African Epistemology Human & Social Sciences - Book

African Epistemology
in the 21st Century
The human and social sciences perspectives
Editor
Madimabe G. Mapaya
African Epistemology in the 21st Century: The Human and Social Sciences Perspectives
Editor:
Madimabe Geoff Mapaya
Peer-review declaration:
As the Editor, Professor Madimabe Geoff Mapaya hereby confirms that the call for chapters attracted more
than 50 submissions. Though well researched and formulated, a few did not meet the requirements of this
compilation. All selected chapters were subjected to a double peer-review process. In this compilation
are the 25 chapters that were finally selected. Like many aspects of our lives, the review process was
affected by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, a few colleagues were unable to revise their
submissions in accordance with comments from the peer-review process. In the spirit of honouring our
fallen colleagues, chapters in this category have been included with only changes regarding editorial
corrections of discernible mistakes.
Contact:
0159628000 / 8631
geoffmapaya@gmail.com
Address:
University of Venda , Private Bag x5050, Thohoyandou, 0950
University of Venda, University Road, Thohoyandou, 0950
ISBN: 978-0-620-95338-2
© 2021 University of Venda
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means
without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Credits:
• Book layout and Cover design by Leach Printers - www.leachprinters.co.za
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• Picture sourced fromMiguel Angel Fernández Photos
• Language editing by Concept Afrika - www.conceptafrika.com
Foreword
It gives me great pleasure and honour as Dean of the School of Human and Social Sciences to
present the foreword of the publication, African Epistemology in the 21st Century: The Human
and Social Sciences perspectives.
During my interview for the renewal of my term as Dean (May 2015), one of my stated priorities
for the second (and last) term was to improve the School’s research output and fast-track staff
research capacity development. To achieve this outcome, the publication of research articles,
chapters and books had to be prioritised.
Accordingly, in 2016, I introduced the School Lecture Series featuring different keynote
speakers. The symposiums or lecture series, in turn, resulted in the following publications:
• Creating Knowledge in Africa: School of Human and Social Sciences Annual Lectures
(Kwesi Kwaa Prah, 2016),
• Sounds in South Africa. School of Human and Social Sciences Annual Lectures
(David B Coplan, 2018).
• A Companion for the Human & Social Sciences
(Prof. MC Mashige, Prof. NG Mugovhani and Prof TM Sengani, 2019)
My second focus area was staff research capacity development. Devising publication
opportunities in the form of seminars and book projects aimed at empowering fledgling
researchers and giving seasoned scholars space to share their latest research projects’
outcomes with reading communities. In line with this objective, in 2018, I commissioned
Professors of African music Madimabe Mapaya and Ndwamato Mugovhani to co-edit the
School’s first book titled John Blacking and Contemporary African Musicology: Reflections,
Reviews, Analyses and prospects. I am glad to see this publication received international
readership even from some of the most renowned scholars in African music.
The idea of fostering and promoting African epistemology within humanities and the social
sciences took the form of the second book titled African Epistemology in the 21st Century;
The Human and Social Sciences perspectives. Mapaya, then in his capacity as acting
School’s Research Professor, was tasked with the editorial responsibilities of ensuring the
materialisation of the book. This publication provided another opportunity for colleagues and
peers within the sector to share their experiences and views on African epistemology.
Due to the Covid19 pandemic, which disrupted life as we knew it, the book’s release was shifted
to 2021. Also affected were some 2020 academic activities that included hosting the 2020
instalment of the School’s public lecture series. This gap is regrettable. However, as per the
‘new normal’, we will resume staging the lecture series virtually.
In sum, I consider this a personal legacy, which I hope will continue even after my tenure, not
because it was my vision for the School of Human and Social Sciences, but that nourishing
scholarship amongst colleagues is the right thing to do! A sound scholar and academic always
maintains a balance between producing publications in the form of articles in accredited
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African Epistemology in the 21st Century
journals, reviewed books, presenting papers in conferences, and contributing chapters in

academic books.
Following are the 25 chapters by a range of colleagues from different universities and
disciplines. The common feature, though, is that all contributions represent the current
position of African minds as they interpret knowledge from allied African perspectives.
Please allow yourself to engage with the ideas contained in the pages to follow.
Prof. Mokgale A Makgopa

Dean: School of Human and Social Sciences
04
Contents
AFRICAN LITERATURE
The portrayal of positive politeness and requests in isiXhosa literature 07

A comparative analysis of the influence of folklore in the works
of South African writers 25
Representing myth and African experience in Sepedi literature:
Exploring N.S. Puleng’s works 36
A qualitative survey of the influence of folklore in the novel of
Andrew Nkadimeng titled: Lonely Hearts 65
HISTORY, POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Two histories, one organisation: the case of Zion Christian Church 73

Party politics and challenges of national integration in Nigeria 95
Probing xenophobia and the establishment of a prosperous Africa 118
The land question and economic transformation with a focus on the
Ratombo community 130
Gendered vulnerability and adaptation efforts to the health impacts of
climate change in a rural community in Limpopo province, South Africa:
A gendered perspective 142
Social media distorting and corrupting the African traditional child
development agenda 163
Human-caused environmental degradation and conservation efforts in a
rural community in Limpopo province, South Africa 178
SOCIAL WORK
Selected salient features for research in the human and social sciences 194
Specialised fields of social work practice and focus areas on democratic South Africa 227
Authentic trauma work in South Africa: Implications for the social work professions 244
05
AFRICAN MUSICOLOGY
Whither indigenous African music: Measures to protect the cultural heritage 265
Representing the conceptualisation of Umaskandi 278
Restoration of morals and values through Ku Thawuza music and dance compound 290
Pragmatic analysis of Ikhomelele monagethu, the lullaby 299
Indigenisation of the South African School Curricula through the Arts:
Notes, tones, opinions, and a quest 313
Speaking of Shamans: San ancestral narratives and the trance dance ritual 324
INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS AND CULTURAL STUDIES
Plants consumed by BaPedi people as foods: a case study of the Capricorn district,
Limpopo province, South Africa 338
The elucidation of marriage: A case of Vhavenḓa indigenous culture 353
Analysis of African indigenous parenting practices from social work and
Afrocentricity perspective: which lessons to draw? 370
Revitalising indigenous knowledge: The Culture of the African people 381
Exploring indigenous knowledge system and western knowledge system worldviews
to foster and advance knowledge in the 21st Century 392
06
African Literature
The portrayal of positive politeness and

requests in isiXhosa literature
Mawande Dlali
Stellenbosch University
mdl@sun.ac.za
Introduction
Politeness is not a natural phenomenon. It is socio-cultural and historically constructed
(Reiter, 2000). According to Reiter (2000), politeness is not something human beings are born
with but something acquired through socialisation. As soon as one talks about politeness, one
is referring directly or indirectly to society. Although an individual agent performs the act of
behaving politely, that act is intrinsically a social one since it is socially determined in the first
place and is intended to facilitate social interaction. Politeness is not a characteristic inherent
to the action itself. Still, it is constituted by an interactional relationship, a relationship based
upon a standard shared, developed, and reproduced by individuals within a social group. Thus,
politeness is a form that mediates between the individual and a social group (Reiter, 2000). The
reason for choosing the period between 1940 and 1997 is that it was a significant social change
in South Africa, with the introduction of apartheid in 1948 through to the democratic period
from 1994. Therefore, as depicted in creative writing, it is expected that politeness should also
reflect societal changes through appropriate dialogue usage and characterisation.
Previously, Kaschula and Mostert (2009, pp. 69-88) have used politeness theory to analyse
isiXhosa cellular phone speech. This builds on the work of Dlali (2003, pp. 131-143), where
Grice’s maxims are used with the cooperative principle. In this analysis, Dlali (ibid.) considers
the context of the conversation and the ‘social distance’ between interlocutors. This chapter
will explore this ‘social distance’ concerning the dialogue used by characters in isiXhosa
creative works.
The four works of literature chosen for this study span 57 years (1940 – 1997). This study
investigates whether the expression of positive politeness and requests in isiXhosa has
changed during this period. Learners of isiXhosa widely read the works chosen. AC Jordan’s
(1940) novel Ingqumbo Yeminyanya has been chosen because it is regarded as a classic. Most
students of isiXhosa are familiar with Qangule’s (1974) drama Amaza. Ngewu’s (1997) drama
Yeha mfaz’ obulal’ indoda and Saule’s (1995) novel Idinga were chosen to represent more
contemporary works of isiXhosa literature.
In this chapter, I explore how positive politeness and requests can be expressed in isiXhosa.
First, the empirical study of the data in isiXhosa will be analysed within the functional
framework of Brown and Levinson (1987) to account for the phenomenon of positive politeness
(Brown and Levinson, 1987; Leech, 1980). In addition, a semantic approach will be adopted to
classify the various requests into subtypes concerning the expression of positive politeness.
07
Finally, this ‘functional framework’, which looks at language in context, will analyse and
interpret relevant isiXhosa literary dialogue.
Methodology
The empirical data on requests on positive politeness in isiXhosa that has been investigated
for this chapter has been collected from four books of isiXhosa literature as stated above.
Various types of requests have been found in the analyses of these four books, including
requests for compliance and requests for information. Each type of request will be considered
separately within the two parameters. A definition of each type of request will first be given.
The specific request will then be identified within a sentence from one of the books, which
will be analysed for this purpose. Firstly, the meaning of the clause in which the specific event
occurs will be considered, such as whether the clause denotes a statement or a question. The
linguistic expression of such a clause will then be analysed, e.g., it may be a negative clause,
and the context in which the clause is interpreted as a request will be considered. Finally, the
frequency of occurrence will be considered for the various types of requests.
I propose that the requests with positive politeness in isiXhosa be divided into various sub-
types, which can be identified by interpreting the sentences in which these requests appear
in terms of the semantic properties. In the four works of literature mentioned above, a total
number of 295 requests with positive politeness were identified. Therefore, I shall discuss only
a few typical examples of these requests in this chapter.
Politeness theory and speech acts

Lakoff (1975, p. 25) suggests that politeness enables the smooth functioning of societies, which
implies that friction is undesirable and that society, in some mysterious way, ‘invent’ politeness
to prevent or at least minimise it. However, this still does not tell us what politeness is. Leech
(1980, p. 19) defines it as ‘strategic conflict avoidance and the establishment and maintenance
of comity. He suggests that it ‘can be measured in terms of the degree of effort put into avoiding
a conflict situation’. This, according to Watts (2003), turns politeness into a set of strategies for
avoidance of conflict, but it tells us nothing about what those strategies are.
Reiter (2000, p. 16) states that Brown and Levinson first systematised politeness as a linguistic
theory. Extending ideas from scholars like Grice, Brown and Levinson (1987) carried out a
comparative study of how speakers of three unrelated languages, English, Tamil and Tzeltal,
departed from the observance of the conversational maxims for motives of politeness.
Brown and Levinson (1987) noticed many similarities in the linguistic strategies employed by
speakers of these three very different languages. Moreover, they observed the same strategies
in other languages, thus assuming the universality of politeness as a regulative factor in
conversational exchanges.
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African Literature
Like Lakoff, Brown and Levinson (1987) see politeness as conflict avoidance, but their
explanatory toolbox differs substantially from Lakoff’s (1975). Their central themes are
‘rationality’ and ‘face’, which are both claimed to be universal features, i.e., possessed by all
speakers and hearers–personified in a universal Model Person. Rationality is a means-ends
reasoning or logic, whilst face consists of two opposing ‘wants’: negative face, they want one’s
actions to be unimpeded by others, and positive face or a want to be desirable to (at least some)
others. Brown and Levinson’s (1987) theory claims that most speech acts inherently threaten
either the hearer’s or the speaker’s face, wants, and politeness is involved in redressing those
face-threats. On this basis, three main strategies for performing speech acts are distinguished:
positive politeness (the expression of solidarity, attending to the hearer’s positive face-wants),
negative politeness (the expression of restraint, attending to the hearer’s negative face-wants)
and off-record politeness (the avoidance of unequivocal impositions), for example, hinting
instead of making a request.
Brown and Levinson (1987) also relate their theory with the Gricean framework, in that
politeness strategies are seen as ‘rational deviations’ from the Gricean Cooperative Principle.
However, politeness has a different status from the Cooperative Principle: whereas the
Cooperative Principle is presumptive – it is the ‘unmarked’, ‘socially neutral’ strategy, the
natural presupposition underlying all communication – politeness needs to be communicated.
Eelen (2001, p. 4) says, ‘it can never be simply presumed to be operative, the speaker must
signal it’. Politeness principles are ‘principled reasons for deviation’ from the Cooperative
Principle when communication is about to threaten face (Brown and Levinson, 1987, p. 5).
The amount and kind of politeness that is applied to a certain speech act is determined by
the weightiness of the latter, which speakers from three social variables calculate: P (the
perceived power difference between the hearer and speaker), D (the perceived social distance
between them) and R (the cultural ranking of the speech act – how ‘threatening’ or ‘dangerous’
it is perceived to be within a specific culture) (Brown and Levinson, 1987, p. 5). Based on the
calculation outcome, speakers select a specific strategy according to which they structure
their communicative contributions. When speakers find themselves in a situation where a
face-threatening act may have to be performed (for example, they want the salt but cannot
reach it, and so may have to make a request), their calculations lead to five possible choices: do
the face-threatening act, Don’t do the face-threatening act, On record, Off the record, Baldly
(without redress), With redress, Positive politeness or Negative politeness.
Once a decision has been made, the speaker selects the appropriate linguistic means to
accomplish the chosen strategy. Different linguistic means are associated with specific
strategic choices. Thus, a straight imperative is a bald-on-record strategy for a request.
Prefacing the request with a compliment constitutes a positive politeness strategy. For
instance, apologies and accepting compliments are seen as face-threatening acts to
the speaker’s positive face. The speaker will indicate that they regret doing a prior face-
threatening act and thus damaging their face. In the second case, the speaker might feel
that they have to reciprocate the compliment in one way or another (Brown and Levinson,
1987, p. 68). Using conventional indirectness constitutes a negative politeness strategy. For
instance, requests, orders, threats, suggestions, and advice are examples of acts representing
a threat to negative face since the speaker will pressure the addressee to do or refrain from
09
doing a specific act. Expressing thanks and accepting offers could also threaten the speaker’s
negative face since, in the first case, it could be interpreted as acknowledging a debt, and thus,
the speaker will be humbling their face. In the second case, the speaker will be constrained
to accept debt and encroach upon the hearer’s negative face (Brown and Levinson, 1987,
p. 67). Hinting qualifies as an off-record strategy, while quietly shovelling down a tasteless
dinner would be appropriate for not making a face-threatening act. Eelen (2001, p. 8) states
that contrary to what this example may lead us to believe, for Brown and Levinson’s politeness
encompasses much more than table manners and etiquette, its significance reaching far
beyond the level of decorum.
Politeness conflicts with social needs and statuses. In this way, according to Eelen (2001, p. 10),
politeness is fundamental to the very structure of social life and society, in that it constitutes
the ‘expression of social relationships’ (ibid. 1987, p. 2) and provides a verbal way to relieve the
interpersonal tension arising from communicative intentions that are part and parcel of the
construction and maintenance of social relationships, and addresses the social need for the
control of potential aggression within society. Following Brown and Levinson, Kasper (1990,
p. 194) concludes that communication should be seen as a ‘fundamentally dangerous and
antagonistic endeavour’. As with Leech, Kasper sees politeness as a set of strategies ‘to defuse
the danger and minimise the antagonism’ (1990, p. 194).
According to Yule (1996, p. 47), actions performed via utterances are ‘generally called speech
acts’. In English, these are commonly given more specific labels, such as apology, complaint,
compliment, invitation, promise or request. These descriptive terms for different speech
acts apply to the speaker’s communicative intention to produce an utterance. The speaker
normally expects that the hearer will recognise his or her communicative intention. On any
occasion, the actions performed by producing an utterance consist of three related acts:
locution, illocution and perlocution. Locution is the basic act of utterance. When we utter
words, we do that with a specific purpose in mind, and this is referred to as an illocutionary
act. Thus, the notion of an illocutionary act refers to the force of an utterance. A perlocutionary
act is a situation where an utterance is created based on the assumption that the hearer will
recognise the intended effect (Yule, 1996). For example, one might say Kushushu apha (It’s
hot here) with the meaning: I want some fresh air. The illocution and the perlocutionary effect
might be that someone opens the window.
Even though from a pragmatic point of view, according to Mey (2000, p. 96), the perlocutionary
effect perhaps is the most interesting aspect of speech acting (since it may tell us something
about people’s motivation for using a particular speech act), illocutionary force is what has
occupied speech act theorists most. In this connection, the felicity conditions have been the
subject of much debate because they have to be met for a speech act to happen ‘felicitously’ or
‘happily’ and to prevent it from ‘misfiring’ as Austin (1962, p. 23) called it.
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African Literature
Requests
People make requests for many reasons and do so in a variety of different ways. According
to Kim and Wilson (1994), one feature is the style in which people exert influence. Style is a
consistent pattern of variations amongst populations using language or making linguistic
choices (Sandall, 1977). Studies of requesting across cultures have emphasised that cultures
differ in normative social styles of requesting (Holtgraves and Young, 1992; Tannen, 1981).
Kim and Wilson explore similarities and differences in the structure and content of cultural
groups’ ‘implicit’ theories about requesting, which may account for culture-specific styles. As
people spend a large amount of time trying to get others to do things, it is conceivable that they
have ‘implicit theories’ on which to base decisions about how to request (Steffen and Eagly,
1985). Thus, a student who wants their teacher to extend a homework deadline must decide
whether to hint, ask for permission, or suggest. In a conversational setting, requesting refers to
messages that indicate the speaker’s desire for a hearer to bring about some desired state or
event, which otherwise would not have occurred (Becker, 1982). Requests as a class of speech
acts have been discussed in the literature under various other terms, including directives
(Andersen, 1990; Searle, 1975), exercitives (Austin, 1962) and requestives (Bach and Harnish,
1979).
Persuasive request situations are familiar events in everyday life and thus are quintessential
examples of social speech. The ability to effectively get what one wants from other people
is a highly important communication skill, success at which has been viewed as an index of
social competence (Becker, 1982). In addition, theoretical work on requests has shown that
a complex relationship exists between form, meaning, and pragmatic conditions in realising
this act (Gordon and Lakoff, 1975; Searle, 1975; Wilson, Kim, and Meischke, 1991/1992).
According to Brown and Levinson (1987), requests by definition are face-threatening: Hearers
can interpret requests as intrusive on their freedom of action, and speakers may hesitate to
request for fear of exposing a need or risking the hearer’s loss of face. Therefore, high social
stakes are involved for both the speaker and the hearer in choosing specific request forms.
Given the commonness of requests and the fact that their use involves an array of linguistic
and social skills, the study of their realisation across cultural groups is an excellent domain
of investigation.
Ervin-Tripp, Strage, Lampert and Bell (1987) say conventional requests are explicit in two
domains. First, they are explicit in respect to the action requested of the hearer. This is
contained in what Searle (1969) refers to as the propositional component. Consider the
following sentence:
Ungayidlulisa ityuwa?
‘Can you pass the salt?’
The above sentence (1) contains the request that you pass the salt. Requests are explicit
concerning some aspect of the prerequisites to cooperation. In this sentence, the request
is explicit about questioning one prerequisite – the hearer’s ability to comply: can you? It is
11
precisely this second domain of explicitness, which has made such requests conventional
and socially useful since their elaboration permits social gradation and even subtlety
through paraphrase, as numerous studies have shown. Conventional requests are, because
of their explicitness, completely ‘on record’ and are understood by every child. They are not
empirically interesting from interpretive ambiguity, whilst, by contrast, implicit requests
require closer examination. It is these sorts of requests that form the essence of this discussion.
Analysis of politeness in requests in isiXhosa
Seeking agreement
The first semantic sub-type of requests with positive politeness in isiXhosa refers to the
notion of seeking agreement. In claiming common ground between the speaker and the
hearer, Brown and Levinson (1987), also show some common point of view, opinion, attitude,
knowledge or empathy by specifically seeking some form of agreement with the hearer. Such
an agreement may, among other things, be attained by the use of safe topics or employing
repetition. In the following sentence, a command has been used, and it has been addressed to
the hearer to allow the hearer to formulate a request. In this way, a common way of agreement
between the speaker and the hearer has been established:
(2) [Cela] [ayithumele kuwe imali yomsesane].
‘Ask him to send you money to buy the ring’

(Qangule, 1974, p. 5).
The first clause is an agreement clause in the above example, and the second clause contains
the request. This sentence has a command with the verb -cela (request) as an expression of
seeking an agreement in formulating a request, i.e., that Namhla should ask Sidima to buy the
ring. The context within which this request has been made is that Lizo wants to do everything
possible to oppose Namhla and Sidima’s marriage plans.
In the following example, the strategy of seeking agreement is looked at within a declarative
sentence, i.e., a sentence that makes a statement or that has the form of a statement. Agreement
between a speaker and hearer is then sought within a matrix clause. The request then appears
after this agreement has been sought:
(3) Wabhalela ekhaya ke uMthunzini, [ecela unina] [ukuba

athethe noyise aye kumcelela uThembeka kubazali bakhe].
‘Mthunzini wrote a letter home, asking his mother to

talk to his dad abou going to ask Thembeka from her
parents.’
(Jordan, 1940, p. 25)
In example (3), the first clause is an agreement clause, and the second clause contains the
request. Therefore, this sentence also has a declarative clause with the verb -cela (ask)
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as an expression for seeking agreement in formulating the request, i.e., that Mthunzini’s
mother should talk to her husband. The context within which this request has been made is
that Mthunzini desperately wants to get married to Thembeka. He loves her so much, but
unfortunately, she is in love with Zwelinzima.
In the following example, the strategy of seeking an agreement will be looked at within a
command sentence, i.e., a sentence that gives a formal order or which has the authority. The
intention here is to establish a common way of agreement between the speaker and the hearer:
(4) Nceda [thatha loo moto yakho] [ugqithe phaya

kuNconyiwe nakuNozinga].
‘Please take that car of yours and go via Nconyiwe and

Nozinga.’
(Ngewu, 1997, p. 2).
In example (4), the first clause is an agreement clause, and the second clause contains a
request. This sentence also has a command verb -thatha (take) as an expression for seeking an
agreement in formulating the request, i.e. that Zodidi should take her car and go to Nozinto,
accompanied by her friends Nconyiwe and Nozinga. The context within which this request has
been made is that Nozinto wants her close friends to come to her house immediately. There is
something she would like to share with them.
The strategy for seeking an agreement in the following example will be looked at within a
declarative sentence, i.e. a sentence that makes a statement or has the form of a statement.
Agreement between a speaker and a hearer is then sought within a matrix clause. The request
then appears after this agreement has been sought:
(5) [UMlandeli wamnqanda uNokhwezi] [ukuba angabi

saqhubela phambili ethetha ngolo hlobo].
‘Mlandeli stopped Nokhwezi from continuing to talk in that

way.’
(Saule, 1995, p. 78)
In example (5), the first clause is an agreement clause, and the second clause contains a
request. This sentence also has a declarative verb -nqanda (stop) as an expression of seeking
agreement in formulating the request, i.e. that Nokhwezi should not talk the way she is talking.
The context within which this request has been made is that Mlandeli wants Nokhwezi to stop
what she is doing because he knows that she is at fault.
Giving (or asking for) reasons

In conveying that both the speaker and the hearer are co-operators, Brown and Levinson
(1987) also allow some reciprocity by specifically giving or asking for reasons. In the following
example, the reason is contained in a statement:
13
(6) [Khanishiyeke nje apha kancinci,] [ndikhe ndikrobe kulaa

ndlu mhlawumbi kungakho nto ndiyivusayo].
‘Wait here for a while. I want to look into that house. Maybe I
can get something.’
(Ngewu, 1997, p. 24)
In example (6), the first clause is a request, and the clause has a statement after-kuba, which
refers to the reason for the request. The request is that the other police should wait because
a senior policeman wants to go and check for clues. The context within which this request has
been made is that it is after Zamile has been attacked and the police have just arrived at his
house.
In the following example, the reason is contained in the clause after ukuba:
(7) Wena ke uza kuya kulala phaya ndingekafiki mna [ufike nje
uzilalise kwa oko,] [kuba uNgxabane uyawoyika lo mcimbi].
‘You are going to sleep there before I arrive. Upon arrival,

you must pretend to be asleep because Ngxabane is afraid
of this matter.’
(Jordan, 1940, p. 11)
In example (7), the first clause is a request and the second clause has a statement after -kuba,
which refers to the reason for the request. The request is that Mphuthumi should go and sleep
before the time in a room where Dabula and Ngxabane will have a discussion, and he must
pretend to be fast asleep because Ngxabane is afraid of anyone hearing about this matter. The
context within which this request has been made is that there is a secret that Ngxabane wants
to share with Dabula. He doesn’t want anybody else to know it.
The reason is inside the noun phrase in the following example:
(8) Yasuka yaba [yingxaki le] ngoku, [kwafuneka oomfundisi

benqandile].
‘This has become a problem now. The reverend and others

had to intervene.’
(Saule, 1995, p. 91)
In example (8), the first clause in brackets is a nominal copulative clause, and it contains the
reason for the request. The second clause requests that the reverend and others intervene
because the boys fighting at school has become a problem. The context within which this
request has been made is that the students at Sontaba are blocking the way for a police van,
which has Mlandeli in it. They are protesting that he has been wrongly accused.
In the following example, the reason is expressed within a phrase with the noun -into as head:
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African Literature
(9) [Akukho nto igqiba] [bayekwe abafana bashiyane

ngezigalo].
‘There’s nothing more than leaving the young men to

compete amongst themselves.’
(Qangule, 1974, p. 9)
In example (9), the reason for the request appears as a complement of the noun -into, and
the second clause is a request. The request is that the young men should be left to compete
amongst themselves because nothing could be better than that. The context within which this
request has been made is that Xolile suggests to a gathering of Beale at Dumile’s house that
the young men should be left to use their abilities to win Namhla.
Presupposition
In claiming common ground between the speaker and the hearer, Brown and Levinson (1987),
also allow some common point of view, opinion, attitude, knowledge or empathy by specifically
presupposing, raising or asserting common ground. Such a common ground may, among other
things, be attained by the use of gossip, point of view operations or using manipulation, as the
following example indicates:
(10) [UGcinizibele wancokola kwada kwahlwa], [ebuza iindaba

zelizwe awalishiya esengumntwana].
‘Gcinizibele talked until late, asking news about the country

he left when he was still very young.’
(Jordan, 1940, p. 102)
In example (10), the first clause contains a statement within which presupposition is implied,
and the second clause is a request. The request is that Gcinizibele wants to know about the
country he left as a child. He assumes that nothing is known about that country, and that is why
they talked until late. The context within which this request has been made is that Gcinizibele
is talking to the men who have come to take Zwelinzima because they want him to assume his
duties as the king of the Mpondomise.
(11) [Uze ungasiphoxi] [uze ube yile nto uyiyo].
‘You must not disappoint us; you must be what you are.’
(Qangule, 1974, p. 14)
In example (11), the first clause is a request and the second clause contains a statement
within which a presupposition is implied. The request is that Namhla should not disappoint
Vuyisile and the others. Vuyisile assumes that her behaviour might change due to unforeseen
circumstances. That is why he wants Namhla to be what she is. The context within which this
request has been made is that Namhla is getting married to Sidima. Vuyisile is behaving as a
parent by offering the young couple advice about life.
15
(12) Nokuba siphume nini na isigwebo [uza kuzichucha zonke

iiprifekthi ave uluvo lwazo] [ukuze azo kuzazi iintshaba
zakhe].
‘No matter when the judgement comes out, he is going to

go to the prefects one by one to hear their views so that he
knows his enemies.’
(Saule, 1995, p. 70)
In example (12), the first clause is a request and the second clause contains a statement within
which a presupposition is implied. The request is that Mlandeli should get the views of his
prefects. Some prefects are plotting something against him, and that is why he wants to know
his enemies. The context within which this request has been made is that the prefects have
accused Mlandeli of doing something which might bring the school into disrepute.
(13) [Ndicela niqhube] [ukwenzela ukuba ndingagwetywa

kungekho mntu undimeleyo].
‘I ask you to proceed so that I don’t get sentenced without

being represented.’
(Ngewu, 1997, p. 78)
In example (13), the first clause is a request and the second clause contains a statement within
which a presupposition is implied. The request is that the lawyer should continue to defend
Nozinto. Nozinto is under the impression that nobody wants to hear her side of the story, so she
wants somebody to represent her. The context within which this request has been made is that
Nozinto’s lawyer is tired of this whole affair because she has not been told the truth. Therefore,
she wants to stop defending her. However, Nozinto persuades her to carry on.
Address form
The address form is the most complex part and the one that allows for more variation. In
claiming common ground between the speaker and the hearer, Brown and Levinson (1987)
claim the in-group membership with the hearer by using the in-group identity markers. Such
in-group identity markers may also be attained by the use of code-switching or using jargon
or slang.
Amongst the Xhosas, starting with the family, there is what is referred to as the hierarchical
structure. The top part of the hierarchy consists of the older members of the family, for example,
the parents. The bottom part consists of children. There is a difference in the form of address
amongst these two groups. For instance, when children are addressing the elders, they use the
generic title and the name. However, as the following example shows, even when a younger
person speaks to an older one as if in an equal way, he or she still observes the hierarchy:
(14) [Bhuti Mphuthumi] [kutheni,] Mashiyi?
‘Brother Mphuthumi, what happened, Mashiyi?’

(Jordan, 1940, p. 15)
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African Literature
In example (14), the vocative in the first clause contains an address form, and the second clause
is a request. The request is that Mphuthumi should tell Thembeka what happened. Thembeka
uses address forms, Bhuti Mphuthumi and Mashiyi, politely because Mphuthumi is older than
her, and also it is a sign of respect. The context within which this request has been made is that
Thembeka sees that there is something that worries Mphuthumi, and she would like to know it.
(15) [Mama uFulela] [khawuncede undazise into eyenzekileyo

ngobusuku bangoLwesihlanu].
‘Mrs Fulela, just informed me about what happened on

Friday night.’
(Ngewu, 1997, p. 38)
In example (15), the first clause contains an address form, and the second clause is a request.
The request is that Zodidi should tell Sipho what happened on Friday night. Sipho is a
policeman on duty, and he uses an address form when talking to Zodidi. The context within
which this request has been made is that Sipho is at Zodidi’s house, and he wants her to give
him her version of what happened when Nozinto’s husband was attacked.
(16) [Sincede kaloku] [Tata].
‘Help us, father.’

(Qangule, 1974, p. 51)
For example (16), the first clause is a request, and the second is an address form. The request
is that Silumko should help both Namhla and Lizo. Namhla uses this form of address because
Silumko is older than her, and it is also a sign of respect. The context within which this request
has been made is that Silumko has warned them about the dangers they might encounter if
they ignore what Mandaba has done to their house.
The horizontal structure consists of equal status people, such as friends, husbands and wives,
students, ladies and gentlemen, etc. It is interesting to note that women, especially in the
Xhosa culture, do not call them by their real names when talking to their husbands. Instead,
they call them by their clan names, nicknames or use certain generic titles. The following
example shows a man addressing his friends:
(17) Indawo yokuqala [manene] [masingaboyiki].
‘In the first place, gentlemen, let us not be afraid of them’

(Saule, 1995, p. 51)
The request is that they should not be afraid of the first team from Qelekequshe. Mlandeli
uses this address form when formally addressing his teammates because he wants them to be
united. The context within which this request has been made is that the first team of Sontaba,
where Mlandeli is a student, is playing against Qelekequshe. Mlandeli enters as a substitute
and is still in good form.
17
Sometimes people in the horizontal part of the hierarchical structure tend not to be formal
when addressing one another. The reason being, that one wants the action to be carried out
irrespective of saving face, as in the following example:
(18) Khawutsho [mfondini], [yintoni? Kuhleni].
‘Just tell, man, what is it? What happened?’

