Deputy President Paul Mashatile leads Heritage Day celebrations in Oudtshoorn, Western Cape
In his capacity as the Acting President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Deputy President Shipokosa Paulus Mashatile will on Wednesday, 24 September 2025, in collaboration with the national Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) and the Western Cape Provincial Government, officiate the 2025 Heritage Day celebrations at Bridgeton Sport Grounds in the Oudtshoorn Local Municipality, Western Cape Province.
This year’s, Heritage Month is celebrated under the theme: “Re-imagine our Heritage Institutions for a New Era”, emphasising the importance of leveraging heritage as a foundation for building a dynamic, socially responsive, technologically innovative and economically inclusive future.
In particular, the 2025 celebration will focus on how society, through culture, continues to evolve in the light of social, economic, and technological challenges. It will also focus on museums as custodians of memory and knowledge, and as institutions that are uniquely positioned to lead the shift. Museums are at the heart of transformation and are part of heritage sites that are traditionally tasked with the collection, preservation, and exhibition of cultural artefacts.
Over the years, there has been a need for museums to urgently reposition themselves as spaces of relevance, innovation, and community engagement, said the Deputy President.
“South Africa’s heritage sector has long been a cornerstone of our national identity, collective memory and reconciliation,” said the Deputy President, “so our museums as cultural and heritage institutions play a vital role in healing communities and preventing the recurrence of past injustices.”
He added that there was a growing need to re-evaluate how heritage is understood and accessed by the citizens, in line with the country’s evolving social, economic and technological challenges.
“Thus the commemoration of Heritage Month this year provides us with a timely opportunity to reflect on this shift and explore how memory can be transformed into momentum by using heritage as a tool for innovation, job creation, social cohesion as well as nation-building,” Deputy President Mashatile said.
Details of the celebration are as follows:
Date: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
Time: 09h00 (media to start setting up from 07h00)
Venue: Bridgeton Sport Grounds, Oudtshoorn, Western Cape
For all enquiries regarding media accreditation, please contact:
Mr Madimetja Moleba (DSAC)
Cell: 066 301 4675
E-mail: madimetjam@dsac.gov.za
Media enquiries:
Mr Keith Khoza
Acting Spokesperson to the Deputy President
Cell: 066 195 8840
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