25 Years of Democracy:
Celebrating South Africa’s literary classics in the year of indigenous languages.

Heritage Month serves as a catalyst for social-cohesion and nation building.

• Government calls on all South Africans to use Heritage Month to foster greater social cohesion, nation building and a shared national identity.
• Through our multilingual diversity and unique heritage, we can strengthen our unity and build a cohesive society.
• The celebration of Heritage Month has created a conducive environment for all people to embrace and celebrate what was inherited or bequeathed to us by our forebears.

Our heritage landscape is being transformed to reflect our diverse nation.

• The transformation of the heritage landscape of our country has ensured that it truly represents the diversity of our society.
• The changes in our heritage space have helped protect, promote and preserve South Africa’s rich and diverse heritage.
• In reconfiguring our arts and cultural spaces we have helped redress past imbalances and reflect a more inclusive nation.

The Bill of Rights promotes our linguistic diversity and encourages respect for language rights.

• This year’s Heritage Month will focus on promoting books that have been written and published in indigenous languages.
• As a nation we must promote and support the preservation and revival of indigenous languages.
• Language is an important instrument for educational development, and can be used to enhance our culture, self-identity, and contribute to our national building. 
• It is every citizen’s right to use their language and to celebrate their heritage and culture.
• Our indigenous languages have the potential to promote equality, understanding and greater human dignity.

Let us make reading a lifestyle choice.

• We call on all South Africans to support the culture of reading and incorporate it into their daily lifestyles.
• Parents should inculcate a culture of reading among their children and understand that they are the most important educators in a child’s life.
• It is important to encourage your children to visit a library and start reading at an early age so that they grow up with the passion for reading as this develop a broader vocabulary and increased general knowledge

Reading books written in our indigenous languages can make us discover who we are as a people.

• It is important to read books written in our indigenous languages and by African writers.
• They are the stories our people relate to, our cultures, rituals, traditions and languages.
• They also tell us where we come from – depicting our rich history from the perspective of our forebears.

#HeritageMonth #HeritageDay #IChoose2ReadInMyLanguage

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