(Jordan, 1940, p. 34)
The request is that Mthunzini should go to the White doctors. Mphuthumi uses this address
form because they are colleagues and of equal status and age. The context within which this
request has been made is that Mthunzini has not been feeling well. Instead of going to the
doctors, he goes to the traditional healers.
Finally, in the top part of the hierarchical structure, the older members of the family, when
addressing the young ones, tend to use certain forms of address, for example, clan name, my
child, etc. as in the following example:
(19) Khawutsho [nyana] [unjani?]
‘Please, my son, tell me, how is she?’

(Qangule, 1974, p. 43)
The request is that Lizo should tell more about Namhla. Silumko uses this form of address
because he wants Lizo to feel free to talk. The context within which this request has been made
is that both Silumko and Malimakhwe are investigating Lizo with the intention of getting to
know what happened to Silumko and Zodwa.
Intensifying interest
In claiming common ground between the speaker and the hearer, Brown and Levinson (1987)
also convey that the action is admirable and interesting by specifically intensifying interest to
the hearer. Consider the following examples:
(20) [Hayi nyhani!] [masiye kuzonelisa kuqala].
‘No! Let us first go and satisfy ourselves.’

(Ngewu, 1997, p. 10)
In example (20), the expression in the first clause intensifies interest by emotional intensity,
and the second clause denotes a request. The request expressed by the speaker is that they
should go and satisfy themselves. The interest is intensified by the word nyhani (really) and
the exclamation mark. Nyhani is the interjection that refers to the truth of the utterance. The
speaker aims to focus the hearer’s interest on the request that follows by indicating that what
he aims to request will be truthful, i.e., the hearer may accept the speaker’s words as the truth.
The context within which this request has been made is that Phalisa is talking to her friends at
Nozinto’s house. They want to prove that Nozinto’s husband has been shot dead.
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African Literature
(21) Kunjalo nje Macebo [ungaze uphinde uzokundijikeleza

ngochuku mna] [uyandiva?]
‘Macebo, you must never again come and talk to about petty
things to me, do you hear me?’
(Saule, 1995, p. 39)
In example (21), the first clause denotes a request and the second clause intensifies interest.
The request is that Macebo should never discuss some petty things with Mbuyiselo again. The
verb uyandiva intensifies the request. Uyandiva is a declarative verb, and it is in the indicative
mood. This verb indicates that the hearer has indeed been given attention. The context within
which this request has been made is that Macebo has been boring Mbuyiselo about smaller
things in Mlandeli’s progress. Now Mbuyiselo is tired of this whole process.
Including both speaker and hearer in the activity

(1987), also allow some flexibility, as shown by the following examples:
(22) Masahlukane nento yokucinga ukuba indoda inelungelo

lokwenza nantoni na kuba iyindoda.
‘Let us stop a thought that a man has a right to do as he

pleases just because he is a man.’
(Ngewu, 1997, p. 59)
Sentence (22) is a request that includes both the speaker and the hearer. The request is that
Phalisa (the speaker) and her friends should stop giving men superior status. It is expressed in
the form of the verb-masahlukane (let us stop), which is hortative. The speaker uses the first
person plural subjective agreement -si- (we) to be polite, thus creating the effect of himself and
the hearer in making the request. The context within which this request has been made is that
Phalisa is doing everything in her power to defend Nozinto. She is talking to her friends, and
they are on their way to Nozinto’s house.
(23) Khanisixelele igama lalo mfana.
‘Please tell us the name of this young man.’

(Qangule, 1974, p. 59)
Example (23) is a request that includes both the speaker and the hearer. Sabatha is speaking to
the gathering. The request is that the gathering should tell Sabatha and others the name of the
gentleman they are talking about. It is expressed in the hortative form with the auxiliary verb
-khanisixelele (tell us). The speaker uses the first person plural subjective agreement -si- (we),
to be polite and thus creating the effect that he includes himself and the hearer in making the
request. The context within which this request has been made is that the Bhele has gathered at
Danile’s place to hear his complaint. Danile wants them to talk to his daughter, who is in love
with Lizo.
19
(24) Khawukhuphe kaloku sibone.
‘Take them out so that we see.’

(Jordan, 1940, p. 79)
Example (24) is a request that includes both the speaker and the hearer. The request is that
Mthunzini should expose the letters. It is expressed in the form of the subjunctive with the
auxiliary verb-khawukhuphe. The speaker uses the first person plural subjectival agreement
-si- (we), to create the effect that includes himself and the hearer in making a request. The
context within which this request has been made is that Mthunzini has brought to Dingindawo
the letters, which he has stolen from Mphuthumi. These letters contain confidential
information about the kingdom of the Mpondomise.
Exaggerating
In claiming common ground between the speaker and the hearer, Brown and Levinson (1987)
also convey that the action is admirable, interesting by specifically exaggerating interest,
approval or sympathy with the hearer, as the following example indicates:
(25) [Kufuneka uphande] [kude kuvele nobungekaziphandi].
‘You must investigate so much that even the ones you

haven’t investigated become exposed.’
(Qangule, 1974, p. 41)
In example (25), the first clause is a request and the second clause contains an exaggeration
of interest. The request is that Silumko should investigate so that even the ones he did not
investigate should reveal themselves. The context within which this request has been made
is that both Silumko and Malimakhwe are discussing ways in which they can get from Lizo the
details of what took place when Zodwa and Sidima were killed.
Optimism
(1987) also allow some flexibility by specifically being optimistic, as the following example
illustrates:
(26) Sewusiza nalowo ukudlulayo.
‘Please bring along also the one who surpasses you.’

(Qangule, 1974, p. 4)
In example (26), there is both optimism and a request. The request is that Namhla should bring
along the one who is a threat. The deficient verb -se- has emphasised the optimism that she
will bring the one. The context within which this request has been made is that Lizo is doing
everything in his power to show that he loves Namhla.
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African Literature
Findings and conclusion

This study presented an analysis of positive politeness and requests in isiXhosa employing
speech act theory, specifically requests, as a type of speech act. The examples used in this study
come from isiXhosa literary works. The speech act analysis of selected segments from these
works of literature revealed that a significant social change occurred between 1940 and 1997,
especially regarding personal relationships. Therefore, the study’s objective was to assess how
characters portray this social change through their dialogue.
The analysis of speech acts presented in this study demonstrates that one constant thread
through all the works of literature relates to the expression of positive politeness and the
way requests are made. The research methodology employed includes a range of relatively
new aspects concerning the compilation and analysis of data. It entailed a close reading
of the respective texts to support the study’s objective, which is to demonstrate how speech
act theory can be employed to analyse the dialogue in literary works as part of depicting
characterisation.
Brown and Levinson (1987) list fifteen positive politeness strategies: In the case of the four
Xhosa books, which were analysed, only eight strategies for positive politeness were found.
It has also been found that the total number of requests with positive politeness in the four
Xhosa books is 295.
The strategies can be consolidated into two sub-groups depending on the percentage, as
shown in the following table:
A: MOST REGULAR B: NEGLIGIBLE

Seek agreement 50.2% Intensify interest 1.02%
Give (or ask for) reasons 29.8% Be Optimistic 0.34%
Address forms 9.2% Exaggerate 0.34%
Presupposition 5.8% Include both Speaker and Hearer 3.4%
The explanation for the high frequency of these strategies above is to be found within positive
politeness. Positive politeness forms emphasise closeness between speaker and hearer, and it
can be seen as a solidarity strategy. A person’s positive face is the need to be accepted or liked
by other people, be treated as a member of the same group, and show that others share their
wants. Thus, a face-saving act concerned with the person’s positive face will show solidarity
and emphasise that they want the same thing and have a common goal.
The strategy with the highest frequency in isiXhosa is where agreement is sought between a
speaker and a hearer. Such an agreement will build solidarity between the speaker and the
hearer, and the hearer will then be positively inclined to the implied threat in the request. If
they can reach some form of agreement before a request is made, it is a sure sign that a request
must be treated fairly.
21
The strategy in which reasons were asked or given has the second-highest frequency of
requests with positive politeness. A request is a face-threatening act, and thus, in isiXhosa, one
of the ways to soften this threat is by giving a reason at the same time as the request is made.
This strategy will immediately have the consequence that the hearer will feel that the speaker
positively regards them, i.e. there has been established solidarity between them because a
reason has been given for the request. Therefore, such a reason is usually regarded as effective
to avert the threat in the request.
The strategy with the third highest frequency of recurrence in isiXhosa is related to in-group
identity markers with certain specific address forms. The more familiar address forms such as
wethu, ntanga, mfondini, mhlobo, immediately create an environment of familiarity between
speaker and hearer, allowing a face-threatening act such as a request to be received in a more
favourable light.
The fourth highest frequency of recurrence strategy is a presupposition, which the speaker
assumes to be the case before making the request. In this way, a possible threat may be averted
if a request follows.
The last strategy with some frequency in isiXhosa is both the speaker and the hearer in the
request, usually using the agreement morphemes of the first person plural with, among other
things, -si (we).
The other strategies, such as Intensify interest (1.02%), be optimistic (0.34%) and exaggerate
(0, 34%), have such a low frequency that no explanation can be gleaned from them.
Surprisingly this pattern of positive politeness and requests in isiXhosa can be seen in all
four books, despite the very different subject matter. This positive politeness runs contrary
to the findings of Kaschula and Mostert (2009), where it is revealed that the Gricean maxims
are flouted in cellular phone speak. However, the opposite seems to pertain in these creative
works, although against the backdrop of a continuously changing social and societal backdrop.
The focus of the works of literature changed between 1940 and 1997. During the early
period from which Jordan’s (1940) novel comes, the traditional cultural values of arranged
marriage and ancestral influence were central. By the early 1970s, as found in the drama by
Qangule (1974), there was a great degree of cheating and backstabbing in relationships. By
the 1990s, as evidenced in the works of Saule (1995) and Ngewu (1997), the theme of ruthless
competitiveness emerged. As a result, there has been a transition in how relationships are
depicted, from being shown as a community serving to be highly individualistic and self-
serving. This, in turn, is reflected through dialogue used by characters, which reveals how rules
of politeness change concerning the way characters interact. This evolutionary change is to be
expected, given the influence of individualism in recent times within the South African societal
milieu.
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African Literature
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Jordan, A. C., 1940. Ingqumbo Yeminyanya. Alice: Lovedale Press.
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Kasper, G. 1990. Linguistic Politeness: Current Research Issues. Journal of Pragmatics, 14, pp.
193–218.
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Communication Monographs, 61(3), pp. 210–235.
Lakoff, R. T., 1975. Language and Woman’s Place. New York: Harper and Row.
Leech, G. N., 1980. Explorations in Semantics and Pragmatics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Mey J. L., 2000. Pragmatics: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishers: Oxford.
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Qangule, Z. S., 1974. Amaza. King William’s Town: Educum Publishers.
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Sandall, R., 1977. Linguistic Style and Persuasion. New York: Academic Press.
Saule, N., 1995. Idinga. Pretoria: Bard Publishers.
Searle, J. R., 1969. Speech Acts: An Essay in The Philosophy of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge
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Searle, J. R., 1975. Indirect Speech Acts. In Cole P. & Morgan J., (ed.) Syntax and Semantics 3:
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A comparative analysis of the

influence of folklore in the works
of South African writers
Mokgale Makgopa
University of Venda
Mokgale.Makgopa@univen.ac.za
Introduction
Indigenous literature has existed for a long time within oral culture societies. In these
societies, indigenous literature was orally communicated from one generation to another. The
invention of modern technology in the form of schooling affected the mode of communicating
this kind of literature. Firstly, authors in indigenous languages received formal education from
missionaries. This education converted some of the authors into literate cultures (secondary/
residual orality). However, the literature they produced was still dominated by their cultures.
This is evidenced by the availability of cultural and oral features, which depicted oral
cultures in the authors’ text. The dominance of oral cultures in Western literature signifies the
importance of oral cultures. The author, a product of oral cultures, seeks to show how cultural
and transcultural knowledge of one’s community dominates their thinking. This chapter
demonstrates how the setting influenced the authors Makobe, Matsepes and Nkadimeng.
The three authors were raised in an area that was primarily an oral culture society, primary
orality. This had a strong influence on their fictions, which were primarily dominated by
Northern Sotho oral cultures. These included cultural norms and beliefs, prose narratives and
didactic prose and formulaic constructions. The concepts of orality, scribality and textuality,
will be approached from primary orality to secondary orality/residual orality, a literate
culture postulated by Ong (1982). One other challenge that this chapter seeks to address is the
scarcity of research on intertextuality. According to Kristeva (1986), intertextuality deals with
a relationship between a text and other texts. Thus, the interrelation between two texts plays
a significant role.
The scarcity of research on intertextuality results in confusion amongst academics. Some

academics classify orality as part of oral literature, which cannot relate to Western fiction,
something that intertextuality seriously disputes. The relationship signifies a close connection
between primary orality and secondary orality. Finally, the chapter will investigate the
applicability of the theory of Afrikan Humanism in the works of the three selected authors.
This emanates from what Rafapa (2007) writes about, basing his argument on the works of
Mphahlele, critiquing the theory of Afrikan Humanism. Rafapa (2007) argues that the theory
of African Humanism cuts across all literature.
The concept of Afrikan Humanism as defined by Mphahlele clarifies the characterisation,

images, and dialogue exhaustively. Therefore, Afrikan Humanism is a potent tool that could
25
be used to analyse Mphahlele fiction and any Afrocentric work by the postcolonial writer of
fiction (Rafapa, 2007, p. 102). This researcher seeks to test the applicability of the preceding
statement made by Rafapa. The theory of Afrikan Humanism applies to any fiction whose
author has their roots in Africa.
Theoretical underpinnings of Orality and Textuality

The concept “orality” is complex as it is differently interpreted. From a literate culture, the
basic definition attached to the concept is that it has to do with speech and conversation
(Weiss, 2009). From a secondary or residual orality, the concept refers to communication
brought about by different speech sounds verbally communicated. From the perspective of
primary, orality reflects on the oral literature verbally communicated from one generation
to the next. This can either be done through apprenticeship, practice or observation that
communicates the oral literature of the community, from one generation to the next, by word
of mouth. Alant (1994) shares the same sentiments by defining orality as follows: As thought
and its verbal expression in societies where literacy technologies (especially writing and print)
are unfamiliar to most of the population. Thus, the study of orality is closely allied to the study
of tradition.
Oral cultures are, by their nature, like living cultures. The understanding of oral cultures
results in proper understanding between individuals and nations. Failure to recognise oral
cultures normally results in misunderstandings. Ong (1982) differentiated between two forms
of orality: primary orality and residual orality. The difference between the two is seen in the
nature of writing and reading. In attempting to differentiate the two concepts, primary orality
has to do with how thoughts and verbal expression are communicated from oral cultures.
Primary orality has to do with thoughts and their verbal expression within cultures, totally
untouched by any knowledge of writing or print (Rosa, 2015). Residual orality is the opposite
of primary orality, which embarks on thoughts, and verbal expressions viewed from literate
culture. Residual orality is viewed as a thought and its verbal expression in cultures that have
been exposed to writing and print but must fully “interiorise” the use of these technologies in
their daily lives. As a culture interiorises literacy technologies, the “oral residue” diminishes
(Tsaku, 2017).
Primary orality shapes and develops an individual’s life and promotes self-identity as it is
primarily based on the basics of social life. Lack of reading and writing technologies, which
are secondary or residual orality components, does not mean that this kind of orality should
be undermined. This view is supported by Ong (1982), who argues that primary orality is, by its
nature, the living culture in its own right. Therefore, the non-availability of writing and reading
technologies cannot be used as a yardstick to undermine it. The point that Ong (1982) raised
is observed in the fiction written by most African writers. These writers demonstrate their
identity in the fiction that they write, which is common in European languages. The fiction
of the following African writers, Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiongo and Es’kia Mphahlele,
demonstrate the significance of primary orality. These African writers grew up in an oral
society in which they were acculturated. Their writings illustrate the importance of primary
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African Literature
orality, which lays the foundation for secondary or residual orality, as observed in their
fictions. Their fiction, though written in English, is based on African orality. The oral literature
of the Igbos community in Nigeria, which is Chinua Achebe’s community, is observed in his
fiction. This view is supported by Clark (2009) as she writes the following:
Achebe was raised in what was primarily an oral society. When he writes
about his people, the Igbos, he has them speak and think in the ways of
orality. His novels are renowned for their rich mixture of proverbs, folk tales,
songs and chants (p. 12).
This view is supported by Weiss (2009), who also highlights the importance of primary orality in
the writing of Chinua Achebe: “A West African writer like Achebe, who incorporates folktales,
legends, proverbs, and popular wisdom, stimulates this latter kind of orality in his fiction” (p.
23).
From the two quotations cited above, it is clear that primary orality plays a significant role in
shaping the writer’s ideas in their fiction. Therefore, it is very difficult for this writer to abandon
cultural traits as their thinking is closely connected to the primary oral cultures.
The milieu of the author plays a significant role in the writings of African writers. Together with
its oral features, the author’s setting plays an important role in shaping the author’s ideas. This
emanates from the view that the author’s first experience of life comes from the environment.
With his Pan Africanist philosophy, Mphahlele demonstrates how his literature is influenced
mainly by his oral literature based on his tribal community of Bakgaga ba Mphahlele. The
Community of Bakgaga ba Mphahlele is located in the Capricorn District Municipality of
Limpopo province, South Africa.
Furthermore, Mphahlele writes about the lifestyle of Black South Africans in the areas of Lady
Selbourne and Marabastad, the slums of the pre-colonial period in the City of Tshwane Metro
located in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The presence of elements of oral literature, like
dreams and ancestors and their meaning and role in his literature supports this. In support
of this view, Rafapa (2007) writes about the theory of Afrikan Humanism, signalling the
importance of primary orality.
Es’kia Mphahlele has, through his narrative writings, succeeded in developing and perfecting
his concept of Afrikan Humanism. It has been shaped into coherent, nuanced and lucid
theory or philosophy. His Afrikan Humanism is dynamic and pervasive, not only insofar as
defying cultural and geographical frontiers. It defines and reconstitutes itself according to
the mutations of the historical, political, and social milieu. It seeps through to permeate all
spheres of life. Some of this information is available online.
Mphahlele’s fiction shows the prevalence of elements of primary orality such as dreams,
witchcraft and ancestors. The prevalence of these elements is what makes Rafapa (2007)
write about Afrikan Humanism. According to Rafapa (2007), Afrikan Humanism illustrates the
significance of intertextuality in the study and analysis of literature. Rafapa noted that Afrikan
Humanism advances the idea that culture and tradition, which are the axis of oral literature,
strongly influence the writings of Mphahlele shown in the usage of dreams, witchcraft,
27
heathens, and ancestors. Mphahlele illustrates the significance of the characteristics of oral
cultures in the life of an author. Mphahele supports the view that there is a connection between
the living and the dead in terms of African culture and tradition. Writings about dreams and
ancestors fully support this. As an African writer, Mphahlele supports the theory of Afrikan
Humanism. He is totally against Eurocentrism, which encourages total neglect of African
culture and tradition. It is through his fiction that Afro-centrism is protected, illustrating the
importance of Afrikan Humanism. Mphahlele, as cited by Rafapa (2009), writes the following
on the significance of the theory of Afrikan Humanism:
One of the premises of Mphahlele’s theory of Afrikan Humanism is that of

distilling and characterising the underlying consciousness connecting
African cultures whilst at the same time conceding to superficial intra-ethnic
differences that should confederally strengthen Africanist nationalism
rather than hamper it (p. 210).
The time has come for South Africans to “walk tall and boldly” in promoting indigenous African
culture and tradition. The NCS (National Curriculum Statement), with IKS, is one of the nine
principles that lay the foundation of the new learning and teaching in South Africa. The NCS
provides the entire nation with a relevant platform to protect primary orality, the essential
component of IKS. As a nation, we should protect, promote and disseminate these cultures
rather than destroy them. Gone are the days when we used to shun our own oral cultures,
referring to them as barbaric and uncivilised, the reasons advanced being that they are oral
and cannot be scientifically tested. The mode of transmission was used as a criterion for their
neglect. Against this background, Rafapa (2007) argued that African Humanism conscientise
the African community about the significance of self-identity.
Scribality and textuality appear as examples of residual orality, as Ong (1982) referred to it. A
particular group’s culture and cultural traits are not exposed to the entire community through
writing and printing technology. According to Derrida (1998), the concept of “textuality”
relates to the relationship between speech and writing. It is through this connection that
intertextuality is observed between oral and literate cultures. “Intertextuality” is concerned
with the factors that make utilising one text dependent upon knowledge of one or more
previously encountered texts. The relationship between oral and literate cultures demonstrates
the connection between the two kinds of literature, exemplifying intertextuality. One form of
literature is dependent on the other. Clark (2009) wrote as follows on the relationship between
oral and literate cultures:
All cultures begin as oral cultures. Even those who are born into highly
literate or even post-literate culture spend their early lives in a primary
oral community. However, for most members of a literate society, textuality
always stands at the background of all oral communication (p. 15).
When Allen (2011) writes about intertextuality, the following three keywords are central:
relationality, interconnectedness and interdependence. Furthermore, Allen (2011) further
differentiates between two kinds of intertextuality: iterability and presupposition. Iterability
refers to the repeatability of a certain textual fragment, whilst presupposition refers to
assumptions a text makes about its referent, reader and context (Allen, p. 2011).
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African Literature
Text that was initially communicated by word of mouth transcends into another kind of text, as
it is recorded. The status of the text has changed from orality to textuality through scribality.
However, the oral aspect of the text plays a significant role as it lays the foundation of the text.
Clark (2009, p. 57) argues, “…the nature of self and community changes as a culture moves from
pure orality to scribality to textuality. This change is a movement from exteriority to interiority
and from communal structures to the self-reflective individual.”
In his research on oral expression, Ong (1982, pp. 37-39) differentiated nine characteristics of
secondary orality. They are differentiated as “…additive structure, aggregative rather than
analytic, redundancy, highly traditional or conservative set of mind, close to the human heart,
agonistically toned, empathetic and participatory, homeostatic and situational rather than
abstract.”
Clark (2009), as a student and supporter of Ong (1982), differentiated three characteristics of
oral cultures. The three characteristics are as follows:
• Personality structures are more communal and externalised and less introspective
• Thought relies on formulaic constructions (that is, exactly repeated phases and set
expressions such as clichés, proverbs) and
• Communication is always social, involving both a speaker and an audience.
Clark (2009) affirms that oral culture lays the foundation for textual culture.
How folklore influences the writings of some

South African Writers
The concept of folklore has much to do with the human social conditions of human beings
(Makgopa, 2008). Through oral communication, folklore was transmitted from one generation
to the other to preserve cultural norms, values, traditions, beliefs, and way of doing things.
Makgamatha in Makgopa (2008, p. 50) defines folklore as referring to people’s customs-any of
those beliefs, customs and oral-literary forms “common to man” passed from one generation
to the other by word of mouth.
Cultural beliefs, norms, values and tradition are essential in the promotion of identity.
This chapter demonstrates how the new dispensation in South Africa ushered a new way of
thinking, especially amongst African writers. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa
Act 108 of 1996 provided the leverage for the previously oppressed Black South Africans. The
constitution empowered Black South Africans to start looking at things differently. Chapter
two of the constitution, the Bill of Rights, hammers religion, belief, and Opinion. Chapter
15, section 1 of chapter two of the constitution says, “everyone has the right to freedom of
conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion.”
The constitution serves as a springboard whereby South African writers started to view
things from an Afrocentric approach. The new cadre of scholarship in South Africa started to
29
challenge the Western approach of viewing things and challenged the ‘mickey-mouse’
scholars. All these were done because the constitution empowered the previously marginalised
and side-lined in promoting and recognising their culture.
Both writers of prior and post-apartheid in South Africa reflect on themselves, their
environment and their cultural background. All these are done to promote self and cultural
identities. The works of Makobe, Matsepe and Nkadimeng focus on the features of primary
orality based on the Northern Sotho culture. Makobe, Matsepe and Nkadimeng are classified
as prominent and prolific writers of Northern Sotho fiction. This is primarily based on the
number of publications they produced, Makobe 45, Matsepe 20 and Nkadimeng 19. These
authors were born and bred within the rural milieu of the following Magoši, Masemola,
Matsepe and Nkadimeng, respectively. The three Magoši are located in Sekhukhune District
Municipality of Limpopo province, South Africa. The immediate environment in which the
authors found themselves exposed them to the indigenous, traditional and rural setting.
This had a positive impact, as it is portrayed in their writings. The infusion of oral oratures
characterises the fictions of the three writers. Even though they came from a rural community
background, the three writers received a formal education where they were taught how to read
and write. However, this provided them with a sound opportunity to translate their primary
orality into secondary orality. Against this background, this researcher intends to investigate
how primary orality is converted from “orality to scribality and textuality” in the works of
Makobe, Matsepe and Nkadimeng. This is done to support the theories of Afrikan Humanism
and intertextuality. These theories are visible across the fiction of all the writers from primary
orality backgrounds. Primary orality forms a base for secondary orality, which is commonly
observed through reading and writing.
Makobe Molopeng Tau Bishop

Makobe Molopeng Tau Bishop is one of the prominent and prolific writers of Northern Sotho
Literature. Makobe was born and bred in gaMasemola, which forms part of the Sekhukhune
District Municipality of Limpopo province. Makobe received his primary, secondary and
high school education in gaMasemola. He then proceeded to the former University of the
North, now known as the University of Limpopo, named after one of the provinces to continue
with tertiary education. It was during this time when he was a university student that his
writing talent resurfaced. He taught at several schools in the East Rand (Ekurhuleni). After
WITS University, he found himself in various overseas countries, including the USA, where
he attended various universities and worked in different capacities at several institutions
and universities. Makobe researched in the areas of Psycho-Educational Processes and
International Military Intelligence, Ethics and Humanitarian Interventions. He has written
and read many chapters at local and International Conferences. Makobe is a previous winner
of two SALA Awards. His various works (genres) are most recommended and prescribed from
Grade 1 to Grade 12 and at various university levels. Makobe published 43 works: novels, short
stories, folktales, poetry, and drama in Northern Sotho. In all the genres mentioned above,
Makobe addresses cultural beliefs, African customs, polygamy, and initiation schools. Makobe
is currently appointed as Deputy Director, Research and monitoring in the Ministry of Higher
Education in South Africa. The directorate he serves assures that African Languages and IKS
30
African Literature
are not undermined and sidelined during the apartheid era. Instead, it encourages more
opportunities and development by providing funding that encourages scholarship through
research and publications.
Recently Makobe started to write English literature, and he has published an anthology
of English poetry titled ‘Voices from the Motherland’ (2016). Makobe indicates that the
anthology was prompted by the non-availability of the poetry literature that addresses
pertinent issues that affect Black South African learners. In the anthology preface, Makobe
writes ‘the anthology is meant to relate to all nine South Africa’s provinces and touches on
Africa, as a continent and its treasures. The voices one hears represent real voices from real
South Africans and Africans. In this anthology, various themes are addressed, primarily by
indigenous culture and tradition embedded in folklore. In this anthology, Makobe focuses a
lot on themes that this researcher may regard as the aftermath or repercussions of the new
democracy in South Africa. Self-identity is key and central in these poems, primarily based on
cultural norms, values and heritage. Poems such as Robin Island, Bless Africa, Africa I know,
The Khoisan people, My African Sky and Freedom are cases to point. The diversity of the themes
presented are supported by Makobe, who writes, “the anthology is a masterpiece in its own
right. It represents a variety of themes impacting on the past, present and future South Africa.”
Makobe argues that he uses folklore as a springboard in sharing his views and thoughts through
writing. Folklore is crucial as it empowers him to promote the following: self-identity, culture,
values, and norms. However, what is fascinating about this writer and scholar is that he did
not forget or shun his roots. Makobe’s publications focus on the importance of the relationship
between folklore and literature. In almost all his publications, Makobe supports the theory of
Afrikan Humanism by demonstrating the relationship between folklore and other texts. This
demonstrates that the relationship between the two texts signifies the value of intertextuality.
Matsepe Oliver Kgadime

The late Oliver Kgadime Matsepe was born at GaMatsepe, Sekhukhune District (Phokwane),
Limpopo province. Like many other children, Matsepe received his primary education in
the area of his birth and went to Botshabelo, Middleburg, in Mpumalanga for his secondary
education. He later furthered his studies through part-time studies. He completed his matric
whilst working for the then Department of Bantu Administration under the former nationalist
government of South Africa. During this time, the late Matsepe showed his talent and skill
of writing as he managed to write eight novels. The first novel was published in 1954, whilst
the last was published posthumously in 1981. Furthermore, Matsepe had four anthologies of
poetry published between 1963 and 1974. Matsepe died in 1974.
In his books, Matsepe shares the following about Northern Sotho, Folklore, culture and
tradition, Traditional Court System, Indigenous Healing Practice, Traditional Leadership and
its Dynamics, the Kingship Status, and praise poetry. In terms of the African culture, men meet
at the Kgoro; This meeting serves as a traditional court where the complainant presents their
problems about the accused. In this tribal court, men cross-examine both the complainant
and the accused. Deliberations in this court are verbally communicated, as the proceedings
form part of oral culture. Unlike in the Western court system, the traditional indigenous court
31
uses traditional methods to obtain evidence, as shown by Matsepe. The methods used at the
court demonstrate the significance of IKS in extracting information through torture and
punishment of the perpetrator. Indigenous healing practice plays a significant role in the life
of an African. With their Ditaola, Indigenous healers attend to all matters about the life of a
human being. The ground floor screen is used to find a solution to a problem related to health,
social, political, economic or otherwise. Traditional leadership is part of the African culture.
As before, it is still observed. Support for traditional leadership is hereditary and mandatory. A
traditional leader is not elected but acquires the status by birth.
Nkadimeng Phaahle Andrew

