THE FUSE

Before 1995, 24 September was commemorated in KwaZulu as Shaka Day. When the proposed Public Holidays Bill omitted it, the IFP objected, and a compromise was reached: Heritage Day would become a national day on which South Africans could celebrate their diverse cultural heritage. Thirty-one years later, the official 2026 theme is rather fittingly “Celebrating Our Living Heritage: Strengthening the Ties That Bind Us”.