Thousands of community members,  representatives of traditional leaders from as far as Mpumalanga and Kwazulu Natal and people from all walks of life gathered at Ngove outside Giyani on Saturday, for the annual Mabunda Heroes Day celebrations.

The day, on which the efforts by individuals in the community who have gone the extra mile in bettering the lives of others and bringing development in the area and also reviving culture are recognised, was held at the Ngove Royal offices on Saturday.

The gathering was addressed by the present incumbent, Chief Pheni Ngove V, and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Richard Baloyi.

Messages of support came from representatives of the different traditional houses and other institutions. Newly elected MEC for Sport Arts and Culture Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba represented the Limpopo government.

More than 200 young initiates were paraded before the crowd by the chief. The chief said it was to show that they were still upholding their culture and their determination to fight the scourge of HIV/Aids.

“To show our determination in working with traditional leaders in the development of rural areas, we have set aside a month each to traditional leaders where we will visit them, and we have dedicated the month of March to the Mabunda Royal house,” Min Baloyi said. He added that they had determined key priority areas, and service delivery and good governance formed the core.

Baloyi warned communities who had lodged claims not to undermine their leaders and regard themselves as independents even before their claims were finalised. “We still have more than 2 000 land claims that are still to be finalised and already there is a tendency to undermine traditional leaders. People are abandoning their belonging to traditional authorities. This is alien to us as Africans and it is not helping us at all,” he said.