Nkadimeng Phaahle Andrew was born in Manganeng village, located in the Sekhukhune
District of the Limpopo province. Sekhukhune District Municipality is one of the rural
municipalities of Limpopo province. Hence the presence and dominance of African culture,
tradition and identity is the order of the day. The type of life led in this part of Limpopo province
is predominantly dominated by the culture, customs and tradition of Bapedi, who are in the
majority. After completing his primary, secondary and high school education, he registered
with the former University of Limpopo. He further enrolled with the following South African
universities to approve his Academic standing in higher education; the University of South
Africa, North-West University and the University of the Free State.
Nkadimeng is an established writer, evidenced by several literary awards from the Foundation
for the Creative Arts, National Arts Council of South Africa, EM Ramaila literary prize and a
scholarship in Sociology from the United Nations (New York). These awards are primarily
based on the divergent themes that he addressed through his literary works. As a young
scholar educated in South Africa, Nkadimeng developed a passion for writing Northern
Sotho Literature. As a result, Nkadimeng managed to publish seventeen books on Northern
Sotho literature. Themes covered in his literature include cultural beliefs, African customs,
polygamy, initiation schools, cultural identity, race relations and political freedom. South
Africa is a multicultural society and is, therefore, confronted by divergent challenges.
However, like a rainbow nation, its people are forced to live together and understand one
another for the sake of peace and prosperity.
Recently, Nkadimeng has published an English novel titled Lonely Hearts (2004). The theme
addressed in this novel has to do with African customs and cultural beliefs. In terms of our
culture, initiation schools play a significant role in the youth, either male or female. They
teach young males how to behave and become full and respectable members of society,
ready to work for their children that they shall have fathered. This is also applicable to young
females taught how to behave as wives to their husbands and responsible caregivers to their
in-laws. There are certain behaviour standards based on norms and values to which both men
and women must comply. Failure to comply makes one an outcast.
The scramble for Africa tampered with the behavioural standards of Africans. The introduction
of education through writing made some members of the communities shun their own culture
and identity. Nkadimeng presents this character Malope, the second son in the family, who
disagrees with his father’s order to attend an initiation school during the chilly winter month.
32
African Literature
Malope argues that he does not see the value of initiation school since he attended school and
wanted to prepare himself for the school athletic meet where he will run a 100 metres track
race. Malope does not want to attend the graduation ceremony of his Elder brother. The latter
has just achieved the status of manhood event at the belly of the royal kraal characterised
by ululations, jubilation, singing and dancing in traditional attire. In terms of culture and
tradition, his family does not support him since failure to attend initiation school will not make
him a man. Furthermore, the family blames the Western system, pointing to schooling as the
cause of this uncultured behaviour. This is supported by Malope’s mother, who says,
Malope, what is in your head? It is your school that teaches you not to respect
your parents and the societal norms as well.
In his response to his mother’s uttering:
It seems I am not belonging to this family. My dear mom, you know very well
that today is the day of our athletic competition and my school is expecting
me to play a role.
Don’t tell me nonsense. If you are my child, you will attend this graduation
ceremony and nothing else.
The dialogue depicts a very difficult situation that demonstrates differences of ideology
on cultural beliefs, norms and values. A clash of ideology based on the difference between
Western and traditional thinking is observed. Malope’s mother argues from an Afrocentric
perspective where she believes African culture and tradition supersede Western thinking. She
further argues that in terms of culture and tradition, Malope, a child within the household,
must listen to elders and respect cultural norms and values. On the other hand, Malope
believes he has freedom of authority. He has the right to decide and choose the stance that
satisfies and benefits him the most. Malope decides to choose to go to the athletics meet rather
than attend the traditional celebration of manhood. To him, formal education is something
that he cherishes more than initiation school. A foreign language, English in this instance, has
been used to communicate indigenous culture and tradition.
Nkadimeng is currently employed by the National Arts Council of South Africa, where he works
as a literature Development Officer. The job that Nkadimeng is presently doing provides
him with the opportunity to develop and promote previously marginalised indigenous South
African languages. Therefore, it is not surprising that folklore plays a significant role in
influencing the ideas that he shares with the community.
Conclusion
The preceding exposition illustrates that oral literature is the pillar of Western literature,
irrespective of the language used for communicating the ideas. The axis in linking the two
is that the “self and community” play a significant role. The writer representing the self in
33
this context presents a text that is based on a particular community. The message or theme
communicated by the self has a bearing on the community in its different forms. The text
directly or indirectly addresses issues that the community is grappling with. For this to be
properly communicated, the setting has to play a significant role.
Transition and innovation play a significant role in the growth and development of both oral
and written literature. As illustrated, this chapter supports orality and textuality, something
that was not seriously considered in the past. For South Africa, with all its 26 languages, of
which 11 are official, true emancipation of the literature of the previously marginalised
communities will be achieved if it is tested and accorded proper status. During the colonial
era, some were suppressed through strict censorship. Hence, there was no growth and
development. However, the dawn of the new democracy in South Africa brought some changes.
The theory of Afrikan Humanism cuts across all the works of literature as African writers in
fiction address the relationship between orality, scribality and textuality. It is against this
background that this researcher argues that oral cultures are as important as Western cultures.
The indigenous literatures of South Africa illustrate the significance of intertextuality.
Previously, research in these indigenous languages emphasised structuralism, leaving no
room for intertextuality. The new dimension in research should encourage post-structural
theories to prove that Afrikan Humanism cuts across all literature. This chapter has shown
that Afrikan Humanism’s theory prevails in the fiction of Makobe, Matsepe and Nkadimeng.
References
Alant, J., 1994. Towards A Linguistic Definition of Orality. Alternation, 1(1), pp. 42-51.
Clark, B., 2009. Salient Inferences: Pragmatics and The Inheritors. Language and
Literature, 18(2), pp. 173-212.
Department of Education Circular E8 of 2015. Folklore Exemplar Question Paper for Grade 12
National Senior Certificate, November 2015 Examinations. Pretoria. South Africa.
Kristeva, J., 1986. Word, Dialogue and Novel. In T. Moi (ed.), The Kristeva Reader. Ed. Toril Moi.
Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Makgopa, M., 2008. Contesting Space in Folklore Studies. Southern African Journal for Folklore
Studies, 18(2), pp. 48-58.
Makobe M.B.T., 2012. Oral Interview. Sol Platjie Building, Pretoria: Department of Higher
Education and Training.
Makobe M.B.T., 2016. Voices from The Motherland. Pretoria: Van Schaik.
Nkadimeng, A. 2004. Lonely Hearts. Sekhukhune: Tauyatswako Publishers.
Rafapa, L., 2007. Es’ Kia Mphahlele’s Etching of Two Axes of Religion Using the Framework of
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His Concept of Afrikan Humanism in Father Come Home. Tydskrif Vir Letterkunde, 44(2),

pp. 89-103.
Rosa, A.A., 2015. Translating Orality, Recreating Otherness. Translation Studies, 8(2), pp. 209-
225.
Tsaku, H., 2020. From Primary Orality to Secondary Orality. Journal of African Theatre, Film
and Media Discourse, 1(1), pp. 46-163.
Weiss, T., 2006. Orality and The Reader: Cultural and Transcultural Elements in Achebe’s Girls
at War. Journal of The Short Story in English. Les Cahiers De La Nouvelle, (47). pp. 1-11.
35
Representing myth and African

experience in Sepedi literature:
Exploring N.S. Puleng’s works
Sekgothe Mokgoatšana
University of Limpopo
Sekgothe.mokgoatsana@ul.ac.za
Introduction
This chapter draws its inspiration from N.S. Puleng’s works, ranging from poetry to dramatic
texts. It explores the Afrocentric paradigm and applies the same to interpret themes of loss and
absence in Puleng’s works. These works are autobiographical representations of the writer,
N.S. Puleng. They take us through a journey of discovering the writer’s deeply embedded
desires and hopes. Puleng’s dream of becoming a traditional healer is fore-grounded, and
various allusive statements are employed to traverse the spiritual spaces entered and toured
through dreams. Finally, the chapter discusses dreams and death as chief instruments to (re)
connect the author with his lost father and Moletlane, where he was displaced because of
several factors.
It discusses how N.S. Puleng uses the discourses of loss and returns as narratives for
negotiating an identity. These narratives are employed to negotiate the meaning of existence
in the world and convey the author’s interpretation of his being and his relation to others. The
idea of return should be seen as an attempt to (re)discover a lost identity. This is evident when
we examine how Puleng changes his real Nkomo identity because of the colonial/ apartheid
divisive policy, which encouraged discrimination based on ethnic identities. He twists his
own identity in favour of a new one, which uses the (dis)guises of the other instead of the
unacceptable other. In this otherness, he manages to carve an avenue through which he can
communicate his inner self. In this identity, he has lost even himself and continues to seek what
his real self is. At the end of this pursuit, he returns to his real identity and writes as Puleng
Samuel Nkomo. Having recovered his new identity, one hopes to see him keep this identity
within Sepedi literature, which is currently characterised by the adoption of pseudonyms.
This is done hoping that selection panels will, in their pursuit of fair distribution of the authors
selected for prescription, unwittingly select one author (dis)guised in various names, a hope
fuelled by the greed for money.
Locating the Discipline within African Discourses

I want to locate my discussion into an African-centred theory often described as Afrocentricity.
Molefi Asante’s instrumental works popularised this theory; Afrocentricity: The Theory of
36
African Literature
Social Change, The Afrocentric Idea (Asante, 1987) and Kemet, Afrocentricity and Knowledge
(Asante 1990). Afrocentricity finds the best resonance when articulated by African-Americans
who find their voices stifled by western discursive narratives. This does not suggest that the
theory is irrelevant in Africa. On the contrary, in Africa, it is needed most because colonisation
has obliterated African forms of knowing, interpreting and defining the position of colonial
subjects. Often, Africans assume that the absence of the coloniser makes a decolonisation
project unnecessary. I find it odd that Africans become complacent and withdraw into a
colonial cocoon in which they find comfort and define themselves in terms of the coloniser.
Kumah-Abiwu (2016, p. 3) makes an interesting point about why it is important to recognise
and use Afrocentrism in dealing with African cultures and heritage:
A careful analysis of Asante’s elaborate definition of the concept as other

Afrocentric students tends to reveal two important points worth considering.
First, that African people have their unique ideas, cultural values, norms and
actions that shape their worldview as with other cultures around the world.
Second, the understanding that the theory emerged to offer alternative ideas
to what Dei (1994) describes as the sustained “exclusion and marginalisation
of African knowledge systems.”
That African knowledge systems have been subjugated, obliterated and deliberately assaulted
to the point of decimation was the very object of colonisation. Unmasking, discovering, and
(re)covering these lost heritages is a daunting task that requires some level of consciousness
and deliberate pursuit to unsettle the colonial legacy. Ngugi has extensively expressed the
need for the decolonisation of the mind. In his seminal work, Moving the Centre (1996), Ngugi
proclaimed that there are many centres from which reality can be gleaned. This implies that,
as much as there is an Oriental centre, a western centre, there is also an African centre. It is
this African centre where Afrocentricity draws its strength. The theory seeks to reclaim and
reposition Africa’s lost ground in knowledge production and interpretation.
Asante shaped the discourse of Africana Studies in America, redefining the position of Blacks
in the production and interpretation of knowledge. He argued for repositioning the African
values and ideas in his works, stating that Africa should not be a spectator in the discourse
produced about it. He laid the cornerstones of interpreting African phenomena from an
African perspective, namely (a) the metaphysical principle, (b) axiological principle, (c)
epistemological principle, (d) existential principle, and the teleological principle. These
principles governed the organising kernels of interpretation. Maulana Karenga summarises
Asante’s principles of interpreting phenomena in this manner:
Asante, in crafting the conceptual foundations of Afrocentricity,

focuses on five central concepts: (1) centredness in one’s own culture;
(2) orientation towards the good of one’s people and humanity; (3)
perspective as an Afrocentric way of understanding and approaching
the world from a centred and correctly oriented position; (4)
victorious consciousness; and (5) agency, which is the capacity and
will to act as self-conscious agents of cultural and social change.
37
In short, they are centredness, orientation, perspective, consciousness and lastly, agency.
Mazama (2001, p. 8) rightly observes one of Asante’s principles that determines the perception
of all reality is the centrality of the African experience for African people. I fully consent to both
scholars’’ views on the centrality of African experience and consciousness. There can be no
Afrocentric theory without mainstreaming African experience and spirituality. Afrocentricity
is not a fashionable theoretical frame, not a buzzword, not a cliché, but a revolutionary project
to claim space in discourse, a pursuit for recognition in the knowledge space. It is a fight for
self-determination, a voice, a presence, and the interpretation of reality from an African
premise. Ronald Jackson II describes this “warrior” and armour in metaphors, which succinctly
capture my point when he says:
… if one moves to a developmentally high level of consciousness, then one

becomes engaged in the struggle for human liberation, which begins with
self-improvement and overall well-being. Afrocentric scholars have con
stantly reiterated that a “warrior” in the struggle for human liberation
is powerless without the armour of cultural consciousness and self-
consciousness.
Therefore, this view centralises the ancestral knowingness, recognising the African worldview,
its connection with reality, and its interpretation. Afrocentricity, for me, is a battle for souls,
wisdom and parlance. A true Afrocentric scholarly work is revolutionary and liberationist
and positions African discourse in the centre and allows Africa to speak for itself. It takes
into account the language that produces the discourse and the nuances couched therein.
Afrocentric scholarship that ignores linguistic imperialism that Europe perpetuates through
theory and practice falls short of understanding that African thoughts translated into
English or any colonial language is adulterated and held captive, with its soul imprisoned
in the colonial canons of power and conventions. As a theory, Afrocentricity is a conscious
crusade against foreign domination. It begins with consciousness and self-recognition. It
locates its discourse within reclamation, repositioning, and relocating African epistemology,
metaphysics, and ontology.
In this chapter, I will draw from African cosmology and spirituality to explain how N.S. Puleng’s
works have to be interpreted. It begins with myths, dreams and visions, and how death, the
centre of ancestor veneration, defines identity and negotiates to mean. Afrocentricity should
be understood within its role to transform the politics of interpretation, finding the location
for African ideas, values, and experiences on how to interact with the world:
Afrocentricity is a mode of thought and action in which the centrality of

African interests, values, and perspectives predominate. In regards to
theory, it is the placing of African people in the centre of any analysis of
African phenomena. Thus, it is possible for anyone to master the discipline
of seeking the location of Africans in a given phenomenon. In terms of
action and behaviour, it is a devotion to the idea that what is in the best
interest of African consciousness is at the heart of ethical behaviour. Finally,
Afrocentricity seeks to enshrine the idea that Blackness itself is a troupe of
ethics (Kumah-Abiwu, 2016).
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African Literature
The Afrocentric analysis considers characters, actors, and their behaviour, which is consistent
with their history. This is important because sometimes we mistake certain practices to be
African when, in fact, we appropriate colonial experiences as our own. Colonial heritage
sometimes has already been subsumed in our daily lives to the extent that we may reject what
is authentically African and legitimise colonial enterprises. The idea of location gives the
study a premise from which it is interpreted. It guides and directs the orientation. The location
gives perspective to understand being, clarity to myths, and relevance to interpret noumena
and phenomena.
The following discussion explores narratives of loss and returns, examining dreams and
visions as trajectories of African spirituality in N.S. Puleng’s literary works.
Myth of return
Myths are stories that explain the beginning of the world, their relationship with the
supernatural and explain people’s belief systems. William Bascom (1965, p. 4), an authority on
prose narratives, eloquently defines myths as:
… prose narratives, which in the society in which they are told, are considered
truthful accounts of what happened in the remote past. They are accepted
on faith; they are taught to be believed; and they can be cited as authority
in answer to ignorance, disbelief or doubt. They are an embodiment of
dogma; they are usually sacred, often associated with theology and ritual
[my emphasis].
Myths are considered to be the lasting truth that cannot be challenged. Myths are authoritative
texts that communities produce and follow as signposts for their beliefs. As a result, myths form
part of the cosmological and cosmogonic explanations of being, explaining life and death and
how humanity relates to the supernatural. In African cultures, they also explain the place and
connection with the living dead ancestors.
The idea of return has to be understood within the epistemology and metaphysics of African
culture. African culture, like all cultures, clarifies the concepts of its being through mythology.
Mokgoatšana (1999, p. 34) explains the connection between Asante’s cosmological principle
and the myth of return in this manner:
The return cycle is based on the premise that life starts from the primaeval
water and moves to the territorial and back into the nether world. Using the
narratives of loss and return borrowed from the lost domain theory will shed
light on the cosmological premise of Puleng’s works.
Members of African culture create narratives that help them understand and interpret events
in their own lives and penetrate the mysteries that their minds need to comprehend. In this
effort to tame reality by making it susceptible to understanding, myths are told to justify their
ignorance and fear, belief and hope in life. In myth, human beings find an avenue to create an
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order and balance which they need to experience in society. In the world of myth, humanity
seeks its origin and the source of that creation. Explanations are provided for human actions
and the peculiarities, which mark their lives. Not only are origins traced, but also the destiny
of all humanity is postulated.
Within various world mythologies, the concept of death receives much attention. Death poses
a problem to the understanding of humanity. People want to know where they will go after
death. They want to know where their souls will go and how the world will look like. Is there
life after death? Is there a relationship between the world of the living, in the spatial-physical
domain, and the world of the spiritual entities? Questions such as these preoccupy almost
all societies, and their answers are all contemplated within a mythological paradigm. Myths
become narratives to explain the course of the human soul and its destiny.
The myths of African folklore are populated by spirits and divinities who have controlled both
the cosmos and human life on earth. In this world, death is seen as a return mechanism that
returns into the chthonic world, a world of spirits, divinities, and the supreme creator. The
creator works in council with the spirits and divinities and does not rule the cosmos as a select
despot. It is in light of this that families have their shrines and spirits. In this way, the power of
the supreme creator is decentralised amongst the various spiritual beings.
In their myths, African societies formulate a spatial-physical domain populated by all living
creatures and the chthonic world. Life is a continuum between these two worlds, and death
becomes the mediating agency between them. In death, a human spirit departs from the world
of the living into the world of the spirits. In Sepedi cosmology, for instance, when a person dies,
(s)he is said to have departed (this world); that is, o tlogile. The idea of go tloga [departure]
suggests the displacement of the person from one domain to another. The departed relatives
descend into the underworld, where they join the company of their fellow relatives who
have been transmogrified into spiritual form. The deceased is also said to have gone to (ga)
moletemohlaela(thupa) or badimong. One tends to read into the philosophical reflections of
these people, their conception of death and how they define themselves in relation to their
deceased relatives. The idea of moletemohlaelathupa has semantic associations of a world of
no return, characterising all lost domains. The grave is seen as an entry point for ancestors, and
where ancestors reside is believed to be the end-point of the bottomless pit. This hollowness
is described as moletehlaelathupa, which invokes acts of measuring the pit with sticks. This
indigenous practice of measurement reaches its limit when measuring such an endless abode
as the world of ancestors.
The concept of myth has to be understood within the larger framework of the epistemology
and metaphysical forms of knowledge informing African myths and their interpretation. As
meta-narratives, myths explain the events of human history and grapple with the prospects for
lives. The future is interpreted as a continuum where the past is encapsulated in the present.
This conflation of the temporal aspects of reality serves to provide a projection into the future.
In African myths, the sage establishes the order in reality in a world radically different from the
one we inhabit today. This world is attributed to affluence, abundance, balance, and harmony,
serenity and stability. This original world, credited with the vital source of life, does not permit
an easy re-entering. The Sepedi adage maropeng go a boelwa, ke teng go sa boelwego (we can
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only return to our ruins but not into the womb. i.e. do not burn your boats behind you) is a lucid
expression of that quality which characterises all lost domains. Lost domains normally deny
fictional characters a point to re-enter them. In Bolwetši bja letšofalela, Puleng (1991) devotes
a greater part of the poem to describe such a world. This world is remembered like a dream,
which cannot be re-lived. Here, he describes how he spent a greater part of his childhood in his
mother’s womb, where he was fed and nourished. He cannot forget the tranquil nature of that
world where he enjoyed unparalleled security. The womb is described like all lost domains; it
provides comfort and security. These luxuries are lost as soon as the child is born. The womb
narrative describes another world to which the voice wants to return yet finds it impossible.
A myth of a pre-existing world before the spatio-temporal domain, and even human life itself
is graphically represented. This is the world to which a singer expresses a need to return: tsela
mpoetše gagešo o etše mola ge o ntliša (oh road, take me back to my home the same way you
brought me here). In this popular song, the singer demands to be returned home the same way
the road has led him to where he is. The underlying message is embedded in the apostrophe,
where the speaker yearns to return to the mother’s womb. Society believes that this world is
worth recapturing, hence this pastoral nostalgia to return to the ceaseless bliss. Often singers
use this expression to refer to a nostalgic return to the womb. This signifies that, although
the return would be pleasurable, it is hardly possible to return to the womb. This pleasurable
world is lost and can never be regained or recovered.
The badimo world, as a lost domain, is also described in the same terms of the womb metaphor.
It can only be entered permanently through death, and dreams and visions are only transitory
routes into the terrain. This world is created as a blissful arena in all mythologies. In other
societies, this world is described as paradise, or nirvana, which people wish to inhabit for
the rest of their lives. Because human beings cannot find peace and stability, harmony, and
balance, they create myths that compensate for their lack of everyday lives. As we find in
Hebrew folklore, this domain provides a prelapsarian pleasure disturbed by Adam and Eve’s
fall into sin. In Sepedi cosmology, we find a parallel of the same tale where the chameleon fails
to deliver the message from badimo. The balance of things is upset when the lizard delivers a
contrary message that people shall die and not return to the world. A similar narrative is found
in Milton’s Paradise Lost. In Ngwana (Puleng 1980, p. 33), Puleng describes such a world as:
Faseng la khutšo le kagišo (a world of peace and tranquillity)

Such worlds are normally not accessible to all. In some societies, the entry requirements are
even daunting: One has, for example, to be blameless to re-enter this world. In other societies,
the person’s blemishes are corrected before entry. This world is also alluded to by Matthew
19:24, which uses the analogy of a rich man and the camel. In this story, the narrator explains
that it would be easier for the camel to go through The Needle’s Eye (Eye of the Needle) than
a rich man entering heaven. Sometimes this analogy is interpreted literally to explain the
difficulty and impossibility of entering the kingdom of heaven. Such an interpretation uses
the big subject entering the small opening, whilst the rich man cannot enter heaven. Although
this literal interpretation is nearer to the intended meaning, the actual meaning should be
derived from what the Eye of the Needle means. The true meaning should be derived from the
Old City of Jerusalem with a very narrow passage for pedestrians, called The Eye of the Needle.
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This “bridge” was constructed not to allow bandits and other enemies on camels to pass
through. The parable of the Eye of the Needle allows for multiple interpretations, creating an
ambivalence that baffles the reader.
Death as absence/presence and nostalgia

The motif of loss seems to be a narrative strategy through which Puleng communicates his
deepest feelings of loss, remorse, and displacement. In Thellenyane Batlabolela, the author
inscribes the loss of his father using imaginative creativity and narrative discourse. Sonia
Snelling (1997, p. 21) views such a loss as disrupting the seamless line of descent, often searching
for absent or lost parents. Such a disruption of the patriarchal challenges the authority and
universality of western historicism and demystifies its discourses of metaphysics and history,
which implicitly assumes a universal narrative of progression. Thellenyane, the protagonist/
speaker, is presented fatherless. This narrative device represents absence, which does not
necessarily negate the trope of presence. The quest for absent parents examines the “irony of
imperialist universalisation of values of development and history” (Snelling, 1997). The search
for the ancestral past interrogates the whole process of history and history-making.
Presence is a state of harmony and balance. The balance is disturbed by the death of
Thellenyane’s father within the textual world. Death becomes a figure using which he comes
to terms with his experiences. It disrupts the chronological linearity posited by western
historicism and blurs the rigid distinction between the past and the present. His father is seen
as part of the past. Death and the past remain a meaningful, active presence in his life. The
present is related to the past by a string of experiences relating to death. Death becomes a trope
that signifies the past. The past and his father are collapsed into a single narrative entity. The
past is made more accessible because it is validated by memories that “confirm that it existed
and that it had meant” (Snelling, 1997). Puleng uses memory to choose from past experiences
to recreate history, a daunting task for a writer concerned with his family history. His ancestry
becomes a microcosm for history as a whole and helps him find arouse back into the complex
past. Snelling (1997) advises that such historical writing subverts and problematises the
genre of history because it negotiates the ambiguity between fact and fiction to reconcile the
investigative operations on the one hand and narrative operations on the other.
The partiality and subjectivity of memory also call for the interrogation of such historical
constructions. Versions of the past are incomplete and inadequate to serve as evidence for
the meaning of the past. Moreover, these experiences are subjective and emotive. They may
represent events in a distorted manner. This does not suggest that canonical history itself is
immune from distortions and falsification. Even well-documented stories may later be deemed
inaccurate and discredited for misrepresenting the subjects they have presumed to represent
as “honestly” as possible. All history is fallible and “subjective” because it is bound to reflect
only a predominantly inside or outside version of events. Snelling (1997, p. 23) concurs that
all history is subject to the process of selection, interpretation, and fictionalisation. Puleng’s
works are no exception to such tendencies in historical writing.
Puleng deliberately textualises a historical narrative of his father’s death, who died when
he (Puleng) was so young that he does not seem to have a clear picture of what his father
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looked like. In Thellenyane Batlabolela Act 4.ii, we seem to confirm this observation since the
protagonist/ speaker consistently attempts to establish the nature and identity of his father.
He persistently probes his mother to describe the identity of the father:
Bjale Mma, ka gore tate e be e se motho wa polelo, na ka gore e be e le

moruti, o be a di kgalema bjang ge a be a le kua pele borerelong?
(Mother, since my father was a quiet person, how would he as a minister

conduct his sermons from the pulpit?)
Such persistent questions indicate the subject’s desperate need to get to grips with his father’s
representation. The elusiveness of his father and the failure to represent his father in language
makes him realise that human life cannot easily be translated into language, speech, words
or pictures. However, as represented by Mmathapelo, the mother makes several revelations
through which the subject manages to reconstruct the father’s identity. The father’s cunning
and poised character are described in the same scene described by Mmathapelo, on whom we
depend for a clear understanding of the subject’s father. If we concede that Mmathapelo is a
textual construct of Puleng’s mother, we should understand that Puleng has not seen much of
his father’s life and that we should depend on his mother’s versions for our clarification.
Interestingly, the subject distances himself from the story as though he were told that his
version is not authentic. For this reason, perhaps, he chooses his mother to provide an authentic
version of his father’s life. How authentic that version is, remains suspect. Mmathapelo,
bordering on the margins of society, is made to tell history, a male-dominated discourse.
This is a radical affirmation and empowerment of those who suffer from the dangerous
principle of women exclusion. There are certain elements of her version, which need to be
balanced against the historical texts, namely, the matter relating to insurance policies and
the saga surrounding Mantsho’s parentage. As fiction, the texts also enjoy the liberty of being
considered to be close to reality, a representation of reality, yet not reality itself. The poet
consciously uses Mmathepelo as an alter ego, a voice that enables the self to penetrate other
discourses on behalf of the writer.
It is probably because of the subject’s reluctance to tell his version of the story that, throughout
his writings, the father’s representations are vague and limited to one single attribute, that is,
his role as a church minister. Except for commenting on his father’s position as minister, the
subject would rather consult him in a dream or a grave. The absence of the father as the figure
of authority is introduced through Thellenyane’s unbecoming behaviour, which his mother
deplor.
... ge nkabe (sic) tatago a sa phela, ruriruri o be a ka se dumele mantshegele

a o mpintšhago ona
(Puleng 1990, p. 2).
… if your father were alive, he would not tolerate this nonsense you are doing.
In his reply, Thellenyane foregrounds the absence of his father in words:
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Ga se gore ke dira boithatelo ka mo lapeng ka gore tate a tšerwe ke phiri...

(Puleng 1990, p. 2).
This should not suggest that I misbehave because my father is not alive.
Thellenyane, who epitomises the authorial voice, does not seem to take his mother seriously.
She seems to acknowledge that the loss of his father affected the discipline of the son. This loss
is animated as a desire for the father’s presence and represented by the figure of death, which
signifies a loss of ‘life’ which interferes with the idea of mediacy. The author uses the voice
of Mmathapelo as a manifestation of his own body to articulate his sense of loss. He aspires
to understand the loss and attaches significance and value to this phenomenon. The loss is
treated as a narrative device despite its historical foundation.
To understand the text, one needs to understand the deep metaphorical language employed
to explain Thellenyane’s conduct. First, Mmathapelo equates Thellenyane’s behaviour to
Mantshegele, and secondly, the story of go tšewa ke phiri (to be whisked away by the wolf) is
introduced. Mantshegele is a dance song for beer drinking. In it, performers extemporaneously
compose lines to entertain, ridicule and even lampoon other characters in society. This
may include direct and indirect innuendos to the drinking party. However, the conflicting
messages of the song do not mar or affect the efficacy of the song and its entertainment
value. In the context applied to this text, mantshegele amounts to tricks, as it can be found
in the complex rhythmic pattern, unpredictable moves, and styles. In this way, Mmathapelo
describes Thellenyane’s unpredictable behaviour and unbecoming conduct, which can only
be explained through the song.
The second part is linked with Bapedi’s conceptualisation of death and how it approaches
people. In Sepedi, death is explained in symbolic terms that best explain the people’s
cosmogonic views. On dying, it is believed that a wolf first circulates you, trying to find a way to
wrestle one out of the family. On finding its grip, it takes one away into the world of ancestors.
This expression finds true meaning in the ritual acts connected with death. A hole in the wall is
made to show children where the wolf escaped with their loved ones. In true African style, the
corpse exits the homestead through that hole to begin a journey to the grave.
Puleng’s father died in 1965, and this the author sincerely reports in a memorium described in
Ditlalemeso (Puleng, 1980), which reads:
Ke ngwala pukwana yekhwi ka nepo ya go ba segopotšo go mohu morategi

tatane, yo e bego e le moruti wa kereke ya N.G. Yena o bileditšwe bodulong
bjo bokgethwa ka la 5 Dibatsela 1965.
I write this booklet as a memorial to my beloved deceased father, a priest

of the Dutch Reformed Church. He was recalled to the holy dominion on 5
November 1965.
The significance of this event is evident in the number of (inter)textualisations appearing

throughout Puleng’s works. In one instance, Mmathapelo in Thellenyane Batlabolela uses
the same narrative to explain to Thellenyane when his father died. Although the narrative is
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disguised as fiction, it beguiles the truth:
Bona ge tatago a balwa le bagologolo, wena o be o le serathana sa mphato

wa A.
Look, when your father died, you were a young Sub A pupil.
These statements should be balanced against Mmathapelo’s further explanation that

Retlabona might have been in standard VIlI (now grade 10 in South Africa) when the father
died. Therefore, she should be in a position to remember her father’s sermons well (Puleng
1990, p. 75). These fictional narratives are based on the historical narratives, which inform
them. Based on this information, one can understand the chronological age difference
between Mantsho and Puleng. This helps us understand why Mantsho started teaching when
Puleng, the historical person, was still in primary school. It is this age-gap, which makes it
possible for Mmathapelo to instruct Mantsho:
Hunadi ‘a Bahlalerwa, o šale le ngwana yo weno, o mo rute sephiri se sa

Modimo sa bophelo. A be le mahlo a moya le ditsebe tša moya.
Hunadi of the Bahlalerwa remain with your younger brother and teach
him the secrets of God. He should be able to hear and understand spiritual
matters.
The responsibility to supervise a youth’s spiritual upbringing should be entrusted to a matured

person whose character is also upright and exemplary, worthy of emulation by the youthful
candidate. Retlabona, a textual construct of Mantsho’s historical life, is entrusted with raising
his brother, Thellenyane, on behalf of his mother. Thellenyane is a fictional representation of
Puleng, the writer. The same narrative is attested to by the poetic voice:
Ka di bona le motswala Mashakwe gobane o ntšere le yena gae ...
Gore re tle re thupetše lapa Seshego ga Mantšhaotlogele.

