siyakha mguni - south africa national coat-of-arms/rock art

8/14/2019 Siyakha Mguni - South Africa National Coat-of-Arms/Rock Art

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AdVantage AdMagAward - Best In-flight Magazine YOUR COMPliMENTARYIN-fLIGHTMAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 200


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by Siyaklw Mguni

Have you ever dreamed of discoveling treasure ? It is

eas ier than you think. Clambering along the slopes

of the uKhahlamba-Draken berg (and other moun

tainous pa m of South Africa ), one often stumbles

upon smaU overhangs and, sometimes, large shelters that are awash

with ancient treasme.

I recall, a few years ago, tearing through undergrowth and, while

peering at a wall below a cliff, seeing a gleaming band of pigment:

red and white. Th e wall was adorned with exquisite paintings of

eland and a multitude other animals and people , othing can be

more abso rbin g and thrilling than discovering an ancient 'g aUery' of

San rock rut. This art is one of South Africa 's greate t treasures.In recognition of the special value of San rock rut, on the sixth

anniversary of the new South Africa, 27 April , President Thabo

Mbeki unveiled the nation's new coat of rums with rock art in it

centre. His words could not have been more fitting and poignant

when he said of this national symbol, 'It serves to evoke our distant

past, our living present and our future . . . It represent s the permanentyet evolving identity of the South African people . . . I ask you . . . toembrace this coat of rums as your own, to own it as a common pos

session, representing aspirations of a winning nation.'

These words and the occasion marked President Mbeki 's visionfor the reclamation of ou r distant past. This new symbol is a desire

to trek back in time into prehistory; but that trekking , far from being

102 SAWUBONA September 2002

The rock art onSouth Africa's newcoat of arms fostersa sense of dignity

and nationhood ,'evoking our distantpast , our living

presentandI n ur future '

IverSlfy

'backward', is about progres and fosterin g goo d values of the for-

gotten past in order to face the present and future challenges . It may

be asked. what is the thread that links o ur past, present and future in

this symbol? At the herut of the coat of arms is a mirror image of a

human figure. In its poise and manner, this figure i s rypical of the

rock art made by Southern African's original people , the San. Thi

figure is a reproduction of a San rock painting. It celebrates and fos

ters a heritage that unites all South Africans in common humanity

Hence the new national motto written in /Xam, a South African San

language that is now ext inct, Ike e: Ixarra like ('Uniry in Diversityor 'peop le who are different join together ').

South African rock rut rallks ruTIong the world's o ldest. Judgingby the recent fLI1ds from Bloombos Cave in the southern Cape, com

plex decorations on ochre dated to 77 000 yeru's ago, South Aflica

may also be the place where rut began. A the cradle of humankind

and the buthplace of culture, South Africa i rapidly becoming the

world's No I cu ltW'al tourism destination.

No wonder , then, that Mr ValE Moosa, our minister of Tourism

and Environmental Affairs, afforded a spec ia l place for rock art in

his national address where he described it as 'a helitage of g lobal

significance'. To understruld this rut we must investigate indi ge nous

beliefs, customs, aspulltio ns and lifestyles. The Linton Stone (in theIziko SOUdl Africrul Museum , Cape Town) , from which the fig ure in

the coat of arms was derived , is deeply symbolic and expresses ideas


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side elevat ion

This is a represenlalianofa rock

poinlingfoundin Ihe S0er shellerin

BushmansKloof, n Ihe Cedorberg

Maunlains ofIhe WeslernCope. The

figuresore elongaled and canlorled

10 represenllhe sensoryexperiences

ofIhe Ironcep e ~ o r m a n c e ,whichisa cenlrolrilualof Ihe Sonreligion.

When enleringa rance, medicine

people ore believed10 lokepower

fromanimals andIransforminloIhem.

These ponelsore excerplsfromRock

Paintingsof SouthAfricaby Slephen

TownleyBasseH.See poge 24 for

a ~ I IreviewofIhisbook.

104 SA WUBONA September 2002

that a re roo ted in Sa n r e ligio n. San ro ck art i s a profoundl y s piritu al ar

fi lled w ith co mpl ex sy mb ols a nd m etaph ors as inspirin g as anyt hin g one

m ig ht see in o ne of th e g rea t sta in ed -g lass w ind ow s of a E uropea n

ca thedr al.

