Pretoria – Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa has launched the Charter for African Renaissance and the consultation on the African Union Agenda 2063.
The Minister said South Africa will continue to dedicate the month of May to Africa Month as part of its work on the charter.
“This will be a month long festival and conference that will feature various arts and cultures disciplines including music, literature, dance, film, fashion, crafts, theatre, visual arts, panel discussions and food culture,” the Minister of Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, said.
He said Africa Month would be used to popularise the African Heritage by supporting the African World Heritage Fund, which enables African countries to better identify, preserve and promote their heritage.
The Charter for African Cultural Renaissance is a tool developed to empower Member States to promote Pan Africanism, culture renewal and identity.
It is seen as an instrument to encourage the use of African languages and heighten the role of states in cultural development.
Minister Mthethwa launched the charter under the theme “Pan Africanism and African Cultural Renaissance – Towards Agenda 2063”.
He said the charter strengthened national policies and cultural instruments towards the continents socio-economic and cultural integration.
Minister Mthethwa said South Africa was among the first eight countries, which included Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Republic of Congo, Chad and Ethiopia, to endorse the charter.
He urged other countries to adopt the charter as part of the regeneration of Africa.
“This charter will continue to champion the African Agenda. It is part of the efforts to create a better South Africa in a better Africa.
“We shall promote the unity of culture, arts, values, language, heritage and infuse these into our cultural work and creative industries as central thrusts to sustainable development,” Minister Mthethwa said.
Head of Arts and Culture in the African Union Commission (AU), Angela Martinis, said the diversity of cultures in the continent would bring people together.
“At the AU level were working on the integration of the continent which will speak to issues such as removing visas.
“We are developing Agenda 2063, which talks about a more concrete integration of the continent.
“In Agenda 2063, we have an aspiration with regard to culture, which talks about the integration and the role of culture in uniting the people of Africa,” Martinis said.
She the AU had developed a strategy to finance the cultural sector.
“The strategy was adopted in 2010 by the conferences of the ministers of culture, it has innovative ways of financing culture and Member States are already expected to be implementing it,” Martinis said. – SAnews.gov.za