(Puleng 1991, p. 37).
I experienced that with my cousin Mashakwe because you took us from

home ...
To come and look after the home in Seshego, a world of many choices.
This text fictionalises historical events and personages. In the text, the letter (I) represents a
historical person, an authorial voice, Puleng, who was taken to live with his sister in Seshego,
where he completed his primary education. Mashakwe is Puleng’s cousin who stayed with
them under the same roof, particularly when Mantsho went on maternity leave.
Mmathapelo, Thellenyane’s mother, has sugar diabetes, and this ailment is used not only to
(re)construct history but also to mark her frailty. In real life, Puleng’s mother had diabetes,
which had already affected her eyesight. Sugar diabetes coupled with old age are used in this
text as signs, which warn the speaker of the impending ‘death’, which is looming:
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Ke kgauswi le go ya phentšheleng ngwanaka, le gona o a tseba ke na le

bolwetši bja swikiri.
(Puleng 1990, p. 4)
I am about to go on a pension, and you know that I am diabetic.
Going on pension would mark the ‘death’ of Mmathapelo’s active professional life as a
nurse, and diabetes will only add salt to the injury. Her greatest fear, it seems, is to die before
Thellenyane becomes self-sufficient and able to fend for himself. Mmathapelo’s concern is the
continued survival of the Batlabolela lineage.
Now that we understand the predicament in which Mmathapelo finds herself due to the
adolescent Thellenyane, the reader will likely understand Retlabona and her mother’s fears.
Failure to beget a child to continue the family name will undoubtedly end the Batlabolela’s
lineage. To solve this problem, Mmathapelo pleads:
...Thellenyanekekgopelagoreonyakemosadikesatotobatotobangwanaka...
Ge re ka tshela fao, ke tla robala ka pelo ye tšhweu. Lentšu leo ke le fago
Thellenyane pele a dira kgetho šele: Monna ge a nyaka mosadi, o ya
basading e sego makgarebeng. Lefase le tletše makgarebe le banenyana e
sego basadi ... o ngwana yo a belegetšwego ka lapeng la borapedi. Moopedi o
re re bafeti mo lefaseng... gomme ipetlele bokamoso go sa bona. [My italics]
(Puleng 1990, p. 79)
Thellenyane, I beg you to find a wife whilst I am still alive. When we have
achieved this, I will die a satisfied person. The message that I give to
Thellenyane before he makes a choice is this: When a man needs to marry,
he should choose from women and not lasses. This world is full of lasses and
girls but not women. You were born into a religious family. A singer says we
are sojourners in this world. Prepare your future whilst the sun shines.
The same sentiment is shared by Thellenyane’s sister, who fears that the Batlabolela family
may become extinct:
RETLABONA (o a šokwa): Ruri ge Thellenyane a ka se tsoše hlogo, kgoro ya ga

Batlabolela ke gona ge e ile moletemohlaelathupa.
(Puleng 1990, p. 14)
RETLABONA (Mercifully): Truly, if Thellenyane does not stand on his feet, the
Batlabolela lineage will be gone to the world of no return.
Puleng uses this narrative to explain his mother’s concern about his future. Mmathapelo,
a textual construct for Puleng’s mother, is determined to ensure that her son has a bright
future and makes correct choices for such a future. The religious axiom re bafeti mo lefaseng
functions as a subtle reminder to the son about the fallibility of human nature and further
serves to warn that it would be a grave mistake if he made the wrong choice disrepute to his
life and family. Mmathapelo’s fears should be understood within the Sepedi belief system and
culture in context. Childlessness is considered a family misfortune.
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Within Sepedi culture and customs, a child does not beget another child. What this means is
that children effectively belong to their grandparents. It is because of this that children are
named after their grandparents and their peers or contemporaries. Naming a child after one’s
sister or brother is no different from naming them after yourself as a parent. It’s forbidden to
encourage respect for the elders and other norms of decency that recognise the role of elders
in our lives. Married couples are expected to beget children to raise the family name and
expand the horizon of each member’s kgoro. Kgoro represents cognate groups linked to each
other by a common lineage. At the apex of Kgoro is the head of the group, usually a common
ancestor. Typically, kgoro is a political unit with the power to settle disputes and other matters
affecting it. Every man in Sepedi desires to expand his kgoro because it first raises his social
profile, and in addition, strengthens his pool from which he will draw defenders of the state
or the clan. Puleng’s mother, as expressed in fictional terms in the voice of Mmathapelo, and
Retlabona, have the same fears and dreams. That Puleng is her only son, and her husband
deceased, the possibility of a diminishing lineage.
Puleng seems to be aware that the same predicament may befall him. In a poetic voice, he
animates a desire to bear children:
Nka se kgotsofale le gatee ge nka se gaše peu, Segwana seo ke swerego peu
ka sona Tema ke tla e wetša bašalamorago mohlala ba lata...
(Puleng 1980, p. 8)
I won’t be satisfied if I would fail to disperse my seed. The guard that contains
my seed shall be used to the fullest for my successors to follow.
The sentiment echoed by Retlabona, Thellenyane’s sister, should be understood within the
context of African cultures and beliefs. African societies, those in Southern Africa in particular,
are predominantly patriarchal. In these societies, the survival of the lineage group depends
largely on the number of sons one has, for these sons will help raise the family name and
inherit wealth in terms of the law of succession. If one closely examines the authorial voice
in the Puleng text, one is struck by the slippages from the fictional world into the author’s life.
Thellenyane, who has elsewhere in this study been described as an epitome of Puleng’s life, is
the only son of Batlabolela. This is also echoed in the following words:
Ngwanaka, ke wena Thellenyane Batlabolela; o morwa wa mathomo, e bile

(sic) wa mafelelo wa ba ga Batlabolela. O mollo, e bile (sic) o thipa ya lapa
le. Ge ke go bona, ka nako ga ke tsebe gore ke reng, gobane o seswantsho
sa tatago.
My child, you are Thellenyane Batlabolela, the first and only son of the
Batlabolela. You are the fire and the knife of this family. At times, I look at
you and do not know what to say, for you are your father’s replica.
Mmathapelo’s fears about the threat to the Batlabolela’s lineage are aggravated by
Thellenyane’s immature actions and behaviour, which leave the family with serious doubts
about him and with questions, which only the Supreme Being can answer. An only child
receives prominence in the text because it has far-reaching implications in his life: he is
47
expected to raise the family seed and thus extol his family name. He experiences for himself
an ambivalent identity since he has to live his personal life, with its merits and shortcomings,
and yet is expected not to fail in ensuring the continued survival of his father. Like Thellenyane,
Puleng is the only son of Paul Bismarck Nkomo who is a former resident of Zimbabwe:
Re dithellenyane re a thedimoga
Ga re magogodi a noka
Lešo naka la phenyo
Le popodumišitšwe ke tatane
Ge a tshela Limpopo
A gabile papa-le-noka molatolwaoswerwe
A kwele mokgoši wa gauta Motsellakoma
A bitšwa ka pitšo ye thata pitšosephiri
Tšešo dithaka tša mela tša nama
Kgobadi ‘a Nyedimane moriting wa hlare sa namune
Lerato le tatane ka dinao a le bona le sepela
E le Sarah e le Mmapo [sic]
E le morwedi ‘a Motantshi le Phetola Bathabakwena
Baroka ba meetse a pula Batho ba boMolele ‘a Masilo
Batho ba Mohoši batho ba thabadimo
Batholentšu bagaiwa-ka-madi...!
(Nkomo, et al 1991, p. 37)
We are gliding animals that slide,

We are not flotsam.
My father initiated my family’s triumph
When he crossed the Limpopo,
Hoping to find money,
When the news of a gold rush spread.
He had to honour a demanding call made.
My family roots grew from the orange estates,
Zebediela, under the shade of the orange tree,
My father saw love -walking on its feet,
In the person of Sarah Mmapo [sic]
The daughter of Phetola and Motantshi,
Baroka of the rain -water, whose totem is the crocodile,
People related to Molele of the Mašilo lineage,
People from Mohoši, a haven of the Spirits.
Spiritual people strengthened with blood.
The toponym Mohoši refers to a mountain in the Matlala area, northwest of Polokwane. This is
where his mother came from, though she later stayed at GaMadisha. Beyond these toponyms,
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we are treated only to the mother’s genealogy: Motantshi and Phetola, his grandparents, the
Molele and Mashilo from whom his mother descends. In the preface of Malopo, a boreti, we
later learn that Phetola Molele is also a cousin to Puleng. This revelation indicates that the
name Phetola as we find it in the previous quotation, is not fictional but a real family name. His
father’s full history and lineage are lacking in all his works, representing a silence that surfaces
through his continued search of the lost presence. This absence can only be understood against
the background of apartheid, which de-legitimised marriages beyond the borders of the
apartheid state. One seems to read into the family text, script that suggests that the marriage
with the ‘foreigner’ did not receive the family’s blessing, which led to the arranged marriage
after Nkomo’s death. If this is true, then it is understandable why the poet feels offended by
such a move because he prides himself with his father from whom he identifies with the world.
His search for the father’s identity also represents in his works an attempt to make the past
meaningful, not only as a ‘dead’ temporality but as a continuum that explains and illuminates
the present.
A close reading of the previous poem reveals who “Thellenyane” actually is and how we should
understand Thellenyane as an archetype of Puleng, the person/author. Mojalefa et al. (op cit)
explain the origin of the metonym Thellenyane and the ancesterology of Puleng’s family:
Sereto se hlatholla matšo a boPuleng. Tatabo o thedimogile a etšwa ka

mošola wa Limpopo, a tla mašemong Gauteng.
This poem explains the origin of Puleng’s family. His father comes from the
other side of the Limpopo and came to settle in Johannesburg in search of
fortune.
Based on this poem, one could confidently argue that Puleng uses his texts to reconstruct
his ‘unknown’ history and officials it with the power of the written word. He explains how his
father came to South Africa. First, the motive seems to have been financial, as is suggested by
the concept of a gabile papa-le-noka molatolwaoswerwe that undoubtedly refers to money.
Secondly, a religious calling made him stay in the Zebediela estates, Kgobadi ‘a Nyedimane.
Puleng attaches significance to this place because it connects to his childhood experiences and
his father’s life and death. We read into Thellenyane Batlabolela a subtle acknowledgement
of the power and benevolence of this place, Kgobadi, represented by the character Kgobadi,
in the text. In this text, Kgobadi is a friend to Thellenyane and a confidant who stands by him
at all times and protects him from Kotentsho and Kekwele, who represent forces of darkness
and hostility. Puleng deliberately employs this narrative to laud and commemorate what
Moletlane, Kgobadi a Nyedimane, means to him. For him, it is a sanctuary in which he finds
solace and spiritual comfort. This is where he grew up, where he first started teaching and
continued to teach until retirement, a place where he “meets” and “separates” from his
father. The continued reference to Moletlane and Kgobadi ‘a Nyedimane in his works, seems
to suggest that he is trapped in a kind of cosmic consciousness that binds him to his place of
birth. The circularity of events around this place and his attachment to the area reinforce the
significance he attaches to it.
In Lefase leo ke le nyadišitšwego ka megokgo, Puleng (1991, p. 26) describes such a close link
between himself and Moletlane:
49
Moya wa ka o fofa lefaufaung

Gobane medu ya bophelo bja ka,
E tsemilwe Kgobadi ‘a Nyedimane.
My soul flounders in the sky
Because of the roots of my life,
Anchored in Kgobadi of Nyedimane.
In this poem, we are introduced to physical departure as a narrative of loss and absence. The
troubled voice feels displaced from the place with which it claims cosmic unity, leading the
subject to insomnia:
Ke reng ke sa robale?
Ke reng ke lala ke lora toro tša maephuephu
Ke bona bahu bagologolo ba ntlogetše kgale,
Ba mpitša ba mpolediša ka maleme a mathata,
Ao tsebe ya ka e sa kgonego go a kwa?
O ntshwahlišetšang magora
Wa nkiša magorong a šele mo ke ithutago bophelo ka lefsa (op cit)
Why don’t I sleep?

Why do I see complex dreams?
Where the deceased, my ancestors who died a long time ago,
Call me and talk to me in difficult languages,
Languages my ears cannot comprehend.
Why do you make me cross fences?
And take me to alien kraals where I must learn life anew.
The poem’s title describes a world of no peace to which the poet is connected through
marriage. Here, the subject experiences the presence of a spiritual visitation, which deprives
him of his sleep. In a dream world, he meets his departed relatives who intervene because he
has deserted his birthplace. He yearns for a return to Moletlane, where his father lies buried.
In his sleep, he crosses fences, and space, being restless all night long. In this world, he finds no
peace, but through dreams, he seems to find alternative peace in the country of the Mandebele,
Moletlane. The idea of being forced to cross borders presents a graphic image of travel, which
symbolises physical departure and feelings of nostalgia, which are tropes of absence. Fences
mark territory and bar and fence out those who do not belong to the in-group. Puleng uses this
imagery of fences as a way to reject the mother’s second marriage. After his father’s death,
Paul Bismarck Nkomo, his wife, Mmapoo, was forced to marry her cousin from the Rapetsoa
in Uitkyk No. 1 in Bochum, which became Puleng’s new home. Puleng has openly rejected this
place and the mother’s marriage, considering the family as kgoro e šele (a foreign group). For
this reason, the place is described as magorong a šele that undoubtedly denies possible blood
or affinal relations.
In re-telling his family history, Puleng concentrates his attention on the mother’s family
because he knows it better than his father. His father’s ancesterology is limited to mere social
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movements and migrations. The movement from Zimbabwe to the Republic of South Africa is
not detailed. This part of history is lost and cannot be recovered. In the preface to Sefahlego sa
pelo ya ka Puleng writes:
(Segopotšo) Go batswadi ba mohu tate Paul William Bismarck Nkomo, bao

ke sa kago ka ba bona, bao ke se nago le seswantšho sa bona mo bophelong
gape le maina a bona ke sa a tsebego. Koko le rakgolo ke hlomoga pelo ge ke
thoma go gopola ka lena. Robalang ka khutšo! (Puleng 1991, p. iii)
(In memory) Of the parents to my late father, Paul William Bismarck Nkomo,
who I have never seen, not even their picture or their names, which I do not
know. Grandmother and Grandfather, I become [emotionally] touched when
I remember you. Rest in peace!
From this sentimental episode, Puleng provides us with a reasonable justification for why he
cannot trace his father’s genealogy. Even in the illustrious seven-page poem; Bolwetši- bja
letšofalela, we are merely treated to a mythical origin of the author’s life, then tossed back to
the narratives of travel from Moletlane to Randfontein and back to Moletlane. The historical
narrative of his family is disrupted by the complex past, which is unrecoverable—death, which
has robbed the author of an opportunity to know his patriarchs. The preceding citation further
provides the reader with a touching apostrophe where the poet addresses his unknown great
grandparents, whom he loves dearly.
Dreams and visions

In his poetic oeuvre, Puleng employs dreams and visions to go beyond the body and gain access
to space that seems impenetrable. A good example is found in Ba tsoše, ba tsošane. In this
poem, the disembodied subject penetrates the spiritual domain where he addresses a plethora
of ancestors. These spiritual beings are addressed in order of their superiority to intercede on
behalf of the subject. First, the poet appeals to one of the closest ancestors to intercede the
hierarchy of ancestors to address each other according to the protocol of seniority. Then, the
subject expresses his need without mincing his words:
Le ntshephišitše bongaka
Ka mohu koko Lefentše
La re: “Kgwadi ya meetse - wena o selepe,”
La re: “Mo o notletšego go ka se bule motho,”
La re: “Mo o butšego go ka se tswalele motho.”
You promised me I would be a diviner

Through my grandmother Lefentše.
You proclaimed: “Water animal, you are an axe”.
And said: “Where you have locked, nobody will unlock”.
You said: “Nobody shall undo what you have opened”.
51
The claim “le ntshephišitše bongaka ...” is an expression of an unfulfilled promise. This lives
in the memory of the writer (subject) and is experienced as a loss. That which was given that
is God-given has not been received. The poet regrets that the promise has not been fulfilled.
This failure is a representation of the lost domain which the character is unable to reclaim.
The deep desire to capture the lost dream indicates the character’s yearning for a return to the
reality of the dreamworld. In his dreams, he was promised a gift of high value, bongaka. As a
ngaka, he would be endowed with the powers to heal and perform miracles. The image of the
axe is a metonym for power and authority, with fire as an image of the spiritual force that gives
life. The poet uses parallelism to reinforce the power that was promised and yet unfulfilled.
There are complex parallels of mo o notletšego (where you have locked) with its antonym mo
o butšego (where you have opened), with the resultant assurance that goes ka se bule motho
/ go ka se tswalele motho (no one will open or close). The final linking, motho, completes
the chiasmus, reinforcing the idea that the poet was destined to be the healer whose power
would be unparalleled. Emphasis on motho in the final position of the stanza is further fore-
grounded by people’s actions, which will not affect his power; if he opens, no one will close;
if he locks, no one will unlock. These literary devices enhance the poet’s belief that he was
denied immeasurable power that would have elevated his social standing.
In this dream, the poet employs the discourse of divining bones to justify his appeal to be
ordained as a ngaka. He retorts:
Tsela di marangrang ke mararankodi

Ke manthaladi a tsela
Ngwana mararela - le tsela o lala phukhuhleng ya dibata
Hunollang meraba le di ušeng makgolela;
Nna ke letša molodi ke re:
Tsodiotsotsoo ... diodioo ... ooo!
The future is entangled. The routes are dangerous.

A child following the meandering road is in danger.
Release your divining bones and predict the future,
I, however, whistle.
The narrative is used to request the ancestors to fulfil their promise. This narrative already
suggests to the reader that the subject possesses a certain degree of competence in
interpreting some of the mawa [falls], which are fundamental to the diagnosis of the patient
and the prognosis of the therapy. An in-depth study of the discourse makes very important
revelations. The poet consciously chooses a language confined to traditional doctors’ speech
community in their craft and spiritual seances. The extract invokes sublime linguistic discourse
of praises to mawa [fall of divining bones]. The first three lines of the extract are borrowed
from the children’s game called Manthaladi-a-ditsela [The entangled roads]. This is a folk
song involving two participants who engage in a call-andresponse activity. Ngwanamararela-
le-tsela [The child who meanders with the road] is positioned at the entrance of the circular
kraal, ready to journey around the circle, and behind her, jutting out, we find Manthaladi-
a-ditsela. Manthaladi, as she is often called, is at the beginning of the journey where the
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participant/ competitor has to commence. She is to venture into ‘unfamiliar’ territory, into the
future, and thus puts her life at stake. The participant/competitor closes his/her eyes whilst
the other party points at the beginning of the journey, and the participant/competitor has
to shout: Manthaladi a-ditsela. When the partner points at Ngwanamararela-le-tsela, the
competitor should shout the appropriate name as a gesture for recognition of the subject. The
game continues by pointing at the various stations all-round the circle, back to Manthaladi-
a-ditsela. At each station, the competitor should indicate to the partner that khuromolla o
bee fase (open and declare it empty) when (s)he reaches the station for the first time, that is, to
reclaim the property, and ka mo le gona ga go selo (‘this one is also vacant) when the station is
reached for the second time when the property has been reclaimed in the first circuit.
The game runs like a puzzle, and what complicates it is that the circle’s movement around the
circle is not unilineal. Instead, it runs to and fro with the intent of testing the concentration
span of the competitor and to train her memory to go round the circle with closed eyes and
identify the stones or lids which are to be “opened” and those already “opened”, to use the
language of the game. This identification is of value because it trains children to remember
and care for their property in the early stages of their lives. The game analogy aptly explains
the struggles of a patient who needs to be initiated into bongaka. The candidate would often
move from one healer to another, seeking the right path to appease his or her ancestors. To
discover the right person to train and initiate one into ngaka is a complex and difficult journey.
Like Manthaladi and Ngwana’ mararela-le-tsela, who wonder about in search of an unclaimed
destiny, Puleng’s works vacillate between a conscious search for the realisation of his
unfulfilled dreams and self-discovery. Having failed to regain the ability to see visions as
recounted in Ba tsoše ba tsošane, he inhabits Tumi’s body as a site for reclaiming the desired
world of the spirits and divinities. Tumi becomes a textual construct inhabited by the author’s
spirit and consciousness to penetrate his troubled psyche. Tumi’s achievements, spiritual
ones such as the power to see visions and heal, and his academic achievements at university
represent those dreams that the author aspires to realise himself but fails to. Through Tumi’s
material and spiritual body, the author returns to the desired domain, which has been difficult
to access in the poetic dream. This realisation of a long-cherished desire is announced through
claims in Thellenyane Batlabolela (Puleng 1990, p. 3) that:
Le nna ke morapedi: ke bona ka mahlo a moya. [My italics] I am a believer

too, and I can see visions.
The same claims are made as soon as Tumi is declared fit to commune with the spirits. He
exclaims that mahlo a ka ke a moya ... tsebe tša ka ke tša moya (Puleng 1994, p. 12), a long-
cherished dream in a Freudian sense be viewed as a pleasure principle, which is reinforced
through repeated fantasies. When these claims are made, the author employs certain
Africalogical paradigms to suggest presenting the spiritual power inhabiting Tumi’s body.
Motantshi, who in a historical sense is Puleng’s grandmother, appears here as the ancestor
who initiates Tumi into the cult. Within the text, Motantshi serves as a liaison between the
spatial-physical and the spiritual domains. She inhabits the world of the spirits, Badimotimo,
in the area called Badimobatlabolela. This scene represents the recovery of the loss intimated
in Ba tsoše, ba tsošane, where the subject’s continuous appeals seem to be ignored:
53
Nna ke Mokwanta malomelakobong

Ke tlogolo sa Motantshi yoo a robetšego le lena
Ke wa madi a ba gaMolele ‘a Mašilo
Lešiko lešo ke la mathamaga ...
Ke morwa Mmapoo morwedi ‘a Motantshi.
Nthuteng ngaka bjo ke bješo.
(Puleng 1980, p. 10-11)
I am the one who feels the treacherous louse.

I am a descendant of Motantshi, who is within your company.
I am of the Molele of the Mašilo blood.
My family is of the royal blood.
I am the son of Mmapoo, Motantshi’s daughter.
Teach me this craft [bongaka]. It’s my birthright.
The speaker has to identify himself before his ancestors. He describes himself as the son
of Mmapoo, Motantshi’s daughter. In earlier texts, he went further to link Mmapoo as a
descendant of the Molele and the Mašilo of Mohoši. Despite his elaborate introduction of
himself to the badimo world, the subject is denied fulfilling his desires and appeals. He invokes
the hierarchy of divinities without avail. In Le badimo ba tla bolela (Puleng 1994), Motantshi,
as an immediate ancestor, entrusts upon herself the task of anointing the grandchild
Tumi, a textual construct representing Puleng’s aspirations. Motantshi, Puleng’s deceased
grandparent, is re-lived in the texts to bring about the presencing of the spiritual realm.
The oracle also signifies the presence and power of the spiritual force:
Lentšu (kgalagalo tšhegofatšong ya sedimo): O leuba! O mollo! O a fiša!
Voice (shouting the blessings of the ancestors): You are the hearth! You are
the fire! You are ready!
The previous extract is repeated several times with some intertextual variations to consolidate
the spiritual world’s teachings and confirm Tumi’s transmogrified status into a diviner.
MOTANTSHI (Go Tumi): Tumi, bjale o Leuba! O mollo! O a fiša (Nke o tsenwa
ke malopo.) Bolela mantšu ale o a laetšwego ke badimo kua Badimotimo.
Re tla go tiišetša.
(Puleng 1994, p. 9)
MOTANTSHI (To Tumi): Tumi, now you are the hearth! You are the fire! You
are ready! (As if possessed by the spirits.) Profess the words pronounced to
you by the spirits at Badimotimo. We will support you.
MOTANTSHI (A sega lekepekepe): O Leuba! Badimo ba go arabile!
MOTANTSHI (Laughing ceaselessly) You are the hearth! The spirits have
responded to your demands.
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MALOPO (Ka ntšutee); O mollo! O a fiša!

(Puleng 1994, p. 12)
SPIRITS (With one voice): You are the fire! You are ready!
The presence of fire or smoke is a signal of life in a homestead. It indicates that the family is
well and that its well-being is certain. It is against this background that the subject’s life has
to be understood. He is blessed to continue his spiritual life as a distinct personality chosen
to fulfil a spiritual mission. Fire as a spiritual sign is common in spirit possession. Normally a
possessed initiate calls for what is commonly called sefišane, glowing embers of a fire, a fire to
dance upon when inducing the ancestor’s spirit to communicate its demands.
The image of fire in the African experience has to be understood from a broader perspective.
Fire in a homestead symbolises life, and smoke and fire are interchangeably used to signify
the continued presence of life. On the other hand, fire has spiritual overtones: it induces
possession and enables the patient to transition into the spiritual domain. In such an altered
state, the initiate is believed to occupy both the chthonic and spatial-physical domains. The
oracle’s instructions should be understood regarding the spiritual connotations attached to
the image of fire. The metaphor of the hearth and fire makes us understand Tumi’s altered
identity. He has transmogrified into a new being who is capable of what an ordinary human
being is not. In the invocations:
Lentšu (kgalagalo tshegofatsongyasedimo): O mollo! O leuba! O a fiša!
Voice (shouting the blessings of the ancestors): You are the hearth! You are
the fire! You are hot!
The injunction o mollo! (identifies Tumi with fire). Because he has become a fire, he has
acquired a new identity, an identity that assumes the role and function of a spiritual force. As
fire, he performs the works of the fire spirit. Like fire, he provides warmth to his patients and
thus assumes the role of a comforter to their troubled souls. He takes away disease from the
body like a burning fire. Soon after this, Tumi’s academic success baffles even his psychology
professor. He succeeds despite the unending queues of consulting patients who seek his advice
in divination and traditional medicine. His success is animated into a fire symbol that connotes
unsurpassed progress.
Another Africalogical symbol that represents divine presence is the water snake. Tumi in Le
badimo ba tla bole/a is initiated into bongaka through a baptism of fire. He yells: “Ke latswa
ke mmamokebe ... o a mmetša; o a mmetša” (Puleng 1994, p. 9). Like other aquatic symbols,
the mermaid represents the spiritual force that empowers and transforms Tumi and enables
him to become part of the spirit world. This presencing is also denoted by the whirlwinds
and lightning, which mark changes of events and the beginning of things yet to come. We
find these turbulent atmospheric signs also present in Gaseselo’s dream, which foreshadows
Thellenyane’s accident. The awesome and melancholic sounds of nocturnal animals disturb
the stillness of the night to portend the danger and the catastrophe that is about to happen.
As an extension of the authorial body, Tumi feels the presence of the spiritual power
55
addressing him. This experience is exclusive to him; it is absent or lost in the case of his parents,
particularly his father, who seems to regard Tumi’s experience as a facade. This absence/
presence dichotomy, as explained earlier, is used to restrict the religious differences of the
family. Tumi’s life becomes a disruption of the family’s order’ and provides a plurality of
possible experiences within the family structure. Tumi’s father should take a page from this
‘plural’ text.
As soon as Tumi has fulfilled the demands of the spirit world, the oracle announces:
Bjale o ngaka. Bošego bja gago ke mosegare.
Now you are a diviner. Your night shall be your day.
Some narratives of denial and discovery are worth discussing at this point. In Le badimo ba
tla bolela, Kehwile, Tumi’s father, blatantly rejects Tumi’s spirit possession, calling it a mere
dream:
Ke kgolwa gore ke a lora goba ke hwile. Ruri ga se nna.

(Puleng 1994, p. 6)
I hope I am dreaming, or I am dead. Indeed, I am not a true self.
Kehwile’s name is an onomatological strategy that rejects the works of the ancestral spirits,
a task often assumed by fundamental imperialists who consciously deny African experiences
and relegate them to the realm of the other. He would better die than see his son become a
lelopo.
Na ke tla phedišana bjang le ngwanaka ge nna ke le morapedi, mola ka mo

go lla meropa ya malopo? Ke tla kgona na? ... Tšatši le lengwe ke tlo hwetša
Bibele ya ka e tšhetšwe ka dineifi. Ke na le maloka le maleba a go lwantšha
tirelo ya medimo e šele ka mo lapeng la ka. Ka mo ga ka, gwa rapelwa
Modimo le badimo? Nekese! Ke a gana nna. Mohlomongwe ke hwile.
How will I live with my child when I am a believer, and he has to play malopo
drums on the other side? Will I cope? One day I will find my bible sprayed
with snuff. I have the right and responsibility to fight the worship of alien
divine beings in my family. How can we believe in God and our ancestors?
Niks! I decline. Perhaps when I am dead.
He declares himself a morapedi and relegates the other believers to the margins, from where
they have to negotiate a return to the centre via his religion. To people such as Kehwile,
the world is very narrow and consists of only one set of beliefs that should be universalised
to salvage the rest. This propensity to reject and deny African religious thought is openly
expressed by Carl Endeman in 1964 when he described the culture and belief system of the
Bapedi:
A key question is about the religion of a people. The Basotho are also
not without religion, although they do not have a religious cult or
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any religious teachers. Their religion is the religion of the devil. Their
priests are the sorcerers ... sorcery and the superstition associated with
it is the main bulwark of Satan, which we campaign against here. ...
The origin of sorcery is the superstition which rules everywhere where
belief in the living God is absent. These beliefs are the requirements
of human nature. They must have something supernatural to believe
in, and if it is not Jehovah, so it is Satan and all the powers of the dark.
(Delius, 2001, p. 432)
We find the same attitude in Thellenyane Batlabolela when Thellenyane distinguishes

himself from the rest in declaring nna ke morapedi: ke bona ka mahlo a moya (I am a believer:
I can see visions). Such narcissism and fundamentalism are a recipe for a great religious war
that will tear the world apart. For Kehwile, only the biblical religion is important. All others are
the worship of alien gods. Kehwile is prepared to transmogrify and undergo a metamorphosis
before he can tolerate the presence of another religious practice in his house. He has little
tolerance for Tumi’s religious beliefs. He has to experience himself as an altered self to
accept the others’ views as authentic as his. He lives in a fantasy world dominated by a mono-
religious doctrine that erases other experiences and religions. African religion is regarded as
the worship of foreign gods. This is what Christian philosophy teaches to universalise itself as
the only religion. The God of other nations is relegated to the periphery and declared alien in
the contesting battle for religious domination. The negative attitude towards the indigenous
healing system and the whole understanding of couture and heritage was part of a plan
orchestrated to destroy African cultures and lifestyles:
The missionaries hoped that the introduction of western medicine

would break what they saw as the evil stranglehold of traditional
medical practitioners on the local population. Whilst a great deal of the
missionary literature paints these specialists as charlatans, it is significant
to note that – the power of Satan. However, the missionaries were
remarkably unsuccessful in stamping out the use of traditional medicine.
(Kirkaldy, 2009, p. 606)
Such misguided philosophies and doctrines miss a very important point: the world consists
of several centres of knowledge and beliefs, and each religious community constitutes a
microcosm of a larger spectrum. The author does not kill Kehwile, and this eventually allows
for religious plurality in the family. Stage directions are employed to relate his change of heart:
KEHWILE (Kawa lethabo): Aowa ngwanaka, bjale gona ke kwesisa gabotse.”

(Puleng 1994, p. 13)
KEHWILE [With excitement]: No, my child, now I understand clearly.
At this level, harmony and normality return to the family. Tumi’s father now understands Tumi’s
“problems” and re-accepts him as his son. Return, as a construct, is often followed by pleasure.
In this text, we find the reconciliation of the spiritual forces and Tumi’s unparalleled academic
achievements at university. However, the presence and appropriation of African and Christian
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religions in the same text and the resolution of conflict suggest the undeniable challenge of
religious pluralism, which demands tolerance of each other’s religious views.
Other forms of return are discernible in various texts, such as in Tlhologelo, where the poetic
voice indulges in a nostalgia that incites a desire to recapture the ‘glory’ of atonement. The
subject remarks:
Moya wa ka o utšwitswe ke tšatši la bofelo, Masa a Iona a khukhuša ka thaba

tša bohlabela
Moo go kwalago mekgoši le dillo tša mahlomola...
Nna tlhologelo ya ka e namile ea dikadika.

