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Programme Director
Honourable Deputy Minister of Education, Mr Mosibudi Mangena
Honourable Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture, Ms B Sonjica
MECs present and Heads of Provincial Departments of Education Departments
His Majesty the King Mayisha 111 and the Chiefs present
Director-General of the National Department of Education, Mr Thami Mseleku and senior officials present here
Director-General of the National Department of Arts and Culture, Professor Mosala and your officials
Officials from UNESCO
Distinguished guests
Parents
Teachers and learners
Ladies and Gentlemen.

Sanibonani, Dumelang

I warmly welcome you to the launch of the first Ngoma Schools' Indigenous Music and Dance Festival. A special welcome to all learners from the nine provinces who for the past two days, participated in the festival.

It is quite appropriate that this festival be launched in Durban, in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The valleys of this province are part of our history, and some of the greatest leaders and in the struggle for freedom hails from this province - King Shaka, Chief Bhambatha and Chief Albert Luthuli.

This initiative is more than just a festival. It is a celebration of South Africa's incredibly diverse cultures, through singing and dancing. It is also a contribution towards the revival of our indigenous languages, cultures and knowledge systems that were previously marginalized and demonised. Certain styles and forms of music, art and dance have been privileged over many years, mostly at the expense of indigenous traditions, and it is our obligation and continuing struggle to redress these imbalances. This festival, is but one of our strategies to do that.

Some of you might be asking themselves why this festival is called Ngoma? In most languages in Africa, the Ngoma is a drum, the king of "the musical instrument". It belongs to the percussion family of musical instruments. The Ngoma, drum is a well-known instrument of percussion, consisting of a cylinder of wood or brass... The drum is not tuned, and, like the other instruments of percussion...only marks the rhythm. In almost every sphere of African cultural activity, music has a role to play. Again, there is hardly any music that is unaccompanied by a drumbeat or a percussion of some kind. Once that percussion instrument is sounded, rhythm comes in to play. The slightest rhythmic beat evokes a desire for a stronger one, and only the big drum can satisfy the rhythm-hungry African cultural singer and dancer. The Ngoma is, therefore, probably the strongest of the characteristics of African traditional music and lifestyle. So we hope this festival will bring all the characteristics of Ngoma drum to the celebration of our diverse cultures.

The Ngoma School's Indigenous Music and Dance Festival is part of my Department's Ten Years of Celebration of Freedom initiatives. We celebrate not only the ten years of democracy, but also the revival of our indigenous cultures in the past decade. We hope that through this initiative, we will also contribute to the country's attempts to revive all African cultures.

The Ngoma festival is part of the programmes of the celebrations of our 10 Years of Freedom. The celebrations are aimed at uniting the country, marking our achievements as a nation and consolidating our democracy. They also provide an opportunity to work on our national identity and to position the country internationally. The theme for the celebrations is "Keeping Memory Alive: Shaping the Future". This message emphasises the need for all sectors of our society to look back and take stock of what has happened in the past 10 years. As we celebrate our achievements, we should also acknowledge where things did not go as well as we would have wanted, and learn from such lessons as we proudly enter the second decade of our democracy. As we celebrate 10 Years of freedom, we need to be proud of who we are and where we come from as South Africans, and build a common identity. This initiative is about promoting the diverse cultures of our country through music and dance.

Ladies and gentlemen, as a country, we have travelled a long way to be where we are today, and we need to celebrate that with our children, to help prevent them (children) becoming captives of any crude or partisan version of the past. Yesterday, in this University, the President was giving a memorial lecture - of Chief Albert Luthuli, my teacher, my guide and my counsellor, a Stalwart and the Nobel Peace prize winner. Chief Luthuli taught us a lot about freedom and justice. Chief Albert Luthuli made a call to the nation with a convincing voice -

"Friends, let us make no mistake, the road to freedom is always full of difficulties. Before we reach the summit of freedom, many will have fallen by the wayside as a result of enemy action,.... I call upon you as the true sons (and daughters) of South Africa to be true to Africa, and count no sacrifice too great for her redemption"

In his words, we call upon our learners, that as they enter the second decade of our democracy, they should remember that the diverse cultures that we are reviving tonight were fought for by generations, and they can only be protected as part of our freedom through initiatives like the Ngoma festival.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I remind you that today, 21 March 2004, the country is celebrating Human Rights Day. A very significant day for South Africa indeed. As the Department of Education, we believe that culture is a right, and that all learners should be participating in cultural activities in schools, no matter how poor or rich they are. As government, we have the responsibility to make sure that we create opportunities for learners to participate in cultural activities that will enhance their understanding of who they are and where they come from as a nation. We hope this initiative will assist learners in understanding that, participating in cultural activities is a right.

