Local 'king and queen' preparing for Indoni SA heritage competition

Tshanduko Ndou (21) and Rotondwa Mudzanani (17) are set to represent the Venda Kingdom as King and Queen Indoni at the Indoni SA My Heritage My Pride competition, scheduled to take place in Durban on 16 December.

Ms Shonisani Mutengwe, the chairperson of Indoni SA My Heritage My Pride in the Venda Kingdom, stated that the competition’s aim was to promote heritage and culture and teach the youth to respect their elders. She expressed concern that today’s young people spend too much time on social media and know very little about how things were done in the past.

Mutengwe is optimistic that Tshanduko and Rotondwa will bring the title home to Vhembe. “We have selected a group of virgin girls and boys who have not engaged in sexual intercourse yet to be part of our programme. We teach them our cultural ways, such as how our forefathers survived for many years, unlike people nowadays. We also teach them how to prepare traditional foods, like mikonde, vhuswa vhutete, and mashonzha (mopani worms), as well as the dangers of alcohol abuse and teenage pregnancy,” she said.

Mutengwe added that one of their programmes involves visiting traditional leaders, where young boys and girls learn about traditional practices, including how marriage was conducted in the past, how traditional leaders are installed, and the principles of succession in Vhavenda traditional leadership.

Rotondwa (queen) is a Grade-11 student at Mbilwi Secondary School. She was born and raised in the royal family in Tshitanini village and has been taught to respect her elders and the customs and traditions of the Vhavenda nation from an early age. She mentioned that she had two years of experience in participating in the Indoni SA My Heritage My Pride competition, so she knew what the judges appreciated. “It is an honour to have been selected to represent the Venda Kingdom. I hope that this year is our opportunity to win the competition.”

Date:11 November 2023

By: Silas Nduvheni

Read: 2602