Traditionalists gather in Polokwane for ancestral festival
Traditional healer Dr Mpho Makhado says the festival marks the beginning of the African year
Black News 
A group of traditionalists has gathered in Polokwane, Limpopo, for an ancestral festival. The ancestral festivities are held in September to mark the beginning of a new year or season.
WATCH | African traditional healers are marking the start of the African New Year with the ancestral dance festival, Malombo, in Limpopo. pic.twitter.com/sFy9MJ1m9v
— SABC News (@SABCNews) September 5, 2026
This year’s gathering brings together local traditionalists as well as participants from Kenya’s Maasai community, the Khoisan from the Kalahari in Botswana, Brazil and the Netherlands.
They are dressed in their cultural attires and dancing to traditional songs as they perform rituals.
Herbalist and traditional healer Dr Mpho Makhado says the festival marks the beginning of the African year.
“We ourselves we are performing and ululating when we ask our ancestors to open ways and doors and to protect those who are suffering from GBV accidents all those of troubles that the country is suffering from we have invited other countries like people from Kenya, we have Masai, the people from Kalahari, the Khoisan and there are people from Brazil, Netherlands.”