We are launching the Ngoma Festival on this day 21 March 2004. Again a historic day. Over forty years ago, our parents in Sharpville, laid down their lives so that their blood could nourish a tree of freedom, that we enjoy its fruit today. May I remind you that we wouldn't be celebrating ten years of democracy if it were not for the sacrifices of March 21? The day is history to us. My fellow South African brothers and sisters, we should guard against any attempts, to airbrush out historical conscientiousness or any of the realities of our past. We cannot wish away our history. Let us work together, and pass every little information about our past to the next generations, to ensure that our cultures are kept alive for our great grand children. We can only have that space in our country when we all remember our responsibilities towards this freedom. Our call is to ensure that our youth wherever they are, are reminded to go and vote on 14 April 2004. Know that you are doing that - in defence of our democracy. We expect to see our leadership in years to come from them.

Ladies and gentlemen, you will agree with me that this day marks a milestone in the history of the South African indigenous music. Our struggle in South Africa against apartheid was a long one, and music was used as a very strong weapon to register our collective striving for freedom. Indigenous music was used to drive that struggle. I can mention one from this province, my brother Phuzekhemisi (the artist who is performing tonight) with his Umaskandi music, sang "Imbizo". This is a protest song. It was common in this country during the hard years as Phuzekhemisi can recall, using singing to drive the struggle for freedom. This has been a fascinating approach of South African musicians, communicating all their joys, sorrows and frustrations through music. It was through music that they told their tales, established their relationships and maintained their bonds. We want to revive that culture. Phuzekhemisi, and you Sello Galane my brothers, we are inviting you to share your talent with the young ones. This country needs it.

In ensuring that our heritage is not lost and that our young people continue to have pride in them, we need to encourage all learners to learn and participate in arts and cultural activities. Some of the performances are deeply buried in the memory of the elders, they needs to be brought to the mainstream. This invitation is further extended to my colleagues the MECs, to support the Ngomas in their provinces. Let us for the first time, have all the provinces vibrating with provincial music and dance festivals.

As an attempt to revive music in schools, I have committed my Department to support all the different music genres of our country. I have in the past few years launched for the first time the TIRISANO Schools Music Eisteddfod. This initiative is currently celebrated annually throughout the country. Through this initiative, a number of learners discovered their music talents. I am pleased to announce that we will be sending a South African school choir - to Bremen in Germany for the first time in July this year. I am hopeful that they will make our country proud. A credit goes to the teachers who ensured that learners excelled beyond local recognition and would represent South Africa internationally. These are not the only kinds of affirmations that we are looking for, but a validation of our great efforts in providing quality education. Indeed this is really a wonderful opportunity to be afforded not only to the few but the majority of our learners. I am confident that these learners who are here today will play a critical role in inspiring others to join the club of excellence in education in order to bring visible and qualitative change in our schools towards a better life for all.

Let me remind you ladies and gentlemen that schools are centres of community life. Indigenous Knowledge is not to be taught as something apart. It is part of the history of people as it is about people. Foundation phase learners may be asked to write their family histories. The approach here will not be detailed but these young learners will tell you about their clan names, place names and how their families settled and survived in a particular area. They will acquire this information from grandparents and elderly relatives.

It is only proper for me to emphasise the fact that teachers and parents are critical to the process of bringing this qualitative change in our schools. I am pleased to hear that there are learners with special education needs who took part in this festival. I would like to commend teachers and parents, who against great odds, have made a meaningful contribution to the rebuilding of the nation by ensuring that these learners are ready to participate in this festival.

Programme Director, I want to believe that these enrichment programmes call more than what is average or mediocrity but thrive for excellence in all our efforts to make us a winning nation for the 21st century.

Ladies and Gentlemen, a winning nation has its strongest foundations on a sound education and training system. A sound education and training system depends on the capacity and potential of its human resources and in this particular case, the teachers.

Clearly our success in the sustenance of these initiatives rests squarely on a strengthened foundation for learning and knowledge acquisition laid by many dedicated teachers and parents including the ones who brought learners to this event.

Ladies and Gentlemen, our ability to succeed will also depend on the extent to which we are able to work together in a co-ordinated way. Co-operative relationships are critical at government level, between the Department of Education and the Department of Arts and Culture, specialised institutions and civil society. Partnerships between the two key Departments both at national and provincial are key to the provision of relevant, responsive arts and culture programmes. Partnership will unlock the mobilisation of human, physical and financial resources needed for the revitalisation of indigenous music in schools, to ensure South Africa enters the 21st century with a unified nation of learners.

This young South Africa calls upon your dedication, excellence as well as patriotism to rebuild the nation. Our effort towards Proudly South African also calls on selfless corps of teachers to take our country to its heights like the ones we are celebrating this evening.

In conclusion, Programme Director, I would like to congratulate all learners who participated in the Ngoma activities over the past two days, and wish all provinces that will be celebrating this talent in the coming months good luck.

I thank you,

Siyabonga,
Re ya leboga!!

Issued by: Ministry of Education
21 March 2004

Source: Department of Education (http://education.pwv.gov.za/)