Cheers to our Heritage

The sun finally pokes its head out from behind the clouds after a weekend of misty grey and constant drizzle just in time for the sound of a beer being cracked open and the lighting of a match. Yes, Braai day has finally arrived and Stellenbosch could not be happier. Braai day not only represents the beginning of a season filled with the smell of 'braaivleis', or the soothing cold of a beer slowly making its way down your gullet or the hot bodies lounging next to a pool in the lazy afternoon sun, it represents a vibe, a culture, a way of life. A South African way of life.

Anyone who has ever spent their afternoon next to a pool, baking in the sun with the chatter of men talking about the rugby and a gin and tonic in hand will tell you that it is the single best way to spend an afternoon with friends and family and there is no better way to catch up with those that you don't see every day.

Yes, it is around a braai that memories are formed, plans are made, relationships are struck up, and strangers meet. It is around the fire with marshmallows in hand that life really happens.

And so we celebrate this style of living, this culture of life on a day that to some South Africans is only known as Heritage Day. Many have commented on the commercialisation of Heritage Day being advertised as Braai Day and many feel that it is vulgar and inappropriate, but is the idea of a braai not something that we have inherited? Can the two not coincide?

Well, I think that not only can the two coincide, but they should coincide.

Many of our public holidays go by with the meaning behind them unknown and yet on Heritage Day people from every single culture get together and celebrate. Maybe they are celebrating by having a braai but if it is around the fire that our communities can come together, regardless of race, culture, language or sex, then surely this is the greatest form of celebration?

So, as I stand next to the braai I will lift my beer and proudly say "Cheers to our heritage, Cheers to our diversity and Cheers to South Africa!"