Last week, Thursday, April 8, I, together with two colleagues, made my way to Maropeng at the Cradle of Humankind. It always fills me with joy to go that side of town. It’s amazing that just an hour away from the bustle of Johannesburg is this open countryside.
Maropeng, a World Heritage Site situated an hour’s drive from Johannesburg, is where some of the world’s most renowned palaeoanthropologists excavate fossils dating back millions of years.
There was something exciting about last Thursday’s event; it was all hush-hush; a surprise, so I didn’t really know what to expect. When we got there the place was buzzing. Never have I seen so many scientists, members of the media and scholars gathered in one place.
The event, which kicked off at around 3:30, was broadcast live on SABC 3, so it was all formal and stuff. The speeches were amazing. The research and the time these scientists spent digging and looking for fossils is just unbelievable and then, a nine-year-old finds something that could potentially change the way we think of ourselves as humans; I was in awe.
When Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Professor Lee Berger unveiled the hominid fossil, I really did not know what to do. As I was snapping away taking pictures amongst the pack of journalists, I thought to myself that this thing called life is pretty amazing.
I was there, at 23, looking at the skull and bones of people that had lived almost two million years ago; how’s that for a privilege. Australopithecus sediba is a great part of our history as humans and as the deputy president said, it really answers the one question that humans ask; “Where do we come from?” Now, we can all proudly say, “Africa”.
It felt awesome to witness such a great event; it is something that I will carry with me and tell my children and their children. The day they announced the discovery of a hominid fossil that could be the ancestor of humans, I was there!
As an online journalist it was exciting, yet nerve-wracking to be reporting there. We needed to get stories up as they happened, so the pressure was on. Even though the internet connection was a bit slow it didn’t dampen our spirits as we worked tirelessly to get the stories up. We got to the office and uploaded photo essays and more stories.
As we locked up, I was proud to have witnessed such an incredible event and been there to cover it.
It was a great team effort and it showed in the level of work we produced. Go Flow!