Flying the Venda flag in My Heritage contest
Shonisani Mutengwe, a Venda culture champion who advocates for tradition and culture among young Vhembe girls is confident that the title is coming home this year.
LIMPOPO – Rotondwa Mudzanani (17) and Tshanduko Ndou (21) will represent the Venda kingdom in the Indoni SA My Heritage My Pride competition, which is scheduled to take place in Durban on December 16.
Shonisani Mutengwe, a Venda culture champion who promotes the culture and tradition among young girls in Vhembe said she was optimistic that the two would bring home the title.
“Nowadays, young people spend so much of their time on social media and they don’t know much about how things were done in the past.
“A nation that forgets its culture is doomed. We have a programme where young boys and girls visit traditional leaders to learn about how to install traditional leaders, the law of succession in the Vhavenda traditional leadership and how marriages are handled.”
Queen Rotondwa, who is a Gr 11 learner at Mbilwi Secondary School, said she feels proud to have been selected to represent Venda and hopes to bring the title back to the province.
She said she was born and raised in the royal family in Tshitananini village and has learnt how to respect older people, and about the customs and traditions of the Vhavenda nation at an early age.
“I have been lucky enough to have competed in the competition twice, and I believe I know what the judges are looking for. This is our year to win,” she said.
