to study fossils in novel ways. For example, in collaboration with scientists based at Harvard and the University of Cape Town, isotopic analyses on fossils have established that australopithecines in Southern Africa were omnivorous - eating both animal and plant foods. Recent applications of CT scanning at the CSIR and in South African hospitals have revealed detailed structures in the teeth of Australopithecus africanus. CT scans of the middle ear of "Mrs Ples" provide information on the mode of locomotion of our distant relatives. CT scans of the hip bone of a specimen of Australopithecus africanus confirm that "Mrs Ples" and her relatives walked upright but also had the ability to be agile in trees, at a time when African climates were different from those of the present time. The Atomic Energy Corporation has offered its high-tech facilaities to help undertake chemical analyses on fossils, including "Mrs Ples", indicating the potential to understand both chemical composition and structure of fossils, non-distructively undertaken in collaboration with Dr Thackeray, Head of the Department of Palaeontology at the Transvaal Museum, demonstrate that the study of fossils in this country is not a dead subject. Behind the scenes, behind the public displays, research is continuing, advancing our understanding of South Africa's rich palaeontological heritage.

Much can be said about events in public galleries and in the educational halls at the Transvaal Museum. Today we are particularly pleased that the real "Mrs Ples" has come out of her strong room - or rather out of the "Broom Room", giving South Africans an opportunity to see the original specimen, as part of a programme of events marking the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of "Mrs Ples". This specimen has previously been put on public displays at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and only rarely has it been on displays in South Africa. This week the Transvaal Museum offers the South African public and visitors from overseas an opportunity to see "Mrs Ples" - the real thing. South Africans, especially schoolchildren, will be given another opportunity to see her when the fossil is displayed at the first national Science Festival in Grahamstown later this month.

We are pleased to see the Transvaal Museum and other institutions in this country are promoting an awareness of our country's heritage. Last month at the Transvaal Museum, more than 12 000 children with many different backgrounds were exposed to the story of "Mrs Ples". This programme, run by Youthlink in collaboration with the Transvaal Museum, has been a great success. Each school returned with a replica of "Mrs Ples", something for children to see and touch in classrooms where future generations of palaeontologists can be encouraged to learn about this country's palaeontological heritage.

Dr Thackeray tells me that he has a dream, a dream which he presented in his Presidential Address to the Palaeontological Association of South Africa last year. His address was entitled "I Have a Dream", referring to the hope that each school in the country will have a replica of "Mrs Ples" within 20 years. This is an attainable objective, and there is every indication that it is being realised.

We look forward to developments in palaeontological science in this country, and we also welcome efforts to promote public understanding of fossils and evolutionary processes that continue to be a subject of scientific debate.

It is pertinent to mention that it was at Oxford University where Darwin's ideas on evolution were discussed by the Archbishop Wilberforce and Thomas Henry Huxley, at the University College Museum in 1960. The debate stimulated a great deal of public interest in fossils and differences in opinion about evolutionary processes were as prevalent then as they are today. But today, in the New South Africa, we have a constitution which allows any South African to undertake scientific research along directions which challenge them, and at the same time, every South African has the right to believe what they choose to believe - they can reject what scientists might suggest, or they can accept it if they are persuaded by the strength of scientific research. What matters most is that South Africans, especially school children, are given an opportunity to see fossils, and to be given opportunities to decide for themselves how best to interpret the bones and stones that are found in caves such as Sterkfontein.

Understanding our heritage leads to an understanding of our origins.

Media enquiries: Andile Xaba 012 314 6313

Issued by: South African Communication Service
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