Gauteng joins the rest of South Africa to celebrate the lineage and identity of its diverse population as the country celebrates Heritage Month.
This year’s national theme for the month is “Celebrating our cultural diversity in a democratic South Africa.”
Since the dawn of democracy in 1994, September has been declared heritage month to remind us as citizens who we are, where we have come from, what knits us together as a nation, and what we have accomplished.
Says Gauteng MEC for Sport, Arts, Culture, and Recreation Morakane Mosupyoe, “Gauteng is home to diverse nations of the world where people of different cultures and backgrounds embrace live, work, play, and pray side by side with each other. The energy and resistance of its people are proof of how cultural diversity is and can be the vehicle towards social cohesion and nation-building.”
This year’s provincial Heritage Day event on 24 September will be held at Munseville in the West of Johannesburg, a short distance from the World’s Heritage site, the Cradle Humankind in Maropeng.
The township which was officially started in 1911 is the hometown of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu who lived in the area from an early age and went on to become a teacher there before he joined the priesthood.
As part of the programme on Heritage Day, more than 1200 learners from across Gauteng public schools will embark on a colorful Carnival Street parade throughout Munseville before the start of formalities at the local sports complex where at least 5000 people are expected to descend.
Meanwhile, working with different stakeholders. the department will be involved in a variety of Heritage Month activities util the end of September:
| Date | Event | Venue |
| 15 September | International Translation Day | Tut Pretoria Campus |
| 19 September | Funda Mzantsi Literacy and debate | Correctional Services |
| 21 September | Heritage Day Language Celebration | Vaal University of Technology |
| 22 September | Indigenous Language Spelling Bee South African Sign Language Charter with PanSALB | Pretoria Botanical Gardens GCIS Tshemoseto House, 1035 St Hartfield Pretoria |
| 23 September | Indigenous Language Spelling Bee | Daveyton |
| 24 September | Heritage Day Commemoration | Munsieville |
| 26 September | Finger Spelling Bee | Philadelphia |
| 29 September | Kool 2 be South African | Freedom Park |
| 30 September | Writer’s Seminar | TBC |
INFO SUPPLIED.
