Chiara Carter
Two separate Day of Reconciliation ceremonies will be held at Blood River where the government is hosting a R800 000 feast to mark the opening of a new memorial to Zulus who fell in the battle.
On one side of the drift that divides the Afrikaans and Zulu memorials, Afrikaners will commemorate the Voortrekker victory. On the other side, Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology Lionel Mtshali will officially unveil a R2,5-million monument to the Zulu warriors at a ceremony expected to be attended by about 10 000 people.
About R1-million was spent in 1995 on an attempt to update the Voortrekker site with commemorative panels and an information centre run by the Pietermaritzburg-based museum.
Foundation for Blood River chair Hennie de Wet said that because of the different histories, there was no way a single function could be held to mark December 16. “Two different cultures are involved,” he said.
De Wet said Afrikaners held a service to recall the solemn vow they made before their battle victory.
His foundation, which represents six Afrikaans cultural organisations and owns the Afrikaans monument, Blood River museum and the farm where the monument stands, had no problem with the Zulus honouring their past.
De Wet said the foundation had supported the new monument from the start. The two memorials adjoining each other could be a symbol of reconciliation and how two cultures could co-exist, as well as an added tourist attraction. A small bridge was planned to span the drift and allow sightseers access to both memorials.
l The new monument – the first of the ministry’s heritage legacy programme – was planned as a counter to the dominance of the Afrikaner interpretation of the battle spelt out in the ox wagon motif which dominated the scenery.
However, the plans for the lavish opening ceremony heightened tensions in the arts and culture department with some people concerned that the new monument was being used for narrow sectarian and political party interests.
The issue was apparently one of the concerns raised by the department’s director general, Roger Jardine, before he resigned last month. Mtshali, who is a senior Inkatha Freedom Party politician, launched an extraordinary attack on Jardine last week, implying Jardine was part of a “cabal” trying to frustrate national heritage policy.
Jardine, a former African National Congress science and technology policy head, worked well alongside Mtshali’s predecessor, Ben Ngubane, now premier of KwaZulu-Natal, but tensions arose with Mtshali and deputy director general Musa Xulu.
Mtshali’s statement claimed that he had had to intervene to save the transformation and restructuring of cultural institutions from being hijacked by a narrow clique.
A member of Mtshali’s advisory committee on the heritage Bill, who is not linked to the department, this week disputed Mtshali’s statement. He said it was untrue that the minister had to intervene to protect provincial powers from an attempt by the “cabal” to remove them.