Lesedi Cultural Village, a traditionally styled multi-cultural centre close to Hartbeespoort Dam, is currently undergoing extensive renovations.
Situated on the R512 en route to Sun City, just 10km north of Lanseria airport and with easy access from Pretoria and Johannesburg, Lesedi (the Sotho word for “light”) is becoming one of Gauteng’s more unusual conference venues. The corporate market accounts for almost 25% of the village’s business.
The village was developed in 1995 as a tourist attraction and has five traditional homesteads, each representing a different culture: Pedi, Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho and Ndebele.
Due to the demand for overnight space, six new bedrooms are under construction in the Ndebele homestead. When they are completed guests will have 29 rooms to choose from, with a further 12 bedrooms in the pipeline.
Lesedi currently has 23 rooms, all en suite. Eighteen rooms have twin beds and five have triple-bed capacity. Each room has coffee- and tea-making facilities and a full English breakfast is served daily in the complex’s restaurant.
Also being built at Lesedi is a new Tswana-style conference room, which can accommodate 80 people seated. This room will be able to be used in conjunction with the venue’s Ndebele Theatre, which seats 160 people and is fully equipped with a cinema-size screen, Betacam and VHS projection equipment as well as excellent acoustics. Double doors ensure that any product, including a vehicle, can be taken into the amphitheatre for product launches and presentations.
Lesedi has also opened a new restaurant, the Nile Room, complete with hookah pipes, which serves cuisine from North Africa.
Current culinary facilities at the village include the Nyama Choma, a 200-seater restaurant decorated in African style and divided into three sections — North Africa seating 40 people, East Africa seating 60 people and South Africa seating 100 people.
There are also two bomas; the traditional ingoma, a huge indoor hut that is used for buffet- or barbecue-style functions, and the outdoor boma, which is used for informal functions. Both bomas accommodate 120 people.
The village also features traditional dancers, a marimba band, drummers, a praise singer and a sangoma on site.
There is also a newly developed team-building programme at the village. Delegates from all cultural backgrounds can enjoy activities such as spear-throwing, learning to use a knobkerrie or hunting club to bring down small game for the pot, stick-fighting, learning the basics of traditional bead-work, participating in a potjiekos competition, being involved in a treasure hunt or taking part in a traditional dance competition.
In addition, Lesedi acts as a venue for cultural diversity courses. Facilitators are available to present courses to integrate participants into the “new South Africa”, and enhance their ability to understand different cultural heritages and to smooth interpersonal relationships in a working environment.
Lesedi isn’t only about business. It’s also about tourists — both local and international. Guests can visit for the day or stay overnight in one of the villages. On arrival, guests are welcomed by the families who take them to their homestead and show them where they will be staying. The head of the home becomes their personal escort for the rest of their stay.