BY
HON MR MB GWALA MPL, KZN LEGISLATURE
Speaker,
The KwaZulu-Natal Amafa and Research Institute seeks to conserve, protect, manage and administer heritage resources and conduct research to generate relevant knowledge.
Amafa/Heritage KwaZulu Natal went through a particularly rough patch during the previous years, operating without an accounting authority even now we don’t know who is the CEO of this entity. This entity was moved from the Department of Arts and Culture to the Office of the Premier and vice versa.
Heritage is identity of a nation, which must be preserved and protected for the sake of unity of nation while creation of awareness among the people about rich ancient archaeological remains and historic places across the country. The heritage sites help us understand our own ancient culture. Preserving and restoring monuments and traditions—as well as creating the infrastructure needed to reach them—can attract tourists to visit South Africa in particular KwaZulu-Natal.
Museums are, traditionally, the guardians of artifacts that represent our cultural heritage and specimens of natural history. Museums hold objects that are important to a particular community or to the nation. Our museums still have an important role to preserve moveable heritage objects. Museum displays should be multi-vocal to reflect different perspectives and showcase South Africa’s rich cultural diversity.
The IFP believes that there is no way that Amafa can succeed in dealing with heritage and different cultures without involving Amakhosi. For Amafa to be successful they cannot rely on read material, and there should be a reservoir from the sources of Amakhosi. It is important for Amakhosi to be recognised.
All South African should play their part in preventing the extinction of South African cultures, instead of leaving the responsibility of promoting culture solely to heritage and cultural institutions.
KwaZulu-Natal’s history can serve as a foundation for its future prosperity.
The IFP supports the Bill.
I THANK YOU