Source: President of South Africa –
Programme Directors,
Minister of Sport, Arts, and Culture, Mr. Gayton McKenzie and Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Ms. Peace Mabe;
Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers present here today;
Members of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures present;
All Mayors, MMCs and Councillors;
Deputy Chairperson of the National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders, Nkosi Langa Mavuso;
Religious and Traditional Leaders present;
Our nation’s cultural practitioners and creatives;
Director General of Sport, Arts and Culture, Dr Cynthia Khumalo;
Director General Present and Senior Government Officials;
Distinguished Guests and Members of the Media;
Fellow South Africans;
Molweni! Dumelang! Sanibonani! Avuxeni! Ndi Matsheloni/Masiari! Lotshani! Thobela! Goeie Dag!
It is a privilege to stand before you today, on behalf of His Excellency, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who entrusted me with the honour of leading this celebration of Heritage Day here at Oudtshoorn. A town known for its sandstone architecture, national heritage sites, and a rich cultural landscape influenced by Khoisan people, Scottish stonemasons, and Jewish settlers.
Minister McKenzie, given the rich history of this town, it is befitting that we are hosting the Heritage Day Celebration here.
What has especially caught my interest for this year’s celebration is the theme, “Reimagine our heritage institutions for a new era,” since it encourages us to honour our history while looking to the future.
This theme further emphasises the importance of leveraging heritage as a foundation for building a dynamic, socially responsive, technologically innovative and economically inclusive future. It is a call for fresh perspectives on how we can preserve and showcase our history in the ever-evolving landscape of our society.
This theme is even more important considering that South Africa has been hosting various G20 initiatives since the beginning of the year and will officially host the G20 Summit in November 2025.
The theme of South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 is Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability and, among other things, anchors as a promoter of inclusive economic growth while fostering innovation, creativity, equity and social cohesion and ensuring that a diversity of cultural expressions flourishes in a globalised world.
I should state that it does not matter what your tribe or cultural background is; we all have the responsibility to preserve and showcase our heritage locally and to a global audience. This is important because our heritage institutions nurture cultural identity, encourage unity, and offer economic opportunities in sectors such as tourism and the arts.
They serve as a bridge between the past and the present, allowing us to connect with our roots and understand where we come from. It is in the understanding of our roots that we can lay a solid foundation for our future as a society.
Fellow Compatriots, you will agree with me that as we enter a new era, it is crucial to reevaluate and reinvent heritage institutions to ensure their relevance and accessibility. We must emphasise the centrality of heritage in our national project to build a socially cohesive society based on democratic values, such as human dignity, equality, freedom, human rights, and civil liberties, as enshrined in our Constitution.
We are obligated to do so because our heritage embodies the very essence of our nationhood, and the resilience of a people united in their diversity. It is this unity in diversity that our cultural heritage finds expression through galleries, theatres, archives, concerts, works of art, sporting codes, storytelling, indigenous games, and museums, which form part of our shared culture.
Tata Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Aah Dalibhunga), twenty-eight years ago, said; “When our museums and monuments preserve the whole of our diverse heritage, when they are inviting to the public and interact with the changes all around them, then they will strengthen our attachment to human rights, mutual respect, and democracy and help prevent these ever again being violated.”
With these words, Tata Madiba accurately describes the important role that museums and other historical institutions play in bringing about social change, encouraging active citizenship, and protecting the democratic principles that are in our Constitution. His observations further emphasise that museums and cultural institutions must address societal challenges and cater to the daily needs of people across racial and cultural divides.
Museums, monuments and other heritage sites must become spaces of cultural diplomacy, inclusivity, intergenerational conversation, laboratories of creativity and incubators of opportunities for our people, particularly the youth.
We must position our heritage institutions to contribute to the government’s efforts to deal with pressing challenges of unemployment, social fragmentation, crime and corruption. This can be achieved by empowering communities to challenge dominant narratives, providing secure spaces for dialogue and critical thinking, and preserving and reinterpreting marginalised histories.
The heritage institutions may create a sense of collective memory, inspire resilience, and find new ways to solve current social challenges by adopting participatory approaches and focusing on people’s resilience and lived experiences.
More importantly, we must work together as families, communities, non-governmental organisations, businesses and government to fight the scourge of drugs and substance abuse, especially among the youth.
The rate of drug abuse among our children is a concern to the government, especially as it leads to stigmatisation of young people into categories such as “AmaPhara”. I call everyone to stand up and fight this demon that has engulfed our nation. It is our joint responsibility to combat alcohol and substance abuse and work together to eradicate similar practices within our communities.
Fellow Compatriots, we must also work together to fight crime, racism, tribalism, Gender-Based Violence and Femicide, including other anomalies that serve as a hindrance to our country’s progress.
