Are Heritage day celebrations still relevant, 20 years on?
NORTHSIDE — Members of the community give us their take on the relevance of Heritage Day.
Rachel Papo: "I love heritage day because you get to see different cultures and how they dress. You get to see other people celebrate and embrace their culture – it is very interesting. The day is still relevant. It says something about where I come from and we celebrate that. We get to interact with other people and learn more about them. It reminds us of where we come from."
Heritage Day is looming around the corner and South Africans – young and old – will look forward to colourful traditional attires and embrace our varied cultures. 24 September represents a day when every person in the country celebrates their roots, traditions and values, not forgetting to embrace the heritage of your fellow man. As we mark 20 years of democracy since 1994, it would seem the true essence of celebrating our uniqueness has slipped away and the day has become just another public holiday. The question of how we celebrate the holiday is about more than just the individual, members of the community gave a different palate of what Heritage Day means in 2014.