Shaka Day is the real meaning or reason we celebrate Heritage Day in South Africa. This significance was systematically flushed away with apartheid at the dawn of a democratic South Africa. The day was officially converted into Heritage Day in 1996, two years after the first democratic elections, and has since been celebrated as such.
Shaka Day was particularly significant to the Nguni nations, especially Zulus in the KwaZulu Natal region. The day marked Shaka Zulu’s death, a powerful king who mobilised different clans in the region to form one big Zulu nation.
According to history, Shaka Zulu died on 24 September 1828. To date, he remains one of the most influential leaders in the Zulu nation. The day was then celebrated as Shaka Day. This important history has somehow been lost and there seems to be a concerted effort to wipe it away completely.
In the days leading up to Tuesday, just like in the previous years, I heard many voices advocating for Braai Day.
I have no problem with how people choose to celebrate their public holidays, but I get concerned when their influence or ideas are passed to me as though they are superior.
As a Nguni person, I have vehemently rejected this notion. I am of the view that it’s a narrative perpetuated to distort our history and advance a certain ideology with no meaning to the larger population of this country.
What is Braai Day? It makes no sense to me. I see it as a marketing gimmick by big businesses to earn a few extra rands.
Heritage Day is about celebrating our history and heritage while teaching the younger generation about their origin.
South Africa has a rich history and most of which is rapidly diminishing. There are many things that we pride ourselves in, however, they are all fading away purely because we cannot preserve them.
We are failing as a nation and in years to come we will be relying on other nations to educate or tell us about our heritage.
In December 2022, we saw the demise of Latozi Mpahleni, popularly known as Madosini. She was the last remaining and known person to play traditional instruments such as uhadi, umrhubhe and isitolotolo.
I know she worked with certain individuals to preserve these instruments beyond her death. She also collaborated with many international artists such as Hilton Schilder, Jonny Blundell, WhaWha Mosieu and Pedro Espi-Sanchis.
Madosini also performed with Pedro at many music festivals as well as storytelling and poetry festivals around the world. She highly regarded Pedro. When Madosini died Pedro must have learnt a lot from him about our culture and some of our traditional instruments. Only time will tell who benefited the most from Madosini’s wealth of knowledge, local groups or international artists. Heritage is about celebrating these important life lessons for me instead of splashing my hard-earned cash on big businesses.
