Celebrating South Africa’s story this Heritage Day

This was the Department of Arts and Culture’s message ahead of Heritage Day as it encouraged South Africans to tell their stories in line with the theme of this year’s Heritage Month – Celebrating 20 Years of Democracy: Tell your story that moves South Africa Forward.

September has been acknowledged as Heritage Month, in celebration of Heritage Day on 24 September, and is a time when South Africans should unite in their diversity and celebrate the country’s rich heritage.

“During Heritage Month South Africans are encouraged to celebrate and embrace the country’s historical inheritance, languages, spirituality and sacred sites, diverse cultures, indigenous food and traditional art forms,” said the department’s spokesperson Sandile Memela.

During September it was important to remind South Africans that they should embrace their diversity and that they all had a role to play in creating a united South African nation with a common identity, Memela added.

In KwaZulu-Natal, 24 September was formerly known as Shaka Day, in commemoration of the legendary Zulu king, King Shaka Zulu.

When the Public Holidays Bill before the South Africa Parliament at the time did not include 24 September on the list of proposed public holidays, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), along with a large Zulu following, objected to the bill.

In a bid to find a compromise, the decision was made to create a day where all South Africans could observe and celebrate their diverse cultural heritage and Heritage Day was declared a public holiday under the Public Holidays Act of 1994.

Thereafter in 2005, seeking to reinforce the celebration of shared culture rather than focusing on cultural divisions, Braai4Heritage called upon all South Africans to celebrate the common practice of having a braai on Heritage Day.

The initiative had since evolved into a central theme of Heritage Day with many people referring to the day as Braai Day.

However, earlier this month, CEO of the National Heritage Council, Sonwabile Mancotywa took a strong stance against South Africans being distracted from the significance of the country’s national days.

“We cannot allow our national days to be trivialised and reduced to commercial and marketing opportunities that encourage rampant consumerism.”

Although he acknowledged the efforts of nation building initiatives such as Braai4Heritage, Mancotywa said, “Our heritage extends far beyond throwing a piece of meat on a hot grill as enjoyable as that may be, our heritage includes the earliest evidence of hominids at the Cradle of Humankind… it also encompasses our wealth of indigenous knowledge, wisdom and cultural practices, our music and songs, our languages and dances, our food and traditional clothing and our architecture.”