After the declaration of the State of Emergency in 1986 and increased political repression, the youth of Manganeng in Sekhukhuneland decided to mobilise. They wanted to use culture as a weapon in the struggle against apartheid. In 1988 they formed the Kgwana Cultural Project, named after John Kgwana Nkadimeng of the African national Congress (ANC). They believed that local culture had been distorted by the political situation and that this was reinforced by a lack of education. Their activities in dance, music, drama and poetry spread to neighbouring villages. The Project was hampered, however, by a lack of funding and full-time organisational structures.