Govt leads Basotho new year celebration

By Emily Setona

QWAQWA – A cultural activist says the Basotho New Year is celebrated during the month of August when winter makes way for spring and the strong August winds get rid of all the bad things and makes way for the new.

This was mentioned by Lerotholi Qhaba a representative of Friends of Basotho Cultural Village when he addressed people gathered at Basotho Cultural Village on 3 August to celebrate the Basotho new year.
“During the month of August, the earth cleanses itself. The wind blows away all the bad things. To ensure that this celebration continues we need to know who we are as Basotho, our history and culture.

“We are not Basotho just because of our attire but also because of our culture and traditions. We shouldn’t just practice our customs only when we are here at Basotho Cultural Village. We are Basotho though our language and actions,” Qhaba said.
When addressing the crowd, the MEC of the Free State Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation Ntombizanele Sifuba said:

“We are very proud to see all the efforts made to showcase the cultural heritage of the Basotho, through garments, food, music, dance and many more things. Today as I stand before all of you I commit to making sure that this celebration grows from strength to strength with each passing year. I also urge everyone gathered here to continue with the efforts to promote and share our cultural heritage because looking at our communities where we live and come from, I can say there are signs of a dying heritage and culture of our people. The way we dress, our languages and the food that we eat every day is no longer symbolic of our cultural heritage but rather heavily influence by other nations.”

Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation MEC Ntombizanela Sifuba accompanied by Thabo Mofutsanyana district municipality executive mayor Conny Msibi at the commemoration of Basotho New year at Basotho Cultural Village in Qwaqwa.

Representatives of various cultural houses as well as the district executive mayor Conny Msibi and Maluti-a-Phofung executive mayor Malekula Melato where among the distinguished guests present at the occasion that was celebrated with Basotho song and dance and performances from different cultural groups.