Thank you, Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, hon Mninwa Mahlangu; our Minister of Arts and Culture, hon Paul Mashatile; the chairperson of the Select Committee on Education and Recreation, Mme Makgate, and members of the committee; hon members of the NCOP; Members of Executive Councils, MECs, who may be here; our Director-General and senior managers from the department; board members, chief executive officers, CEOs, and other managers of the department and our entities; ladies and gentlemen, earlier this month the nation bade farewell to one of our icons of the liberation struggle - a mentor and teacher to many of us, and a mother to the nation, Mama Albertina Sisulu.
Some of us had the privilege at some stage of working with her in many structures, including the National Executive Committee of the United Democratic Front in the early 1980s, where she was the copresident, together with two other copresidents, the late Comrade Archie Gumede from Natal and the late Comrade Oscar Mpetha from here in the Western Cape.
Among her countless fights with the oppressive apartheid system, Ma Sisulu took part in the launch of that seminal document upon which our democratic Constitution is largely based, the Freedom Charter. She was part of those who participated in adopting the charter in Cape Town in 1955. She was also a key player in the launch of the Women's Charter and in the mammoth 1956 Women's March to the Union Buildings.
Ma Sisulu was part of that generation of freedom fighters who many years ago believed that the goal of a free, democratic, united, nonracial, nonsexist and prosperous South Africa was possible, and was also something worth sacrificing for.
As we bid her farewell and she lies peacefully in her final resting place, Mama Sisulu and her generation of freedom fighters will be proud that despite the many challenges that still lie ahead we are making progress in the building of the kind of society they envisaged those many years ago.
They will be proud that a year ago our country was overwhelmed by an unprecedented wave of patriotism generated by the hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup. I hope, as we celebrate and remember this year, that we can still feel it; I hope it's not gone.
Indeed, at around this time last year South Africans - young and old, black and white, rural and urban, men and women - collectively flew the national flag and sang the national anthem with pride. In our diversity as South Africans we were united behind the common objective. Our sense of ourselves as South Africans came before everything else.
Our department will continue to take the lead in ensuring that as a nation we sustain this momentum which we picked up during the World Cup, building one nation united in our diversity.
It is for this reason that, guided by the resolutions of the Social Cohesion Colloquium which was held in 2009, we continue to conduct community dialogues in all provinces on the issue of social cohesion. These dialogues are aimed at ensuring that South Africans enter into conversation on what it is that makes us unique as South Africans. The dialogues will also seek to imbue our society with the authentic values of ubuntu - I am because you are. They will form an integral part of the national effort to build a humane and caring society.
Also of significance is that these dialogues will contribute to ongoing efforts to develop a vision of the kind of South Africa we want to live in and to secure the future of our generations to come. It is therefore critical that our efforts as the department in this regard be linked with the work currently being done by the National Planning Commission in order to develop a shared long-term vision of our country.
We will continue to rely on the leadership and co-operation of our partners in the provinces and municipalities as we engage in this important task of social cohesion and nation-building.
As part of instilling a culture of patriotism among our young people, we will this year also be launching the Trendsetter Initiative in all nine provinces, working together with the National Youth Development Agency. This initiative is aimed at creating a cadre of young people who will contribute to the wellbeing of our communities through the arts. As these young people engage in this task, they will grow and develop their careers as artists and contribute towards making better citizens.
Linked to our ongoing efforts to build a socially inclusive society is the need to pay attention to issues of moral regeneration. This is particularly significant since next month, July, is Moral Regeneration Month. The theme for this year is, "Together Nurturing the Good in Everyone through the Charter of Positive Values".
Moral regeneration is central to the objective of instilling in our communities the charter of positive values as part of building a humane and more caring society. It is for this reason that our department will continue to work with the Moral Regeneration Movement in promoting a more inclusive society that appreciates our diversity and sees it as a source of strength rather than one of weakness.
The hon chair of the select committee has already referred to the valuable role of national days. Part of building an inclusive society is ensuring that the commemoration and celebration of our national days are reflective of and embraced by all South Africans. We concur with the hon chair.
The celebration of national days must never be seen as the exclusive preserve of certain sections of our society. It must be used to strengthen efforts to build a society that is truly united in its diversity.
It is for this reason that as a department we will continue to work with other government departments and community-based organisations to encourage the participation of all South Africans in the celebration of our national days. To ensure success in this task we will continue to rely on the greater involvement of the provinces and municipalities in organising these events. The structures of provincial governments have the responsibility to assist us in mobilising all our people in greater numbers to participate in this regard.
The Constitution of our country directs that all official languages must enjoy parity of esteem and be treated equitably. Our Constitution further urges the state to take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of indigenous languages whose status was undermined under the previous dispensation.
It is against this background that we, as the ANC government, will continue to encourage the use of all official languages, especially indigenous languages. Part of what we are doing in this regard is that we will this year be tabling in Parliament and the NCOP the South African Languages Bill. Through this Bill we will, among other things, strengthen efforts to promote multilingualism in our society. We note the progress made by a number of provinces in their language policies, and we urge those who have not yet passed language policies to do so.
With regard to the promotion of the use of sign language, we are delighted to report that through the Pan South African Language Board, PanSALB, we have established a national language body for sign language. We have also appointed a South African sign language practitioner to serve this national language body.
PanSALB has also concluded workshops and basic training in sign language in the provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo, Northern Cape, North West and Mpumalanga to capacitate public servants in the use of sign language. In the Free State, PanSALB is funding the training of 10 sign language interpreters, who will receive accreditation and be placed on the PanSALB database of sign language interpreters for the province.
With regard to the language development of the San and Khoi communities, PanSALB is currently funding an initiative to translate a Khoekhoegowab- English Dictionary into an Afrikaans version. Working together with hon members, we will strengthen and monitor the work of PanSALB as it drives towards promoting sign language.
Hon Chair, it looks like my time is up! I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank hon members of this committee for their oversight and support. Guided by the mandate of the electorate to the ANC, we pledge to continue to work with you as we together pursue the noble vision of Mama Sisulu: working together we can do more. We do believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, as the Freedom Charter declares. We, too, feel that it feels good to be an African, as former President Mbeki declared in 1996. I thank you. Re a leboga, Modula Setulu. [Thank you, Chairperson] [Interjections.] [Applause.]