Heritage Day

"Mama, why are people wearing old clothes today?"

"It's Heritage Day today, people celebrate they traditional, diversity of beliefs and cultural roots, mama explain to her little daughter in a taxi. Today is 24 September the Heritage Day, a public holiday in South Africa. The aims are preserving our cultural and diversity.

To me this day is a short! Why can't we have heritage day, every day. I know every day won't be 24 September, every day, but let the spirit live on every day. I admit in this lifetime of globalisation, neo-colonisation, fragmentation of identity and 'American dream' it’s impossible to retrain an absolute cultural roots especially Africanism. My concern is the way in which we have aborted our simple and inexpensive selves. Why don't we greet each like today? I was riding in a taxi to Johannesburg. All people were greeting each other in their respective home languages. And ironically none predicted to be ‘deaf’. There was just unconditional enthusiasm to our respective cultures, even the usual uncompromising Zulu taxi driver neither didn't predict to be non-Zulu deaf today. Just ' ke wa fologa mo stop sign' didn't prompt the usual risk of ' khuluma isintu' the daily reply aimed at undermining other constitutional entrenched languages and the risk of been ran off with at least 500 metres away.

My concern runs afar off this 'simple-suppose-to-be-daily life and a national braai day. Why do we Africans speak English at our homes and still blame Western world of suppressing our roots? When we know language is a tool to un-chain us and a profound instrument of preserving our heritage. When are we going to be ourselves again? Why do we have this day to preserve our Africanism, only to abandon ourselves 24 hours on? Why are we so friendly to each other as was the case in the taxi only to rebel each other tomorrow onwards? What does that say about us?

Personally, I still dream of President Jacob Zuma addressing the parliament in his traditional Zulu attires. So it can be known that our cultural clothes are not for Heritage Day only, like the mama taught her daughter in the taxi. So people can see and know our culture every day. So young ones don't be sceptical of our culture anymore.

The National Heritage Trust explores South African heritage and aims to develop the concept more meaningfully. The national heritage paper aims to make societies and communities lives more fulfilling, that allows societies members to development communities to nurture social wellbeing. And to establish and maintain societies in which heritage is an asset rather than a public holiday, cultural fashion parade and national braai day. The paper state that development can take place only as people become actively involved in development processes.

Let's have Heritage Day, every day! Let's work and live towards National Heritage Trust goals, everyday!