Serule residents urged to preserve culture

Ivy Matlho | Tuesday November 3, 2015 14:54

“To preserve culture is to preserve your identity, which nobody wants to lose,” he said.

He said in order to be able to preserve cultural values individuals should also have self-respect and respect for others.

He said respecting each other’s cultural values would ensure that there is peace among residents.

“The way we carry on our daily lives defines our culture and cultural values.  Culture and respect complement each other,” he said.

He said that it is also important to notice the role played by Dikgosi in the preservation of culture.

He said Botswana is one of the lucky countries, as it still have a functional Bogosi.

“All dikgosi play an important role in the preservation of culture,” he said.

Ncube warned that modernisation has affected culture in so many ways as people are now influenced by the encroachment of misunderstood foreign cultures.

He said imitating foreign cultures has resulted in young people discarding their own.

“Due to the cosmopolitan set-ups where you have a mixture of various cultures both local and foreign all crammed in one place the rich culture and practice no longer exist,” he said.

He also urged writers to document culture in a form of books.

He stated that it is important to document culture in books to ensure long lasting identities of several tribes.

“Documentation of our culture in the form of books is a permanent preservation assurance to benefit present and future generation,” he said. 

He also said there are some cultural practices that people do not know, because in the past knowledge was only shared orally.

 He also advised that the government should introduce annual national culture day.  He said this would bring together different cultures in the country, which will enable cultural exchange amongst different tribes.

He said this would help them to understand different cultural practices and tolerate each other.

“The government should introduce national culture day in our calendar rather than each village having to celebrate its own culture day,” he suggested.

Kgosi Ramosenyi Radipetse of Tonota also urged residents here to avoid copying foreign cultures.  He said that it is disturbing that nowadays people no longer follow their own cultural practices. 

He, however, said that youth should not only be blamed for not preserving culture, as elders are not guiding them.

“In most cases we blame youth for not preserving culture, but elders do not teach them our cultural practices,” he said.