Young and old from a variety of cultural groups braved the scorching heat to take part in the traditional dance competition finals of the SABC Limpopo Combo, in partnership with Radzambo Cultural Foundation, held at Makhuvha Stadium on Saturday, 12 March.
The dance groups competed in various categories, including the makgakgasi, makhwaya and tshikona. Dancers participated in different traditional Vhavenda dances (tshikona, tshigombela and malende), Pedi dances (kiba, visa, basadi bastep, marashia, magagasi and dinaka), and Tsonga dances (maxaxasi, xicaicai, xigubu, xibelani, muchongolo and kutauza).
All the champions and runners-up went home with cash prizes of R30 000 and R20 000 respectively, plus trophies, except the tshikona category, whose champions banked R60 000 and a trophy.
The Mukula dance group stepped out as the champions in the tshikona category. The Zwilamulovha Vhurivhuri dance group won the tshigombela category, while the Mavhola dance group won the malende category.
In the kiba category, the Muaba dance group ended up as champions. The Basadi Ba Mazaza dance group won the basadi bastep, and in the magagasi category, the Bana Ba Konyane dance group were announced the winners. The Moloto Letladi dance group won the dinaka category, while the xigubu and muchongolo categories were both won by the Ribungwane dance group, and finally, the xibelani category was won by the Nyanyuka Mangurwane dance group.
The annual traditional dance competition has been held for many years and is aimed at promoting social cohesion and preserving culture.
Vhamusanda Vho-Livhuwani Matsila of the Radzambo Cultural Foundation said that, with this competition, they were achieving their objective of uniting people across the region. "We have been able to achieve all of our objectives, which also include the promotion, preservation and development of arts and culture, and nation building. What we have seen today is growth in terms of the number of participants, and especially in terms of groups," said Matsila.