Address by the Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor MP, at opening of the Steve Biko Exhibition, Sol Plaatje House

Nkosinathi Biko, CEO of the Biko Foundation
Senior officials of the Department of Education
Ladies and Gentlemen

Stephen Bantu Biko fought for the liberation of black people in South Africa.

He died 30 years ago at the age of 30.

The true extent of his influence has not been measured. He influenced writers, poets, politicians, filmmakers and the young and old. The painful manner of his dying confirmed that apartheid truly was a crime against humanity.

The exhibition I am opening today is called, "Biko: A Quest for True Humanity".

The theme seeks to signify that Biko was on a search mission. One which would end with our self discovery of our selves. It also reflects a task facing South Africa who are we really?

We have not yet come to terms with the full psychological extent of the damage apartheid inflicted on the minds of our people. Biko spoke to our conscious self.

It is appropriate that young people look into the life and works of Steve Biko to find some way of coming to terms with the legacy of apartheid and with the tasks that face them in a changing South Africa.

Biko's ideas are as relevant today as they were thirty years ago. He wrote:

"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed".

He believed that emancipation of black people through black consciousness was a necessary pre-condition for the overthrow of apartheid and for liberation. Biko declared:

"The first step therefore is to make the black man come to himself; to pump back life into his empty shell; to infuse him with pride and dignity, to remind him of his complicity in the crime of allowing himself to be misused and therefore letting evil reign supreme in the county of his birth".

Of course, these quotations need to be understood in their historical context, but there can be little doubt that Biko's ideas still find a strong resonance with many black people in South Africa today.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, on delivering the Annual Steve Bantu Biko lecture last year, observed:

"It seems as if we have perverted our freedom, our rights into license, into being irresponsible. Rights go hand in hand with responsibility, with dignity, with respect for oneself and for the other".

In order to address this culture of entitlement amongst young people in particular, the Department of Education, in partnership with the National Religious Leaders' Forum, has proposed a national Bill of Responsibilities for Young People.

The aim of this initiative is to "pump back life into his/her empty shell", to get young South Africans to reflect on the African saying "Umntu ngumntu ngabanye", and to understand its implications for their lives.

I will release the Bill for public comment soon. Over the coming year I will encourage all young people to engage with the Bill/Charter and to enter into dialogue with other young South Africans on what they think the responsibilities of young people in our new democracy should be.

I hope that the publication of the Bill/Charter will engender a national conversation among young people about what they value in their lives. I trust it will lead to an inter-generational dialogue about how to realize the South Africa that Biko sought to achieve.

When Deputy Minister Surty visited the Nkosi Albert Luthuli High School in Mpumalanga recently, he asked learners who Albert Luthuli was. He asked: why is Luthuli revered the world over as a statesman and peacemaker?

Sadly the Deputy Minister found that not one learner knew who Albert Luthuli was - and this in a school that carries the name of this great leader of our people! Of, course we in education and government are to blame for this. History is not a key subject in a nation whose history was trampled.

As President Mandela said a few years ago, that we tend to focus on the achievements of democratic South Africa.

We tend to focus on the roles of the Mandelas or Mbekis.

We tend to neglect those who were the planners, the architects and the builders of the freedom that we enjoy today.

This year the Department of Education prepared a commemorative book Footprints in the Sands of Time that honours four architects of our liberation: Albert Luthuli, OR Tambo, Robert Sobukwe and, of course, Stephen Bantu Biko.

We have distributed this book to all schools in the country. I hope that it will contribute to deepening our children's understanding of these heroes of our people.

Biko once remarked, "In time we shall be in a position to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gift - a more human face".

It is my wish that through this exhibition, we in the Department of Education, can contribute to the legacy of the man that was Stephen Bantu Biko.

The best way that we as a nation can remember Biko on this anniversary is to continue to build a society free of racism, a society in which "everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected" - the kind of society that Biko dreamed about - and died for.

Issued by: Department of Education
8 October 2007