Water on our Coals

 
While Saffas around the globe were saying: “May the wors be with you”, Newstime sub editor Siyabonga Ntshingila splashed a bucket of water on their coals in his popular Thoughtleader blog asking for Braai Day to be moved away from Heritage Day. Ntshingila argued that the creators of Braai Day, the folk at Braai4Heritage, are “turning a day where we can learn and teach each other about our culture and history into one where we pretend that all is well”. This, he warns, runs a dangerous risk.
 
“My concerns about it stems from the fact that while celebrating a new and still developing heritage is good, we should not forget our history. The ANC is doing a good job of airbrushing history and ‘fixing’ it in its own image, such that a future scholar of the apartheid years would think that any uprising or revolts against colonisers and the apartheid state were the fruit of ANC ideology and no other movement has any claim to it. And while the good folk at Braai4Heritage certainly do not share the nefarious (in this regard at least) intentions of our ruling party, I fear their initiative in its current form could at least exacerbate this,” he said.
 
Ntshingila then asks that Braai Day be moved to another date like “the anniversary of the 2010 World Cup kick-off” or “maybe the first Tri-Nations Test each year, or Madiba’s birthday”.
 
Jan (Braai) Scannell, head of Braai4Heritage, was quick to respond. He said Braaing and celebrating the rich and diverse South African heritage is mutually inclusive, not mutually exclusive. “Braai4Heritage supports and encourages the celebration of the rich and diverse heritage of South Africa on 24 September each year. The traditional gathering place in Africa to celebrate is around the fire. Gather around a fire with your family and friends, especially with your kids, and tell them where they come from. Tell stories, share knowledge.”
 
Grant Walliser, a Braai4Heritage supporter, said he gets the feeling that Ntshingila’s request is about “some kind of historical whinging that is somehow supposed to bring evil colonials to their knees in apology once a year for something their ancestors did hundreds of years ago…. Heritage Day, to my mind, would be a day to enjoy the particular aspects of one’s heritage that fits in with a day off. Let the Afrikaners braai, let the Zulu’s chug back their amasi and beer and let the Indians nosh a good solid bunny chow. Damn man, its the perfect day for national braai day to coincide with.”
 
Meanwhile Jan Braai broke the Guinness World Record for the longest braai ever just a week before the controversy over Braai Day started. Scannell set the new world record at the V & A Waterfront when he slaved over hot coals for 28 hours and 28 minutes as part of his Braai4Heritage initiative. The previous record, set in Germany, was 28 hours 24 minutes.