By More Matshediso
Mokomene - Acting President Cyril Ramaphosa says a living heritage can help promote a positive African identity in a globalising world.
The Acting President was addressing the National Heritage Day celebration, in Limpopo, on Thursday.
He said the day, which was attended by thousands of citizens from across the country, should be used to promote social cohesion.
“We are called upon as a nation to embrace each other’s cultures, to practice each other’s cultures, to learn and understand each other’s languages, so that we can speedily increase the cohesion that we are trying to build,” he said.
By so doing, the Acting President said South Africa will be able to display how rich and diverse it is in culture and tradition.
“We have rich diversity and culture. Let us display to the world that indeed we are a cohesive, one nation,” he said.
This year's Heritage Day Celebrations was held under the theme, "Our indigenous knowledge, our heritage: Towards the identification, promotion and preservation of South Africa's living heritage”.
This seeks to reconnect all South Africans, black and white to the country’s rich and diverse collective heritage.
The Acting President said the Kings and Queens who reigned all over the country in the past are the ones who made sure that those who are alive today carry forward their heritage.
“They made sure that we preserve our languages, our song and dance. The performances that we witnessed today are what our Kings and Queens preserved for us. The wanted us to inherit the song and dance,” he said.
He said the day also reminds South Africans of the pain and suffering brought by migration.
He also mentioned that the day reminds the country of the white compatriots who defied law and justice during apartheid times.
“When we recall the pain and suffering of Afrikaaner women and children, and many African families… we say their pain is our pain, and their loss is our collective loss,” he said.
Acting President Ramaphosa said it is impossible to ignore the contradiction of the South African past.
“We are the children of the oppressors, and the children of the oppressed. But we are united today by the rejection of our past and the injustices that define our past, and our determination that never again shall one be oppressed by another,” he said.
A number of cultural groups, dressed in their colourful traditional regalia, from across the country took to the stage to represent their distinguished cultures at the national event.
Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa, who was the programme director for the day, said the performances illustrate how rich South Africa is in its heritage.
Limpopo Premier Stanley Mathabatha said a “celebration of this nature in this part of our country is always a blend of colour, song and dance”.
Traditional leaders from all over Limpopo were also present to commemorate the day. - SAnews.gov.za
