Heritage Month in September and Heritage Day on 24 September in particular is celebrated annually to mark our nation’s diverse culture and heritage. This year the celebrations will take place virtually due to the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020 theme for Heritage Month is “Celebrating South Africa’s living human treasures”. The question of living human treasures is very relevant since it is acknowledged that most of what still needs to be excavated, coded and stored is available from the many living archives. The pandemic has exposed many realities in our country such as poverty, inequality, unemployment and gender-based violence (GBV). During Heritage Month we will work to create awareness around GBV, and how we can fight it by inculcating positive societal values.