Address by the Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor, MP at the launch of South African History Online, Pretoria

It gives me great pleasure to launch the redesigned South African History Online (SAHO) web site. An understanding of the past is a crucial element in the education of young South Africans. One of the challenges that we face as a society is that of teaching children about the past. It is made challenging by our history of state-mandated repression. The specific challenge is to convey the facts, create new attitudes and build a new and different society.

With film, video and radio it is easier than ever before to teach our children about our past in its many dimensions, our social and cultural past, our political and economic history and about choices made and the consequences of those choices. This redesigned website makes a significant contribution to bringing history alive for teachers and children alike. The writing of South African history remains a massive undertaking. We are fortunate to have a project that has created a platform that allows people to contribute. This innovation makes it possible to capture the experiences of ordinary people. Every page of the site has a button which invites all South Africans to contribute.

It's really very important, a sort of South African history wiki! It's a great tragedy that our education system continues to use books and material that leave apartheid myths unchallenged. Fortunately, with this site we have begun to fill the void that has existed since the move away from a single, white-dominated, political-triumphalist narrative. We're only now beginning to see the emergence of inclusive history and social science textbooks. SA History Online has played an important role in the development of knowledge about the history of South Africa.

SA History Online's primary objective is to promote the study of history and to present our world in as diverse and as complete a way as possible. I am encouraged by the revival of a public interest in our past. I welcome the increasing number of books written by South Africans, especially books that capture the histories of ordinary people in South Africa, what historians call "every-day history." For example, the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Youth Uprisings in 2006 stimulated a great deal of interest in capturing the memories of many of those who lived through those days � the teachers, individual policemen, the families left behind and the youth themselves.

This momentum should not be lost. We are encouraging all schools to engage in the commemoration of a number of historically significant events in 2007. These events include the commemoration of the ninetieth anniversary of the sinking of the SS Mendi on 21 February 1917 and the sixtieth anniversary of the Three Doctors' Pact signed on 9 March 1947 and Ghana's 50th year of independence. In the immediate future we have to watch out for the commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the meeting in Dakar, Senegal, from 9-12 July 1987, the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Alexandra Bus Boycott and the commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the launch of the African Union (AU) in Durban.

This commemoration campaign gives South Africans the opportunity both to celebrate and to review the progress we have made as a nation in building a united South Africa. It is both a time for looking back to where we have come from and for looking ahead to set the goals that we as a nation and as individuals wish to attain in the future. The celebration and commemoration of key national and international days in education is an important aspect of the struggle against forgetting our past and its lessons.

The commemoration of the lives of key individuals who contributed greatly to shaping our young democracy and key historical events and teaching about them in our classrooms are key aspects of our strategy in this regard. SA History Online is the only website on the African continent that has a section dedicated to strengthening the teaching of history. Teachers can download the new history content from Grades 4�12. The site also has a growing section on South African art and artists that should be an invaluable source for educators of the Arts and Culture Learning Area.

In closing, we need to use this launch as an opportunity to commit anew to the task of informing our people about the past and to encouraging our youth to learn about the history of South Africa, Africa and the world. History is neglected in many education systems. We should not make the same mistake. Knowledge of the impact of undemocratic government is the best means of ensuring that we build a better South Africa. SAHO is to be commended for its efforts to capture neglected voices and experiences. I am delighted to launch the redesigned South African History Online Website and recommend the site to teachers, learners and all South Africans who want to know more of our history and to shape the future South Africa.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Education
21 May 2007