Question NO94 to the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture
11 September 2019 - NO94
Mamabolo, Mr JP to ask the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture
How is his department, in partnership with the National House of Traditional Leaders, planning to deepen society’s understanding about cultural diversity and our heritage with particular reference to his department’s efforts to balance its focus between arts on the one hand and culture on the other hand?
Reply:
The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture and the Department of Traditional Affairs and the National House of Traditional Affairs concluded and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2018. The MOU includes amongst others the following areas
- Rites of passage including Traditional Initiation
- Harmful cultural practices
- Oral history
- Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS)
- Promotion of Indigenous languages
- Moral Regeneration
- Resistance and Liberation Heritage
- Social Cohesion
The two departments are presently developing an implementation protocol with activities and timeframes to be presented to the two Ministers. The Departments are already cooperating on projects such as the documentation and protection of indigenous knowledge through the documentation of the work of Living Human Treasures. Projects such as the restoration of the grave of Chief Maqoma, King Hintsa exhumation and reburial and the construction of the Sarah Bartmann Center of Remembrance and KhoiSan Museum are some of the projects that focus on and promote South Africa’s diverse culture and heritage.
These projects involve both the DTA and traditional leaders. The Department of Sports, Arts and culture is in the process of appointing a panel of experts who will assist with compiling a national register of our rich and diverse indigenous knowledge systems. The panel will also develop another register of IKS needing urgent safeguarding. The Department of Traditional Affairs and the National House of Traditional Leaders will be invited to second a representative to the panel of experts.