​Thembisa Shologu
Minister for Department of Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa has called on all South Africans to pass on their cultural heritage to their children. 
Speaking at the Heritage month's launch on Thursday, Minister Mthehtwa said the country's heritage would not be complete if it didn't take on boards the culture which the people of this country decided to choose for themselves which is the culture for resistance, the culture for liberation in this country.
"In the month of September, we call on all South Africans to pass on their cultural heritage to their children. Our call to action is in its our culture endeavours to promote conversation and illustration of South Africans sharing with each other the pride of their culture in food, music, rites and created practices of indigenous knowledge system," said Mthethwa on Wednesday. 
He said the launch also marked the 27 year of democracy since the dawn of democracy which coincides with the 27 years spent behind bars by one of the legendary global figures, uTata Nelson Mandela. 
Furthermore, this year marks an important milestone as the country celebrates the 25 anniversary of the enactment of the constitution of the Republic into law by President Mandela in Sharpeville in 1996. 
"I make reference to the Constitution as it is where we receive the marching orders in terms of the need and obligation to celebrate the nation's cultural diversity as given expression though language, art, folklore, literature as well as many other avenues of artistic and cultural expression.
"Instead of employing our diverse heritage as an instrument to cause racial, gender, ethnic, religious and linguistic fissures as has been the case under colonialism and during apartheid, the Constitution of the Republic enjoins all of us to employ the diversity of our heritage as a source of strength and unity," said Mthethwa. 
It is the country's collective history, traditions, as well as cultural practices and expressions that are key in terms of its national identity formation.
The country celebrates its diverse heritage as a way to jealously safeguard its heritage treasures for prosperity, also in bolstering its collective sense of self as one united nation in diversity. 
"In other words, whilst there maybe variation in terms of our collective histories, cultural practices and expressions our litmus test would be in finding common unifying thread so that such diversity becomes a source of strength, of unity and solidarity as obviously envisaged in the Constitution and in the vision of the Nation Development Plan," said Minister Mthethwa.  
The theme for 2021 heritage month is, "The year of Charlotte Maxeke: Celebrating South Africa's Intangible Cultural Heritage".​