Ebony Park and Eqinisweni learners bring heritage to life at Freedom Park
Learners from Ebony Park Primary and Eqinisweni Secondary joined schools from across Gauteng at Freedom Park to celebrate language, culture, and identity through poetry, praise and storytelling.
Young learners from schools across Gauteng gathered at Freedom Park on August 8 to celebrate culture, language, and indigenous knowledge through poetry, storytelling, praise singing, and speeches.
Learners aged eight to 15 from schools including Ebony Park Primary and Eqinisweni Secondary attended the Cultural Heritage Education and Storytelling Programme, hosted by Kamoraleng Heritage Institute in partnership with Freedom Park under the theme: Wena o mang? Who Am I?
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The programme encouraged young people to understand their heritage, strengthen identity, and appreciate the importance of preserving indigenous languages and knowledge. Delivering the keynote address, Kamoraleng Heritage Institute founder and CEO Molatelo Develd Monyai emphasised the role of language in preserving culture.
“A nation that forgets its language loses its compass,” he said, warning that losing a language weakens a nation’s connection to identity.
Learners then showcased their creativity in performances delivered in their mother tongues. Imbongi Mbali Dlamini from Eqinisweni offered a praise performance centred on love, while Faith Chauke spoke about peace, unity, and prosperity.
Eight–year–old Makungu Shishenge of Ebony Park Primary impressed with a rendition of Halloween Fish before reciting biographies of African leaders including Thomas Sankara, Nelson Mandela, and Samora Machel.
Ebony Park learners Khaviso Mathevoni, Vukona Mathebula, and Ntsako Maluleke delivered interactive speeches, with Vukona also sharing her knowledge of the six colours of the South African national flag. After lunch, learners joined a guided tour of Freedom Park, connecting the day’s lessons with the country’s history.
They visited the Hapo Museum and Wall of Names, learning about more than 3 000 people who lost their lives in conflicts. At Isivivane, a sacred site containing soil from all nine provinces and international locations, they reflected on unity and remembrance.
The tour also included the sanctuary and amphitheatre, which can host 3 000 people, and explored Freedom Park’s interpretation of eight major conflicts.
Monyai said the programme forms part of Kamoraleng Heritage Institute’s broader mandate to preserve indigenous knowledge and pass it on to future generations.
“By preserving the mother tongue, we safeguard our ultimate freedom. Today the children showed us that our future is secure because they know who they are.”
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