Chair, I will refer to hon members and indeed say that if they are behaving honourably, they are worth the title. If I do not behave honourably, I am not worth the title. It is not just about you; it is about all of us as Members of Parliament. [Applause.]
Indeed, I am happy to participate in this debate. From the outset, I must indicate that the ANC supports this Budget Vote. There is no better time and opportunity for us to debate the Budget Vote of the Department of Arts and Culture than the day before we celebrate Nelson Mandela International Day, which is 18 July. We will remember President Mandela as a disciplined member of the ANC. We will remember him as the President who was the leader of the struggle against oppression and for the liberation of South Africa. We will know him as a symbol of unity. We will know him as a person who was committed to nonracialism and nonsexism. We will know him as a global peacemaker.
Sadly, as we celebrate his day tomorrow, several innocent people - children and women - have been killed up north, where some of the parties received their financial support, leading to the crossing over of leaders. We cannot agree more with President Jacob Zuma when he makes the point that with so many international bodies, whose roles and responsibilities are to deal with world problems and conflict, how can we allow such horrible killings? Now, these are ANC leaders. How can we allow this? We are equally responsible because we belong to world bodies, but we continue to see people die. He takes responsibility as an ANC leader, a leader in South Africa, far from Israel. That is leadership.
In 1955, our people converged in Kliptown to adopt the Freedom Charter. They said:
There shall be equal status in the bodies of state, in the courts and in the schools for all national groups and races;
All people shall have equal rights to use their own languages, and to develop their own folk culture and customs.
This statement was confirmed by the elected representatives of the peoples of our country when they adopted the Constitution in 1996. Sections 30 and 31 of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution speak to this matter.
The Minister has a huge responsibility resting on his shoulders. His role is to ensure that we celebrate our collective heritage and promote the diverse cultures. Indeed, the ANC is a living heritage, having celebrated its centenary in 2012. We therefore have a responsibility to protect and preserve it and its culture. The centenary of the ANC was not only celebrated in South Africa, but also celebrated continentally and internationally. Even the United Nations celebrated the ANC centenary.
Our heritage, as all of us should know, binds us together. I would like to cite a leader, Martin Luther King, Jr, who made the point that we have a responsibility as a people to live together as brothers and sisters, or perish together as fools.
The statement made by my colleague earlier about the child who could not play with other children because he was not properly socialised is a very important one. This matter speaks exactly to who we are as South Africans.
Comrade Minister, we remain a divided society. We remain a terribly divided society. We are divided racially, socially and economically. Your department has a responsibility - and it has the propensity - to deal with our divisions. I was hoping that this debate would be very sombre in which people mobilised their parties and society behind unity and social cohesion.
Remember, we inform the country. As a collective, we have a responsibility to lead this country. We cannot be led by society. We are leading society. Society has elected 460 Members of Parliament to lead them. Our responsibility is to lead that society. But if we send out the wrong signals to that society, then we are dividing our society.
I have observed that we are always very good when we hold our meetings where there are no cameras. But, once we see a camera ... [Laughter.] Yoh!
Indeed, the ANC called upon us as South Africans to honour and celebrate our collective heritage and to promote our diverse culture. This is in no way a measure to perpetuate division, but to celebrate an inclusive community, boost national pride and optimism, hence the rainbow nation, which President Mandela and Bishop Tutu spoke about. As South Africans, we have a rich and diverse history and the strength of our nation lies in our history.
When we adopted the Constitution of this country, part of what is in our Constitution is a diverse history, which is now our heritage, inspired by the motto of the South African Constitution which says: "!ke e: /xarra //ke", meaning diverse people unite. I may be wrong in how I have pronounced it, but you will pardon me. The richness of this heritage is also reflected in the diversity of our languages, including the languages of the Khoi, the San, the Bushman and the Griquas.
Our culture is what keeps our communities together. This is our language, our social habits, our music, our cumulative deposits of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes and identity. We need to celebrate our South African culture because that is where our strength lies.
As we were approaching the World Cup, South Africa was receiving a lot of bad publicity and the bad publicity was coming from ourselves. When the foreign media landed in South Africa, they were the first people to tell a good story and the rest of the South African media followed. I guess I had to believe that we had already laid a very good foundation during the World Cup to move forward. Nevertheless, it is sad that we have reverted. All we know is to criticise and find fault with the governing party about everything, even when there is nothing. When we find an opportunity, we use it to cast aspersions.
Indeed, the ANC has committed itself to ensuring that we develop the languages of the Khoi, Bushman and Griquas. And I am happy that the department has started with the programme of achieving exactly that.
We are happy with the announcement by the Minister that several of our heroes will be repatriated back to South Africa and that we are going to build new heritage sites and new monuments.
It is very sad that South Africa was involved in what has been called the Anglo-Boer War. I am happy that the department is working on this matter - the African War. Several Africans perished during this war, but not a single African name appears on the monuments that were built. In the concentration camps, you only hear of white children and white women who died. But we are told that black women and black children also died, so there is no recognition.
These things are facing our country, and your department, hon Minister, has the responsibility to ensure that these unknown heroes and people of our country are recognised. Going forward, people may believe that this country only started when Mandela was born - that there was never a black person in South Africa before that time. This is because nothing recognises Africans. The only recognition you find has to do with those who were royalty, and I want to believe that your department and its entities are up to the task of ensuring that our country finally find its footing.
With these words, we would like to thank you for the opportunity to participate in this debate and to restate our support as the ANC for this budget. I thank you. [Applause.]