Furthermore, we must embrace a radical perspective shift within our museums, one that reimagines these institutions so they may effectively respond to the sensibilities, aspirations, and challenges of the 21st century and beyond.
This is a call to decolonise our museums, to Africanise them through a people-centred process of knowledge production and co-curation for a new era, a post-colonial era. It is a moment for a strategic shift, as heritage institutions worldwide are transforming into engines of development, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
This shift is also reflected in the National Development Plan’s Vision 2030, the Revised White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage, the National Policy on Living Heritage, and the Constitution. These frameworks acknowledge that heritage institutions must be people-centred, economically responsive, and technologically advanced while healing divisions of the past.
This task demands unity of purpose and collective action from all of us as a nation to construct a country that upholds human dignity and civil liberties, free from racism, sexism and various forms of discrimination.
We must take deliberate steps to fast-track transformational imperatives and address the urgent need to restore the dignity of the African people whose cultural heritage practices were disrupted and destroyed by colonialism and, later, apartheid.
Some of you present here can confirm that apartheid undermined African heritage by destroying community structures through forced removals, fragmenting families and ancestral lands, and establishing an inferior education system focused on Bantu education. It suppressed African cultures, enforced segregation, and promoted the derogatory use of the term “Bantu” to dehumanise Black Africans and erode their identity.
As the Government, we are actively working to restore the dignity of African heritage through initiatives like the National Policy for the Repatriation and Restitution of Human Remains and Heritage Objects, and the current reburial of Khoi and San ancestral remains, aiming to correct injustices from the colonial and apartheid eras.
We are called upon to restore the erased histories of our heroes and heroines who died defending this beautiful land. It was on the dunes of the Cape that our African ancestors, the Khoi and San, defended this land against the Portuguese viceroy Francisco de Almeida and his crew in 1510 at Table Bay. It was again in the same Cape that the Khoi and San stood defiantly against Jan van Riebeeck in what became known as the Khoi–Dutch confrontation of 1659.
We are reminded of the Eastern Cape Frontier Wars, which raged over a period of one hundred years. History reminds us of the Battle of Ncome River in KwaZulu-Natal, the Bambatha Rebellion of 1906, and many other courageous acts of standing against Western colonising forces that took place across the length and breadth of our country in defence of our land and heritage.
Going to the North, we should always remember and teach the young ones about the Sekhukhune wars. These were a series of conflicts between the Bapedi people, led by King Sekhukhune, and the Boer-controlled Transvaal Republic, culminating in a final war against the British between 1878 and 1879. Sekhukhune was a determined leader who sought to maintain the independence of the Bapedi state against encroaching colonial powers.
These were not mere battles; they were forms of resistance that would later shape and determine the fate of the African child.
Fellow Compatriots,
Today, we have an opportunity to pay tribute to the central role played by our Traditional and Khoisan leaders, our Kings and Queens, in the defence of our beautiful land and the safeguarding of our heritage. Throughout history, they have stood as custodians of culture, identity, and memory, ensuring that the wisdom of our ancestors is preserved and passed on to future generations.
Their leadership has not only safeguarded our territories but also fostered the values of unity, dignity, and resilience among our people.
Today, as we chart the path towards a more cohesive and inclusive society, we draw inspiration from their enduring legacy and acknowledge their invaluable contribution to the preservation of our heritage as a whole.
Some of our Traditional and Khoisan leaders, who fought fearlessly in these wars, were beheaded, their skeletal remains collected as trophies and shipped out of the country to museums across Euro-Western countries.
To this day, some of these sacred human remains of our worthy ancestors remain locked away as prisoners of “science” in museum cupboards across the world, still awaiting their rightful repatriation. In this regard, I am reminded of the remains of Sarah Baartman that were returned from France in 2002. Her remains were repatriated to symbolise an end to colonial exploitation and the restoration of dignity to black African women.
Through our repatriation and restitution programme, we have begun identifying institutions across the world where some of these sacred human remains are located, awaiting their return.
Today, we also pay tribute to our Living Human Treasures who are vital to the transmission of heritage, serving as custodians of knowledge, skills, and cultural practices. They guide communities, enrich cultural experiences, and educate society on the enduring value of arts and culture.
In particular, we honour Dr. Ouma Katrina Esau, the last remaining fluent speaker of the critically endangered N’uu language and one of South Africa’s revered living human treasures.
Dr Esau stands as a towering figure, embodying resilience, wisdom, and the unbroken thread of indigenous knowledge. Through the wealth of her experience and teachings, we as a nation continue to draw inspiration and strength. Her life’s work reminds us of the urgent responsibility to safeguard our intangible cultural heritage for future generations. As the last fluent speaker of the N’uu language in our country, and indeed the world, she carries within her the living memory of one of humanity’s oldest languages, a click language once spoken by the San of the Kalahari.
