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The National Heritage Council is up in arms over Parliament’s decision not to include an imbongi/moreti (praise singer) in this year’s State of the Nation Address and called on the resolution to be revisited as such an undertaking would amount to an eroding of Parliament’s African identity.
The decision was taken as part of Parliament’s drastic financial cuts on what it has called “unnecessary expenses” for the upcoming Sona.
In a letter dated June 18, chief executive of the council, Advocate Sonwabile Mancotywa, voiced his displeasure over Parliament’s decision.
He said the council was in support of Parliament’s decision to cut out unnecessary costs, however, “the decision to remove imbongi from Parliamentary proceedings during the State of the Nation Address needed to be revisited.
“The decision inadvertently removes Parliament’s African identity instead of reinforcing it,” said Mancotywa.
Addressing the letter directly to National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise, Mancotywa emphasised that the introduction to Parliament in 1994 of an imbongi/moreti by former president Nelson Mandela formed “part of nation building against the backdrop of our country’s colonial and apartheid past”.
“During that dark period, the history, culture and heritage of black South Africans was relegated to the margins of respectability. Imbongi were viewed as inconsequential tramps of mean repute who deserved no pride of place in our nation’s historical account,” said Mancotywa.
Adding that: “With the advent of democracy, the introduction of an imbongi to parliament was aimed at decolonizing our Parliament which was, and, to a great extent, still is Eurocentric. It marked the dawn of a new era for the House in the midst of colonial symbols such as the mace, the symbol of the authority in the National Assembly.”
Speaking to City Press on Wednesday, Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mathapo said he had not seen any such letter addressed to the speaker of Parliament.
He, however, confirmed that “because of numerous concerns raised over the decision taken by Parliament to no longer have an imbongi, the presiding officers were applying their minds and would communicate their resolution at the earliest convenient time.”
Last week, Parliament announced that it had budgeted R2 million for the address, well below the R9.2 million spent on the Sona five years ago.
In line with this, Modise said “That does not mean we want to expend all the money. I’m hoping that it does go down to below [R2 million].”
National Assembly Deputy Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli went on to add that: “While various features that have traditionally characterised both the preparations and the actual Sona ceremonies have been modified for this address, the occasion would still preserve the decorum and solemnity of a key state event of this magnitude.”
Mancotywa urged the presiding officers to retain an imbongi during the parliamentary proceedings as they “played a significant role in the preservation of our oral tradition, an intangible form of heritage, largely ignored by western historians in the past.”
Adding that the imbongi “stood at the centre of reviving and developing our fledgling African languages which are threatened by Eurocentric values.”
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