1. HON. MEC Zikalala, may I remind you that all scripture, be it the Holy Bible, the Bhagavat Gita, the Koran or Torah, all compel us to be ‘our brother’s keeper’ and similarly cultural heritage, post modernism, like the universalism of all religious teachings, has undergone universal commodification, which is a great development. Let’s be positive, every Heritage month for our gains.
2. HON. Members, while cultural democracy protects and promotes cultural diversity and the right to participate in policy decisions that affect the quality of cultural lives, culture is a key determinant of economic activity.
3. The gains that can be made by cultural development would not need economic justification considering the triple challenges we face of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
4. HON. Members, this can be combatted by innovatively maintaining our culture whilst creating jobs and generating income; and makes for a win-win situation.
5. Cultural tourism reduces poverty by assisting microenterprises to showcase the wide variety of goods and services. Our youth will gain better opportunities through sustainable tourism.
6. HON. Members, with culture being of growing public interest, the trading of goods offers invaluable opportunities for the poor; which we must promote during Heritage month.
7. Therefore, the introduction in schools of religious studies of varied cultures will help attain cultural discipline and realise Madibas’s words: “our rich and varied culture heritage has a profound power to help build our nation and that education is the most powerful weapon which can be used to change the world”.
8. HON. Members, with heritage month we are acknowledging the contributions of our forefathers by honouring the contributions of senior citizens at the sectoral parliament this weekend and this Legislature and our HON. Speaker Mrs. L. Johnson must be commended.

Thank you.

Debate by: Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi

Minority Front Leader (KZN Legislature)