New organisation to preserve South African liberation history
NaLHISA focuses at collecting, preserving and sharing the authentic stories of South Africa’s liberation through digital and physical archives.
A new non-profit organisation wants to ensure that South African’s rich liberation history is easily accessible to all members of the community in a “non-partisan” manner.
The National Liberation Heritage Institute of South Africa (NaLHISA), which is chaired by the former speaker of the national assembly Baleka Mbete, revealed this last Friday during a media briefing at Freedom Park, Pretoria.
According to NaLHISA, its main focus is to collect, preserve and share the authentic stories of South Africa’s liberation through digital and physical archives.
On its organisational profile document, NaLHISA states that “South African national liberation story is a significant component of cultural history”.
“South Africa has the potential to realise a renewed sense of patriotism through conveying an inclusive tale of the country’s liberation that inspires nationalism and communal ambitions for progress and prosperity.”
South Africa’s former ambassador to Brazil, Mbulelo Rakwena, said NaLHISA regarded the gathering as an extremely important historical meeting.
“Most of the organisations told us this was long overdue,” Rakwena told the briefing.
“The longer you don’t record history, the more you risk distorting history.
“When history is not recorded, people might abuse it for their own agendas.”
He said NaLHISA was not about rewriting history, but about recording it.
“NaLHISA is about the preservation of the ethnicity of the history that should be put forward in its best, truest form.”
AZAPO (Azanian People Organisation) however, warned NaLHISA on their stance in relation to rewriting history.
“Every time we are listen, NaLHISA seems to be emphasising that they won’t rewrite history. But we are saying that history can be misrecorded,” AZAPO president Nelvis Qekema said.
Qekema said they, however, trust the organisation’s integrity in the recording of history because what they do not want to have is “a single story of domination and power”.
He said they were, however, fully behind this initiative.
“It is long overdue.”
In attendance was also Inkatha Freedom Party, which pledged their support for the project.
“When things must be rewritten, let it be so on the bases of the factual evidence that arise out of the archives,” member of national assembly for Inkatha Freedom Party, Mkhuleko Hlengwa said.
Hlengwa added that the work of academia was important in this regard.
“We can only congratulate you because this is long overdue.”
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