Gauteng residents urged to celebrate heritage through indigenous games
These games have been played by communities for generations and remain an important part of South Africa's cultural identity.
Gauteng residents are being encouraged to celebrate the province’s rich and diverse heritage as Heritage Day approaches, with the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation hosting the Provincial Indigenous Games from 23 to 25 September 2026 at Konka Adventure Camp in Magaliesburg.
The annual event forms part of the Heritage Month celebrations and aims to bring communities together through traditional sport while preserving and promoting indigenous cultural practices. Organisers say the games provide an important platform to ensure that indigenous sporting traditions continue to be practised and passed on to future generations.
Participants will compete in a variety of traditional games, including morabaraba, diketo, kgati, dibeke, jukskei and intonga. These games have been played by communities for generations and remain an important part of South Africa’s cultural identity.
Gauteng MEC for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation Lebogang Maile said heritage extends far beyond museums, monuments and historical sites.
“Our heritage is rich and diverse as it is practiced and expressed through our languages, music, dance, food, customs, indigenous knowledge, traditional practices and more importantly, in the games that our communities have played over many years,” said Maile.
He added that the Provincial Indigenous Games create opportunities for children, young people, families and communities to learn about traditional games while helping to preserve indigenous knowledge.
“The Provincial Indigenous Games thus provide an opportunity to keep our heritage alive and relevant, particularly among the youth,” he said. “By creating opportunities for children, young people, families and communities to learn and participate in indigenous games, government is playing an active role in strengthening the transmission of cultural practices and indigenous knowledge from older generations to younger generations.”
Maile also called on residents to embrace their heritage during Heritage Month by learning more about their history, traditions and languages.
“Let us teach our children our languages, our stories, our customs and our games so that these treasures are carried forward to future generations for preservation,” he said. He further encouraged all Gauteng residents, regardless of their background, to celebrate and respect the diverse cultures that make the province strong and unique.
According to the department, the Indigenous Games also promote social cohesion while helping participants develop important life skills such as numeracy, literacy, agility, balance, coordination, accuracy, strategy and patience through traditional forms of recreation.
