The heritage of many is defined by a few.

The heritage of many is defined by a few.

The National Heritage is meant to be inclusive and representative of the indigenous and native peoples of a particular land; it is meant to observe, cherish and preserve that which defines the peoples of that land, and by default, the heritage of the majority should dominate proceedings.

In South Africa, however, this does not seem to be the case. I was surprised when I learned that the National Heritage Day has now been termed the Braai Day. Really? What the hell is this? To me it seems as though we have relegated the meaning of heritage to narrow representations of foreign traditions. Many will argue that Braai is a South African tradition but I say the heritage of a people begins at the very beginning.

"The very beginning" in the South African context, I feel, should begin at the time when Colonizers and Apartheidites were not here. The heritage of the people whose traditions and identities had been distorted and stolen by the groups mentioned above should take the forefront. They should be the center of the national heritage month. I am not saying white people should be ignored and their heritage not celebrated but I am saying such blasphemies as the Braai Day are only constituted to distort and contaminate the heritage of the many.

How our heritage is purported makes us look like some meat-eating savages whose culture revolved around eating flesh and drinking alcohol. What bullshit. Same is the notion of inclusive heritage; I think it is also an attempt to mix water and oil and expect that they blend. South Africa is a place with people of various nationalities and it cannot be expected that the National Heritage represent all of these people, given that some only arrived here when we had already had a rich heritage of our own. The National Heritage month should represent the heritage of the oppressed and the depressed; Black people and other people whose traditions, cultures and heritage had been downtrodden for 400 years without remorse nor conscience.

Picture: Ndebele women in traditional dress.                                     Photo: Dreamstime.com

The ideas like Braai Day seek only to further obliterate from memory the glory of the African Heritage. They seek to return our land to the image it had when we nearly forced the Apartheidites and Colonizers back to the sea, all thanks to the ANC that did not materialise. Of course, White people are very much a part of our history, and in most cases a history we are not proud of. But that should not mean they must be treated as outcasts as some of our political leaders have pronounced.

There should be distinctions between the native heritage and the Braai day so that these meat-eaters will have their day and those of us who take our heritage seriously will have a piece of our heritage to enjoy, lest it is completely obliterated from the mind of the oppressed.

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