As SA celebrates Heritage Day on Tuesday, EFF MP Ringo Madlingozi says the country's arts, entertainment and culture scenes, among others, should reflect the country's citizens.
The veteran musician turned politician was leading a debate on Heritage Day in the National Assembly this week.
Here are six quotes from his speech:
A reflection of who South Africans are
“We need a concerted programme to redefine ourselves as black people as a whole in this country and use our common past as a binding tool for us to identify fully with one another. Our music, dance, acting, museums and all creations should reflect who we are.”
Redefining South Africans
“This [heritage] must not be reduced to only subjects of debate during September only, chairperson. We must have an ongoing programme of redefining ourselves in order to rid this country of neocolonialism.”
African lived experiences
“The department of arts & culture should be one of those super-departments, responsible for reorienting dominant culture in society to ensure that the posture of public discourse is centred in African lived experiences.”
African-centred themes
“We need to have cultural centres in our societies, with tutors that would train actors to create movies that will project African-centred themes and stories.”
Language and intellectual understanding
“Language and intellectual understanding are the greatest threats to the continuing domination of European culture and ideas in the country.”
Define and redefine
“The intellectuals and others who were directly involved in the liberation struggle, such as the legendary Isaac Bangani Tabata, Robert Sobukwe, AP [Ashby Solomzi Pete] Mda and others, left us a heritage which we ought to use to define and redefine ourselves as Africans in an era of rampant neocolonialism and imperialism.”
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