Calls for more to be done to ensure that Heritage Day celebrations become more than just about braaing meat and parties continued to ring out across the country as King Misuzulu kaZwelithini, Deputy President Paul Mashatile, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party leader Jacob Zuma, EFF leader Julius Malema, African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader Vuyo Zungula and others addressed the nation on Tuesday.
Zuma called for South Africans to be allowed to make their own laws and determine their own struggle and future.
Zuma was speaking during a Heritage Day celebration and a ceremony for the coronation of Dr Lesedi Gabriel Monageng Motsatsi as the chief of Batlokwa ba Bogatsu in the North West.
Zuma was in the company of fellow MK Party leaders, among them national organiser Floyd Shivambu, head of the Presidency Magasela Mzobe, and MP Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla.
Zuma, whose rise as leader of the MK Party was premised on his deep-seated wish to return the country to its original leaders, the religious and the traditional leaders, said he has always spoken about the need for the country to return to its roots.
Over the past seven months since the party was formed, he and all the leaders of the party have called for the Constitution to be changed in order to repeal the current system of Roman-Dutch law.
“There are things that I talk about and I always ask the traditional leaders when I meet them. The question I ask is, do we have the laws that are our instruments to rule? And if we did, what happened …? At times, I have a problem when faced with judges and everyone else because at times I do not think that they know what we did. If we are free, why are we not allowed to make our own laws? Africa always had laws that were instruments to rule before the settlers came to the continent,“ he said.
Zuma’s remarks come just as South Africans were celebrating Heritage Day, which many believe is not enough as South Africans continue to live in abject poverty among a rising and crippling unemployment crisis that has seen young people being unable to contribute to the economy of this country.
In their statement released to commemorate the day, the MK Party said the day has become a hollow exercise amid landlessness, poverty and inequality.
“Today, as the MK Party, we lament the hollowness of Heritage Day – a day that is meant to celebrate the unity and diversity of our nation but instead starkly highlights the deep-rooted injustices that remain un-addressed. Despite 30 years of democracy, the African majority remains landless, shackled by extreme poverty, and subjected to the highest levels of inequality in the world,” the party said through its spokesperson, Nhlamulo Ndhlela.
Also reacting to the commemoration of Heritage Day on Tuesday, Malema said South Africans have allowed colonisers to write our history and what the day means to all of us.
“Fighters, today is called Heritage Day, but when we were growing up, this day was called Shaka Day because that is the day he passed on. But when you mention the name Shaka to white people and to white supremacy, they feel the pain because Shaka fought with them and won many battles against them. That is why they are distorting this day and calling it all types of names like they are doing with June 16 and Sharpeville Day,” he said.
In their own statement on Tuesday, the Red Berets called for the day to be associated with meaningful things and not be reduced to a day of braaing meat.
“Heritage Day, under these conditions, is a mockery. This day cannot be reduced to braais and traditional outfits while the majority of South Africans still bear the brunt of colonial and apartheid legacies. Our heritage is not in monuments or celebrations of cultural diversity alone – it is in the blood, sweat, and sacrifices of those who fought for freedom, and in the ongoing struggle against white monopoly capital, corruption, and exploitation,” the EFF said.
In the same breath, the ATM called for a deeper recognition of South Africa’s heritage, highlighting the importance of land, culture and economic justice.
“On this Heritage Day, we express our discontent with the superficial celebration of identity while many are excluded from sacred lands,” the party said.
King Misuzulu, king of the Zulu nation, who was in KwaDukuza for the 2024 commemoration of Shaka Day, called for South Africans to desist from mistreating foreigners in the country.
“We must stop mistreating our foreign brothers and sisters as we know where they come from the situation is bad. Most of them are here because they are looking for better opportunities than they have at home,” he said.
Meanwhile, addressing the country’s official Heritage Day celebration at Meqheleng Stadium in Ficksburg, Free State, on Tuesday, Mashatile said: “We must recognise the value of heritage conservation not just for conserving the past, but also for moulding our future. Our heritage is more than simply a collection of artefacts from the past; it shapes who we are as a people and where we are heading towards as a country.”
The Star