Heritage Day is a South African public holiday celebrated on 24th September. On this day, South Africans are encouraged to celebrate their culture and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions, in the wider context of a nation that belongs to all its people and includes the whole nation. Nomkhuleko Thutshini and Sanele Xaba from Corporate Affairs spoke to Durban University of Technology (DUT) students who voiced their opinions on what heritage day means to them.

Matt Tsolo, a third-year Journalism student said: “Heritage day for me is the time where one sits down and reflects on who they are, their true heritage and be able to immerse yourself in the heritage of the country as a whole, in order for you to holistically know who you are and where you come from.”

For third-year Taxation student Banele Mngomezulu, he added that heritage day is basically about being proud of who one is as an individual. “Heritage day should not be a one-day celebration, it has to be something that lives within us as humans, at home we celebrate this day by cooking cuisine food and enjoying this day as a family,” he said.

Musa Mbonambi, a BTech Office Management and Technology student said heritage day is all about embracing culture that one is raised with, and honouring and respecting one’s culture as South Africans.

Third-year Taxation student Nick Mdluli stressed that 24th September is observed as a national heritage day, a celebration not only of the past but of the contributions of the South African people in making the country what it is today.

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