Author, laureate poet and journalist Rabbi Sermula shares thoughts on Heritage Day, noting that although the Zulu people abandoned celebrating Shaka Day, they did not abandon Shaka himself.
Sermula points out an interesting aspect regarding Heritage Day: while most people engaged in traditional rituals and food, Ronald Lamola spoke at the United Nations in New York about the same topic.
He presented South Africa's statement at the 81st UN General Assembly, mentioning Heritage Day. He emphasized that South Africa is not only a united but also a diverse country, and that the strength of the nation lies precisely in this diversity.
However, the author draws readers' attention to the history of Heritage Day, which is often forgotten. Before it became Heritage Day, September 24th was celebrated in KwaZulu as Shaka Day, dedicated to King Shaka kaSenzangakhona.
When the new democratic government decided which national holidays would be in South Africa, Shaka Day was not included in the proposed list. The Inkatha Freedom Party objected, and an agreement was reached, resulting in Shaka Day transforming into Heritage Day.
At first glance, this might seem to mean a defeat for Shaka, but according to the author, this did not happen. Sermula stresses that the Zulu people continue to honor his life, leadership, and legacy through the uMkhosi weLembe event. Although the date changed in the national calendar, the memory of him was preserved.
Perhaps a lesson can be drawn from this case: compromise does not necessarily have to mean capitulation. Creating a broader national identity does not require diminishing one's own identities. One can give up something for the common good without losing one's essence.
Sometimes, when talking about unity, people tend to assume that differences must disappear, and to become one people, one must become less of oneself than before. The story of Shaka Day demonstrates the opposite: the name changed, the meaning expanded, and the memory remained.
The day, which arose from disagreements over commemorating the memory of the Zulu king, turned into a national holiday where residents of all of South Africa celebrate their different heritages, mutually enriching each other: they wear each other's traditional clothing, eat foreign food, learn foreign songs, and dance foreign dances. In this process, no one had to disappear.
The author concludes that this lesson can apply more broadly than just to South Africa. Perhaps Shaka is a metaphor for the Africa that is being built. African unity cannot be built by demanding that Africans leave their history behind; one cannot become one by becoming identical. Perhaps this is the kind of compromise Africa needs: unity without erasure, togetherness without capitulation, a bigger Africa without diminished Africans, because space can be made for everything without one having to disappear oneself.