With every lesson she imparts to present and future generations, she does far more than transmit words; she safeguards a profound archive of human experience and linguistic heritage.
Her voice reminds us that when a language dies, a universe of meaning, memory, and identity is lost forever. It is for this reason that the restoration and preservation of our indigenous languages must remain central to our pursuit of restoring the dignity of those whose voices were silenced and whose languages were suppressed.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Earlier today, we also had the opportunity to participate in the One Million Trees Campaign of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, by planting trees at Dysselsdorp Secondary School. This campaign is part of the Department’s National Greening Project, aimed at planting trees across the country as part of our collective responsibility to safeguard the environment.
The planting of trees project serves not only as an environmental intervention but also as a cultural imperative, aligning living heritage practices with the principles of sustainability. It affirms our duty to ensure that the resources of our environment are preserved and protected for future generations.
As Government, we have also taken a step further by launching the Clean Cities, Towns and Villages Campaign. The Campaign aims to create cleaner, sustainable environments in our communities, fostering job creation in municipalities. It supports developmental goals by improving public health, safety, infrastructure, and promoting green energy investments to combat environmental degradation.
The Clean Cities, Towns and Villages Campaign further protects heritage by creating environments that support the preservation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings and landscapes, and establishing a sense of collective rplace, fostering economic growth and social cohesion within towns and cities.
Fellow Compatriots, the month of September also marks the second reunion of Robben Island ex-political prisoners, during which a Wall of Remembrance, featuring the names of all Robben Island ex-political prisoners and six commemorative statues, will be officially unveiled.
Indeed, the story of our collective heritage is the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. It is the story of the continuum of the past, present and future. It is a story of communities that, despite centuries of dispossession, division, and hardship, continue to rise, to create, and to preserve the wisdom of their ancestors for current and future generations.
Most importantly, it is a story of the resilience of people who refused to be silenced, who held on to their languages, traditions, and sacred knowledge as acts of defiance and human dignity.
This triumph is seen through the efforts of ordinary people from across the spectrum who safeguard our Intangible Cultural Heritage against the tide of erasure. It is seen in our cultural practices, which affirm identity and belonging in the face of global homogenisation. It is seen in our collective commitment to reimagine heritage as a force for unity, healing and cultural diplomacy.
As part of our efforts to come together as a nation, with the shared goal of mending the scars of the past and addressing the deeply ingrained social and economic difficulties that the country faces, we have initiated a National Dialogue that is open to all people. The National Dialogue is a citizen-led process and is an opportunity for all South Africans, to confront uncomfortable truths about our democracy and reimagine a shared future for South Africa, where no one is left behind.
The Dialogue is a crucial platform for all voices, regardless of age, location, race, class, or culture, to shape the future of our democracy through meaningful, inclusive dialogue. Since the early 1990s, South Africa has relied on such dialogue for conflict resolution and shaping our future, with the Convention for a Democratic South Africa and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as examples.
We urge everyone to engage in this process, because as South Africans with diverse lived experiences, we each have a vital role in building the nation we hope for.
As we celebrate our heritage, may this moment serve as a time of activation; let it be an opportunity to reimagine our heritage institutions not as remnants of a past era, but as beacons of possibility in a changing and globalising world.
Together, let us turn memory into momentum and heritage into hope for a new era of bold imaginings.
Our collective responsibility is to draw pride and joy from our diverse cultures and heritage. Let us recognise and embrace each other while celebrating our shared destiny and the rich tapestry of our country’s history, culture, and heritage.
The duty lies with parents, community leaders, activists, teachers and all change agents to proactively educate and inform the youth about our past, and its significance in shaping our future.
Promoting family values strengthens individuals and communities by providing ethical guidance, fostering social skills like empathy and communication, and creating a sense of belonging. When communities promote family values, they foster mutual respect, collaboration, and the building blocks for healthy human development, resulting in more cohesive and supportive settings for everyone.
We must also recognise and appreciate the contributions of partners in the social cohesion and nation building journey such as the Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) who promote positive values for moral communities through its Charter of Positive Values. I had the privilege to have a meeting with representatives of the MRM who also reminded me of the importance of the existence of such organisations in moulding the moral fibre of our society today.
The MRM Charter for example provides a framework designed to tackle social issues and facilitate moral renewal by advocating for principles such as human dignity, equality, non-racialism, non-sexism, honesty, and family values, aiming to establish a fair and inclusive society, which remain crucial to the holistic development of our nation.
This is but one example of the many organisations that are determined to make a difference and bring about change that we as Government and other sectors need to support.
I call upon all South Africans to reimagine our history and heritage institutions for a new era, so that they may continue to add value to human development and serve generations to come.
I wish all South Africans across the length and breadth of our nation, across the continent, and throughout the Diaspora, I wish you a wonderful Heritage Day.
Enkosi, Baie Dankie, Inkomu!
