The 24th of September was originally a Zulu holiday dedicated to the remembrance of King Shaka, celebrated in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
When a bill was being passed in 1995 by the South African parliament to establish South Africa’s official public holidays, the Zulus objected that “Shaka Day” was excluded.
The resultant decision was to keep the date but broadened the scope of the celebration to include all South African people. So it was renamed “Heritage Day”.
