CULTURE FIGHTS POVERTY

By Madalitso Kateta

Imbawula Trust, a Johannesburg based cultural association has said culture has a great role to play in the fight of Africa’s poverty.

Nqobile Lethebe, publicity officer for the Trust said in Lilongwe, Malawi that the African continent has been going through acute poverty as a result of the decline of moral values which has come as a result of the cultural social breakdowns in the continent.

Lethebe said that the African continent had great potential to develop if citizens were inspired by their cultural and social customs which he described as vital in the development of peoples mental and social stability.

He said his organisation has been organising cultural festivals which are aimed at improving people’s economic and social lives through culture.

He said the continent was the home of arts and its inhabitants should address social economic ills through the provocation of dialogue that inspires thoughts.

According to Lethebe, the Imbawula Trust has been very influential in the fight against South Africa’s major problems of unemployment, disease, HIV/Aids, poor education standards, poor housing and clime.