Contralesa calls for enactment of Ancestors Day

Contralesa secretary general and champion of Ancestors Day Zolani Mkiva has challenged the government to live up to the dictates of the Freedom Charter and listen and act on the people’s demands, especially the Africans whose voices have been marginalised for centuries.

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Speaking at the commemoration of Ancestors Day which has been marked for the past four years to get it enacted in the calendar as an official South African holiday, Mkiva said he would not want to come back to celebrate this day again without guarantees from the ruling elite that they fully understand the concept.
“Such a statement and utterances from the powers behind our government will reinforce the dictates of the Freedom Charter that the people shall govern and their voices shall be heard.
“We are striving to revive the African Renaissance and affirm the beliefs and culture of the Africans in Africa. When you scrutinise the current South African holiday calendar, you will notice that it is Eurocentric and nothing in it resonates with the majority of African people.

“Our mission as traditional leaders is to ensure that we balance the calendar of this country. You currently have a situation where people are mad to go and celebrate Christmas, Easter and so forth but they don’t recognise their ancestry.

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“We need to honour and celebrate those who came before us as we do with rituals in our lives as Africans. When there is a wedding or coming of age of the young ones, including when there is a birth, we slaughter an animal to appease our spirits and so forth. This is what Ancestors Day is all about,” Mkiva said.

By the power vested upon the government by the will of the people, Mkiva said the role of the government was to listen to the people’s demands and implement what the people want or have decided upon.
“We have engaged the government, including the ruling ANC on enacting Ancestors Day as a public holiday and they agree. No noble government worth its salt will reject such a proposal of Africanising the national calendar.

“The national calendar in its current state needs to be revisited and revised as it doesn’t reflect the ideals of the majority of this country,” Mkiva said in the presence of Kgosi Seatlholo, leader of the House of the Koi San and Traditional Leaders.
Kgosi Seatlholo called for the formation of a war room to champion the cause of Ancestors Day which will only be disbanded when Ancestors Day is finally recognised and enacted as part of the public calendar.

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