(Puleng, 1980, p. 32)
My soul longs for that day,

Its dawn blossoms from the mountains in the east,
Where sounds the -war cries and lamentations,
My desire suddenly vacillates.
The nostalgic appeal of the voice represents a desire for return, a need to recapture the desired
“pleasure”. This is a need to experience oneself in a world other than our own:
Tlhologelo ya ka e feletše faseng leo le sa tlago,

Ke nyoretšwe go bona mohla wa ntshe,
Ditiro tša ka, dikapo tša ka gammogo le tšohle tša ka,
Di mphelegetša gona gae Maphuthaditšhaba.
(Puleng 1980, p. 33)
I long to be in the coming world.

I yearn to see that day.
All my deeds, my utterances together with everything that is mine,
Will accompany me home to the Saviour.
Because humanity believes in the tranquillity of spiritual domains, they long to re-enter such
worlds to rid themselves of the problems of the Spatio-temporal world. The speaker’s voice
yearns for the attainment of the eternal pleasure of the spiritual domain. Like other lost
domain narratives, this narrative projects a mood of piercing nostalgia.
Mantsho as a narrative (structure)

The trope of loss and absence are fore-grounded in the narrative, which explains the departure
of Mantsho from her family. If we locate the narrative within the discourse of Africology, we
can read into this narrative a fallacy of orientation, which leads to disorientation, and (dis)
location. Separation from one’s parents and the entry into independent life is marked by a
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series of rites of passages that signify a transition from one status to another. These rites are
obligatory, and any detour from them violates the order and the sense of balance in society.
The harmony and rhythm of life are interrupted to such an extent that misfortune can always
be ascribed to this violation.
On reading Kgotlela Mantsho ngwana’ mma (Puleng 1991, p. 37), it becomes apparent that the
official rites of passage for transition, particularly separation, departure, and incorporation,
were not observed. The author’s sentiments attest this:
O rile a laya mmešo,

A re motho ke tšhukudu o a rerwa,
Wa ngangabala wa ipofa ka dithala tša lerato, le direto.
Le pudi ya leleme le letala ya šitwa go wa ka lefase;
Ke le ngwana pelo ya rothiša megokgo,
Ge o etšwa o ikgonere...
(Puleng 1991, p. 37)
When my mother instructed,

That human life is planned like the death of a rhinoceros,
You stubbornly went ahead to marry without consent,
You left without ululations and praises,
Not even a goat was sacrificed,
Although I was a child, tears dropped from my eyes,
When you left without accompaniment.
The poet uses the life of his sister as a narrative to address inhibited feelings of discontent. One
main concern that bothers his memory is how his sister left the family without proper marital
rituals. These ideas are fully addressed in the poem Kgotlelela Mantsho Ngwana’ Mma (Puleng,
p. 1991). The poet does equivocate concerning the familial relationship between himself and
the subject of the poem. They are siblings. In this poem, he reminisces about how his sister
cohabited with a partner in Seshego without the partner observing any of the principles of
customary marriage.
In terms of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 section 3(1)(b), marriage
must be negotiated or entered into according to the customary law. This requirement is
consistent with cultural practices and acknowledges the diverse customs of the South African
population. It was expected that Mantsho should observe this requirement as set out in the
Act. In addition, it prescribes that the marriage should be celebrated. By celebration, it does
not mean having a private dinner of the bride and groom’s parents, but a public event that
announces the new bond between the bride and the groom. One of the many challenges we have
today in customary marriages is parents restricting their negotiations between themselves to
exclude emissaries and other family members. This practice violates the essence and value of
culture. Culturally, thaba ga e inamelelwe. What this means is that there is always protocol
in our dealings with other people. As a result, we need an emissary to be a go-between. This
practice cushions possible conflict that may ensue during direct negotiations.
59
Within Africalogical discourse, a major concern for the interpretation of reality is to consider
the African experience of articulating meaning within the context of discourse. Mantsho’s
actions violate traditional customs and practices, though she acts within her rights in the
framework of universal rights as enshrined in the UN Charter for Human Rights. There is
enough textual evidence that Mantsho was warned about the dangers of disregarding the
marriage rites, which form the core of her culture. Notwithstanding all advice, she chose
to leave without having observed these rites. In this predicament, her rights are weighed
against those of society. African societies despise individualism, and within them, individual
rights cannot take precedence over community rights. For an African, “I am because we are”
signifies that the self is not raised above the community. For this reason the I can at times be
experienced as we, which is a collective I. In the case of Mantsho, her choice to go without
“mekgolokwane le direto” finally works against her, as intimated by the hardships with which
she has to contend and her subsequent divorce:
“Bjale ge kgaetšedi Retlabona, a hlalane le monna...”
Now that my sister Retlabona is divorced, how does that affect me?
The poet also employs the onomatological device of using a name to suggest a theme or
meaning. The name Retlabona carries with it semantic dimensions loaded with feelings
of surrender and the hope that Fate will intervene and resolve the crisis. The author uses
Retlabona as a paradigm for explaining his doubts about the possibility of a successful
marriage. Retlabona, as a construct, signifies both Mantsho and her archetype, Oanteka.
Following this argument, a miracle would have to occur for the marriage to succeed. Hence
“Re tla bona” [We will (wait and) see] is corrupted into Retlabona. Retlabona experiences the
dispersion of identity. An identity dislocated from its optimal core as embodied by society.
This sense of dislocation is reflected in the trope of divorce, separation, absence or loss. We
read this loss of a husband in Thellenyane Batlabolela, where Thellenyane remarks refer
to his sister’s divorce. Divorce as a form of absence seems to be an expected result of such a
relationship between Mantsho and her would-be husband. This expectation is raised in the
name Retlabona. We are treated to yet another disruption of the family in lnama, lnama se go
tshele (Puleng, 1994), where Inama deserts Oanteka after the birth of Nakeyena.
Puleng uses his sister’s life as a narrative structure to communicate the essence of loss and
attachment. The loss of their father seems to have forged a bond of attachment between
Mantsho and Puleng. Mantsho’s life epitomises several disruptions in the life of the author. In
the expression:
O rile go tšwa thupantlong ya basadi, Pholo o e phathakgetše namane -

Mpho ...
When she was released from the maternity ward, she was carrying a young
baby, Mpho.
The poet alludes to the birth of Mpho, Mantsho’s only child. We are introduced to Mpho’s
birth as a narrative of presence. His arrival is premeditated in a dream where the poetic voice
approaches the spiritual power to provide him with the power of divination:
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African Literature
Mpho ke “Wa kgaetšedi, ke setlogolo ...

Le nna bongaka bjo nkabe le mphile
Ka ntle ga tshele le manganga
Ke be ke tla šiela yena...
A ile le hlogwana ya letsedi nke mokoe
Le go nyanya monwana a godile
Ngwana wa kgaetšedi ya ka Mantsho,
Ka tsogwana la mpati a ilalo,
O tlogetše Khomotšo madibamatala Gobane ge ke
porofeta go ba ntshe gagwe
Ke ukame la gore (sic) ba tla wa kalana e le mafahla;
E le Mpho le Khomotšo,
Sellolethabo sa kgaetšedi ya ka Mantsho
Ka ge thagaletswalo ya gagwe
A itšibotšego ka yona e llwe ke ngwako.
(Puleng, 1980, p. 14)
Mpho is my sister’s son. He is my nephew,

You should have passed bongaka to me,
Without dispute and hesitance,
I would pass it to him
This one with a sharp-pointed head like mokoe’s
He sucks his finger though he is old,
My sister, Mantsho’s son,
Left-handed, there he is.
He left Khomotšo from the primaeval home,
I had a prophecy about his birth,
I predicted they will be twins,
Mpho and Khomotšo.
My sister’s sweet-sorrow,
For her first-born child,
Her very first child died too young.
From the preceding text, the voice makes further visionary claims. Within the dream, Mantsho
is consoled with a set of twins: Mpho and Khomotšo. Khomotšo becomes a gift of consolation
because Mantsho had lost her first-born child. That loss would be replaced by Khomotšo, who is
also lost in a dream. The loss of a child is a traumatic event that is not easy to forget. The same
loss lives in the memory of the author. He attempts to create meaning from the dismembered
past and uses this narrative to accommodate the loss.
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Puleng seems to be struggling with the concept of death and dying, such that his works are
grappling with such notions in various ways. At one level, he describes his father’s death,
whilst on another, he deals with his sister’s lost children and Koko Motantshi and other
departed relatives. Mpho, who has been premeditated in the dream, becomes the only child
on whom Mantsho can pin her hopes. Mpho as an only child adds to the narrative of the “only
child syndrome” characterising Puleng’s works. He describes Thellenyane and Retlabona as
only children who have to care for each other, and now Mpho is that only I (eye). Unfortunately,
Mpho died in a car accident in 1995, and this becomes an actualisation of the family’s fears as
we read in Retlabona and Mmathapelo’s utterances in Thellenyane Batlabolela. The fate of
only children is best expressed in a Sepedi proverb that says leihlo le tee le bekilwe ke selabi
(a single eye easily).
Besides this loss, we read into the quoted extract - a failure of the spiritual forces to transfer the
divine power to the subject. His claims that he would also bequeath the craft to Mpho is also
experienced as a loss. This happens in two ways; first, Mpho dies certainly early before such a
gift may be transferred to him, should the power be transferred later in Puleng’s life. Secondly,
the divine power is delayed or not delivered to Puleng. As such, even if Mpho had survived to
this day, he would not have received the promised gift.
Conclusion
This chapter focused on the concept of return as a manifestation of an attempt by human
beings to re-live their hopes and experience. They create a world order, which becomes an
idealisation of what they dream of, an order, which can only be captured in their dreams,
wishes, protests, and visions. These worlds are often expressed as lost domains.
Lost domains are visionary lands visited or witnessed for brief moments by fictional characters
(Boies, 1983). Dreams and sleep allow subjects to penetrate these domains. The brief
penetration of the domain provides an overpowering excitement combined with a “knife-
sharp bitter-sweet yearning containing all of the urgency of sexuality” (Boies 1983). Sexual
images are not necessarily the chief ingredients of lost domain narratives, as we have seen
in the works of N .S.Puleng. Dreams provide the dreamer with a temporary fulfilment of those
wishes, which s/he wants to be fulfilled. The dreamer would wish to ‘die back into a dream’ to
recapture that lost pleasure on waking up. Against this background, we analysed texts in which
Puleng wishes to retain the dreams about his visions and keep them alive for their realisation.
On dying back, he would recover his sister’s lost children together with his departed relatives.
Dreams and visions assist the subject to cross material borders, which divide him from
spiritual and political freedom. Nevertheless, he manages to enter the various domains to
enjoy temporary realisation of his whims and wishes. He uses dreams as tropes to protest his
mother’s second marriage. Through dreams, he rejects the experience of displacement and
wants to be connected to his father through Moletlane as a point of reference.
Finally, Mantsho’s life is used to negotiate the meaning of loss. Her marriage is critiqued as a
misnomer, which invites for itself the subsequent misfortune, which follows. Her consequent
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loss of children confirms the text’s preoccupation with forms of absence.
The coincidental or strategic choice of titles such as Le diphiri di tla utologa, Le badimo
ha tla bolela and Thellenyane Batlabolela together with such toponyms as Badimotimo
and Badimobaabolela warrant further research from onomasticians interested in literary
criticism.
References
Asante, M.K., 1987. The Afrocentric Idea. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Asante, M.K., 1990. Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change. New York: Amulet Publishing.
House.
Asante, M.K., 1990. Kemet, Afrocentricity And Knowledge. Trenton: Africa World Press.
Boies, J.J., 1983. The Lost Domains: Aviators of The Earthly Paradise in Literature. Lenham, Md:
University Press of America.
Delius, P., 2001. Witches and Missionaries in Nineteenth Century Transvaal. Journal of
Southern African Studies, 27(3), pp. 429-443.
Jackson, R.L., 2003. Afrocentricity As Metatheory: A Dialogic Exploration of Its Principles.

In Jackson, R.L. And Richardson, E.B. (eds.), Understanding African-American Rhetoric:
Classical Origins To Contemporary Innovations, (pp.115-29). New York: Routledge.
Karenga, M., 2007. Molefi Kete Asante and the Afrocentric Initiative: Mapping His Intellectual
Impact. Los Angeles Sentinel A, 7.
Kirkaldy, A., 2009. The Missionary Impact: The Northern Transvaal In the Late Nineteenth
Century. History Compass, 7(3), pp. 604-623.
Kumah-Abiwu, F., 2016. Beyond Intellectual Construct to Policy Ideas: The Case of The
Afrocentric Paradigm. Africology: The Journal of Pan-African Studies, 9(2), p.7.
Mazama, A., 2001. The Afrocentric Paradigm: Contours and Definitions. Journal of Black
Studies, 31(4), pp. 387-405.
Mokgoatšana, S.N.C., 1999. Identity, From Autobiography to Postcoloniality: A Study of

Representations In Puleng’s Works (Unpublished Doctorate thesis). University of South
Africa, Pretoria.
Monteiro-Ferreira, A., 2014. The Demise of The Inhuman: Afrocentricity, Modernism, And
Postmodernism. Suny Press.
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o., 1993. Moving the Centre: The Struggle for Cultural Freedoms. London: Zed
Books Ltd.
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Nkomo, N.S., Mojalefa, M.J., Lentsoane, H.M.L. & Maibelo, J.R., 1991. Direti Tse Nne, Book 1. Cape
Town: Vivlia Publishers.
Puleng, N.S., 1980. Ditlalemeso. Pretoria: J.L Van Schaik
Puleng, N.S., 1983. Malopo A Boreti. Pretoria: J.L. Van Schaik
Puleng, N.S., 1981. Kgaakgati Ya Khwiti Ya Noka Yeso. Johannesburg: Educum
Puleng, N.S., 1990. Thellenyane Batalabolela. Pretoria: De Jager-Haum.
Puleng, N.S., 1991. Sefahlego Sa Pelo Ya Ka. Pretoria: J.L. Van Schaik
Puleng, N.S., 1994. Le Diphiri Di Tla Utologa. Pretoria: De Jager-Haum.
Snelling, S., 1997. A Human Pyramid: An (Un) Balancing Act of Ancestry and History In Joy
Kogawa’s Obasan And Michael Ondaatje’s Running In The Family. The Journal of
Commonwealth Literature, 32(1), pp. 21-33.
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African Literature
A qualitative survey of the influence

of folklore in the novel of Andrew
Nkadimeng titled: Lonely Hearts
Mapula Rosina Khunwane
University of Venda
mkhunwane@gmail.com
&
Mokgale Makgopa
University of Venda
Mokgale.Makgopa@univen.ac.za
Introduction
The status that folklore is accorded in the new dispensation in South Africa is alarming since
the Department of Basic Education expects the learners to choose between oral literature, a
component of folklore and a novel. The pairing of these two genres, so to say, compromises
the status of folklore as an independent genre. This article would like to argue that even
though folklore is regarded as an endangered species because of the status accorded, folklore
still plays a significant role by influencing the presentation of thoughts and ideas by African
writers who use English in their writings. In terms of the research design and methodology,
the presentation will adopt the qualitative research design using the hermeneutic research
method and the reader-response theory for data collection and analysis. The text chosen
for the article is Lonely Hearts by Andrew Nkadimeng, who grew up in the rural villages of
the Sekhukhune area. Reading through the text whereby English is used as a medium of
communication, one quickly sees a strong influence of folklore by the author as he presents
his ideas. For this article, only one category, namely social custom, shall be assessed out of
the four major categories of folklore. This presentation will encourage both the learners and
educators to develop a love of the discipline and use it as a resource in the Further Education
and Training (FET) band, Grade 10 – 12.
The discussion looks into the influence of folklore in the novel of Andrew Nkadimeng, ‘Lonely
Hearts’, with special reference to one aspect of folklore: Social Customs. Social customs refer
to practices or occurrences within a particular community that dictates the lifestyle of that
community.
This discussion is going to answer the following questions:
• What is folklore?
• Which elements constitute social customs?
• When is the author said to have been influenced by folklore in their writing?
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Folklore is accorded the status that makes it an endangered species in the new dispensation.
Starting from 2014, the South African Education System compromised the status of folklore by
making schools choose between folklore and a novel instead of being a standalone genre for
the schools so that all learners who are Africans can learn about their culture. Folklore simply
refers to occurrences or practices within every society and forms part of that society’s heritage
(Segodi, 2011).
Being an endangered species, no one is interested in it. Even the South African Education
System does not care about the nation learning about their culture and tradition. Nevertheless,
African authors are continuing to write about it, even those that do not use their own Home
Language but write in English so that they can reach a wide range of readership. They are
writing about and continuing to reflect their culture, tradition, beliefs and customs because
that is what they know. They have grown up looking up to their family members and the
community they are part of, practising.
In the South African Education System, schools are made to choose between a novel and
folklore (DBE Circular E8 of 2015). The choice, therefore, undermines the status of folklore in
that not all learners will go through the prescribed scope. The scope of folklore in the teaching
and learning environment is restricted to Oral Literature, which is just one aspect of folklore
when folklore encompasses four aspects: physical folklife, Oral literature, Social customs,
and performing art. The British Colombia Folklore Society (2000) refers to Physical folklife as
Occupational folklore and performing art as Material culture (The British Columbia Folklore
Society, 2000).
Suppose there is anybody who should resuscitate the status of folklore, in that case, it is
the Department of Basic Education, by designing curriculum so that folklore becomes a
compulsory genre that is externally examined for all the learners in the South African schools
for African home language speakers.
Analysis of the elements of social customs circumcision

Circumcision is a practice in the African culture that prepares boys for manhood. In the South
African context, initiation schools occur during winter when weather conditions are extremely
cold. Thus, the wounds made through the cutting of the foreskin can dry up and heal quickly
without becoming septic. Circumcision is the pride of an African man. It is a custom for a man
to go to mountain school and endure the coldness of the winter season to be regarded as a man.
Sepota (2002, p. 46) believes that it is a normal practice for a young chief at all times to be the
first in a line of boys to be circumcised. This would be an indication that he is a leader.
If a man does not go to mountain school, called initiation school, he is regarded as ‘lešoboro’
and becomes the laughingstock of the community. Ziervogel and Mokgokong (1975) defines
lešoboro as an uncircumcised boy and indicates that such a boy does not have a standing in
society. Such a man will not participate in the activities that are meant for men as he is equated
with a woman. Such a man will not sit at the ‘kgoro’ with other men because there is nothing he
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can share with them and will not be part of the decision-making when there are community
matters under discussion.
Once initiated, boys now become part of the decision-making team of the men at the ‘kgoro’
and are now ready for marriage as initiation prepares them for manhood and teaches them
how to behave. The boys then move from a stage of being boys to that of being men. Even in
the home, they are no longer sent on errands by women, even their mothers, because they are
now regarded as men and respected as such. Furthermore, as they are regarded as men, they
qualify for a single bedroom where they no longer share with the other boys in the family.
As the book starts, Nkadimeng starts the conversation between father and son, arguing about
the boy going to a mountain school. The introduction is enticing the way he started discussing
the issue of circumcision. The first chapter of the book addresses the issue of the initiation
school. Here we see Mr Mazwi and his son, Malope, having father and son conversation:
“Malope, my son, do you see the smoke over there?”
“Yes, father. You mean the one there in the Valley of Tsokung Mountain?”
“Of course, one day, you will be attending that school. Without that school,
you won’t be a man.”
“My dear father, I am already at school. I am in grade 10 now.”
“But you must know that initiation school is one of the most respectable
institutions in our culture.”
(Nkadimeng, 2004, p. 01)
This conversation shows that without being initiated, his son will not be a man. A person who
is not initiated is called ‘lešoboro’ and will be regarded as a boy by the whole community. Such
a man will be regarded as a boy even when he is an old person and will not marry. Women as
well want to be married to initiated men. They want security in that a man who is initiated will
not run away when confronted with difficult situations, but will stand up for them. The wife and
children will then feel safe in the company of such a family leader. For an African man who does
not want to be belittled for the entire lifespan, he needs to be initiated. On a different occasion,
Malope’s father, Mazwi, further indicates that he doesn’t want a ‘lešoboro’ in his home. In his
own words, which he uttered pointing the finger at Malope because of anger, he says:
I do not want a Leshoboro here. There is initiation at the other side of the
village, which is due to take place a day after tomorrow. And I don’t want
a daughter in law who is Lejekane in my house… you have to abandon that
colonial schools of yours from tomorrow.
About the seriousness of the initiation school, Nkadimeng (2004, p. 48) says:
Initiation in Africa is something you can’t live without because without that,
you won’t be recognised as a full member of the society. It determines your
67
relationship with your fellow men in the society in which you live.
This shows how important circumcision is in the eyes of an African person. No parent would be
happy when his blood is the laughingstock of the entire community by just not practising what
is cultural and obeyed by the whole community. Nkadimeng (2004) shows how culture should
be upheld by not letting Malope call Ngwato by his childhood name Jabulani, which is a sign of
disrespect. Ngwato became angry as he felt offended. He acquired his status of being called by
a praise name at the mountain school where he endured the coldness of winter, and he should
be respected as such.
Malope is in Grade 10. The Grade 10 learners are more or less 15 years of age. According to
Nkadimeng (2004), there are five years until another initiation school could occur, which
means that Malope could be 20 years or older. This is the right time for boys to be prepared for
manhood as opposed to the present-day practice which subjects young boys ranging from 11
years to about 15 years of age to harsh conditions of cold weather, hoping that they will come
out responsible men, only to find that they are still dependent on mothers who will still take
care of them. The following picture shows the present-day initiation graduates who should
be regarded and treated as men, as opposed to the initiation school described by Nkadimeng
(2004):
Bodika initiates
https://www.google.com/search?q=initiation+school&client=mobilepsotest
(Retrieved 14.11. 2018; 12:23)
Marriage
Marriage is a union between two families that binds a man and a woman to be husband and
wife. Myburgh (1981, p. 93) defines marriage as “an institution through which a man and a
woman are united to procreate children as the legitimate offspring of the parents.”
For the two families to be united, marriage negotiations should be concluded. The groom’s
family has to pay ‘magadi’ in the form of cattle and goats, and the cattle and the goats can
be negotiated in terms of money, for example, saying one cattle is equivalent to ZAR 2.000.
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The bride’s family or uncles set the ‘magadi’. By being African, African men, particularly the
wealthy and those who occupy important positions in the community, can marry as many wives
as they can be able to take care of. A marriage where a man can marry more than one wife is
called polygyny (Myburgh, 1981). Kings and traditional healers are also known to marry more
than one wife. When a woman is in a state of cleansing, she is restricted from executing some of
the household duties. Therefore, the other wives could perform household chores so that their
husbands can still be looked after.
According to some African cultures, if the wife does not bear children, the man does not divorce
her. Still, he is allowed to marry another woman, or if the wife is no longer able to sexually
satisfy her husband due to ageing, the wife may request her husband to marry a younger wife,
preferably her younger sister, which is referred to as sororal polygyny (Charlotte, 1986).
Nkadimeng (2004) portrays the life of a polygamous man who should be shared between his
two families. To show that Nkadimeng (2004) is an African, he indicates instances of the first
wife involved in courtship for her husband’s second wife. This shows that in African marriage,
the first wife can do this because she will be relieved of the many responsibilities towards her
husband, for example, cooking, laundry and making the bed for him. Then the second wife
takes over the responsibilities by performing all the duties that the wife carried out before the
second marriage.
Women take pride in the thought of being married by a wealthy man who cannot let them go to
bed on hungry stomachs. In instances where a man marries a woman who already has a child,
the child carries the man’s name as the prescripts of culture. According to African tradition,
the first wife is regarded as the chief wife, and her status allows her to make decisions for
the families of the wives married to her husband after her. The wives could be one or more
depending on the husband’s strength to take care of them.
Mr Mazwi and Hunadi are married through customary laws and have two boys in their
marriage. According to the African culture, this marriage does not prevent Mr Mazwi from
marrying another wife, no, as long as he can take care of them. Mr Mazwi married another
wife, Pebetse, which is appropriate according to the traditional customs of Africans to be
polygamous. Customary law allows multiple marriages as opposed to Western law. That is
why Mazwi managed to marry Pebetse whilst still married to Hunadi. Still, after Pebetse’s
marriage, Mazwi cannot marry another wife, and on top of that, Pebetse’s marriage to Mazwi
nullifies Mazwi and Hunadi’s marriage according to Western law. What Belongs to Mazwi
becomes Pebetse’s, and Hunadi remains with nothing.
Mazwi married Pebetse with a daughter, Dikeledi, and Dikeledi became Mazwi’s daughter
because in African tradition, ‘kgomo e gapša le namane’. Dikeledi became Mazwi’s two sons’
sister, whose mother is Hunadi. In African tradition, there is no half-sister or half-brother.
Mazwi now assumes the responsibility of becoming head of the two families because each
of them had a home. Mazwi built Pebetse, a home further away from Hunadi’s household, to
avoid conflict of interest.
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Rituals (Mophaso)
Rituals are a very important custom of Africans. A ritual is a ceremony that is performed
according to a prescribed order. ‘Mophaso’ is a kind of a ritual that is performed to appease
the ancestors. In almost everything that is happening in the family, whether good or not good,
a ritual of ‘mophaso’ has to be performed to inform the ancestors. When a child is born, a
‘mophaso’ ritual to inform the ancestors is performed. If someone in the family dies, a ritual of
‘mophaso’ to inform the ancestors to welcome him or her where they are, has to be performed.
Something is not going well in the life of one of the family members, a ritual of asking them to
look after that person is to be performed. Someone in the family is not in good health, a ritual
to request them to take care of the person has to be performed. Sacrifices may be performed to
give thanks, ensure that the spirits remain well disposed of, or placate them when they are not
happy with something (Myburgh, p. 1981). When a ‘mophaso’ ritual is to be performed, sorghum
beer or African beer as is preferably called is prepared, and snuff is also made available.
As Africans, we believe that there is a strong connection between the living and the dead,
hence the ritual ‘mophaso’ performance. Generally, a white chicken is used for performing
this particular ritual. However, a goat, sheep or bull can also be slaughtered at a specially-
made place for ancestral worship in the family. During the ritual, the family will ask and pray
for forgiveness from the ancestors for being wronged or when things were not done properly.
There is a specially prepared place in the family, called ‘thithikwane’, where the performance
of ‘mophaso’ is to take place, and the place is taken care of. Children are warned not to play
there because that is a sacred place.
When Jabulani graduated from mountain school during the ceremony. He inherited the name
‘Ngwato’, his grandfather’s. Unfortunately, by that time, his grandfather had already departed
from the world of the living. Therefore, a ritual had to be performed at his grandfather’s grave
to inform him that ‘Ngwato’ continues to live beyond the grave. First, an animal had to be
slaughtered, and its blood poured onto the grave. This is how the ritual was performed:
“In the middle of the kraal, there is a grave. Jabulani’s father carries the
blood of the slaughtered goat with a calabash, and his mother carries beer
with another
calabash. And Jabulani’s cousin has a wooden container in her hand full of
bones of a slaughtered goat. They sing a mournful song – the dirge before
Ngwato (Jabulani) can empty the container over the innocent grave.”
This is an indication that the ancestors have to be invited to share in the happiness and the grief
for every occasion that could take place in the family. They are invited by the performance of
the ritual, by pouring the blood of the slaughtered animal, not necessarily the goat. Putting
the bones of that animal on the grave, they are satisfied that whatever they do or eat that
day, the ancestors share with them, and everything will go as planned, without disturbances,
because the ancestors are with them. African beer, alternatively referred to as sorghum beer
or traditional beer by Nkadimeng (2004), is a symbol for ancestral worship.
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In some African traditions, no ancestral worship will be performed without African beer
and snuff. When a ritual is performed, African beer is prepared, and the snuff will conclude
the performance. We see this happening in the naming ceremony of Jabulani as Ngwato in
this book of Nkadimeng. The ceremony took place in the cattle kraal where his grandfather
Ngwato, was buried. Mazwi carried the blood of the slaughtered goat in a calabash, his mother
carried beer in another calabash, and his cousin carried a wooden container full of bones
of the slaughtered goat. Finally, they sang a mournful song before the young Ngwato could
empty the container over the grave.
Conclusion
From where I am standing, it is clear that Nkadimeng was influenced by his folklore when
producing his novel Lonely Hearts. As discussed above, elements of social customs, which
is an aspect of folklore, are evident in his writing. In addition, he produced his novel from
the experience that he gained when he was growing up in his community. For example,
what happens when boys are supposed to be incorporated in the adult community, through
initiation schools, marriage, and then rituals, are the most common elements in the African
community.
African children are denied the opportunity of learning their own culture and knowing where
they are coming from. A good example is Malope in Nkadimeng’s novel ‘Lonely Hearts’ who
refuses to go to the initiation school, arguing that he is already in Grade 10 and that there is
no point in the initiation school. Yet, he should have been taught at school that initiation is the
pride of an African man.
This novel shows that Nkadimeng is passionate about his culture to be passed on to the next
generations of Africans by reading his novel. He is preserving his culture by writing about it
so that it does not diminish. As indicated in the introduction, this article can serve as a basis
for teaching folklore. As the social custom is also an aspect of folklore, it should be taught in
schools and oral literature and the other two aspects, namely, Physical folklife and Performing
art. The DBE should take this as a serious course for concern in incorporating folklore in the
curriculum for the FET band in the South African School’s System.
References
Department of Basic Education. Folklore Exemplar Question Paper for Grade 12 National
Senior Certificate November 2015 Examinations. (N.D.). Circular E8 of 2015. Pretoria,
South Africa.
Myburgh, J. L., 1981. Anthropology for Southern Africa. Pretoria: J. L. Van Schaik.
Nkadimeng, A. P., 2004. Lonely Hearts. Sekhukhune: Tau Ya Tswako Publishers.
71
Segodi, E. Q., 2011. Rituals of Death in Mapulaneng Community of Mpumalanga Province. MA

Course work. University of Limpopo. Polokwane.
Sepota, M. M., 2002. Cleansing the Quest for Relevance. Southern African Journal for Folklore
Studies, 12 (2), pp. 32-49.
Charlotte, S. S., 1986. Macmillan Dictionary of Anthropology. London and Basingstoke: The
Macmillan Press Ltd.
The British Colombia Folklore Society., 2000. Available at http://www.folklore.bc.ca/

whatsfolk.htm. Accessed on 15 April 2012.
Ziervogel, D. & Mokgokong, P.C., 1975. Groot Noord-Sotho-Woordeboek: Noord-Sotho

