South Africans mark Heritage Day today by celebrating living culture, indigenous knowledge and shared identity, as the national programme in Oudtshoorn focuses on strengthening social cohesion.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is leading the national Heritage Day celebration at Bongolethu Sport Stadium in Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape, where the programme is being held under the theme “Celebrating Our Living Heritage: Strengthening the Ties That Bind Us.”
The theme places the focus on living heritage — the languages, knowledge, traditions, cultural practices, music and stories that continue to be passed between generations and shape the everyday lives of communities.
Government says the 2026 theme is intended to highlight the role that living heritage can play in promoting national unity, social cohesion, Ubuntu and a shared sense of belonging.
Heritage Day is observed annually on 24 September and provides an opportunity for South Africans to recognise the country’s diverse cultural traditions while reflecting on the role heritage can play in building a shared national identity.
Across the country, families and communities mark the day in different ways, from wearing traditional clothing and preparing culturally significant food to participating in performances, festivals and community gatherings.
Those celebrations reflect an important part of South Africa’s identity: people do not need to abandon their individual cultures in order to participate in a shared national story.
The national celebration also marks the culmination of Heritage Month, during which communities, cultural practitioners and heritage institutions have participated in programmes promoting cultural expression, intergenerational knowledge-sharing and the preservation of Indigenous Knowledge Systems.
For young South Africans, that preservation is particularly important.
Language, oral history, traditional food, music, dance, craftsmanship and indigenous knowledge risk being weakened when they are no longer passed from one generation to another.
Living heritage therefore depends not only on museums, monuments and historical sites, but on people continuing to practise, teach, adapt and share their cultures.
The national programme in Oudtshoorn is expected to accommodate up to 5 000 people, with President Ramaphosa delivering the keynote address. Entry to the event is free.
The national celebration was originally planned for KwaZulu-Natal alongside uMkhosi weLembe, before government decided the annual Zulu commemoration of King Shaka should retain its own platform. The national event was subsequently considered for George before being moved to Oudtshoorn.
Heritage Day activities are also extending into environmental action this year.
A national tree-planting campaign is taking place across all nine provinces as part of efforts to plant ten million trees, with the initiative intended to support climate resilience, environmental awareness and community greening. Ramaphosa is participating in the Oudtshoorn component of the campaign.
The broader message of Heritage Day is that South Africa’s diversity can be preserved while still creating spaces where different communities learn from one another.
It is a celebration of what has been inherited, but also of what South Africans choose to carry forward.
From indigenous knowledge and language to food, music, storytelling and community traditions, living heritage survives when people continue to practise it, share it and give younger generations a reason to value it.
On Heritage Day, the opportunity is therefore not only to celebrate where South Africans come from, but to strengthen the cultural ties that can help communities build a shared future.
