Amathole District Municipality (ADM) Heritage Day celebrations
Posted: 27 September 2024
Amathole District Municipality (ADM), jointly with Mbhashe Local Municipality, played host as the Provincial Government held an event to observe Heritage Day at AmaXhosa Kingdom in Nqadu Great Place on 24 September.
As a concerted effort to reclaim cultural pride and heritage through celebrating heroes and heroines who played vital roles in the emancipation of South Africa, the event had several build-up cultural programmes such as the King Hintsa Memorial Lecture held in King Hintsa TVET college which sought to celebrate the life and legacy of King Hintsa kaKhawuta Aa! Zanzolo!
Making the welcoming remarks, ADM Executive Mayor Cllr Anele Ntsangani pronounced the need to remember heroes of the past who stood firm against colonial forces and land dispossession
"It is significant that this event is hosted in the Amathole District because this was the theatre where the frontier wars were fought, and those wars were fought for land. Our Kings fought valiantly for this land, a demonstration that land is important and that land is our heritage" - he said.
In his keynote address, Premier Oscar Mabuyane recognised the sacrifice made by King Hintsa, who laid his life fighting the colonial regime.
"It has been 108 years since King Hintsa was killed mercilessly by the colonial regime. I hope next year we can continue working with the AmaXhosa Kingdom to commemorate his legacy officially"- he said.
Mabuyane also raised vital issues pertaining to nation-building, reclaiming geographic spaces, and infrastructure development to instil pride in the people.
"In emulating our forebears like King Hintsa, we are also decolonizing spaces in the form of renaming towns and national key points, such as renaming of Fort Beaufort to KwaMaqoma"- he said adding Gqebera, Nxuba and others in the list.
Mabuyane said they are doing this in tandem with infrastructure development.
"Infrastructure development is just as important in the nation-building project, such as the Ndabakazi interchange within Amathole District, which cost more than R300 million"- he said.
The Premier also handed over sewing, landscaping and sports equipment to local projects in Mbhashe.
Concluding the event, King Ahlangene Aa! Vulikhaya! Sigcawu said all should express heritage through self-respect and respect towards others, as well as through food and dress sense.
"Men in particular must return to traditional wear," - he said- adding that "our health would greatly improve if we also returned to eating traditional cuisine. The young must respect their elders. Our leaders must respect the people"- he said.
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