STATEMENT BY THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER

 

DR B.SIBUSISO DLAMINI

 

read by the Hon Acting Prime Minister Senator Paul Dlamini

 

 

 

AT THE LAUNCH AND PRESENTATION OF THE DIGITIZED ORAL SWAZI CLAN HISTORIES

 

 

 

AT HAPPY VALLEY HOTEL, EZULWINI

 

 

 

27 JANUARY 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honourable Minister for Information, Communications and

 

Technology (ICT)

 

Director of the Swaziland National Archives

 

Executive Director UNESCO

 

Principal Secretary of the Ministry of ICT

 

Chief Executive Officer of the National Tourism Authority

 

Distinguished Guests

 

Ladies and Gentlemen

 

 

 

 

May I start by welcoming all of you at what is, quite literally, an historic occasion in which the Digitized Oral Swazi Clan Histories are launched and presented. I regret that, owing to national duties outside the country, I am unable to attend the function in person. The Acting Prime Minister, the Honourable Paul Dlamini has, however, kindly agreed to read my message to you.

 

Each of us, on average, has around what the Bible would generally describe as "three score years and ten" - that is 70 years - of earthly existence. Some are more fortunate than others but that is a rough average. In that life span we all have a part to play in the construction of the history of our country. Some will leave a visible record of their personal contributions, others will feature more quietly. In this day and age, what makes the visible become also indelible is our way of compiling, classifying and storing data - we hope indestructibly - for availability to future generations.

 

 

That was not always the case, and different societies across the world had their own various techniques, for recording history. From parchment, to the paper from the printing press, and ultimately - though I am sure, not finally, - we have the digital record, with the alternative choice of the hard copy version.

 

But, of course, we are not merely preoccupied with recording the present. The past history of our country is also hugely important to us and to future generations. It is of immense value to be able to identify and place in context, key events. It is of great interest to have a knowledge of the personalities and contributions of prominent people, the achievements and the challenges, the way of life of the people and their beliefs and customs. It is particularly valuable to have a history of the many clans of our society (that is, families forming a large social group) and, from that, a great deal of the history of what was happening in Swaziland over those years. Perhaps, above all, it helps a people understand its own social, topographical and cultural development over the centuries.

 

Here in Swaziland, the tradition of memory-capture and oral dissemination of historical detail has always relied on the recollection of individuals, and the passing of information from generation to generation. In the short term that can work, but in the long term, without a written back-up, there will always be the risk of distortion or even erasure of important information.

 

How then, when trying to capture a record of as much of the past as possible can we record today what happened all those years ago when historical record was not kept in written form? This is where the process of obtaining history from oral presentations by individuals comes into play. Today we are seeing the launch of a hugely valuable piece of work which represents the electronic capture, and positioning on record, of oral accounts of the history of the Swazi clans. It is what might be described as The Untold Story. The work has been carried out by two eminent professionals, Professor Philip Bonner and Professor Carolyn Hamilton, and we are honoured today to receive a presentation by these two academics in combination with another highly experienced scholar, Dr Grant McNulty.

 

This event is the launch of a product compiled over years of dedicated effort by these professionals, culminating in this rare compilation of over 500 years of digitised oral archives. That is a truly exciting product for our country.

 

 

Oral history is about gathering and preserving historical information through recorded interviews with bona fide and reliable individuals, capturing events, attitudes and folklore of earlier times. Oral history secures the unrecorded details for the benefit of the society of today, and for posterity.

 

And in the spirit of complying with legal deposit regulations, the two professors have proceeded to deposit their unique output with the Swaziland National Archives for the launch and storage of these oral historical records.

 

In accordance with its responsibility to serve the Nation, the Archives Department will promote these new archives and make them accessible to researchers and to those pursuing the relevant studies in the years to come.

 

Our National Archives occupy a key position in records management and the information network as the legal custodians for public, non-public and private published, or unpublished, documentation on Swaziland. As part of its mandate the Department has to ensure that the archives are professionally processed and made accessible to all members of Swazi society and the wider researcher community. I go a step further and suggest that excerpts from these new archives could be published in the print media from time to time, and thus be more accessible to people across the country, while also serving to stimulate a deeper interest among some members of the population.

 

It is my pleasure to thank Professors Bonner and Hamilton for their excellent work, and also express further gratitude to them and to Dr McNulty for today's presentation. We are also deeply grateful to all the scholars, teachers, historians and other individuals who gave their cooperation and made their respective contributions for the achievement of this massive task.

 

With these remarks I now declare the 500 years Digitised Oral Archives officially launched.

 

 

 

Thank you.