SA & INTERNATIONAL NEWS
History of Heritage Day
O
Sam Mothopeng
Heritage Day was previously known as Shaka Day, in
commemoration of the Zulu King, Shaka before 1995.
Shaka was the famous and legendary Zulu king who
played an essential role in uniting different Zulu clans
into a cohesive nation. Every year people would gather
at King Shaka’s grave to honor him on 24 September
Heritage Day (24 September) was not originally intended to be an official South African public holiday.
The Public Holiday Bill offered to the Parliament at the
time did not have 24 September included on the list of
proposed public holidays. The Inkathata Freedom Party
(IFP), a political party with a large Zulu membership, refused to sign the Public Holiday Bill because it omitted
the inclusion of Shaka Day.
King Shaka was involved in uniting Zulu clans into a unified nation. Heritage Day, (appointed in place of King
Shaka Day) encourages all South Africans to come to-
gether to celebrate the rich culture and the diversity of
our rainbow nation. South Africans celebrate Heritage
Day by remembering the cultural heritage of the many
cultures that makes up the population of South Africa. It
is a day when every South African citizen takes an effort
to learn more about other cultures and to contribute in
enhancing the unity of different cultures in our country.
A media company wanted to re-brand the holiday as
National Braai Day, in appreciation to the South African
culinary tradition of holding informal backyard barbecues, or braais. Most South Africans nowadays unite at
various events around the country celebrating South Africa’s unique heritage. They build bridges to overcome
its painful past by chucking a wors on the fire, all thanks
to Jan Baai for coming up with the National Braai Day
initiative.
“When our first democratically-elected government decided to make Heritage Day one of our national days,
we did so because we knew that our rich and varied
cultural heritage has profound power to help build our
new nation.” –Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
In loving memory
Joan Rivers
1933 - 2014
Vukosi Nwaila
While most people remember her as the old obnoxious woman on Fashion Police, we remember her as
a beautiful soul that has changed lives and left us in
tears by her sarcasm and ill idea of humour. Joan’s career set off back in the 50s and she has since changed
the face of comedy with her sense of style in humour
terms.
Joan Rivers passed on on 4 September 2014 at the
age of 81. As reported by NBC news,on 28 August,
Rivers experienced serious complications and stopped
breathing during a surgical procedure on her vocal
cords at a clinic in Yorkville, Manhattan. She was taken
to Mount Sinai Hospital where she was put into a medically induced coma after suffering cardiac arrest. On 30
August, she was put on life support and later moved to
a private room on 3 September, still without a prognosis . The following day, Rivers died at 13:17 .
Joan Rivers was born Joan Alexandra Molinsky in
Brooklyn , New York on 8 June 1933. Her style of
humour was one of a kind and she did what she loved
until her passing.
Rest in peace Joan. You will forever be in our hearts.
20 - Student 24/7
As a tribute to one of the greatest comedians, a few
quotes by Joan Rivers.
• “I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw that
my bath toys were a toaster and a radio.”
• “I must admit I am nervous about getting Alzheimer’s, I might tell my best joke and never know it.”
• “A study says owning a dog makes you 10 years
younger. My first thought was to rescue 2 more, but
I don’t want to go through menopause again.”
• Start of “grandma week” is just like my wedding
night....I’m being ignored!