Welcome notes for the Premier of Limpopo, Mr Chupu Mathabatha during the National Heritage Day Celebrations, held at Botlokwa Village, Limpopo
Programme Director;
Minister for Art and Culture, Minister Nathi Mthethwa;
Other Ministers and Deputy Ministers present here;
Members of Parliament and Members of Provincial Legislatures;
MECs;
Executive Mayors and Mayors; Members of the media;
Invited guests;
The people of Limpopo;
Batlokwa ba heso!
The people of Limpopo would want me to start first by expressing their appreciation to the National Government under the distinguished leadership of President Jacob Zuma for choosing our province to host this important national celebration.
We indeed appreciate honourable President that on this important day, you have brought the rest of the country to our province.
As you might have already seen, a celebration of this nature in this part of our country is always a blend of colour, song and dance.
Today you are going to be entertained by the melodic tshikona music of the VhaVenda people;
Today you are going to be entertained by the spectacular dance moves of xibelani and makhwaya of the VhaTsonga people
You will also be entertained by the impressive dance and tunes of Kiba and mmapadi of the Pedi people.
You will feast your eyes to the beauty of the colourful attire of the Ndebele people of this province.
Our menu will be incomplete without the attractive display of both the English and Afrikaans traditional parades.
This is what makes us the great Limpopo. This is part of our cultural heritage. It is a great source of our pride and our unique cultural identity.
Programme Director;
This important national event comes red on the heels of another event of international stature which took place in this province a few weeks ago.
I refer here to the the beatification of the now Blessed Tshimangadzo Benedict Daswa by the Roman Catholic Church.
Blessed Daswa’s life of martyrdom has bequeathed us with a prized legacy of peace, tolerance and the spirit of common brotherhood.
Programme Director;
My task is to render a word of welcome our guest and everyone who has graced our province today.
We are indeed welcoming you to the great Limpopo Province, the home of ancient civilisations; a home of multilingualism and certainly a home of rich diversity of cultural heritage.
We welcome you to the home of the great Mapungubwe, South Africa’s first City of Gold that flourished in the 12th century.
As described by Unesco, Mapungubwe has been a centre of the largest kingdom in the sub-continent before it was abandoned in the 14th century.
This significant world heritage site was home to an advanced culture of people for the time - the ancestors of the Shona people of Zimbabwe who traded with China and India, and had a flourishing agricultural industry.
We are also welcoming you to the home province of another great ancient kingdom, the Thulamela Kingdom.
Situated on the northern part of the internationally renowned Kruger National Park, Thulamela is a hillside of stone ruins which tells a story of ancient culture dating as far back as the 15th century.
We also welcome you to the host province of Makapans Valley, often regarded as a sister to the cradle of humankind. It was here at Makapans Valley that that Raymond Dart discovered an Australopithecus fossil in 1936.
We are welcoming you to the home of the majestic Makgabeng plateau neighbouring the equally impressive Blouberg Mountains.
Makgabeng plateau is famous for its ancient rock art paintings dating back to the 1st African ancestors to ever inhabit and walk on the African soil.
Programme Director;
You are not just in Limpopo; you are in the Capricorn District, in Botlokwa to be more particular.
We are welcoming you here in Botlokwa, the home village of one of the outstanding daughters of our liberation struggle, Mama Charlotte Maxeke.
Once again on behalf of the people of our province, I am delighted to welcome the rest of the country to Limpopo.
More specifically, I wish to extend a warm word of welcome to the President, and the rest of his delegation to our beautiful and most peaceful Province.
We truly run short of words to describe how much happier we are to celebrate this important day with you.
Once again, you are welcome to the heartland of Southern Africa where development is about the people.
I thank you!
