A day of reconciliation for Africa?

As South Africa yesterday marked the Day of Reconciliation, experts called for a day encompassing southern Africa, unifying people across the colour line.

Speaking at an event at the University of Pretoria and paying tribute to the legacy of Mapungubwe, University of Pretoria arts lecturer Sikho Siyotula-Siegemund said reconciliation was about reconciling the southern African landscape. 

“It is about reconciling a piece of this land, which is much wider than South Africa – looking at southern Africa as a region that is and was connected.

“Think of what can happen if we start thinking like that. Mapungubwe, Mahikeni, Great Zimbabwe and Bukoni are settlements which remind us about that connectivity – the power of that connectivity and the potential of what it can produce.

“I think what Mapungubwe does is remind us that culture of connectivity from very far back – connecting us to Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana,” said Siyotula-Siegemund.

Set against the northern border of South Africa, joining Zimbabwe and Botswana, Mapungubwe is an expansive savannah landscape at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers, which developed into the largest kingdom in the subcontinent, before being abandoned in the 14th century.

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Reflecting on the Day of Reconciliation, Prof Mathole Motshekga, founder of the Kara Heritage Institute, said: “This Day of Reconciliation can and should work if we get to a point where we restore African spirituality – unifying all people and not distinguishing on the basis of their colour.

“The Mapungubwe legacy shows that African people who lived many years ago, before Europe was born, were so advanced as to be able to produce artefacts.

“They knew what happened around them without having to go to a university. Knowledge is inherent in the people who had a way of transmitting that knowledge. That is why it is important to respect indigenous knowledge systems which will take us forward.”

The university’s Javett Art Centre CEO Lekgetho Makola said: “Creating shared national and continental identities begins to restore the dignities and values of our people, liberating their talents and creativity.

“Used to its fullest, our arts and cultural heritage can serve as a powerful catalyst towards a truly liberated and integrated country and continent.”

– brians@citizen.co.za