Lerato Mailoane 
The City of Tshwane was transformed into a rainbow city for the spectacular Gauteng Heritage Carnival on Saturday, 24 September 2022.
The carnival coincided with Heritage Day celebrations and saw people dressed in traditional attire, fancy dress costumes, choir outfits and uniforms. They mingled with brass bands, drum majorettes and colourful floats as they paraded the capital city's streets.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura led the parade with Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, Gauteng MEC for Sports, Arts and Culture, Mbali Hlophe, and Tshwane MMC Peggy de Bruin, which started at Burgers Park.
Later in the day President Cyril Ramaphosa, addressed the Heritage Day event at the Union Buildings. 
This year's national celebrations were held under the theme: "Celebrating the Legacy of Solomon Linda and South Africa's Indigenous Music" to pay tribute to the 60th anniversary of the passing of singer and songwriter Solomon Popoli Linda.
He is best known as the composer of the song "Mbube", which later became the popular music success "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and gave its name to the Mbube style of isicathamiya a capella music.
Makhura said it had been three years since Heritage Day was celebrated in this way because of the COVID-19 pandemic but seeing it taking place once again assured him that the challenges of economic recovery were being addressed.
"South Africa and Gauteng are rich in cultural diversity, and South Africa remains the cradle of humankind and a fountain of culture."
Makhura noted that the return of the carnival boosted economic activity in townships where designers and sewists worked on the outfits. 
"The day of the carnival also generates a lot of economic activity and income. Culture is also economics. It generates productivity in the province through the cultural food we eat and sell at these functions," said Makhura.
President Ramaphosa used his address to commend South Africans for taking pride in their heritage.
"We are South Africans first and foremost. The rest follows later. We respect one another. We know that cultural pride and expression are never an excuse for ideas of ethnic superiority and tribalism or thinking that one group is better than another.
The President appealed to South Africans to persevere as the country continues to experience load shedding and the Russia-Ukraine crisis that has sent oil and food prices soaring.
"In the recent two weeks, we have been seeing a rise in load shedding disrupting our lives and economy and causing havoc from a social and health point," he said.
"Even as we face these challenges as South Africans we have persevered in the past, and I ask once again, let us persevere.
"The challenge is being addressed. It's a complex one, and we will be speaking soon about the various measures we are taking to ensure that we address this challenge."
Despite the challenges, the President asked South Africans not to lose hope.