Eleve n m onth s after the laun ch of the nat ional coa t of arms, Dr B en

Ngu bane, Mini ste r of Art s, C ultur e, Science a nd Tec hn ology, un ve il ed

So uth Afr ica's mos t se nsa tio nal ro ck-art di scove ry since the ear ly 20 thcentury. Cal led Stonm She lter, the s ite bo as ts we ll ove r 200 s tunnin g indi

v idu a l pa intin gs. Th i s un ve ilin g hi g h lig ht ed th e N a ti o na l Sc ie nce

E ngi neeri ng a nd Tec hno logy W ee k ce lebrati ons. W ear ing a roc k-art ti e

Dr Ng ubane stressed his co mmitm e nt t o brid ge the ga p betwee n art and

sc ience. Roc k-art r esearc h p rov ides that brid ge .

Roc k art is thu s a t the fo refro nt of the nati on 's new identit y. Thi s her

itage s w-vives to thi s day in the roc ky recesses an d outcro ps across th

co un try a nd , as o ne of the mos t viv id and endurin g wo rks of prehistori

cul ture, it te lls of South Afr ica ' s unbrok e n pas t, its predica ments a nd glo

ries. U ndoubt ed ly, it can res tore the i nteg rity of indi ge nous hi story anpromote a co nun on sense of nationhood. Roc k cut ope ns a v ista o nto th

pas t th at goes beyo nd the no to rious a parth eid idea that there was no histo

ry in thi s co un try before 1652 . It bears tes tcunent t o co untl ess mill ennia o

cul tura l ac hieve ment befo re the co lonial per iod .

W a lk ing in th e uK h a hl a mb a- Drak e ns be rg a nd th e Ce d e rbe r

M oun tai ns, one can not but be ove rawe d b y the prese nce of thi s pre histori

treas ure trove that our SCUl fo rebe cu 's left fo r u s - a tes tim ony of the grea

val ues of the past in w hic h we a ll ca n t ake prid e. Roc k art fos ters a sens

of who we are culd w here we co me fro m. M s Pumul a M adib a, head o

SA HR A - the depcut ment respo ns ible for our n a tio nal he ritage es tate

adv ises us, culd rightly so, to loo k be yo nd the co mm ercia l s ide o f he ritage

It i s the identi ty and d ign ity that flow fro m it th at is all im po rtant.

But she also ce leb rates t he eco nomic ben efit s that roc k-a rt h e ritage ca

bring to many So uth Af riccul s. La st ye ar , w ith a R6- milli on gove rnm en

ini tia tive and the invo lve ment of R oc k Art Rese cu 'ch In stitut e a nd o the

orga nisa tions, two m ajor rock- art sites we re ope ned f or eco- tourism , eac

w ith wo rld -class visitor fac iliti es. Th e fir st of these is Game Pass Sh elte

in K am be rg Na ture Rese rve ( uKh ahlcunb a-Dr akensbe rg: te l (033) 263

72 51 ). Th e seco nd i s Wild e bee st Kuil , whi c h is 15 minut es o ut s id

Kimb e rley (No rth e rn Ca pe: te l (0 53) 833-7 0 69 ). Th e deve lopm e nt o

these two sites has crea ted m o re th an 70 jo bs fo r un empl oye d peo pl

within local r ural co mmuniti es. Poverty allevia tion and j ob-c rea tion go a

are the refo re bei n g realised through roc k-art touri sm .

Everyo ne is we lco me to these s ites to e xpe rience dle bea uty of the Sa

roc k art aJld to lear n fro m these t reas ures . In the deve lopin g new So ut

Afr ica, roc k art 'c e ments the fut ure . It 's one of the big sites of the reco n

c il iation of So uth Afr ica '. Th ese we re t he wo rds of M s C hery l Caro lu

hea d of Sato ur , w he n s he la un c hed th e Wild e bees t Ku il Ce ntr e i

Dece m ber 200 I . The natio n is wo rkin g toge the r to brin g rock art to th

atte ntion of everyo ne, a p rece dent h as bee n se t cu ld m ore wi ll fo llow.

Siyakha Mguni is from the Rock Ar t Research Ins titut

[email protected]

siyakha mguni - south africa national coat-of-arms/rock art

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