Afrikaans/Engels-Comprehensive Northern Sotho Dictionary: Northern Sotho Afrikaans/
English. Pretoria: JL Van Schaik.
72
History, Politics and Development Studies
Two histories, one organisation: the case

of Zion Christian Church
Lesibana Rafapa
lesibana.rafapa@ul.ac.za
Introduction
The Zion Christian Church (ZCC) and other non-mainline churches in Africa, southern Africa
and South Africa have been documented as Apostolic, Pentecostal, Zionist, messianic, African
Independent or African Initiated Churches (AICs) by writers such as Sundkler (1948, 1976),
Kiernan (1980, 1984, 1991), Kalinga (1982), Landau (1994, 1996, 1999), Anderson (1999),
Anderson and London (2009), Maxwell (1999, 2006), and Muller and Kruger (2013). Some
writers such as Morton (2014) even describe such churches in their early formative years as
Ethiopian. The many features setting these churches apart in their approach to worship include
recognition and utilisation of the oral tradition, of which oral history is a part, alongside
conventional Christian practice. In this article, I analyse oral testimonies, written accounts
and audio recordings whose production was sanctioned by the ZCC in order to examine oral
historical material contained in them. Using this approach, I intend to probe how history
gleaned thus relates with hegemonic accounts produced outside the authority and influence
of the ZCC itself.
First manifestations of a Pentecostalism that severed from the theology of mainline Christian
churches led globally by whites, were in the founding of the Christian Catholic and Apostolic
Church in Zion (CCACZ) by John Alexander Dowie in 1896 in Chicago, Illinois, in a place he
named “Zion City” (Hallencreutz, 1998, p. 584). Evolving from Dowie’s movement, a latter
day Pentecostal movement bearing the name of African Faith Mission (AFM) spread from
Indianapolis in America, and was introduced into southern Africa in 1908 (Maxwell, 1999, p.
244). It is significant for my study that the AFM was originally more a confederal movement
led by a number of somewhat individualist preachers who worshipped together as a
collective without necessarily forfeiting their independence to minister to their own smaller
congregations.
African Initiated Churches have been described as Pentecostal, Zionist, messianic, African
Independent, African Initiated Church or even as Ethiopian by writers such as Sundkler (1948,
1976), Kiernan (1980, 1984, 1991), Kalinga (1982), Landau (1994, 1996, 1999), Anderson (1999),
Maxwell (1999, 2006), Anderson and London (2009), Muller and Kruger (2013), and Morton
(2014). The ZCC is a third generation offshoot of the American-born African Faith Mission (AFM).
The phenomenon of splinter black-led Zionist/Apostolic/Pentecostal churches from the

white-led AFM started in 1909 when Daniel Nkonyane was reported to have many preachers
in Natal and in the Wakkerstroom district originally occupied only by the AFM to which he
73
still (partially) belonged (Morton, 2014, p. 28). For some reasons, the split in hegemonically
acknowledged to have occurred only in 1912. This earliest black leader of a splinter church
from the AFM Daniel Nkonyane had Elias Mahlangu and the latter’s brother as some of his
preachers in the AIC he named the Catholic Apostolic Holy Spirit Church in Zion (CAHSCZ). Elias
Mahlangu and his brother in turn split from Nkonyane’s CAHSCZ to form their own splinter
church that they named the Zion Apostolic Church (ZAC), after they had “seceded with about
a quarter of Nkonyane’s flock in the interim period” between the latter’s expulsion from
Wakkerstroom in 1910 and move to Charlestown in 1912 (Morton, 2014, p. 25). ZCC founder
Engenas Lekganyane left the AFM to join the Mahlangus’ ZAC, during this collective phase of
AIC founders splitting from the AFM and from some splinter AICs, that started in 1910. I argue
that there is a quality of this phenomenon that dominant writers on the nature of the formation
of AICs during this era have hitherto failed to characterise.
It is in this very grey area where I see motivation here for the official ZCC position that the AIC
was founded in 1910. If it was in 1910 when the earliest AIC founder Nkonyane was expelled
from and physically left the abode of the AFM (Morton, 2014, p. 25) where Lekganyane and the
others had been preachers and worshippers, it is not farfetched to trace the founding seeds
of their AICs back to this year. From its early years “in the 1910s” the breakaway movement
of black preachers and worshippers including Lekganyane “were often concerned with
establishing isolated, self-sufficient rural ‘Zions’ free of white control” (Morton, 2014, p.
27). So, by 1910 not only had Nkonyane started in 1909 with the early beginnings of his own
church. The others, like Lekganyane, did the same later, which does not rule out the possibility
of Lekganyane having formed his own AIC in 1910. It is an evident pattern that group practice
then was not to start one’s breakaway AIC only after openly moving away physically from the
AIC one currently worshipped in. Continuing worship in the host church typically coexisted
with one’s early independence as leader of a new born AIC, and the ZCC is no exception.
Similarly to the way the ZCC’s founding in 1910 is not recognised by history from the Centre, the
establishment of Nkonyane’s AIC is said in academic historical accounts to have taken place
only in 1912. Yet there is evidence that it took place in 1909 (Morton, 2014) in typical hybrid
mode I outline above, which those other than the founders themselves do not seem to recognise
in spite of making accounts of the hybrid belonging I am arguing for. It would not be wrong
for a black Pentecostal leader like Nkonyane to elect to celebrate 1909 as the actual birth of
his church, despite dominant writers from the Centre preferring rather to recognise 1912 as
such. Reasons for dominant history writers to do so, from the perspective of the AIC founders
themselves, seem to claim to monopolise legitimacy to the exclusion of those by the former,
on no valid grounds other than mere arbitrary choice or bias motivated by interests other than
writing the truth. It is the phenomenon of hybrid formative origination pervading AICs of 1910s
births that to this day has escaped the attention of dominant writers. In my view, such a lack
of circumspection on the part of canonical historiographers should not be a justification for
the condescending historical accounts by means of which they have chronicled the founding
of Lekganyane’s ZCC as 1924 as in Morton (2014, p. 56), and not 1910. In a self-defining and self-
describing manner not to be overlooked within a paradigm that abhors othering descriptions
by the Centre, the AIC’s official records and pronouncements have consistently stressed 1910
to be the year of its founding.
74
Morton, like the others in his category, not only refutes 1910 as the year of ZCC founding.
Without demonstrating how, he also dismisses all records from the ZCC as “hagiographic
and contradictory” (Morton, 2014, p. 56). A similar approach detracting from the scientificity
of Morton’s (2014) disputation of a self-defining voice in the ZCC embracing 1910 as the year
of its founding is seen in the same writer’s trumped up falsification of the ZCC’s own account
of Engenas’s biography. Among the ZCC historical accounts Morton (2014, p. 56) discredits is
the church’s endorsement of Engenas Lekganyane having been a member of the Free Church
of Scotland prior to joining the AIC of the Mahlangu brothers. In order to justify his version as
true and the ZCC’s as disingenuous, Morton (2014, p. 56) charges that Engenas Lekganyane
“was very careful to remove his past association with Lutheranism and Anglicanism, creating
instead a story about being baptized as a child into the Free Church of Scotland.” Yet the
“scant” ZCC accounts Morton (2014, p. 56) claims to have consulted merely highlight Engenas’s
baptism in the Church of Scotland without necessarily denouncing his association with other
white denominations.
ZCC accounts are clear that Engenas was baptised and preached in the Free Church of Scotland,
though not “as a child” as per Morton’s (2014, p. 56) distortion alongside his discrediting
this part of Lekganyane’s biography as a fabrication. The premise the ZCC highlights is
that of a body dabbing baptism in the Free Church of Scotland, and not baptism by total
immersion. According to Maxwell (1999), Pentecostalims (in which Lekganyane believed) was
characterised by “baptism by triune immersion in the names of the Trinity.” By not mentioning
the Lutheran and Anglican churches his parents and fellow Mamabolo villagers became
converts of during colonial turmoil (Morton, 2014, p. 56), ZCC history writing does not deny
Engenas’s family’s involvement with those other mainline churches. It was a generic trait of
Pentecostalism in southern Africa to evolve from mainline missionary churches. Methodism,
for example, “was the springboard for most small independent African churches in the Free
State” (Landau, 1999, p. 326). For Engenas Lekganyane to have belonged to the mission church
is understandable, because up to 1923 the Free Church of Scotland was apparently one of the
dominant faiths in southern Africa, and according to writers like Kalinga (1982), certainly
dominant in the northern province of Malawi. The omission of mainline churches other than
the Free Church of Scotland in official ZCC accounts really does not leave anyone wondering,
considering that the latest of those churches that do not practice baptism by total immersion
Lekganyane once belonged to, is the Church of Scotland. Although Morton (2014) disputes
Lekganyane’s ever belonging to the Free Church of Scotland, Anderson (1999) attests that
the latter was an evangelist in the church when in 1908 he met Pieter Le Roux and the AFM in
Johannesburg.
It is from the latest sauntering in a series of spiritually unfulfilling practices that Engenas
Lekganyane, guided by a calling of the holy Spirit according to ZCC accounts, went to the AIC of the
Mahlangu brothers for baptism because the latter practised baptism by total immersion. Why
insinuations should be made that such a coherent narrative of the ZCC is a wily manipulation
of information is difficult to comprehend. Selection of one out of a series of churches that
shared a common practice Lekganyane sought to rectify fits the narrative of substantiating
why this AIC leader went to be baptised again in the ZAC, in spite of earlier baptisms, and is
no evidence of chicanery. From joining the Mahlangu brothers, later Lekganyane moved on to
75
join yet another splinter African Initiated Church (AIC) led by Edward Lion Motaung “whom he
also met in his early Zionist years in Boksburg” before joining Mahlangu’s ZAC (Morton, 2014,
p. 56). At the time Lekganyane left Motaung’s church in 1925 where he was regional leader of
the Limpopo region (formerly Transvaaal) (Morton, 2014, p. 69), he had already significantly
consolidated membership of his own new church from within Motaung’s AIC and the broader
movement. This was to the extent that in 1924 dominant writers of history had conceded that
the ZCC had started to exist (Morton, 2014, p. 69) even before Lekganyane had left Motaung’s
AIC. Morton (2014, p. 69) includes among what he sees as beacons in the growth of then then
new AIC of Lekganyane, its 1938 achievement “to purchase Boyne farm … and transform it into
the renowned ‘Zion City Moriah’.” None of the 1924, 1925 and 1938 developments around ZCC
founder Lekganyane’s life should be mistaken for the year in which the ZCC was born. For me
all these recorded milestones should not deny the ZCC to see 1910 as the year it was founded,
and not 1924 as those other than themselves prefer to say.
Interestingly, writers such as Maxwell (2006, p. 386) remark that the local Zionist/Apostolic/
Pentecostal churches, spawned directly or as third generation by the AFM like the ZCC, have
been “operating in sub-Saharan Africa since the 1910s.” By a description such as this one by
Maxwell (2006, p. 386) the founding of the AIC that Nkonyane started leading from within the
AFM in 1909 (Morton, 2014, p. 28) was in the 1910s. In this way, Maxwell (2006) and others like
him discount the actual spiritual calling of Nkonyane circa 1909 when he already had a great
following from within the AFM, and only recognise the founding of his church as a later event
when he purchased a farm in Charlestown in 1912 and settled his church there (Morton, 2014,
p. 25). I see parallels between such a treatment of Nkonyane’s founding history and that of
Lekganyane. In both cases, 1909 and 1910 are ignored as those of historical inventions, and
only the 1910s for Nkonyane and 1924 for Lekganyane are arbitrarily canonised.
Apart from factors extraneous to the authority and practice of the ZCC resulting in a tension
between the ZCC’s own version of its own history and the versions of academic authorities,
admittedly there are conventional cracks linked to the nature of oral history. It is true that
“most of the early leaders and converts” of AICs such as the ZCC relied primarily on orality in
their own collective memory of history, as Morton (Morton, 2014, p. 22) rightly observes. This,
though, should be mitigated by the presence of written records within the ZCC. It is a distortion
for a writer like Morton (2014, p. 22) to assert a virtual absence of written historical accounts
within the ZCC, in his claim that “only Isaiah Shembe’s Nazarite movement generated
significant amounts of written materials.” In the ZCC, orality has been corroborated with
handwritten historical accounts and in tape recorder and vinyl recordings of praise poetry in
which history is embedded (see Maahlamela, 2017).
However, reasons for the ZCC now living with two conflicting histories cannot be ascribed only
to probable inaccuracies often acknowledged as expected in oral accounts of events having to
do with various narrators’ differing memory and retention capacities (Wieder, 2004). To give
just one example, the consistency with which the ZCC has mentioned 1910 as its birth since the
days of the founding bishop cannot genuinely be ascribed to a possible forgetfulness of some
oral historical informants. I thus argue that extraneous factors like under-identification of
the nature of AICs within the frame of a movement have had a greater role in polarizing the
existing two versions of the ZCC.
76
Writings from the Centre are flawed further not only by some hollow claims already outlined
above. Perturbing are more unsubstantiated claims, like one dismissing AICs’ faith healing
as charlatan (Morton, 2014, p. 26). After a claim that AICs have historically “used the placebo
effect to heal credulous devotees afflicted with psychosomatic illnesses” (Morton, 2014, p. 26),
no scientific evidence is provided that the faith healing associated with these churches is as
fake as only to convince “credulous devotees” in their millions (Morton, 2014, p. 26). It is hard
to believe that Morton’s (2014) statement intended to convey the same message as Maxwell’s
referring to the AICs’ “preaching of the message of divine healing” (Maxwell, 1999, p. 251).
In this article I analyse testimonies about and preserved by the ZCC, published in the official
newsletter of the organisation in celebration of its 100th anniversary in 2010. Alan Wieder’s
(2004) advocacy for a valuing of “testimony as oral history” for the “cultural context of South
Africa” in which “the testimonies of people on the ground have public legitimacy”, is relevant
for my analysis of ZCC-solicited recounting of historical events, for the reason that testimony
in such a context “brings distinct cultural and political issues and insights to the conversation
because both the horrors of and the struggle against apartheid have a public voice in South
African society” (Wieder, 2004, p. 26). I intend to demonstrate how significant these voices
from below are in tampering description by the other as far as the history of the ZCC is
concerned. I see such officially sanctioned efforts by narrating congregants as serving also to
advance studies in South African church history. What Maxwell (2006) indicts as “institutional
imbalances and prejudices of the historical profession” reflected in case studies of AICs that
“have been operating in sub-Saharan African since the 1910s” needs resolution by self-defining
projects such as this one undertaken by the ZCC. As Maxwell (2006) rightly observes, the
discourse informing description by others in the case studies did nothing to affirm alternative
perspectives. Such alternative perspectives include one highlighted by Landau, that “Africans
can and do act as agents in the making of their own history.” All that the discourse sought in
“distinguish[ing] between African church history and the history of mission” was a furthering
of the imperial repression of self-definition. That is why there is recognition of “Zionism’s
missionary origins” in the AFM, in publications such as Sundkler’s 1976 refined study of
Zionism entitled Zulu Zion and some Swazi Zionists and in Maxwell (1999).
It is evident from some studies of the ZCC and other AICs that the missionary objectives of
original white-led Zionism conflict with the self-affirming ones of the AICs. Lesibana Rafapa
(2013) describes the ZCC mores at the least as abrogation of western Christianity to imbue it with
“Afrikan Humanist values” that have, through history, proven to be the survival kit of Africans
whose identity was being smothered by the alien cultural sensibility of the protagonists
of apartheid. Anderson furthermore highlights this culturally and economically affirming
tenet of the ZCC throughout its existence, in his observation that “The ZCC has emerged from
the fear of a powerful and oppressive regime to attempt to play a role in the radical changes
that have taken place since 1990” (Anderson, 1999, p. 292). In acknowledging that the ZCC has
culturally been on the fringes of power and providing a holistically salvaging message for
the underprivileged, Mafuta (2010, p. 7) characterizes the ZCC culturally as “Empowering its
adherents economically through a religious soteriology.”
77
The publication of Gray’s work on Pentecostalism in 1990 evolved studies of African

independent churches to “analyzing the conjunctures between African and Christian patterns
of thought, the absorption of Christian ideas and their relevance to African struggles with
death, disease and misfortune,” according to Maxwell (2006). The ZCC has performed such a
task, among others in its dialectical integration of conventional Christian hymn singing with
the traditional literary form entailing the oral transmission of epic history embedded in praise
poetry (Rafapa, 2013). Such an oral tradition within the context of modern social history as,
to use Prins’s (1991, p. 128) words gives “historical presence to those whose views and values
are disenfranchised by ‘history from above’.” One way the ZCC has used its oral tradition to
preserve aspects of its own history has been by means of aural preservation techniques and
the reduction of oral history to writing.
The place of ZCC oral historical data within the theory of

oral history
Data in the form of testimonies by ZCC members will be tested against possible weak links
within oral historical accounts pinpointed by theorists such as Boeyens and Hall (2009). In as
much as other kinds of data are helpful in triangulating oral historical data, oral historical
data are equally helpful in testing the validity of those other kinds of data. This is why Prins has
remarked that oral historical data “serve to check other sources as they serve to check it.” I will
test the oral testimonies of some ZCC members not only against the ZCC historical accounts
of writers employing ‘modern’ historiography that I have already considered so far, but also
accounts by writers I have not yet discussed such as Mafuta (2015) and Lukhaimane (1980).
In my research approach I do not separate oral history and the oral tradition. Leavy (2011)
distinguishes oral history and the oral tradition, but stresses that oral history “draws on the
tenets of an oral tradition,” for cultures that are amenable to social influences of the oral
tradition. The ZCC is one such cultural group influenced greatly by oral traditions, as my
discussion will show. According to Prins (1991), in oral history stories capable of opening up
for us “the inside of a culture and time … are passed down through the generations.” Such
a view by Prins (1991) of the inseparability of culture and time in the oral transmission of
culture, supports what other commentators on African cultures such as Mphahlele (2002)
refer to as a strong sense of history informing African cultural consciousness. African cultural
communities which constitute the majority of ZCC membership thus include ZCC historical
information in their “pass[ing] down through the generations” “the inside of a culture and
time.” Oral historical testimonies that I analyse do not come from ZCC leadership although
authorised by it in order to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the church. Neither do the
testimonies represent what hegemonic historians have sought to write as ZCC history. I chose
to rely in my research on stories told by rank and file congregants of the ZCC. My approach is
thus congruous with the international oral history theorist Leavy’s view that the strength of the
research approach in oral history is its qualitative emphasis of “participants’ perspectives.”
78
The intersection of testimony and written history in the ZCC:

written sources
One sphere where the soundness of ZCC oral history can be put to test is in relation to the year
of its origin. On the one hand, ZCC as presented in history from above was founded in 1924,
according to historians such as Lukhaimane (1980), Sundkler (1948, p. 291), and Morton (2014).
On the other hand, the ZCC authoritative oral history indicates 1910 as the year of the church’s
establishment. A close scrutiny of the Pentecostal/Zionist phenomenon in southern Africa
yields helpful insights that might help the reader understand better the version that the ZCC
was born in 1910, and not 1924.
It is important to remember that around 1909 to 1910 when schisms with the imported AFM
became decisive, the different black independent churches and even the hotbed AFM itself
were seen as mere nodal points of a movement that often held umbrella church services
together without experiencing a conflict. This is why writers like Kiernan (1980), Hallencreutz
(1998), Landau (1996, 1999), Maxwell (1999, 2006) as well as Anderson and London (2009) point
to southern African Pentecostalism/Zionism as a movement, and not as a church. This explains
why Engenas Lekganyane would not have had first to secede from the Mahlangus’ ZAC or the
other AIC led by Motaung, before starting to preach to his own followers falling within the
movement and also drawn from it.
Again, right from his first encounter with Motaung’s church nothing would have prevented
Lekganyane from identifying and preaching to his own followers from it – at the level of a
multidenominational movement. This feature of the AIC movement of the 1910s actually
accounts for even the likes of Morton (2014, p. 69) acknowledging that Lekganyane started his
own church (which event they opt to associate with the year 1924) while still a preacher within
Motaung’s AIC (which happened before 1924). What the writers of academic history fall short of
is to attribute such an overlapping transition from worshiping in one AIC to founding another,
to this fluid feature of the Pentecostal movement. They have only stopped at conceding to the
decentralised nature of the movement at the secondary level in allowing the independent
existence of some denominations, albeit with a distinct central leadership of the movement
at the primary level of the AFM.
It makes sense that in their formative stages the nascent AICs cloned this feature of the mother
AFM by being mini-movements wherein leaders of other denominations would freely worship
and preach within some breakaway churches even when already identifying themselves as
heads of different new AICs they had started to consolidate. This is similar to the way the AFM
too started diffusely as a movement, and not as a single church. Pertaining to this premise
of the white-led AFM, Maxwell (1999, p. 250) remarks that it was only in 1908 when the broad
Pentecostal movement evolved from the fluid state in which it arrived from America, to
coalesce into a nuclear church.
From the perspective of ZCC oral tradition the watershed incident signaling the beginning
of the ZCC is Engnenas’s prophetic “vision and calling” of 1910. The ZCC Family Bible, an
authoritative publication sanctioned by the current ZCC bishop and his Church Council
79
endorses 1910, consistently with other oral sources sanctioned by the church. Reliance on
testimony in recording church history has characterised the ZCC. This is not to deny that
handwritten notes by some leaders listening to the bishop’s sermons and addresses have also
been used. These personal historical snippets jotted down by ordinary men and women within
the AIC do help validate or dispute some of the oral testimonies, for a more reliable account of
the ZCC to be distilled. Views of oral historians such as Derek du Bruyn attest to the significance
of such additional history material ‘from below,’ as in his observation that even “relatively
unlikely sources such as personal documents” are crucial in oral history research” because
“oral evidence should not be seen as the only source of information.
It is clear that oral testimony has been at the disposal of both Lukhaimane and Motolla, about
Engenas’s spiritual experience of 1910. The reliability of oral historical sources here is no more
questionable than what Hallencreutz (1998) describes as the combined “oral sources” and
“significant finds in regional and national archives” hegemonic historians like Bengt Sundkler
relied on in documenting case studies of black Pentecostal churches and their leaders, because
“all stories … [recall] certain events and forget others”, to use Landau’s words. True to what the
oral history theorist Michael Frisch highlights as the craft of oral history, the ZCC authoritative
recorders of the church’s oral history do post-positivistically document testimonies of bona
fide ZCC members as they “connect individual experience and its social context” as well as
use the past today “to interpret their lives and the world around them.” Internationally, oral
historians since the 1970s have adopted such “post-positivist” approaches to the discipline of
oral history.
A parallel to this conflict between hegemonic history and the history from below is seen when
the ZCC marks 1967 as the year in which the current head of the ZCC became bishop at the
age of 13, following his father’s passing on in the same year. Mafuta has documented 1975,
and not the ZCC-sanctioned 1967, as the year in which the bishop ascended to the ZCC throne.
His reasons are straightforwardly that, ‘formally’ the bishop had to reach the legal age of 21
before he could be installed. Yet ZCC oral history holds that the present ZCC bishop became
head of the church after his father bishop Edward Lekganyane ordained him as directed by the
Holy Spirit in 1967 soon before the latter’s death.
Current ZCC bishop Barnabas Lekganyane’s spiritual anointing into headship at the age of
13 is as prophetic a historical incident as Bishop Edward Lekganyane’s death, once more in
the frame not informing or disregarded by hegemonic history. An oral account by Samuel
Lebudi recalls how in 1967 while attending the September congregation in Moria, the Holy
Spirit informed him in his sleep that Bishop Edward Lekganyane was going to die and that
the former had to return to Moria on the next Thursday where he did “hwetša Mong wa ka a
tlogile ra ba boloka ka Mokibelo” (found that my Lord had indeed departed as prophesied
in my vision and we buried him on the Saturday). Interestingly, there is a different discourse
diametrically opposed to such oral historical discourse. For a historian like Allan Anderson,
Bishop Edward Lekganyane had no succession planning nor immediate heir, because he
had a “premature death from a heart attack in … 1967.” Anderson, like the rest of hegemonic
historians, recognises 1975 as the year of the current ZCC bishop’s enthronement and not 1967.
Within such a discourse from the Centre, Bishop Edward Lekganyane did not prepare himself
and his followers prophetically for his death. From the point of view of a writer such as Morton
80
(2004), such facts are as unreliable as fiction and belong in fabricated “hagiography.”
Within ZCC orature however, not only was Edward’s death not without proper succession
planning. It also fits in the pattern of ZCC bishops bidding goodbye to the ZCC leadership and
preparing thoroughly for their own deaths. Repeating similar oral accounts by many more ZCC
oral sources, Lesufi (ZCC Messenger, 2010, pp. 35-36) recalls Engenas’s 1946 statements that in
1948 he is going to die, “sepela” (“go”), and “fa bahu selalelo gore ba tsene legodimong” (“give
holy communion to the deceased in heaven so that they may enter the kingdom of God”). It
is known from ZCC oral history also that before his death in June 1948, Engenas visited some
congregations, among them the Alexandra township branch, and told his ministers that he was
going back to Moria to rest and they would never see him again. If in his reliance on memory
research participant Lesufi is accurate about 1946, it means Engenas started as early as then
to prepare for his 1948 death. It is also possible that such farewell messages by Engenas to his
ministers happened in the 1948 months before June when he died. This precedent marked
what is now accepted tradition in the ZCC, that a sitting bishop prophetically reveals his own
dying time and prepares succession in time.
Hegemonic historical vantage points contradict official accounts of the ZCC about the AIC’s
number of annual conferences. One example is Anderson’s enunciation that millions of
Lekganyane’s subjects “come annually to give allegiance” at the Moria headquarters (my
emphasis). This is the result of a lingering effect of history from above homogenising ZCC
and historically white-led Pentecostalist praxis. It is true that during its early 20th century
ramifications from hubs such as Wakkerstroom in South Africa into all of southern Africa,
as historians like Maxwell (1999) indicate, there existed a phenomenon known as “AFM’s
annual conference in South Africa” during which congregants descended onto Johannesburg
from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho and other southern African states.” Understandably, there
are echoes of this in the ZCC’s praxis of its branches permeating mainly southern African
states today continuing to converge at regular intervals on its headquarters of Moria in
South Africa. However, the ZCC distinctively holds annual conferences as opposed an annual
conference. Apart from the annual Easter conference mistakenly thought to this day to be the
only ZCC conference each year (see for example a news report of the Sowetan newspaper of
30 October 2015, p. 18), the ZCC annually holds yet another conference at the beginning of
Spring and its New Year in September, for sanctifying the new year. That is why the current
ZCC bishop, Barnabas Lekganyane, in his 2010 September conference address reminds the
ZCC pilgrimages not to discard the ZCC tradition of bringing along seeds to Moria for blessings
“As we consecrate the New Year.” Such a tradition of the ZCC genealogically conforms to the
original collective feature of AICs, of “collective support against the ravages of poverty,”
about which Landau (1996, p. 263) gives the example of Pentecostal/Zionist religious leaders’
“critical concerns with rain, cattle and environmental fertility.”
History from above does not recognise Barnabas Lekganyane’s ZCC reign as beginning in 1967.
As if the ZCC never weaned itself from its progeny, this kind of history associates the ZCC with
one annual conference. Such deficiencies point to gaps in ZCC academic history. The situation
justifies focus on alternative sites of history such as the oral testimonies that are the focus of
this paper. Now I turn more fully to oral testimonies on these and other watershed dates in the
history of the ZCC.
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The intersection of testimony and written history in the ZCC:

