The 175th anniversary of the Battle of Blood River/Ncome will be celebrated  this week with a series of ‘courageous conversations’, which the organisers – the Msunduzi Museum in Pietermaritzburg and the Ncome Museum on the site of the battlefield – hope will break new ground in the debate on sociocultural issues.
Speaking at the celebrations on the Day of Reconciliation last year, the Rector and Vice-chancellor of Stellenbosch University, Professor Russel Botman, said Msunduzi Museum with its emphasis on transformation as well as its close association with Voortrekker history and the Battle of Blood River/Ncome reflected South Africa’s ability as a nation to make peace and strive for reconciliation.
Prof Botman called on the museum to regard reconciliation as an ongoing process, and to provide a safe platform for ‘courageous conversations’ to take place and ‘talk this country into its future together’.
The ‘platform’ will be the newly-constructed Ncome Museum near Dundee on the eastern side of the Ncome River, and looking onto the replica laager of 64 bronze Voortrekker ox wagons on the opposite bank. The new Ncome Museum includes a community hall, staff offices, library, restaurant, kitchen, tourist and staff accommodation and a reconciliation bridge, which links Ncome Museum and the Blood River heritage site.
The Battle of Blood River/Ncome, on December 16, 1838, has became a defining moment in South Africa history.
“As a museum we have embraced that spirit of transformation,” says the Director of Msunduzi Museum, Mlungisi Ngubane. “Since 1994 the museum has moved away from a single theme, and the museum – now known as the Msunduzi Museum (incorporating the Voortrekker Complex) – has become the happy meeting place of a multicultural capital of KwaZulu-Natal, while still maintaining its close links with events around the Battle of Blood River/Ncome.
“We are hoping to bring this spirit to Ncome by providing a safe environment for open, honest and courageous discussion, which will hopefully bring about cultural renewal and constructive change in heritage institutions.”
A powerful line-up of speakers is being assembled that will bring a rich diversity of cultural, educational and interpretive backgrounds to the conference.
Among the luminaries are Dr Bheki Mngomezulu (UKZN), Prof Pieter Labuschagne (UNISA), Prof Frans-Johan Pretorius (University of Pretoria), Dr Ben Khumalo-Seegelken (Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg), Dr Raymond van Diemel (South African Military Academy), Prof Jabulani Maphalala (KZN Commissioner for Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims), Prof Phillipe Denis (UKZN) and political analyst Dr Somadoda Fikeni.
Some of the titles include: ‘The battle of Blood River: Learning from the past to promote social cohesion for the future’; ‘A spatial analysis of the hermeneutics of the Ncome/Blood River monuments/museums as instruments of reconciliation and nation-building’; ‘The scars of history: The impact of the battle of Blood River on current South African politics’; and ‘The use of South African heritage as a platform for reconciliation in the past 20 years’.
It promises to be an enthralling experience, and with some imaginative planning the visit will also allow conference delegates to visit a wide range of nearby heritage sites, including rock art, Anglo-Boer battlefields and the Prince Imperial Route.
The conference, titled ‘Courageous Conversations’, will be held at Ncome (43 kilometres from Dundee and 24 kilometres from Nquthu) from November 6 to 8. For more information contact Elrica Henning at eolivier@msunduzimuseum.org.za or Phumelele Ngubane at pngubane@msunduzimuseum.org.za, or contact the museum on 033 394 6834/5.