INLSA

REMEMBERING: Hector Pietersens younger sister Lulu Pietersen at her late brothers memorial in Orlando West. The ANC, since coming into power, has sought to create new museums. These recall our troubled past, celebrate our triumph over the evil of apartheid and endeavour for a common heritage as the people of SA, says the writer. Picture: Matthews Baloyi

The article “Zuma out of touch with reality” (The Star, January 11) is at worst erroneous and at best out of touch with the reality it purports to project.

The impression one gets is that it seeks to suggest that the ANC centenary celebrations that took place in Mangaung should not have been. It would have been a grievous fault for our movement and the people of SA not to celebrate the heritage and legacy of our Struggle. It would also have been a tragedy if the ANC did not recall and celebrate the triumph of our people over colonialism, imperialism and racial oppression. Furthermore, it would have been a historical error not to recognise the African institution that the ANC has become.

Contrary to what the author suggests, it is in the celebration of the 100 years that we are precisely doing what she wishes, that is, “decolonising the mind”, as Ngugi wa Thiongo prefers.

As a social institution that mirrors SA society, the ANC continues to have a purpose, is permanent and transcends individual human lives and intentions. This is how the Stanford Encyclopedia defines (social) institutions.

In celebrating our history, we recall our roots, how we came to be and how we evolved. History anchors an organisation and the people thereof.

When we refer to values, culture and traditions of an organisation, we do so by tracing its historical evolution and development. This should not be relegated to buildings such as museums, but must form part of people. In this way we celebrate a living history.

The ANC, since coming into power, has also sought to create new museums resonant with the new SA we envision. Throughout the country there are museums that recall our troubled past, celebrate our triumph over the evil of apartheid and endeavour for a common heritage as the people of SA.

The Hector Pieterson Memorial in Soweto reminds us of the brutality meted on our young people on June 16, 1976. When one takes a walk through the Apartheid Museum at Gold Reef City, one is brought alive to the atrocities that were visited upon all our people, irrespective of race, colour or creed.

In Athlone there is the Trojan Horse Memorial, reminding us of the draconian acts of the apartheid army; in Gugulethu there is a line of trees in memory of the Gugulethu Seven; in the Cape Town city centre the Iziko Museum; and in Mpumalanga there is the memory of the Delmas trials.

We could go through each province, even look at the new names of roads and streets, and the list is endless.

But above all these, we have created Freedom Park in Pretoria.

Freedom Park integrates our history, its tribulations and victory. On December 16 last year, the president connected Freedom Park with the Voortrekker Monument as a symbol of our intention to unite all our people and transcend our divided past. It would be wise for Ms Devi Rajab to take an open-eyed stroll through her country so as to see.

As for the ANC, there is an intention to build an ANC Heritage and Legacy Institute in Waaihoek, the founding place of the organisation.

This will be the place that will be the repository of the movement’s history and memory. The institute would endeavour to teach, guide and engender the vision espoused by the founding forebears and carried through by the ANC leadership throughout history.

Such a vision is captured in the Freedom Charter, that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white.

It would seek to ensure that future generations appreciate and cherish the mission of the ANC, that of uniting all South Africans. This is the responsibility of an institution such as the ANC. In this way, we would be able to “de-scar” the black psyche.

In his January 8 speech, the president recognised the three challenges facing SA society, namely, high unemployment, deepening poverty and growing inequality.

We have continued to emphasise education, the need to invest in it and to improve its quality. The fact is, in two successive years we have improved the matric pass rates.

On the health front, the work our minister, comrade Aaron Motsoaledi, is doing is praiseworthy nationally and internationally. There has been a concerted effort to improve the skills profile in health management, and the health facilities are improved and assessed continuously. Much more work has been done regarding HIV/Aids, and that has been acknowledged even by those who were previously opposed.

South Africans must continuously celebrate their achievements. In the process, they must recommit themselves to contributing to a changing society.

The ANC is committed to preserving its proud history and heritage of liberation. We will adapt as per the change in circumstances, mindful of such a glorious past.

This is the reason we have prevailed and are now a 100-year-old organisation, the oldest African liberation movement and the only one still in existence.

As we take the next step into another century, we begin with celebrating the past and giving an indication to the future.

In doing this, we wish to inscribe in the mind of every oppressed person and in the mind of Africans in particular and black people in general that we are not a defeated people.

In doing so, we are doing what Steve Bantu Biko sought to achieve: freeing the mind.

All our people must know, especially the future generations, that they are a proud people and their proud history of resilience and triumph against all odds must never be erased.

In our celebration of the ANC’s 100 years, we reaffirm the words of Pixley ka Isaka Seme that, indeed, “The brighter day is rising upon Africa… Yes the regeneration of Africa belongs to this new and powerful period”.

l Gwede Mantashe is the secretary-general of the ANC.