oral sources
Interesting aspects of international oral history theory can be identified within the oral history
practice of the ZCC. Together with hegemonic historical accounts of the Pentecostal/Zionist
movement, I use oral history theory as a matrix within which I test some of the ZCC’s contested
versions of its own history. In this way I read memories and combine them “with other historical
sources to find out what happened in the past,” a useful function that received sharp focus for
the first time during the “Post-Positivist Approaches to Memory and Subjectivity” of the late
1970s. My assumption is that events recounted by research participants who have interacted
with collective identity in the form of cultural practices of the ZCC, become what Alan Wieder
values as “deep stories of individual and collective identity.”
A research participant named Frans Ramalepe, whose oral narrative was also published in
the ZCC Messenger, recalls that he was baptized as a member of the ZCC on 6 January 1924 by
“Bishop Engenas Lekganyane ka sebele” (Bishop Engenas Lekganyane in person) in the Monono
river together with twenty other people. This was after the ZCC and Engenas Lekganyane were
introduced to him by Titus Ralephenyo, “gomme ke yena ke mo lebogago kudu ge ke le mo ZCC
gobane o ba a bolela ditaba tše botse fela ka ga Bishop Engenas Lekganyane” (“and I am very
grateful to Titus Ralephenya who turned me into a member of the ZCC, for he always opted to
tell me only good things about Bishop Engenas Lekganyane”).
It can reasonably be said that in his testimony Frans Ramalepe’s facts are richly accompanied
by what Thomson has described as oral history’s “conscious and unconscious meaning of
experience as lived and remembered.” While clearly conscious of the information he is
giving that he was baptized in the ZCC in 1924 by Engenas, what the research participant
may be unconscious of is the messianic regard he has for Engenas, bespoken by the emphasis
in “ka sebele” (“in person”). The informant is consciously informing the researcher for the
ZCC Messenger newsletter of his gratefulness to the fellow member who introduced him
to Engenas and the ZCC. However, there is an unconscious meaning he gives by the silent
part of the reason he gives for such thankfulness “gobane o ba a bolela ditaba tše botse fela
ka ga Bishop Engenas Lekganyane [for he always opted to tell me only good things about
Bishop Engenas Lekganyane].” True to the historian Paul S. Landau’s description of history as
stories that recall certain events and forget others, clearly both Titus Ralephenyo and Frans
Ramalepe are purposefully selective in their representation of the messianic leader Engenas
Lekganyane and the ZCC.
There are historically recorded bad things some people did spread about Engenas, among them
adherents of mainline and the relatively normative white AFM, including the propaganda that
one of his sons died and, believing that the son was Jesus Christ, Engenas kept him unburied
for three days egotistically imagining that the child would resurrect which of course never
happened. None of the ZCC oral informants recalls such an event. One may reasonably explain
it as one of the many ways Southern African colonial rulers of the time mocked what Maxwell
(1999) describes as the conjoining feature of African Pentecostalism of “divining whilst in a
state of ecstatic possession by the Holy Spirit.” We should remember that “Pentecostal tongues,
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groaning and moaning were uncapturable discourses” (Maxwell, 1999) for outsiders to black
independent Pentecostalism of the times of Engenas Lekganyane. For the reason the language
barrier, those on the side of dominant authority have been rampant in spawning propaganda
that to this day continues to harm the image of AICs like the ZCC. There is the practice of
prophecy within the ZCC in which, according to Anderson (2009) “responses to the working of
the Holy Spirit amongst ordinary African people” makes prophets “behave ‘abnormally’ with
jerking, jumping, snorting, and various other contortions of the body … experienced in biblical
times” Maxwell (1999). ZCC prophets share such prophetic manifestations with the rest of the
AICs Maxwell refers to.
The research participant named Frans Maselesele’s oral testimony preserved in writing in
the same ZCC Messenger, attests that he came to know of a man from GaMamabolo, whose
name was Engenas Lekganyane of the ZCC, through acquaintaces called Jonathan Kgatla
and Phineas Mogale (ZCC Messenger, 1985). After gaining confidence in Engenas Lekganyane
and the ZCC, Frans Maselesele joined the ZCC and was baptized in 1923 in the Norwood Dam
in Johannesburg by a priest of the ZCC called Petrus Lekganyane. This testimony refutes
Anderson’s (2009) claim implying that at any stage only the ZCC bishop had ministering
authority and the ZCC prohibited “ministers and local prophets” from exercising authority.
Similarly, multiple testimonies dispute Maxwell’s (1999) view that during Engenas’s leadership
of the ZCC “healing was his sole province, intended to boost his charismatic influence.”
In her oral tale published in the ZCC Messenger, Maria Masango talks of bishop Engenas
Lekganyane arriving in her father’s homestead in Tshwane circa 1942 accompanied by
two ZCC priests Silas Mahlatji and Lota Lemao for all three of them to lay hands on the sick.
She also recalls Engenas and ZCC priest [moruti] Senona one-day arriving together at the
Riverside, Pretoria, ZCC branch collectively to heal a physically disabled man by faith. In one
more testimony Daniel Lesufi (ZCC Messenger, 2010), who was brought up in the household
of a ZCC senior minister for the Sekhukhune district by the name of Mokgopi, testifies that
during Engenas’s ZCC leadership circa 1938 and before the former was baptized in 1943, he
worshipped also at a branch led by reverend Raphahlelo who together with other ZCC ministers
practiced faith healing assisted by prophets. These practices were authorized by Engenas from
his headquarters in Moria.
Concerning historiographers’ claim that Engenas Lekganyane founded the ZCC in 1924, the
research participant Frans Maselesele states unequivocally in the published oral account
that as he was baptized in 1923 he was informed about the principles of “kereke ya Engenas
Lekganyane” [“the church of Engenas Lekganyane”] (ZCC Messenger, 2010). It is important to
state that the ZCC issues baptismal cards and certificates, which members have to refer to in
any official information they give. Members who submitted handwritten, sometimes verbal
testimonies in the presence of a church official, would have to produce such credentials.
Probably meant to assist ZCC officials editing the oral information for publication with veracity,
all informants’ portraits alongside their published accounts are captioned with their names,
dates of birth and dates of baptism, probably triangulated with information in the members’
government issued identity documents. An official circular had been issued the previous year
in preparation for the anniversary celebrations, inviting members who had history of the
church in their memory and personal notes to avail themselves to church leadership. Possible
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inaccuracies regarding dates, names, places and circumstances associated with memory
can reliably be said to have been minimized or stamped out in this manner. Besides, the
2010 volumes containing reproduced oral history do have innumerable incidental overlaps
told through the mouths of different research participants, greatly assisting both the ZCC
authorities and myself to cross-check consistency.
These and other informants are able to speak of encounters with the ZCC of Engenas
Lekganyane in 1923 and 1924, and not with the Zion Apostolic Faith Mission (ZAFM) of Motaung
which Engenas Lekganyane is documented in accepted written history to have been part of
until 1924. Both Lukhaimane (1980) and Mafuta (2010) document in their formal university
studies of ZCC history, that Engenas Lekganyane joined the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) of P Le
Roux in Johannesburg around 1908. Both historians agree that when Mahlangu left to form his
own independent church the Zion Apostolic Church of South Africa (ZAC) after he and Engenas
had initially belonged since 1908 to normative AFM led by P Le Roux, Lekganyane joined him.
The two worked together until Lekganyane joined Motaung’s Lesotho-based AIC of which he
became overseer until he left to form the ZCC. For these and other writers, Engenas’s rupture
with Motaung happened abruptly in 1924, marking the founding of the ZCC. According to this
discourse of the Centre, the founding of the ZCCC was not through Engenas’s calling in 1910. For
the ZCC to recognize 1910 as the birth of the organization makes sense from the point of view
of what I have already pointed out as a hitherto overlooked aspect of the AIC founding process.
From such a vantage point, the 1910 birth of the ZCC was a sequel to an initial double belonging
typical of other AIC leaders’ gradual amassing of their own church membership during the
bridge period of continuing to preach under a host AIC founde, while simultaneously mapping
out and consolidating one’s own independent AIC.
The oral testimony of Daniel Lesufi (ZCC essenger, 2010) does explain how together with his
followers Engenas held joint church services with Mahlangu while visiting Johannesburg. That
is the meaning of Lesufi’s words “Engenas a re ba ye go rapela le bona” (“Engenas permitted
fellow worship with the Mahlangu group”). This should be much late, after the ZCC founder had
already been to Motaung’s church and openly left the position of Northern Transvaal Overseer
as soon as the ZCC congregation he had marked out needed his undivided attention. Hence
mentioning by the respondent Lesufi of a distinctly-ZCC congregation of Engenas joining a
worship service of Mahlangu’s church much later than his first encounters with the latter. Here
it can be seen that Engenas and Mahlangu together led their heterogeneous congregation in
the historically known spirit of Pentecostal churches sometimes meeting under the banner of
the Pentecostal movement. Such behaviour by the two leaders strengthens arguments about
the confederal nature of worshiping with fellow leaders and members of the Pentecostal
movement even while owning and leading one’s own AIC. Earlier we scrutinised evidence
of such a phenomenon in the case of breakaway AIC leaders in the early formative stages of
their new churches. The present example of Mahlangu and Lekganyane followers worshiping
together in ‘movement’ spirit indicates that such a fellowship continued even in later stages of
independence when newly invented AICs were already at the crystallised stage.
Lesufi gives the cause of Mahlangu’s and Engenas’s congregations stopping to share worship
services as clashing visions about World War 1 (1914 – 1918) that the two independent leaders
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both had. Lesufi explains that one day Mahlangu shared his dream about Germany defeating
England. Engenas contested, citing dreams in which the Holy Spirit had revealed to him the
victory of England and her allies over German forces (“Mahlangu o ile are … o bone Majeremane
ba fentše ntwa yeo … Engenas … a re Maesemane a tla fenya ntwa”) (ZCC Messenger, 2010); after
giving this account Lesufi declares that “Kereke ya Sione ga e tšwe go ya ga Mahlangu” (“the
ZCC was not born out of a split from Mahlangu’s church”). Interestingly, such an oral historical
declaration concurs with what dominant historians have stated – that Engenas founded the
ZCC after splitting from Motaung who hosted the former post the former’s earlier sojourn in
Mahlangu’s ZAC. I see this as affirmation of the credibility of versions of history told orally from
the grassroots and based on lived experience.
Historians’ agreement on 1924 as the founding of the ZCC thus prove to be true only when
boundaries between the original AFM and fissured African independent churches are
presumed to be neat, and dissociations among the myriad AICs themselves are believed to
have been prompt and immediately discrete. Such a stance is against both oral and normative
historical evidence, showing that such neatly etched borders did not exist. This is the significant
facet of AICs Maxwell (1999) describes accurately as “early interdenominational.”
According to the ZCC Family Bible (1995) with a preface written by the current bishop, “Rev.
Engenas built a church in Mamabolo” in 1924, after the founding of the church and before the
present Moria could be the ultimate headquarters of the ZCC. The front cover photograph of
the newsletter containing these testimonies is the ruins of the Mamabolo church building.
The authenticity of such archaeological evidence is captured well by writers such as Du
Bruyn (2013) in his assertion that, “Sources other than oral testimonies include not only the
more conventional and accessible archival records, newspapers and photographs, but also
… buildings, ruins and even the historic landscape.” What this implies is that, before 1924
Engenas’s followers were there and worshipped in the open.
The ZCC feature of holding church services in the open continues to this day, even in the
presence of a network of church buildings across its branches mainly covering southern
African states. The ZCC Family Bible chronicles years in which the current bishop built and
inaugurated ZCC church buildings in places like Atteridgeville and Mamelodi (ZCC Messenger,
2010). However, similarly to the building of the Thabakgone ZCC church structure in 1924, the
affected ZCC congregations of Atteridgeville and Mamelodi cannot rightly be said to have
started worshipping under the aegis of the ZCC only in the years in which the buildings were
erected and subsequently opened officially by the current ZCC bishop. In this way, rather
than support 1924 as the birth of the ZCC, the history and artefact of the Thabakgone church
building rather thickens evidence disproving this.
Before he was joined by Lekganyane whom he appointed overseer of the Transvaal (Limpopo)
as already mentioned, Edward Lion Motaung broke with the imported AFM and later returned
and was himself recognised as “AFM overseer for Basutoland.” Motaung later seceded
once more, this time to form his own Pentecostal church active mainly in Lesotho in 1921.
Lekganyane founded the ZCC while still “overseer” for Motaung’s AIC, as I have already
indicated. ZCC membership existed beyond the Limpopo division he was earlier only “overseer”
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of for Motaung’s AIC. This is why ZCC oral testimonies incessantly refer to Engenas Lekganyane
and some of his followers from Thabakgone and Johannesburg worshipping together with
Motaung in Lesotho.
According to Lesufi’s testimony, Engenas did not join Motaung in Lesotho for worship only
at the time his Johannesburg followers joined him. Lesufi describes how Engenas once did
“sepela le bagwera ba yo jela Good Friday Lesotho ka ngwaga wa 1910” from “GaMamabolo
and Hlabina” (went with his fellow worshippers from GaMamabolo and Hlabina to Lesotho
for Easter services in Lesotho) (ZCC Messenger, 2010). Relations between the ZCC leader and
Lesotho-based Pentecostal evangelist Motaung continued to be cordial even after the former
had started his own AIC. That is why when Engenas’s son Edward was born in 1926, the former
fondly named him after Edward Motaung. Engenas’s fellow worshipers in the ZCC who travelled
to Motaung’s church in Lesotho from the rural Limpopo province of South Africa had belonged
not only to Motaung’s Lesotho-based church, but had also been with Engenas in the Church
of Scotland (ZCC Messenger, 2010). It should be noted that black Zionist worship coalition
exemplified above did not deny the existence of the separate churches led by the prominent
figures Mahlangu and Motaung and Lekganyane. This is why the research participant Simon
Ramalepe, whose baptism in Engenas’s ZCC was explained above to have taken place on 6
January 1924, can speak of meeting Engenas Lekganyane in the company of Mahlangu and
Edward Lion Motaung (ZCC Messenger, 2010). What can be deduced here is that the existence
of a distinct ZCC on the one hand, and its founder Engenas’s sojourns with Mahlangu and
Motaung on the other hand, do overlap.
Testimony emanating from within the ZCC’s oral tradition thus helps to rectify inaccuracies
and distortions apparently extant in formal, hegemonic history about the same organisation.
Insight about the ZCC gained from the cited testimonies coincides with what Prins (1991)
pinpoints generically as revelations of oral history research, namely “traditions of genesis,
dynastic histories and accounts of social organization.”
Reliance by ZCC researchers such as Anderson, Lukhaimane, Mafuta and Motolla directly or
indirectly on oral testimonies in their varying compilation of written texts attests to some
“post-documentary sensibility” breaking down the distinction between the oral history oral
source and the oral history document product, taken further in the digital revolution era
of oral history we are living in where digitization has added a dissolution of the oral history
document source into the oral history documentary product (1990).
Interviewer position within the ZCC brand of oral history

Questions relating to the position of the interviewer in oral history research are so fundamental
to my kind of enquiry into the quality of ZCC oral history, that I cannot do justice to the study
without attempting to describe the specific nature of this relationship.
Testimonies of the origins and nature of the ZCC covered by this study do not emanate from
a newsletter covering just the period before the 100th anniversary of the church. The scope
of the ZCC project to solicit oral narratives about the genesis, dynastic successions and social
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organisation of the church spans three decades, although started just after the inception of
the revamped newsletter under the new title ZCC Messenger in 1985. International oral history
theory and practice seem to validate such an approach by the ZCC, in conceptualising oral
history research as “a process,” and not an event (Leavy, 2011).
During the interview of the research participant Frans Ramalepe, the assigned ZCC
researcher refrains from assuming or shaping the nature of the findings likely to emanate
from the research, in spite of authority invested in him by virtue of being dispatched by ZCC
headquarters. It is evident that the ZCC researcher went about as Jones recommends, beginning
“with one open, ‘narrative inducing’ question and then proceeded to allow the participant to
tell his or her story without interruption” (Jones in Leavy, 2011). The one open-ended, broad
question posed at the beginning of the interview resulted in the informant’s narrative giving
uninterrupted testimony, rich with information relating to the formative years of the ZCC as
well as its social organization /character under the leadership of its founder. This happened
without unwarranted interjection by the conductor of the interview (ZCC Messenger, 1985). The
potential harm of the tasked ZCC story collectors, to use Mchunu’s words, “inadvertently making
erroneous assumptions based on the researcher’s prior knowledge and/or experience” is kept
in check by strategies such as choosing “to conceptualize themselves as co-investigators,
co-learners, facilitators or advocates rather than researchers”, thus minimising “the power
differential between themselves and those participating in their research” (Mchunu, 2013).
Only two questions are asked during Ramalepe’s oral narration. The questions were probably
captured initially in the interviewer’s scribbled notebook and by means of an audio tape and
later preserved in the published newsletter. The two questions are “Na lena monna yo wa
Modimo le mo tsebišitšwe ke mang?” (“Honourable elder, how did you come to know about this
man of God?”); and “Na Ramalepe, e be le sa šome naa?” (“Honourable Ramalepe, were you not
employed at the time?”) (ZCC Messenger, 1985). As what is preserved in writing in the published
newsletter is probably compressed due to usual space constraints, it would seem that the
researcher analysed the information from Ramalepe after the first interview. Thereafter
follow-up interviews were conducted in which the captured two questions were posed, shaped
by interceding attempts at sense making. The question whether Ramalepe was not employed
during his encounter with Engenas could have been answered without prompting, had it
not been perhaps for what the writer Mchunu (2013) decribes as “the assumption, among
participants that the researcher already knows the answers, by fact of his/her being an
insider.” It is likely that the ZCC researcher and the research participant Ramalepe have often
shared personal life stories prior to the oral history project having to be performed as decreed
by the church leadership, because the interviewer is an insider ZCC official.
The nature of the questions is such that there is mutual respect between the researcher
and research participant, and no specific kinds of answers are pre-empted. However, the
formulation of the questions by the skillful interviewer unintrusively leads the research
participant to give information relating to his personal biography as well as Engenas
Lekganyane’s character and values. In this way, Ramalepe’s reconstruction of own biography
comes across beneficially in the way Leavy (2011) describes an effective oral history
interviewing method of covering “an extensive part of a participant’s life, seeking to uncover
processes and link individual experiences with the larger context in which those experiences
occur.”
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The benefit is that by Ramalepe relating parts of his personal experiences, he taps into
Engenas Lekganyane’s character in which are embedded the values of the church founded by
the latter. These values informed the social organisation of the ZCC at the time, which is crucial
for qualitative oral history research to gather information on. Such an approach is in keeping
with the proper attitude in oral history research to assume that “meaning isn’t ‘waiting out
there’ to be discovered, but rather that meaning is generated during the research process”
with the result that “we build meaning through the generation of an interview narrative, and
the analysis and interpretation of that narrative” (Leavy, 2011).
From Ramalepe’s oral narrative, we gather that “Engenas e be e le monna wa boikokobetšo,

wa sekgwari gomme o be a tseba go opela kudu … boikgogomošo o be a sa bo tsebe” (Engenas
was a modest man, very ingenious and greatly gifted in singing” (ZCC Messenger, 1985). The
conductor of the interview adds the footnote that “Ramalepe ke mokgalabje yo a bontšhago
tebogo ya gagwe ka go ngwala history ya Kereke, gomme se sengwe le se sengwe se o
mmotšišago ka sona o bula dipukwana tša gagwe go go balla. O ngwadile matšatši le mehlolo
ye a e bonego ge a be a sepela le Engenas.” (“Ramalepe is an old man who shows his gratitude
by documenting the history of the church in personal notes, and whenever you question him
about anything that has to do with the history he opens his notebooks to read for you. He has
recorded dates and miracles that he saw performed by Engenas as the two travelled together”)
(ZCC Messenger, 1985).
This personal information about Ramalepe’s pious devotion is given after the interviewer
has mentioned earlier that “Ramalepe ke o mongwe wa batho ba mmalwa ba phelago yo a
tsebago bishop Engenas Lekganyane ka botlalo. O phedile le yena gomme o be a rata go mo
latela mo a bego a ya gona. Ramalepe e be e le motshwari wa patla ya Engenas, ge Engenas
a tlhobola Ramalepe o be a e tšea.” (“Ramalepe is one of the only few living people who know
Bishop Engenas Lekganyane very well. He lived with him and loved to follow him wherever
he went. Ramalepe was the holder of Engenas’s staff when Engenas changed clothes”) (ZCC
Messenger 1985). Such information by the reporter of research results validates Ramalepe’s
narrative as authentic and accurate, no less than the earlier mentioning of the archeological
item “Monono River” by the research participant himself as the place where he was baptized
in order to become a ZCC member (ZCC Messenger, 1985). Obviously, the triangulating role of
archeological items like the “Monono River” is that they are tangible and their existence can
be verified.
The other research participant, Maselesele, thickens the valuable information in recounting
that Engenas Lekganyane, known to come from GaMamabolo, “o be a tsebiwa e le monna wa
mehlolo e bile a bolela ka ga Bibele le Modimo … wa go tseba go neša pula” (“got to be known
as a performer of miracles and a spreader of the message of the Bible and God … and could
make rain”) (ZCC Messenger, 1985). Maselesele recalls returning home in GaKgatla in 1925 to
till the land a different man, rich with knowledge of the principles of the church of Engenas
Lekganyane forbidding witchcraft, the use of traditional muti, smoking, drinking, as well as
the commitment of murder and carrying of weapons (ZCC Messenger, 1985).
The eye-witness narratives by Frans Maselesele serve to validate his narratives as authentic,
even if the years of occurrence may not be quite accurate due to natural dimming of memory
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(ZCC Messenger, 1985). However, the now familiar ZCC practice of members jotting down
personal notes on the history of the church as urged by the leadership lend credence even to
the possible exactness of the years in which the incidents took place. Frans Maselesele’s first
testimony is about the day Engenas visited the village of Botlokwa, about 45 kilometres from
the ZCC headquarters, on foot to spread the word of God. Engenas came on foot yet showed no
physical exhaustion at all, heard the cries of women in the homestead of his host in the middle
of the night as the hut he was sleeping in had been set on fire by those who did not like his visit
and gospel message. Engenas then woke up and extinguished the flames single-handedly and
with his bare hands, and the following day when many villagers flocked to the homestead with
the hope of witnessing miracles Engenas was famed to perform, all he did was preach the word
of God to them, out of humility (ZCC Messenger, 1985).
An even more intimate interaction with Engenas was in 1932 when Maselesele visited the ZCC
headquarter of Moria and Engenas sent him with 50 closed envelopes to Messina close to the
border of Zimbabwe, to hand them over to a man from Zimbabwe called Samuel Moyo (ZCC
Messenger, 1985). Through the power of the Holy Spirit after Engenas had laid his hands on
him, Maselesele could reach Messina despite not knowing the place, and Samuel Moyo knew
who he was before he could introduce himself (ZCC Messenger, 1985).
As mentioned earlier, the Easter 2010 issue of the ZCC Messenger has a front cover photograph
of the church structure built by Engenas in 1924 at Thabakgone, GaMamabolo. This is the
issue celebrating the ZCC’s 100th anniversary by means of publishing narratives of many
more research participants whose stories corroborate some aspects of those by the research
participants we have scrutinised above, as well as affirm the narratives across research
participants covered in that specific issue. The published narratives are acknowledged in
the publication to have resulted from oral testimony of the participants, similarly to the way
the interviews of Simon Ramalepe, Frans Ramalepe and Frans Maselesele were processed for
earlier issues.
The continuum of oral narratives published in the consulted ZCC Messenger issues spanning
September 1985 and Easter 2010, are accompanied by the photographs of the three successive
ZCC bishops, the archaeological church ruins of Thabakgone and imposing, modern Zion
City Moria church building used to date for worship. Portrait photographs of the research
participants whose testimonies have been covered over a period of time are also published in
graphic detail revealing the old age of the majority of them. Photographs of the aged members
of Engenas’s generation are mostly in black and white, attesting to the technological state of
the times when colour photographs were rare. The portraits can also be utilized at the higher
level of archaeological objects enriching the texture of the oral history, rather than mere
images attesting to authenticity of the eye witness accounts.
Conclusion
Thomson (2007) has helpfully laid down a matrix of the way “particular social and intellectual
forces have shaped contemporary approaches to oral history.” My approach in analysing ZCC
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oral history was an attempt to apply the present day trends. This is because I believe social
forces within and outside the ZCC where worshippers some from, have been impacted by oral
history notions articulated by “intellectual forces” Thomson refers to. I thus credit the ZCC,
under the circumstances, for its valuing of history told by ordinary people from their own
perspectives. Such a coincidence of the ZCC approach and contemporary oral history theory
has facilitated my coalescence of defensible versions of ZCC history. Not only should this
version of ZCC history be allowed to live side by side with the hitherto only version recognized
in research. Such ZCC history obtained from the grassroots should be admitted as a necessary
part on the broader plane of South African church history. In that way, the two histories of
the ZCC will live side by side without the imbalance of unequal attention, refinement and
acceptance.
The ZCC and other South African AICs have historically grappled with what one may term
war scale apartheid onslaught on the identity of the oppressed. Thomson’s (2007) view of an
impetus to international oral history from the 1940s through to the 1970s until present times as
“the postwar renaissance of memory” that is a source for “‘people’s history’ ” remains relevant
for other kinds of war experiences than World War 11 (1939 – 1945). One such parallel situation
warranting such a “postwar renaissance of memory” (Thomson, 2007) is the need within ZCC
culturally to recreate a people’s unmangled history beyond imperialist battering by apartheid
National Party government (1948 – 1994). Such a self-writing of history is an ingredient of the
greater act of resistance. One way to achieve meaningful resistance was for Zionist churches
incorporating “many cultural traditions that European missionaries viewed as ‘pagan’”
including the use of “orality … in its ceremonies” (Norton, 2014). The remark that “European
missionaries had often sought to impose European culture on their African converts” (Norton,
2014) hints at the imperialist war the aftermath of which the ZCC had to use oral history among
its other tools to counteract. The ZCC testimonies used primarily in this study have impactfully
been reduced to an audio cassette and published in a newsletter with a readership of millions.
By this 2010 project, the organisation took full advantage of what Thomson has described as
the era of “digital revolution of the late 1990s and early 2000s.” (Thomson, 2007).
The research participant Simon Ramalepe’s narrative includes the fact that “Mo go emego
kereke ya Moria lehono, ke mo re bego re tshwarela kereke ya rena nakong ya Engenas gomme
nakong yeo, yona e be e dirilwe ka matlhakanoka” (“Where the church building stands today
in Moria is where we held our church services in the times of Engenas, however the church
structure then was made of reeds” (ZCC Messenger, 1985). In addition to the psychic merging of
the modern church building with the memory of the original reed enclosure infusing the status
of a relic into the current building, the image of adherents worshiping in makeshift structure
underscores the poverty under which the church had to survive. The narrative of Frans
Maselesele includes the fact that Engenas had to go from Moria to Botlokwa on foot because
“Dikoloi … e be e le semaka gomme di sepela fela ka bahumi ba makgowa fela” (“Motor cars
in those days were inaccessible to us, driven around only by rich whites.” (ZCC Messenger,
1985) Such items of the ZCC oral tradition are a clear indication that the ZCC leadership and
membership have always been on the subaltern side of society, thus striving from within
the underprivileged in the apartheid era to uplift themselves spiritually, socially and
economically. This is the strand in the making of the ZCC Morton (2014, p. 32) is emphasising in
90
his comment that the “explanation of Lekganyane’s motivations would appear to reside in the
struggles of the society in which he was born and raised.”
The oral testimony in this regard endorses what writers like Pongweni (2000), Rafapa (2005)
and Anderson (1999) (demonstrate to be the philosophical underpinnings of the ontological
and epistemological character of African churches like the ZCC. The research participant
Simon Ramalepe’s testimony that cars in those days belonged to the rich, who happened to
be white people by default, seems to endorse Wieder’s (2004) views on the need to recognise
the testimony of the formally oppressed as oral history, specifically within the South African
context of past apartheid. The gains, as Wieder (2004) sees them, are that “the horrors of and
the struggle against apartheid previously silenced by history from above are in this way made
to “have a public voice in South African society.”
The fact that ZCC oral tradition considered in this paper has to do with only three generations
of ZCC leaders and followers since the founding of the Church in 1910, adds to the testimonies’
probable accuracy even regarding dates. In Boeyens and Hall’s (2009) view, “oral accounts
of history are reliable, especially if they are chronologically of the most recent three to four
generations.” Such a dimension adds to what I perceive to be the achievement of this study,
viz. the demonstration of the reliability of the ZCC oral history made valid by looking at the
oral history from inside the testimonies themselves, and not by means of hegemonic written
history.
One more significant feature of the ZCC approach is its anchoring of testimonies in
archeological and other tangible items. The visuals, artefacts and archeological items
published alongside the testimonies of research participants such as Simon Ramalepe, Frans
Ramalepe, Simon Maselesele and the current ZCC bishop, perform the important function of
grounding the ZCC oral history. In this way, the ZCC testimonies and accompanying artefacts
live true to the roles of each. To use the words of Boeyens and Hall (2009), the narratives and
artefacts respectively perform mutually reinforcing functions of providing “explicit historical
contexts” which anyone wanting to test the historical force of the ZCC oral tradition can control
and verify “by the methods and discoveries of archaeology.” It is within such and adequately
textured historical context that research participants including Frans Sekgobela, Simon
Sekgobela and Frans Maselesele reveal the “traditions of genesis” and “dynastic histories” of
the ZCC, to borrow Prins’s words, while more timeless narratives like those by the current ZCC
head yield for the perceptive oral historian “accounts of social organization.” (Prins, 1991).
This article has demonstrated that the ZCC oral tradition does yield one indispensable
component of its two histories. Moreover, this paper’s findings on ZCC oral history confirm
views in oral history theory that testimony and authoritative written history should not be
declared to be mutually exclusive. Canonised history like one represented in this paper by
the works of writers such as Lukhaimane, Anderson, Mafuta and Morton has served a clear
scaffolding role for this study eventually to arrive at the rigorously tested findings regarding
the history and character of the ZCC derived from oral traditional sources.
What a writer such as Prins (1991) has described as hegemonic approaches to historical
research, through their propensity to look mainly for change in a given history, would have
91
missed out on the benefits of the methodologically defensible oral history approach of the
ZCC mapped in this article. It is clear from the ZCC project to record oral historical testimonies
that, far from an interest in change within the organisation, ZCC authorities sought to assert
sameness through a constructivist re-assembling of a historical identity that continues to be
the character of the AIC at present.
The findings of this article imply that not only hegemonic accounts of histories of African
churches in southern Africa generally, and of the ZCC in particular, should be seen as valid.
Histories of the same entities resonating with the oral tradition should be accepted side by
side with dominant ones from the Centre. Such ‘histories from below’ containing much needed
perspectives of ordinary men and women that may not be ignored, once embraced, should
serve to enrich the dominant academic accounts. What my findings point to is that this one
organisation called the ZCC does have two histories in the public space. One of these two
histories has been unfairly repressed and ignored in academic research.
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Party politics and challenges of national

integration in Nigeria
Nelson Goldpin Obah-Akpowoghaha
University of Gambia, Gambia
dakpowoghaha@utg.edu.gm
&
Victor Ojakorotu
North-West University, Mafikeng
victor.ojakorotu@nwu.ac.za
Introduction
Intolerance amongst different ethnic nationalities has made Modern states a challenge,
particularly because of their disintegrative predispositions. This is demonstrated well
through party politics that embody cabinet formation, ministerial appointment, campaign,
nominations and executive selections, elections, etc. Party politics as a by-product of
political parties’ activities are designed to subject and tame ethnic intolerance, thus
creating a conference of ideas for national development. Convocation of ideas is one of the
primary functions of party politics by modern political parties. By implication, it serves as a
mechanism of assimilating plural states or ethnic nationalities into the central norms of the
government. Vertical and horizontal interactions built on the confederation or federal system
have strengthened modern-day government and party politics. In other words, political
activities are enhanced through institutional development, such as an active judiciary system,
functional political parties, vibrant civil society organisations, and unbiased media. One
primary goal of these institutions is to ensure national integration amongst diverse ethnic
groups and strengthen the land laws. Plural states that have existed over three decades, with
these institutions mentioned above, are experiencing irredentism, secession, insurgencies,
ethnic militias, terrorism, civil and even communal war.
A growing body of academic literature has addressed these problems leading to an argument
for integrative policies and reforms such as adopting the federal system, unitary system,
creation and annexation of regions and states. Yet, the quest for national integration still
preoccupies modern states.
Questions around the challenges caused by disintegrative ideas have been posed in different
forms: Have political parties outlived their usefulness? What systems are required to address
ethnic intolerance? What factors facilitate national disintegration? To what extent can the
multi-party system strengthen national integration? Is party politics an antidote to nation-
building? As debated by supporters of democratic and authoritative systems, these questions
call for academic and political leadership answers. Though these two concepts have been
sustained and thrive in China (East) and United States (West), African countries suffer from
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underdevelopment syndromes amidst these Western and Eastern ideas. Against this backdrop,
this study seeks to interrogate party politics and the national integration challenge in Nigeria.
This study extracts a PhD Thesis from a study conducted in Nigeria at the Department of
Political Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, from 2013 to 2018. This study’s
findings are based on exclusive interviews with research organisations, political party leaders
and civil society organisations. Below are facts and extant literature used in the course of the
study.
Statement of the research problem

From independence to date, the Nigerian state has suffered from a cohesion problem.
Ethnic nationalities tend to identify with primordial interests rather than the status quo
that defines the country’s unity. This resulted in a bloody civil war spanning many months
and marginalisation decried in various parts of Nigeria. To address this menace, subsequent
governments and political parties have proffered integrative mechanisms and commissions
toward building a formidable country. State Creation, Federal Character Mechanism, Quota
System, National Youth Service Corps, Unity Schools, Niger Delta Ministry were recommended
by studies and adopted by existing and past governments. Yet, the issue of national integration
remains a recurring decimal to date. Consequently, studies in this regard focused more on
ethnicity, paying little attention to party politics and challenges of national integration in
Nigeria. Hence, the objective of this study is to:
• Assess and identify the protracted nature of disintegrative tendency in Nigeria, and
• Evaluate the roles of party politics towards national integration in Nigeria.
Conceptual reviews
Party Politics
In this context, Party Politics refers to the activities of political parties in capturing state
power and exercising that power through the formation and implementation of public policy
as initiated and executed by political actors (politicians) that direct political parties’ affairs.
These activities cut across several actions and decisions taken by politicians: during campaign
exercise, during Intra and inter-party electoral processes, decisions of the government on
political appointments, distribution of powers amongst levels of government, allocation of
resources, etc. – some of which may be harmful or supportive to national integration. It also
includes the activities of political elites, both as members of ruling and opposition parties,
with conflicting interests of either defending government policies, even when they are wrong,
or promoting actions that could destabilise the ruling party and discourage national unity.
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Theories that underpinned National Integration

There is a growing body of literature on national integration that has entertained the works
of Amital Etzioni, Carl Rosberg, Paden and Edward Soja, Myron Weiner and others. For Amital
Etzioni, national integration was centred on the strength of a national government to be in
charge of weapons and instruments of violence. This definition stresses absolute control of
items that marred disintegration and coercive power of the government upon the citizens.
Other scholars like Coleman and Carl Rosberg identified the need to decrease regional and
cultural tensions and discontinuities progressively. They added that national integration
revolves around political integration and territorial integration. For them, political
integration is centred on bridging the elites-mass gap in the vertical plane, and territorial
integration connotes progressive lessening of ethnic ties, tensions and discontinuities arising
from the region, under the horizontal plane to attain territorial political entity.
Myron Weiner identified the convergence point between and amongst different groups into a
forged territorial nationality, superior to existing ethnic loyalties but able to determine what
is good for them. This view seeks the convocation of different ideas and creates a balance for
all nationalities to interact within the state. This definition is similar to the view of Leonard
Binder, who sees national integration as a consensus of a cultural ideology of a very high degree
of embracement or comprehensiveness. A political parties’ expert, Duverger has seen it as an
act or a process of unifying all groups towards a harmonious entity built on the contribution
of groups in an equal manner. Here the question of fairness, justice and consensus amongst
the existing groups described national integration. Emile Durkheim described national
integration as organic solidarity that strengthened all interests in the national discourse
from a sociological perspective. Here there is unconditional support and contribution to the
central system that embodied the parts. Finally, Jacob and Tenue see national integration as a
state of mind of existing groups to live together, share thoughts and items in the same political
community, and be premised on developing programmes that affect the entity.
The array of definitions and scholarly conceptualisations of national integration in studies on

plural or homogenous states are united by variables of interests, tolerance, and compromises.
In other words, national integration is not found in plural or multi-ethnic states, but the calls
for national integration exist in a homogenous political entity. Views and interests propel
disintegration and integration depending largely on how the governors and the governed
strike a balance.
There are communities of the same ancestral lineage whose socialisation encourages intra-
marriage, yet there are sharp issues of disagreement leading to communal war. In Nigeria,
the case of Modakeke and Ile-ife (two Yoruba communities of the same language, culture
and ancestral origin) people in Osun state, and Emede and Igbeide (two Isoko communities of
the same beliefs, norms, ancestral origin) in Delta state where communal war described the
inevitability of national integration in all political entities.
Nigeria’s political entity embodies over 200 beliefs and three major leading ethnic groups, the
Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba, and the Igbo. British colonial administrators created and annexed the
state, as of 1906 and 1914, officially gaining independence in 1960. Therefore, communities
97
within the political configuration of the Nigerian state which have experienced bloodbath
through communal war are dissimilar and similar. This gives credence to the investigation and
the choice of Nigeria as the focus of this study.
The basis of the study

