Women in Heritage Celebration
The National Heritage Council of South Africa (NHC) in collaboration with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture Limpopo, Thulamela Local Municipality, Collins Chabane Local Municipality and Vhembe District Municipality acknowledged and paid tribute to three living treasures to commemorate Women’s month through a Women in heritage celebration hosted on Friday, 23 August 2024 at the George Phadagi Town Hall in Thohoyandou, Venda.
Noria Mabasa, Mamayila Leah Ngobeni and Sinyegwe Tshimangadzo Esther were the trio honoured at the Women in Heritage celebration in the presence of the Sport, Arts and Culture MEC, Mr Jerry Maseko, Acting Executive Mayor in Vhembe District Municipality, Mr Miyelani Mabasa, Traditional Authorities, representatives from Vhembe District Municipality, Collins Chabane Local Municipality and Thulamela Local Municipality.
“As Women’s Month comes to an end and we prepare to celebrate Heritage Month, we believe it is befitting to honour our living legends, while they can still smell the flowers- alive, for the selfless work they do in the promotion and safeguarding our cultural heritage in their communities,” said Dr Thabo Manetsi, CEO of the NHC. The NHC and its partners identified women living legends who continue to preserve and promote intangible cultural heritage in three key areas: music, cultural norms and values and food security/agriculture.
MEC Maseko said that the knowledge that these women have acquired in their lifetime, no one can take it away from them. One of the elements we lack when it comes to the preservation of our cultural heritage is documentation. Let us document the technical skills, teachings of norms and values for future and better generations”.
The 86-year-old Mama Noria Mabasa proudly said in her remarks, “I feel very honoured to be acknowledged for the work I enjoyed doing most for more than 20 years! Mabasa said that she prefers telling stories through her artwork, be it pottery or sculpturing, to communicate and educate the community about social issues i.e. gender-based violence and the traditional way of solving conflicts in our communities.
Noria teaches traditional woodcarving and the unique technique of using naturally harvested clay for pottery to the youth and women in her community.
A former employee of Muti Wa Vatsonga Open Air Museum and 72 years old Cultural heritage enthusiast Leah works with the Traditional Council as an advisor about the advancement of heritage in her community. She teaches her community on the norms and values which afforded her a slot in a national radio station where she talks about the Xitsonga culture and heritage.
“Thank you for the honour and recognition! As I dedicated my life to upholding the norms and values of Africans as morals are decaying in our communities, said Mamayila.
The ever energetic and songbird Tshimangadzo Sinyegwe was honoured for preserving and promoting the Tshivenda traditional music and dances like Malende, Tshogombela, Tshifasi and Matangwa. She is also a founder of three cultural dance groups in her community.
“My love and passion for culture and traditional music earned me this recognition which will inspire those who come after me to continue promoting our traditional dances which have been practised by our forebearers,” said the 72-year-old culturalist and musician, Tshimangadzo.
The NHC confirmed that this is a pilot project which they will implement nationally to ensure the least marginalised communities get the recognition they deserve in preserving our cultural heritage.