The South African public holiday, Heritage Day, is dedicated to South Africans with the purpose of celebrating and embracing their heritage. This includes all that the people of South Africa have inherited, such as culture, history, wildlife, monuments, artwork, literature, music, folklore, languages, culinary traditions, and more. This is the only day that has been reserved to embrace a diverse cultural heritage that makes up what is referred to as the "rainbow nation”. It is the day to celebrate the contribution which South Africans have made to build a better countryfor all.

Various events are staged on this day, this includes music festivals, concerts, dance shows as well as our very own Annual Osizweni Toy Library Heritage Day celebration. The purpose of this event is to encourage and instill an environment where children between the ages of 3 and 6 understand and embrace who they are, an environment where they are able to not only learn about other cultures but to also respect other people’s heritage and diversity.

This year’s event was hosted on 19 September 2018, where we saw more than 10 day care centres come together at the Toy Library. The activities included dance performances, singing, chanting and a whole feast of traditional cuisine prepared by the different day care centres for everyone to enjoy, with an atmosphere and spirit of celebration.

“The Osizweni Toy Library brings absolute joy, fun and a lot of learning experience for our children. This event in particular is one of the platforms where our learners are able to learn about different cultures. They are taught to take pride in who they are, their heritage, our national symbols and their different surroundings. Thank you so much for the opportunities and privileges offered to our day care centres by the Toy Library” Jerminah Skhosana, Isiqalo Semfundo Day Care Centre practitioner.