CPUT’s annual Heritage Day Festival celebrated our living heritage and featured a vibrant mix of dance, music, poetry, fashion and art.

This year’s event was held at the Granger Bay Campus under the theme 20 Years of Growing from Greats – Celebrating our Living Heritage.

In her opening remarks, Brightness Mangolothi, Director of the Centre for Diversity, Inclusivity and Social Change, highlighted the significance of the occasion.

“Heritage is not only about where we come from, but also about the legacy we are creating for future generations. So today, as we share in the beauty of poems, the flavours of traditional food, the rhythm of our songs, and the energy from our dance, we celebrate stories and experiences that connect us. This expression of heritage inspires us to build bridges across cultures.”

The keynote address was delivered by Dr Buntu Godongwana, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment.

“Heritage is about creating inclusive systems where culture and science co-exist and science is not the exclusive purview of one culture,” he stated in his address.

The programme included a presentation on Indigenous Knowledge in Water and Agriculture by Dr Evans Shoko, postdoctoral fellow in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, cultural garments showcase by Fashion Design students and performances by the AmaXhosa Student Society and the Hanover Residence students.

As part of the heritage months celebrations, a call was put out to the university community to submit original poems for the Heritage Day Poetry Competition 2025. The winners of the competition were announced during the festival and the top four were invited to recite their work.

The winners were: Luloyisokazi Nonxuba (first), Kabelo Lekhoro (second), Ntsako Mohlala (third) and Lakhiwa Ngaka (fourth).

The winners’ work will be included in the official CPUT Poetry Anthology 2025.

The festival was a collaborative effort between the Centre for Diversity, Inclusivity & Social Change, CPUT Libraries, Faculty of Informatics and Design, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Marketing and Communication Department, Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships and the Cape Town Hotel School.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Students celebrated their cultures by showcasing their traditional attire as well as performing an assortment of music and traditional dances during a Heritage Month event.

The event, which was held at the District Six Campus, was hosted by the Department of Biotechnology and Consumer Science to inspire the university’s community to embrace their roots.

The ceremony began with the singing of the national anthem which they sang perfectly. Student Langelihle Ngonyama delivered the opening prayer and said she believed that God is the creator of all cultures and the diversity in our nation.

Head of Department: Dr Vanessa Jackson told the audience that the Heritage Day is more than just a public holiday for South Africans but it is a day to celebrate their cultural history and diversity.

“It is about showing love to each other and learn that we are one, but we are all different. [Now] it is time to reach out to each other.” She added that there was a need to recognise the diverse cultures in South Africa as there are people from different ethnic groups and races as well as those who come from other African countries.

The event’s organiser and lecturer, Theloshni Govender, said: “We celebrate this month to make our nation a beautiful rainbow nation.”

First-year student, Azanele Manyoni, recited her poem “Soldier”.

Another student Zoe Setti, a Zambian national, said she felt good about the day as she learnt about her heritage and to appreciate other cultures. “[At home] we were also celebrating the birth of my older brother's baby girl. The new addition to our family is half-Xhosa and half-Zambian so future celebrations will be a warm celebration of the two cultures,” she added. 

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

As the country celebrated Heritage Month, the Business and Information Administration Department in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences collaborated with the District Six Museum (D6M), and engaged all second-year Diversity Management students and International exchange students in workshops re-imagining and exploring the past at the Homecoming Centre in Cape Town.

Mandie Richards, senior lecturer and subject co-ordinator, advised that although the workshop focused on forced removals in District Six, forced removals were not synonymous to District Six, as the Group Areas Act passed on 27 April 1950 by the apartheid government was responsible for the separation and segregation of people into residential areas based on their race, which in itself was a social construct, throughout South Africa.

Mandy Sanger, the Education Manager at the D6M, engaged students in active conversations about colonialism, white privilege, culture, identity, language, restitution and human dignity.

Teams of students participated in role play and enacted scenarios on stage in the Avalon Theatre, which was previously known as the Fugard Theatre, and possible future stars were born, as the student audience applauded a few dramatic performances highlighting the suffering experienced by people in South Africa.

As the past influences the present and often shapes the future, District Six ex-residents accompanied students on guided tours to sites in District Six and shared their stories. Jasmina Salie, an ex-resident and author, shared the pain she and her family endured when they were forcibly removed from District Six to Hanover Park, where she still resides.

Second-year student Zena Julie shared the story of her grandmother’s forced removal from Newlands and finally settling in Mitchells Plain, and added that the workshop provided her with a greater understanding of the past and the impact of apartheid.

Richards was joined at the workshops by Fidelis Chu, the subject lecturer on the Wellington Campus, who shared his insights on the importance of history and how it shapes students’ understanding of the present. Students engaged in further conversation over lunch which was held on the rooftop garden overlooking the City Hall and Table Mountain.

Richards further stated that to enhance the understanding of students, the conversations at the workshops were integrated into the Diversity Management curriculum. Students had to identify a challenge in their community and explore ways as to how they would make a difference in communities by sharing their knowledge and skills or creating awareness thereby empowering communities.

“The workshop concluded with teams presenting their project plans which included homework clubs in communities, volunteering their services as tutors, neighbourhood watch to ensure the safety of the community, to creating awareness about gangsterism, teenage pregnancy and gender-based violence and feedback was provided to each team,” added Richards.

Richards advised that the future of the country was in the hands of the youth, and that this required that they be part of the narrative and that their voices and contributions be valued. The challenges raised by the teams and solutions as to how they would address them in their communities, provided her with hope that “this cohort of students will be global citizens and agents of change”.

Written by Kwanele Butana
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Ingoma Yesintu Cultural Society has much to celebrate this Heritage Month after being nominated for a South African Traditional Music Achievements (SATMA) Award.

The group, who has been wowing audiences with their performances over the past few years, are nominated in the category Best Traditional Group/Artist of an Institution of Higher Learning.

The group’s Lusanda Baai said that what started as a small group has grown into a cultural society of more than 200 members.

“It felt surreal when we received the nomination because we never expected it. We were just doing our thing, making sure that we keep each other safe, because that's what we call the group, we call it our safe space. From Monday to Thursday, we are busy with school. Others are stressing because they are under pressure from home but then when we meet on Friday, we forget everything. It just feels like home,” said Lusanda.

Chairperson Sphesihle Mwandla said CPUT students from all campuses who are interested in culture, cultural music and dance as well as poetry, are welcome to join.

Sphesihle said the group had performed at several events and also won at the Western Cape Art and Culture Competition.

Their recent highlights include the Bhinca Day at the Sports Hall on the Bellville Campus where artists from all over the country performed.

To vote for the group please SMS the code 060SATMA19 to 32436. Each SMS costs R1.50.

Cherice Mangiagalli, Student Development Officer: Sport, Arts and Culture, congratulated the group and said: “With Heritage month upon us, I believe that this well-deserved nomination is not only representative of the talents of our diverse CPUT community, but it represents the diversity of Africa, its people and the importance of cultivating vibrant cultures and traditions which lie at the heart of our roots. Let us unite and vote for CPUT’s Ingoma Yesintu to be acknowledged as the Best Traditional Group of an institution of Higher Learning”.

Written by Ilse Fredericks

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.