With September being Heritage Month and Tuesday, 24 September, being Heritage Day, Makhandans are gearing up for a number of exciting celebrations in the upcoming days and weeks. Grocott’s Mail reporters Sindisiwe Tshona and Nosiphiwe Nyangana hit the streets to gauge the mood. They asked Makhanda residents what heritage means to them and what they will be doing on Heritage Day.
Bernadette Hubbart from Makhanda
I feel connected by looks with one of my heritages, but I don’t know the language that my people came from, the dances, or the songs they sang, which can be a bit lonely sometimes. As an Irish and Afrikaans mix, I know the Afrikaans side more, they are fond of their culture, they keep their songs alive, they keep their culture alive and family-centred and about culture. I will celebrate Heritage Day with a braai, and as a teacher, learners will be celebrating their cultures, so I am excited about that.
Lulama Stofile from Joza
It’s the month of our customs and culture. I love it because it revives our identity, it reminds us of where we come from. On Heritage Day, I will be at church cooking isiXhosa food. We have a programme where we cook traditional food and sell it.
Rozelle Hartzenberg from Rhodes University
Heritage means celebrating the people that came before us, our families, our ancestors, our culture, and keeping all this alive because who we were in the past, is who we are now, impacting us so much. It’s a day when I think of my family, the history of South Africa, and everything that was good and bad. It’s an important day for family and for connecting with the older generation because they have lived in history, and it is important to keep their knowledge and stories alive. It is who we are. I would like to do a braai because where I come from, on Heritage Day, we have a braai.
Enver Lottering from Makhanda
Heritage to me is celebrating your roots. It is celebrating those who come before you and redefining yourself in your heritage. So, I feel it is important to acknowledge who we are rather than drift away from our people. On Heritage Day, I am going home to my family – we have a tradition where we braai. I also plan on speaking Afrikaans the whole day.
