ADVERTISEMENT:
News - Date: 16 June 2006
Three prominent figures of the apartheid government were honored during the Dimbanyika meritorious awards held in the Thohoyandou parliamentary chambers on Saturday.
The three, former ministers Pik Botha, Roelf Meyer and Dawie de Villiers, received pendants and certificates for their efforts to promote reconciliation between blacks and whites.
According to the director of Azwi Development and events management, Mr Jackson Mafunzwaini, 91 community builders were given awards and the majority of them were women. “Women are playing a significant role in the development of the country, and they deserve to be appreciated. We have to forgive the apartheid leaders in order to promote democracy in South Africa,” he said.
Mafunzwaini said the name Dimbanyika brings to life memories of early battles fought and won by our great warrior kings against colonialism and imperialism in Southern Africa. “Today, the Venda people pride themselves on their language, culture, and traditions because of the contributions made by such leaders as Dimbanyika. As government, we find it regrettable that so little has been written and is known about this great King of the North who traveled from Zimbabwe with his people to settle at presentday Tshiendeulu in the Nzhelele Valley,” Moloto added.
Moloto further said the Europeans who wrote our history deliberately failed to recognize and document adequately the role that King Dimbanyika played in the struggle and in the unification of the African people against colonizers, since there have been numerous distortions throughout the years of the actual role and place of Dimbanyika in the struggle and unification of our people. According to him, oral history tells us that Dimbanyika died in 1710 near the Royal Village Dzata in the Nzhelele valley. “Our government has recognized the ancient capitals of Dzata in Nzhelele and Tjate in Sekhukhune as deserving the honor and status of being the World Heritage Sites. It is our belief that this endeavor shall benefit our people not only in terms of cultural tourism, which brings about jobs, but also in terms of educating them about the majestic histories and legacies that our great leaders have left behind,” he said.
Premier Sello Moloto congratulated recipients of the awards and encouraged them to keep on building the communities in keeping the memory of Dimbanyika alive. “Dimbanyika’s name must never be used in vain to divide the people further; his name should never be forgotten in our struggle for the resolution of the national question in South Africa and the building of one diverse nation.
Search for a story:
ADVERTISEMENT
The economic conditions in Zimbabwe forced Tanaka Moyo (40) to legally seek greener pastures in Musina. He opted for a unique business plan, selling the wild jujube fruit to make a living. The fruit, called masau in Shona, is better known as mazwilu in Tshivenda.
As the unemployment rate in South Africa continued to rise, a group of women from Makonde village decided to start a community-based project to create job opportunities for themselves. However, it is very difficult to continue with the project without support from the government or the private sector.
At the age of 104, William Masindi Sadiki still has many stories to tell. Some of these are about his experiences during World War II, when he was part of the North Africa campaign. He is one of the few black soldiers from that era still alive, and he proudly pins his war medals on his chest on formal occasions.
The Rivoni School for the Blind in in Njakanjaka village in the Vhembe District has 167 learners from Grade R to Grade 12. The school was started in 2016 by the Rivoni Society for the Blind, founded in June 1975 at Elim Hospital by late Swiss doctor Erwin Sutter. The society later transferred responsibility for the school to the Department of Education.