Cultural competitions for local schools

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Primary and secondary schools in the Vhembe region competed in a cultural competition for two consecutive days last week. The event took place at the Makhado Show Grounds.

On Thursday, the region's best primary schools showed their skills, while the secondary school teams had their opportunity on Friday. The winning schools came from all six clusters in the Vhembe district, namely from Thohoyandou, Soutpansberg, Hlanganani, Malamulele, Mutale and Vuwani. The venue was colourful with pupils dressed in traditional attire and proudly showcasing their culture.

This year's competition was marked by tough competition between the schools. The organisers also increased their efforts to include some of the activities that were left out in previous years. One of the activities is the marimba musical performances. Pupils from the Holy Rosary Catholic School from Malamule performed this musical activity and their teacher, Mr Emmanuel Mashavha, said there had been keen interest since this art was initially introduced at the school.   

The competition, which started at circuit level, reached its climax last week and it will continue on 27  September at Musina's show grounds. The competition is a way of celebrating art forms such as traditional and contemporary dances, visual arts and literature. Pupils performed various popular cultural dances including tshifasi, tshigombela, tshikona and marimba.

Mr Stanley Rasikhanya, the head of the Vhembe district organising committee, said the competition was meant to educate pupils about the importance of their tradition and its contrast with the western culture through entertaining activities. "We realised that the culture was gradually fading, but with this competition the pride is being restored and pupils compete proudly," he said.

He added that they would review their programme annually to improve the competition. "During the years we have had tourists who have travel from as far as Europe just to watch when our pupils are performing these cultural activities and this year too they will join us in Musina during the finals," said Mr Rasikhanya.

The committee’s chairperson, Mr Mavhungu Freddy Mashamba, insisted the competition was restoring cultural values. He said traditional and cultural activities helped preserve cultural values. "We restore most of the activities in our school to teach our children about their tradition and to help them unleash their art talent," he said.

By: Phathutshedzo Luvhengo