By Anita Dangazele
- This year’s National Heritage Day celebration will be held in Oudtshoorn on 24 September, after being moved from KwaZulu-Natal to George and then to Oudtshoorn within days.
- The Western Cape Government has questioned the “chaotic” and last-minute way the event was relocated, while the department says George couldn’t accommodate it in time.
This year’s National Heritage Day celebration will take place in Oudtshoorn on Thursday, after a last-minute scramble over the venue sparked a political dispute between national and Western Cape government.
The event was originally planned for KwaZulu-Natal, to coincide with uMkhosi weLembe, the Zulu nation’s annual commemoration of King Shaka.
Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie said that after discussions with King Misuzulu kaZwelithini and KwaZulu-Natal’s own arts and culture MEC, the department decided uMkhosi weLembe deserved its own separate day, rather than sharing the spotlight with a national event.
The celebration was then moved to George, with the Presidency confirming Rosemoor Stadium as the venue. That didn’t last either. McKenzie said George Municipality and the Western Cape Government were “unable and unwilling to make the accommodations needed to host the event at short notice.”
The Western Cape Government disputes that account.
Provincial Cultural Affairs and Sport MEC Ricardo Mackenzie said the province only received correspondence about the move from KZN to George on Saturday, 19 September, just days before the event.
“Heritage Day belongs to all South Africans… it should never become a political football,” he said, adding that an event of this scale needs proper planning around venues, security, infrastructure and municipal services, not a decision made at short notice.
George Mayor Browen Johnson said the municipality’s concern was about the process followed, not about hosting the event itself.
Oudtshoorn Local Municipality then accepted the invitation, at even shorter notice, having also hosted the national celebration in 2025.
The event will now go ahead at the Bongolethu Sport Stadium in Oudtshoorn on Thursday, 24 September, with President Cyril Ramaphosa delivering the keynote address from 9am.
Pictured above: Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton Mckenzie.
Image source: Department of Sports, Arts and Culture
