24 Dec 2024

Christmas celebrations create platforms to promote culture and tradition, Paramount Chief of Bangwato Kgosi Khama IV has said.

Speaking at a Christmas celebration he hosted in honour of the elderly people in Serowe on December 23. Kgosi Khama IV said there was  need to harness opportunity during such celebrations with a view to promote and revitalise culture.

He observed that though Christmas was an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, secondary purposes could also be derived from the event citing promoting and giving a new lease of life to culture through traditional cuisine, music and dance.

 Kgosi Khama IV said eSwatini had an annual cultural festival dubbed; Incwala Day, which brings emaSwati in one accord at the Ludzidzini Cattle Byre celebrated through a public holiday that marks the beginning of the new traditional calendar year and thanking God and ancestors for a good year as well as praying for a prosperous new year.

He thus implored other communities to borrow a leaf from eSwatini with a view to grow culture and tradition in their respective areas.

As for culture as a symbol of identity, he said cultural identity was a critical piece of one’s personal identity that develops as one absorbs, interprets, and adopts or rejects the beliefs, values, behaviours and norms of the communities in life.

Furthermore, he said cultural identity could evolve, as culture was ever evolving and dynamic.

Kgosi Khama IV said he chose to celebrate the Setswana way because he believed such could have an impact on resuscitating, preserving and promoting culture and tradition in his area of jurisdiction and beyond.

As for committees across his area of jurisdiction, he said tourism, arts, tradition, agricultural, cultural and sports committees were in place to develop GaMmangwato into a more envied area as well as to change the economic landscape.

Wishing Batswana a cheerful Christmas and a fruitful New Year, Kgosi Khama IV advised motorists more especially the youth to refrain from drinking while driving.

For his part, oral historian and former curator at Khama III Memorial Museum Mr Scobie Lekhutile hailed the event that showcased traditional and cultural aspects of Batswana ranging from music, music instruments, cuisine, attire, dance, poetry, whistling and ululation, among others.

Mr Lekhutile said music recording studios that offer services including music recordings and programming, film and video voice-overs, overdubs, mixing and mastering were part of documenting history and culture.

He opined that some of the songs were based on past experiences symbolising the power of memories to evoke deep emotions, thus preserving history. ENDS