What makes you proudly South African? What inspires you to celebrate your heritage?

Well here’s a list of five things that makes us proudly South African:

1. Rich cultural heritage – South Africa is a land referred to as the ‘rainbow nation’ and this can be seen in the country’s rich cultural heritage, which spans generations of Zulu, Khoisan, Indian and many more. So wherever you go in South Africa, you’re sure to be blanketed in heaps of tradition and culture.

2. World Heritage sites – South Africa has six World Heritage sites and these are: The Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park, The uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, Robben Island, The Cradle of Humankind World Heritage, The Fossil Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai and environs and Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape. To be named a World heritage Site, each place has to either represent cultural or natural heritage.

3. National anthem – The South African national anthem is a medley of five languages – isiXhosa, isiZulu, seSotho, Afrikaans and English and an amalgamation of Nkosi Sekelel’ iAfrika and Die Stem and was adopted by the government in 1997 as the national anthem.

4. South Africa’s wildlife is also revered in the world and tourists flock to “Wild Africa” to see these wonders of nature. Three of the five fastest land animals live in South Africa – the cheetah, the wildebeest, and the lion. South Africa is also legendary for its Big Five, which are defined as the ‘greatest’ wild animals in Africa and they are the lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo.

5. South Africa’s political history, although not one to be proud of, is part of our heritage and through the struggles, defiance and even deaths of political activists, we can now enjoy democracy and freedom in our rainbow nation. Acknowledge and remember those who fought for equality and justice in our country, they laid the foundation for a culturally rich country.

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