Faith Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
THE San community in Tsholotsho District, Matabeleland North Province recently celebrated the International Mother Language Day silver jubilee through the Ibhoro Festival that showcased their diverse traditional practices.
The event was held at Garia Primary School and was aimed at promoting and preserving what remains of the San language and culture while also celebrating the milestones and achievements made in the past few years.
The festival was made possible through the generous support of Palms for Life Fund under the Tsoro-o-Tso San Development Trust, a community-based organisation in partnership with the San communities and with support from the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture.
The Ibhoro Festival featured traditional music, dance and storytelling, all of which highlighted the rich cultural heritage of the San community.
It also provided a platform for community members to share their experiences and challenges in promoting and preserving their language and culture from extinction.
International Mother Language Day is celebrated annually on 21 February to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and the San community’s celebration of this day through the Ibhoro Festival demonstrates their commitment to preserving their unique cultural identity.
The director of Tsoro-o-tso San Development Trust, Davy Ndlovu, who is also a San rights defender said they were proud to celebrate the language and culture, which are an integral part of their identity.
“The Ibhoro Festival is a significant event for us. It allows us to showcase our traditions and customs to the world,” Ndlovu said.
Ndlovu said he is not a San by origin, but he went there because one of the elders in the San community was concerned that the language was going to die and would leave no traces of having existed since no written literature was available.
“I had to learn first, then I started writing, and documenting the language so that the future generation has access to the written information and the history,” he said.
He said the event was well attended with all stakeholders in Tsholotsho availing themselves.
“Some of the key takeaways during the event was that we should not let the language die and even the San themselves had to pledge that they were going to use whatever resources they have to preserve the crafts, culture and language so that they pass it to the following generation,” Ndlovu noted.
San community traditional leader, Chief Goledema, emphasised the importance of preserving the San language.
“Our language is our heritage and it’s essential that we pass it down to future generations. We must continue to speak our language, teach it to our children and promote it in our communities,” he said.
He said they are grateful for the opportunity to celebrate their silver jubilee of the International Mother Language Day and paid tribute to the Second Republic for promoting cultural diversity and for the efforts in developing the community.
“We will continue to work towards promoting and preserving our language and culture and we invite others to join us in promoting linguistic and cultural diversity,” he said.
