Mapulana family gathering keeps culture alive
“We hosted the event to celebrate our culture and remind the Mapulana people about heritage celebrations.”
The Mapulana ethnic group hosted its Heritage Day celebrations in Khumalo Street opposite Sam’s Liquor in Katlehong.
Tebogo Mashego said the Mapulana cultural people are originally from the eastern part of Mpumalanga. They hosted the event to celebrate their culture with families that are Gauteng-based.
Mashego said their language is called Sepulana and it is considered a dialect of the Northern Sotho language group.
“We are proud of our culture but our language is not recognised, so it is up to us to keep our culture alive and teach other cultures about Mapulana,” said Mashego.
She said they do not want their culture to become extinct.
“We hosted the event to celebrate our culture and remind the Mapulana people about heritage celebrations.”
The founders of the Mapulana family gathering in Thokoza are Mashego, Nicholas Malaptie and Temoso Chadi.
Their traditional food include African spinach, peanuts, sweet potatoes.
“Our music is morupelo, sung in Sepulana. Most of our artists are underground; their music is not mainstream like DJ Talo from Bushbuckridge,” said Mashego.
