Chairperson, I will not waste my time with Mr Watson's lamentations. I think he was not prepared, since he did not understand the subject. As a result he started to rant, huff and puff, and spout hot air in the House, which did not really address the subject of the day. Therefore, I will not waste any time on that.
I want to thank all the members for their contributions, starting with hon Makgate and then going on to the rest of the members.
I agree that culture and education were distorted and destroyed by the colonial and apartheid governments of the past. It was done systematically and became part of the legal system. Indeed, many laws were passed to ensure that we lost our culture, heritage, indigenous knowledge systems and religion. Since 1994 this government has passed a number of laws and drawn up policies that have sought to reverse that damage.
Hence, on Thursday we shall be launching the Social History Centre at the Iziko Museum in Cape Town. The centre will play an important ... [Interjections.] Hon Watson, you had your time to speak.
The centre will play an important role in the preservation of our culture, history and heritage. Mr Watson, it will reverse all the damage you did in your youth. Now we are trying to reverse the centuries of damage.
Indeed, I agree with hon Makgate and other members that the 2010 World Cup was a great success. That is why our theme for National Heritage Day is also: "Celebrating our Successes during the 2010 Fifa World Cup, our Heritage". It is important for us to claim the success of the 2010 World Cup as part of our legacy and heritage going forward. We will be celebrating this day at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, where we had many of the 2010 World Cup matches, on 24 September.
As government, it is an opportunity for us to say a very big thank you to the people of South Africa for their contribution and participation in the 2010 World Cup. We believe that we should sustain the spirit of the 2010 World Cup, where black and white South Africans came together and rallied behind our team, Bafana Bafana, and our flag, singing our national anthem together with passion. We need to sustain this unity, nationhood and patriotism that were demonstrated by many South Africans.
Our guests were warmly received during the tournament and we demonstrated the spirit and values of ubuntu. The doubting Thomases who had not wanted to come because they had been told all sorts of lies about South Africa told us when they finally came that they had had the time of their lives, and that they would come back again with their families, children and friends. They are now our ambassadors.
Mr Watson, a little bit of patriotism is needed to maintain that momentum. If we love this country, not just for ourselves or for this government, but for our children and future generations, we ought to sustain that spirit and ensure that it makes South Africa the best tourism and investment destination in the world. We should not just stand here and oppose for the sake of opposing. We should stand here as South Africans and say that this World Cup was good, not for the ANC, and not for the government, but for the people of South Africa.
And how do we maintain that spirit of cohesiveness and unity, going forward? I agree that we need facilities that will help us to preserve and promote our culture, especially in the disadvantaged communities where there are no theatres and playhouses. We need to start where there is absolutely nothing.
Regarding xenophobia, in looking at the 2010 World Cup, we saw how South Africans were actually xenophiles. We did not see any xenophobia. In fact, we supported African teams, including Ghana, to the very end.
Kufanele ukuthi siyibheke kahle lendaba yodlame olubhekiswe kwabokufika kuleli ngoba inobugebengu ngaphakathi. Kukhona laba abayibumbayo bayibumbe bayibumbe basinike yona siyidle. Kufanele siyibhekisise ukuthi lendaba yodlame olubhekiswe kwabokufika iqala nini futhi isukaphi. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[We must look carefully at this issue of xenophobia because it has an element of crime in it. There are these people who fabricate stories relating to xenophobia again and again and then feed them to us. We must look at where these stories originate from.]
The 2010 World Cup tournament was held here and many African countries came. We did not have any problems. At the end of 2010 ...
... ngoba izindaba ezazitshelwe abantu ngathi azibanga khona lwaqala udlame olubhekiswe kwabokufika lapha eNtshonalanga Kapa. Kungani iqala la? Kufanele sizibuze leyo mibuzo. [... the stories told to people about us did not materialise; xenophobia then started manifesting itself in the Western Cape. Why did the outbreak start here? We must ask ourselves these questions.]
I believe that through our social cohesion programmes, sport and arts, we are able to bring our communities together. Let us use culture. If you are a Nigerian, your music is good. If you are Zimbabwean or Mozambican, song and dance can bring us together. That is something that can actually unite us in action.
I want to inform hon Gunda that this department has been working very closely with the Khoisan communities. We have brought back the remains of Sarah Baartman. From 1994 on we fought for her to come back and be given a dignified reburial in her motherland. In August - last month - we launched the Sarah Baartman Centre of Remembrance, which will be a repository for the Khoisan people. They will have a centre of remembrance where they can do research; develop their language and culture; and research their indigenous knowledge system, which one sees is vast when one looks at the plants, their closeness to nature, the knowledge they have and, of course, their culture.
We are also developing a national liberation route for the Khoisan people, which will start in the Northern Cape, move down to the Western Cape, and go right through to the Eastern Cape. We are doing this in consultation with the Khoisan people and their leadership. A lot is being done in that regard.
Ngizophinda-ke ngingangeni lapho. [Again I am not going to venture into that.]
We are doing a lot of research on rock art. We have a centre at the University of the Witwatersrand which is looking at how to preserve it and teach our children about that heritage. [Interjections.]