Da La Salle Holy Cross College learners are ready to celebrate African arts, culture and heritage this Africa Day. Photo: Andile Dlodlo
Phumla Motsa is one of many on the African continent who is looking forward to celebrating Africa Day along with her family and friends. Her children are half Swati and Kenyan and she believes that more needs to be done to ensure that African children are conscious of their roots and identity. Motsa said, “Africa and all its cultures and history needs to be celebrated and recognised by as all, especially the youth. “They learn about the Shakespeare’s but they should also be learning from our own great writers, scientists and artists. If they can’t and don’t see these things and people, how will they know what to become?”
Her sons and two other youths visited Da La Salle Holly Cross College to share what they thought of Africa for Africa Day. Take a look at what these young, black and gifted Africans had to say about the motherland:
MUDIWA ZHOYA: Be proud of being African and in Africa. There are so many cultures and heritages to learn from in Africa, so please explore as many of them as you can this Africa Day. I recently visited Zimbabwe for a special ceremony hosted at my grandparent’s place where we learned how and why we slaughter animals.MALAIKA MULENGA: As Africans, we need to embrace and be proud of our continent, cultures, languages, neighbouring countries, and other things that make us Africans. My mother grew up in Zambia, my father is Kenyan and I was born in South Africa. I have been two Zambia twice and recently travelled to the beautiful country of Botswana and there’s still a lot more of Africa to explore and learn about.BARAKA SIMELANE: Africa has some of the most beautiful and interesting traditions, history, clothing, food and languages. I’ve been to Kenya and eSwatini as my parents are from there, and I loved being there with family and friends learning about how life is there, which I always enjoy.KWELI SIMELANE: I recently spent Christmas in eSwatini visiting my grandparents and I loved their food. The people there were helpful and kind and we learnt a lot about our family, our culture including language and our heritage, and our country. I can’t wait for our next family visit to learn, see and taste more.