In developing countries like Nigeria, the course for national integration has been marred by
different groups such as the activities of the Niger Delta militants against the vandalisation
of oil pipelines and kidnappings, the agitation of the Indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) for
secession, the O’odua People Congress, and the Boko Haram. At one or another point in time,
these groups have threatened national integration in Nigeria. Leadership failure has been
seen as reasons for the emergence of these interests’ organisations, and the governments of
Nigeria of different tenures have suffered damaging effects. Leadership failure that embodied
a lack of internal party democracy resulted in party conflicts, which led to the use of Nigerian
youths for thuggery, hooliganism, and terror during, after, and pre-elections administrations.
These sets of youths and other concerned Nigerians have drawn the attention of subsequent
governments in Nigeria concerning the abysmal institutional failure and infrastructural
decay. Still, the situation is getting worse, looking at the frequent violence and calls from these
groups and others. Here this study identified with the Human Psychological Thesis popularly
called Relative Deprivation and Aggression-Frustration Theory. On these grounds, the study
will adopt the Relative Deprivation Theory as an instrument to understand the causes of
internal party crises and their implications on national integration in Nigeria.
Anecdotes
Nigeria is a West African state harbouring over ten different types of resources. The one that
has attracted more revenue into the country recently is crude oil. This was stated by Garuba
(2006), who argues that the country’s annual revenue from crude oil resources is about
USD 7.09 billion. But much of this revenue has not translated into development in Nigeria.
Scholarly works on the effect of abundant natural resources as means for development have
been refuted and tied into the narratives of the Dutch disease (Auty, 1997; Auty and Gelb, 2001;
Frankel, 2010). But the case of Nigeria is traceable to corruption and institutional weakness.
The oil companies have failed to be fair to the Nigerian people, especially in the region where
this product has been explored (Akpabio & Akpan, 2010). This unwholesome interaction is one
of the thrusts of national crises in Nigeria. The Nigerian Fourth Republic is expected to tame
decades of institutional weakness and correct imbalances in society. But recent occurrences
in the polity and the level of social unrest amongst Nigerians revealed that underdevelopment
has eaten deep into the fabric of the Nigerian system. The Nigerian elites, especially the ruling
class, have seen politics as a career and a means to an end. Elections have been subsumed
into the atmosphere of winners taking all, and the losers are seen as a problem to the
Nigerian society. The Electorates are seen as beggars and instruments in the hand of political
gladiators to realise their selfish goal. The elites have made this possible due to the policy of
impoverishment instituted by the ruling class against the masses to expand their political
empires.
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Nigerian system: Frustration, aggression, anger and

deprivation, a Thesis by Ted Gurr
Ted Gurr’s Thesis on Why Men Rebel has been utilised as a means of understanding terrorism,
protests, insurgencies, war, and communal clashes (Richardson, 2011; Pettigrew, 2015). There
is a lack of scholarly works based on the Ted Gurr Thesis, looking particularly at the failure of
party politics vis-à-vis social unrest and insurgencies in Africa, especially Nigeria. This study
covered this vacuum by assessing party politics in Nigeria and its implication on national
integration. Consequently, the relative and deprivation notion is premised on denial and
reaction. It occurred in party politics when an individual committed their resources into an
election or the formation of a government with expectations of services such as good roads,
scholarship and better educational system, better health care services, political education,
and shelter. When the government failed to fulfil what was promised during elections
campaigns or stated in the party’s manifestos, aggression, anger, and frustration set in due
to partial or absolute denial (deprivation), this has led to the ethnic nationalist movement,
ethnic militias, political violence, communal war, and religious clashes.
Party politics is expected to generate positive effects for all nationalities after elections.
In other words, the governours are expected to execute programmes that will address the
desires of the entire citizenry. This can only be possible when elections and constitutionalism
are observed in a society. Citizens of a state tend to be frustrated when their government’s
expectations are unmet concerning bargains made before the elections or alterations
based on their desires. The book Why Men Rebel by Ted Gurr classified this as a discrepancy
(Saleh, 2013). This atmosphere often leads to political tension amongst the governors and
the governed, leading to frustration and aggression resulting from deprivation or denial.
Deprivation in the context of failed promises from the governors (politicians) made during
campaigns and non-adherence to the constitution.
The above scenario has been common in newly democratic states. Party politics in these
states, especially in Nigeria after Independence, has been ethnic and elitist driven against
the expectations of the electorates. The wealth of the Nigerian state has been channelled to
personal gains and self-glorification, which attracted a lot of literature amongst policymakers
and academia. This has manifested in political violence and insurgencies in recent times
(Ikelegbe, 2014). In Nigeria, the Boko Haram menace in the North, secession movement by
the IPOB in the East, the Niger Delta Militant in the core south, and the arm-robbery cases in
the core west are all the resultant effects of discrepancy schemes by the Nigerian politicians.
Failed leadership in terms of the high rate of corruption and underdevelopment in the country
is why the groups mentioned above do what they do in Nigeria. This has brought frustrations,
anger, and pain to Nigerians. Party politics is a means and an end to national development
and integration. This has been systematically designed through the instrument of the ballot
system whereby citizens vote in legislatures, presidents and other government officials.
Elected officials are expected to demonstrate and fulfil various mandates, or the electorates’
promises made before the elections and after the elections.
However, in most African party politics, especially in Nigeria, there are two types of politicians
99
that create discrepancy leading to frustrations and anger. The first set is those that enjoyed
popular votes or majority but later failed to execute the promises or fulfil their mandate. The
second set is the politicians that used their economic power and technical know-how to buy
votes, intimidate voters and acquire political offices by force. These are the sets of politicians
that have paraded the Nigerian political system from 1960 until date. Looking at the above
observation, the theory of frustration, aggression and deprivation by Ted Gurr revealed
why there are protracted crises in the Nigerian political system. In managing this menace,
subsequent governments have put in place measures, yet insurgencies and social unrest
have become the order of the day. This has been associated with social consciousness and
progressive awareness amongst Nigerians. Moreover, for many years, the Nigerian elites have
played various types of identity politics. This has been demonstrated in ethnic identity politics,
whereby failed elites at the national level persuades his or her nations to fight against the
central government. Here demands are made before the government of the day, making these
elites recognised and elevated into the clique or oligarchy of the ruling politicians. This type
of politics has resulted in zoning, state creations, proportional representations, quota system,
federal character, and others, which have not yielded positive effects in the Nigerian system.
On the contrary, these mechanisms, in some cases, have deepened disintegration tendencies
in the place of national integration.
The politicisation of ethnic identity has subjected the electorates to perpetual under-
development in Nigeria. The media has been a vital tool for the elite to propagate deceptions
and remain in power at the expense of the masses. However, there is a cycle of reactions and
dousing the actions from the masses and the ruling elites, respectively. Like the Nigerian
case, the ruling elites control the Judiciary, media, security institutions, and other institutions
that have a huge influence on the masses. The above institutions have been used to keep the
electorates in check and render their activism meaningless.
In a related thought by Saleh (2013), economic discrimination and inequality are the most
dominant factors that instigate violence or unrest. This can be intensified when the major
ethnic groups impose certain beliefs to assimilate into the whole system, generating minority
ethnic identity or chaos leading to the call for referendum or secession. This line of thought
captures the struggle of Niger Delta people in the Southern region of Nigeria. The region has
generated over 80% of the country’s revenue yet suffers from abject poverty. This has led to
the kidnapping of oil workers and vandalisation of oil pipelines in the region which can be
attributed to frustration, anger, aggression and deprivation orchestrated by the Nigerian
elites for many decades.
National Integration: Nigeria’s case

Immediately after Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the thrust of leadership fell on the then
nationalists that formed political parties and adopted the federal and parliamentary systems.
The essence of political parties was to give each unit or region the sense of leadership towards
building a viable nation-state. This was also reflected in the core values of federalism adopted.
This choice of government system was informed by years of rulership by the British colonial
100
masters. The British system or legacy left disjointed societies and disjointed institutions that
made the adoption of a multi-party system and federalism seem genuine in the eyes of the
then nationalists. The multi-ethnic nature was also a factor and precursor to the adoption of
the systems. Consequently, the leadership of the country emerged through elections and the
appointment of candidates into offices. There were three major parties with ties with ethnic
doctrines and loyalties.
This shows how these political parties emerge from the major ethnic nationalities, signalling
national disintegration. This scenario led to political resentment, fear of domination, and
corruption. Resentment in the context of hate speech and fear of domination occurred when
the minority ethnic groups that occupied Mid-West, Core South-South exercised internal
colonisation and corruption in rent-seeking and prebendalistic politics. The politics of
resentment and intolerance evidenced in derogatory tones, gestures and utterances by
Sardauna of Sokoto in the North against other ethnic groups. Likewise, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and
Chief Obafemi Awolowo and their kinsmen. Below are comments accredited to the leaders
mentioned above in Nigeria:
For Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe from the eastern part of Nigeria noted in one of
his speeches that: it would appear that the God of Africa has specially
created the Igbo nation to lead children of Africa from the bondage of
the age. The martial prowess of the Ibo nation at all stages of human
history has enabled them not only to conquer others but also to adapt
themselves to the role of preserver. The Igbo nation cannot shirk from
its responsibility. In response to this, Chief Obafemi Awolowo reacted
that: It seems to me the Zik’s policy was to corrode the self-respect of
Yoruba’s people as a group to build-up the Ibos as a masterpiece, and
this was corroborated by his kinsman of the Egbe Omo Oduduwa group
Sir Adeyemo Alakij: The big tomorrow for the Yorubas is the future of our
children. How they will hold their own amongst other tribes in Nigeria.
(Ezeibe and Ikeanyibe, 2017)
The Northern part of the country also danced to the same tune and noted that:
It is the southerner who has power in the North. They have control of
the railway stations, of the Post Offices, of Government Hospitals, of the
Canteens. The majority employed in the Kaduna secretariat and Public
Works Department are all southerners. In all the different Departments of
Government, it is the Southerner who has power.
(Ezeibe and Ikeanyibe, 2017)
This atmosphere and corruption led to the military entering politics in a bloodbath coup in
1966, and the same year another coup took place amongst the Nigerian military elites. The
first coup enthroned an Igbo man from the East as the head of state, and the second coup
catapulted Hausa/Fulani man from the North. At the same period, a popular politician in the
West was charged with treasonable felony. By 1967, the declaration of secession by those in
the East was orchestrated by Colonel (Col.) Emeka Ojukwu Dumegwu against the federal
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government of Nigeria under the leadership of Yakubu Gowon, leading to civil war. The war
lasted for two years, six months, one week and two days (from 6 July 1967 to 15 January 1970). A
few years after the civil war, the Nigerian military ousted the regime of General (Gen.) Yakubu
Gowon in a palace coup on 30 July 1975 that brought in Brigaddear (Brig.)Murtala Mohammed
as the then head of state. On 13 February 1976, he was assassinated in an abortive coup led by
Colonel Buka Suka Dimka. From 1976 to 1979, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo was considered by the
then supreme military body as the head of state following the death of Col. Dimka.
In 1977, a constituent assembly was formed to draft a new constitution, which came to be in
1978, the same period that the ban on political parties was lifted. From 1979-1983, about six
political parties dominated the political scene. The Unity Party of Nigeria led by a Yoruba-
man, National Party of Nigeria, Greater Nigerian People’s Party, Nigeria Advance Party (NAP),
Movement of the People Party, and People Redemption Party. These parties were not different
from the first Republic political parties operated within ethnic and religious ideas. Elections
were conducted, and irregularities and electoral fraud marred the electoral administration
system, and the political scheme repeated itself in the second elections conducted. In addition,
heavy corruption allegations characterised the civilian leadership of the then administration.
This and others led to the civilian administration being toppled by the then Nigerian military
that brought in Gen. Mohammed Buhari as head of state.
Political parties in the First and Second Republics, downplayed national identity and
patriotism. The era of Gen. Mohammed Buhari marked another dictatorial leadership that led
to the militarising of the Nigerian federation. In 1985, his regime was overthrown by a coup led
by Major Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) and other ruling Supreme Military Council
members. IBB ruled as president of the country from 27 August 1985 to 26 August 1993, and
1993 was when the ban on political parties was lifted, leading to the formation of two major
parties. The National Republic Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) were
formed, cutting across the major ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. The system was seen as two-
party configurations that attempted to strengthen national integration in the country, which
seem to be the best system in Nigerian party politics. The formation of these two parties
appeared to be non-ethnically grounded and unbiased to most analysts.
The presidential elections voting behaviour was not limited to a region or ethnic group. Rather
votes were harvested from the then existing regions by the presidential candidates. Based on
the popular resort of the media and electoral observant, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale
Abiola of the SDP led in the election and secured a good number of votes over Alh. Bashir Tofa
of the NRC. However, on 23 June 1993, the election result was annulled after several court
orders and reports from international bodies to declare who won the presidential election.
This period was another dark era in the history of Nigeria where justice and light were
autocratically suppressed without redemption from any quarters.
There were national protests against the annulment of the presidential election. As of 31 July
1993, the National Defence and Security Council announced an interim National Government
that comprised members of the two parties (SDP and NRC) and some military officers. Yet, the
demand for justice by Nigerians heralded the political scene where human activists made
demands on the then ruling government to declare the winner of the 12 June 1993 presidential
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winner. The Nigerian government then engaged in a radical clamp of those making demands
upon the government. On 17 November 1993, the head and leader (Chief Ernest Shonekan)
of the interim government tendered his resignation, and General Sani Abacha assumed the
mantle of leadership.
The Nigerian military stylishly orchestrated a palace coup that appeared to be the resignation
of the Interim leader. The values of National integration eroded in this period arising from
military gladiators and self-centred interests. Conferences, meetings, and calls were made
recognising the 1993 elections, but the then military dictator saw it as an act of disloyalty
against the federal government’s power. Series of arrests and detentions were carried out,
and most organisations were prescribed. On 30 September 1996, five political parties were
recognised and allowed to fixture in the coming elections under the control of Gen. Sani
Abacha. They are the Committee for National Consensus, United Nigeria People’s Convention,
National Centre Party of Nigeria, Democratic Party of Nigeria, and Grassroots Democratic
Movement. These political institutions solely picked Gen. Sani Abacha, who was transmuted
as a one-party flag bearer. In the same year, more states were created to accommodate more
interests as a means to national integration amidst the denial of the mandate of the Nigerian
people.
This consensus of political parties was seen as an abuse of democratic institutions in Nigeria by
democratic bodies and individuals. On 5 May 1998, the European Union described the political
drama and the transition process as shameful and undemocratic. Even before this time, the
United Action for Democracy (UAC) led a massive protest that led to several Nigerians’ deaths.
As of May 1998, the Group of 34, popularly known as G-34, comprising a multi-ethnic coalition,
sent a communique to Gen. Sani Abacha about the overwhelming consensus from the then
political parties, describing it as unlawful and not promoting the essence of democratic
values. Yet, Abacha proceeded with his plans and on 8 June 1998, Gen San. Abacha died
mysteriously, which led to another military coup when Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalami assumed
the head of state of the federation. The following month, Chief M.K.O. also died after several
pains from the detention, and this sparked a heavy riot from all the parts of the country. This
incident shocked the national integration of the country, and there were general beliefs that
the Nigerian state had collapsed after several ugly occurrences.
On 19 October 1998, about nine political parties emerged through the transition government
of Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalami, different from Gen. Sani Abacha’s five political parties that
threatened national cohesion. The All People Party (APP), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP),
and Alliance for Democracy (AD) were the officially recognised parties that contested the 1998
presidential election. The PDP was elitist arising from the G-34 crops of ethnic elites’ coalition,
the AD was more of Yoruba-based political parties, and the APP appeared to be national but
not at the level of PDP. On 27 February 1999, the presidential election was conducted, and
the candidate of the PDP, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, won, and another civilian government
was inaugurated. From all available indications, party politics in the inception of the Fourth
Republic was inclusive in terms of regional representation of the Nigerian elites during the
formation of the government. However, certain attributes were dominant in the personalities
that served as president and the office period. The emergence of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as
the PDP candidate, finally winning the presidential election, arose out of the solemn display by
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the Nigerian elites towards the Yoruba nation as compensation after the death of Chief M.K.O.
Abiola through Gen. Sani Abacha detention. This also strengthened national integration in
Nigeria. The first four years of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo leadership entertained more Nigerian
ethnic groups, and this was possibly how the PDP sprang up from the G-34. The Senate president
slot went to the Eastern part of Nigeria, and the Vice president came from the Northern part
of the country and the president from the Western part of Nigeria. This configuration and
other prevailing variables aided national integration after years of darkness that the country
experienced from the military leadership.
Party politics and the bid for national integration at the beginning of the Nigerian Fourth
Republic brought hopes and aspirations to Nigerians. However, these hopes for the restoration
of greatness were dashed when politicians, particularly the PDP arms, saw party politics as
an instrument of self-glorification, for personal career advancement and not service to the
electorates. This characteristic instigated ethnic militias, regional militancy and insurgencies,
Islamic fundamentalist popularly known as Boko Haram, youth unrest, more arm-robbery
in the street, and girls’ exploitation. This situation was aggravated when elections reflected
only the will and mandate of certain oligarchy in the country against the majority. As a result,
electoral violence, intimidation, thuggery, and so on marked several elections in Nigeria.
Citizens’ votes and voices were not properly recognised in party politics in Nigeria within the
16 years of PDP leadership and other opposition parties in Nigeria.
Conversely, the All Progress Congress (APC) coming in under Gen. Mohammed Buhari (Rtd) as
of 2015 signalled another bundle of hopes and confidence. However, the first four years of
the APC under President Mohammed Buhari and other opposition parties seemed not to be
different from the style of the PDP. Party politics towards national integration in the Nigerian
Fourth Republic is still much in doubt due to Nigeria’s neopatrimonialism or rent-seeking
style. However, more of this has been revealed below from the exclusive interview received
during the fieldwork.
Research methodology
The study adopted a qualitative approach in the investigation through the means of an
interview guide. The population of the study comprised the Peoples’ Democratic Party
(PDP), APC, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Transition Monitoring Group (TMG),
CLEEN Foundation Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution in Abuja, Nigeria Institute of
International Affairs in Lagos, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Aminu
Kano Centre for Democratic Research and Training, Bayero University Social and Governance
Policy Unit, Nigeria Institute of Social and Economic Research in Ibadan, the Institute for
Development Studies at the University of Nigeria, the National Institute of Education Planning
and Administration (NIEPA) in Ondo town, the Centre for Human Development in Ibadan,
Claude Ake School of Government, the University of Port Harcourt Centre for Democracy and
Development (CDD) and Nigerian Academics that were purposively selected. Some names
were mentioned in the course of the findings and transcription. Permission was given to this
effect.
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Interview Guide
• What do you understand by the terms Party Politics and National Integration?
• To what extent has party politics aided national integration in Nigeria?
• What issues have threatened national integration in Nigeria?
• What are the remote causes of those issues, as earlier mentioned?
• How can national integration be built?
Discussion of research findings

Party politics entails the leadership of the ruling political class within legal institutions and
outside the institutions. Olaniyi argued that “Party politics are activities of political parties
in a democratic environment to seek political offices’ control through the stated norms of
elections” (Olaniyi, 2001, p. 99 cited in Azeez, 2009, p. 2). National integration occurs when the
ruling class creates certain norms and feelings to bring different nationalities into acceptable
identity by all. This can be attained when there are functional political parties with strong and
identifiable ideologies that consider the needs of diverse ethnic nationalities in a country
like Nigeria. Also, the media in all its dealings should be unbiased, fair and transparent to the
public. There should be a free and independent judiciary, vibrant civil society organisations
and an active and educative population.
Political parties are legal institutions striving to capture votes through strategic campaigns to
win elections and control the government. Primarily, political parties build national interests
through articulation and aggregation of interests (NIPSS, Interview, 2018; CLEEN Foundation,
Interview, 2018).
Party politics has influenced the togetherness of Nigerians on two occasions. The first one was
the nationalists fighting for independence, and the second one was the incident that engulfed
the 12 June 1993 presidential election. Nigerians from all quarters were united in demanding
the winner of the election, heralding the coming of the first president in the Fourth Republic.
The Fourth republic set a new agenda, happiness and dreams for Nigerians to deepen
democracy and national integration. However, the political class in the first and second
republics displayed self-centredness, parochialism, and ethnic hatred, which endangered
Nigerian democratic stability and national integration.
The above observation was also revealed in the views of one professor of Political Science in
his article, which stated that the Nigerian state had witnessed poor party politics as a result of
a lack of internal party democracy, ethnicisation of party politics, poor political leadership
and lack of clear-cut party ideologies (Omodia, 2010). He added that the factors mentioned
above have snowballed and threatened the survival of the Nigerian Fourth Republic and, by
extension, national integration. The analyses above also reflect the summation of Giovanni
M. Carbone in his investigation of African politics. He identified that “African parties have
often conveyed the image of patronage and tribal politics” (Carbone, 2007, p. 8). Furthermore,
a study by Babangida (2002) cited in Adeleke and Charles (2015) reveals the effect of ethnic
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politics as follows:
Wastage of enormous human and material resources in ethnically inspired

violence, encounters, clashes and even battles, heightening the fragility of
the economy and political process, a threat to the security of life and property
and disinvestment of local and foreign components with continuous capital
flight and loss of confidence in the economy and increasing gaps in the social
relationship amongst ethnic nationalities, including structural suspicions
and hate for one another. Ethnic nationalism is equally responsible for the
uprising of ethnic militias across the country.
The feeble nature of political parties in Nigeria has marred all the basic elements of
institutionalisation, which has further eroded patriotism amongst Nigerians. Moreover,
recruitment and other functions of political parties in Nigeria are tilted and controlled by
the elites for personal gains. These have made political parties not perform and contribute to
national integration in Nigeria.
Some respondents also affirmed the above observations and identified poor
institutionalisation of party politics as a huge barrier to national integration. That the masses
are detached from the political system, and this has hampered good governance in Nigeria.
Extrapolating from the above discussion, national integration in a plural society aims to attain
a sense of community amongst the diverse groups within its territorial extent with adequate
means of accommodating and resolving their particularistic differences. However, the major
problems of national integration, identified as mass-elite conflict, inter-ethnic conflict and
territorial boundary problems, continue to constitute serious impediments to the achievement
of a cohesive society.
Consequently, the Nigerian situation manifests and presents two of the identified problems.
There is a gap between the elite and the masses of the people due to the disparity in the social
and economic levels of the classes. However, this inter-class gap per se is not currently a danger
to national cohesion. However, the most serious problem has been unhealthy suspicion,
rivalry, and conflict among ethnic groups. Nigeria has many ethnic groups, with three large
ones. Each of the three groups was in terms of geographical extent and population strength
capable of existing as an independent nation. The heightening of inter-ethnic conflict could,
however, be ascribed to colonialism. Though many factors ranging from ethnic to cultural
divergences pose serious difficulties for integration and national unity, this is not to say that
there was no form of cooperation amongst the various groups in pre-colonial times.
What are the issues that have threatened national

integration in Nigeria?
Currently, the Nigerian system is facing insurgencies leading to the burning of houses and
killing of Nigerians. This killing cut across all ethnic nationalities, but some parts of the
country, especially the Igbos, have felt that is a plot to drive them from the Northern part of
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Nigeria. Also, the several killings carried out by herders against Nigerians has been classified
as Fulani/Hausa agenda to Islamise and Fulanise Nigeria. These incidents have threatened
national integration in the country, leading to a call of the referendum by the IPOB led by
Nnamdi Kanu. Furthermore, in the core South-south, there are issues of pipeline vandalisation
due to lack of development, whilst the region has been the main economic stay of the country.
The issue of indigene and settler syndrome in Nigeria is a barrier to National integration.
Citizens who migrate to another part of Nigeria cannot participate fully during elections
and partake in political offices. You can only see such cases in Lagos state. During the era
of state creations, some persons have been denied their benefits due to the question of who
a real citizen is or native of a particular place. “Some people are regarded as ‘settlers’, even
though they might have been born, lived, schooled, worked and paid their taxes in the place
for decades, yet they are not recognised as indigenes” (Okonkwo et al., 2015). As Ojo et al. (cited
in Okonkwo et al., 2015) have observed, the creation of new states and local governments
immediately fuel pressures for discrimination against new classes of so-called ‘non-indigenes’
Nigerians resident in states or local governments other than their own.
This thinking is against the provision of the Nigerian constitution. Religion is another issue
here in Nigeria, both in the political appointment and other activities in Nigeria. There is
hatred amongst religious groups in Nigeria, resulting in crises during President Goodluck
Jonathan Ebele administration in the country. This has been properly documented in the work
of Obasi (2010), who stressed that:
since the return to civil rule in May 1999, there have been well over 100
religious and ethnic conflicts resulting in great losses of lives and property,
the most recent of which are the series of conflicts that started from
Maiduguri on 18 February, spreading to many other cities in the country
(Potiskum, Kontagora, Enugu, Onitsha, Bauchi, and Katsina)” (Saleh, 2010).
This identity crisis replicated itself in other parts of Nigeria. As Obasi has
succinctly argued, “the conflict amongst Itsekiri, Ijaw and Urhobo in the
Delta region, Zango Kataf in Kaduna State, Tiv/Idoma in Benue State,
Modakeke/Ife in Osun State, Umuleri/Aguleri in Anambra State, Shadam
in Plateau, and many areas fit in neatly into the permanent strangers’
phenomenon in Nigeria”. It is, therefore, within the ambit of reason to argue
that “…rather than promoting national integration, the reorganisations
(creation of states and local government areas) provoked an unprecedented
orgy of protests, demonstrations and riots involving tens of fatalities.
(Obasi, 2010, p. 35).
The discussion of this section has shown that the elites’ roles in national integration are
numbed, trapped, and caged by ethnicity. This is correct because history has shown that
the success and failure of any nation or people is largely a reflection of its elites’ approach
to national development. In solving problems arising from ethnicity and indigenous issues,
the ruling elites have introduced different integrative mechanisms to enhance national
cohesion and peaceful coexistence based on the incompatibility of federalism. The failure
of federalism as an integrating mechanism led to the introduction of such integrative
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mechanisms as Unity School, National Youth Service Corp, Federal Character, State Creation
and Rotational Presidency and were thoroughly discussed and analysed. The above-listed
variables are part of the issues stressed in the works of Anifowose (1999), Clerk (2000), Tyoden
(2000), Elaigwu (2000), Babalola (2008), and Adetoye (2016). These studies have made salient
recommendations for deepening national integration.
But despite these integrative mechanisms, recent studies have revealed growing waves of
political resentment leading to the call for secession and social unrest in the country (Ezeibe,
2015; CITAD, 2015; Ejekwonyilo and Khanoba, 2017; Ikelegbe, 2014). Other scholars like
Osaghea (2004), Oni and Ayomole (2013) have argued against the variables mentioned above
and stressed the constitution’s importance. That all Nigerian political systems need can be
found in the constitution that reveals the basic rights and obligations of the federating units.
An executive member of APGA Mbaso observed that:
I think Nigeria, as a developing country, has done seriously well. Right

from 1960 to date, our way of thinking and party formation has drastically
changed. The set of party politics we encountered at various republics tell
us that we have gone far. The issues of challenges are normal in a nation-
state like ours. Despite various insurgencies and youth unrest, we remained
one, and it is good for our democracy and the development of our identity
as one nation. Although our leaders still revolved around primordial and
prebendalistic politics, I believed we will be more united for the next 20 to
50 years.
He further added that:
Leadership succession is the problem facing Nigeria since 1960. The mode of
transfer power from one government to another is always accompanied by
tension. This tension is anchored on the fact that leaders are imposed. The
problem has been attributed to the persistent interruption by the military
since 1960. With the inception of democracy in 1999, there was positive
hope about leadership succession in the country. Still, the reverse resulted
as all elections conducted were seriously accompanied by tensions, fraud,
rigging, intimidation leading to voters’ apathy, which has distorted the
progress towards nation-building or national cohesion in Nigeria.
On the same note, a member of NIEPA, Ondo town argued that:
One of the major problems of Nigeria is the issue of politics of exclusion

and marginalisation. Nigeria has been battling with this problem right
from independence because the country is one of the most ethnically
diverse countries in Africa with sharp ethnic identities, which have been a
big challenge to her democracy, and national integration but successive
governments and political parties have initiated institutions such as
federalism, multi-party system but it seems nothing has been done. This can
be associated with the insincerity of political actors in the system.
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Subaru (1998, p. 31 cited in Olanrewaju, 2015) also alluded to Hassan’s position when he
opined that Nigeria is one of the most ethnically diverse countries globally, with over 250
ethnic, linguistic groups bigger than many independent states of contemporary Africa. This is
not unconnected with the adoption of federalism, and this has “not been a remedy to manage
Nigerian society because minority agitation against marginalisation remains unsolved”. For
Akin from one of the civil society organisations equally stressed that:
Party politics in the area of policy implementation in Nigeria has been

a challenge to national integration. For instance, the South-South
question in Nigeria represents a high profile case in terms of minority
marginalisation. It became public knowledge with the discovery of oil in
Olobiri in commercial quantity. Not only that, the South-South agitation in
Nigeria is primarily based on the quest for resource control as a result of
oil discovery in the region, whilst the conflict in Niger Delta has its roots in
the increasing protest of the region against their political, economic and
environmental disenfranchisement. The militias have become increasingly
violent towards one another and towards civilians, kidnapping victims, not
just oil workers but also children and other people who are not associated
with the oil industry. But Nigerian politicians have underplayed these issues
with biased mind and politics of segregation. Hate speeches have become
the order of the day, which has threatened national cohesion.
Also supporting the views held by Akin, Jega (2003, p. 27 cited in Olanrewaju, 2015) stressed
that there is a problem of national disaffection by the Nigerian electorates in various elections
and party politics as a result of economic hardship and political violence perpetrated by the
political bourgeoisie (selfish leaders) in the system. According to him:
Under conditions of economic crisis and subsequent structural adjustment,

there has been a swift decline in the ability of the Nigerian state to provide
for the basic socio-economic needs of the people. Similarly, there has been
the increased exclusion of a segment of the elite and the bourgeoisie in the
offices and an acute marginalisation of most of the population from the
benefit of development projects and socio provisioning. All these have led
to an increasing crisis of the legitimacy of the state. As the state experiences
a process of decomposition and composition and disengages from critical
socio provisioning, only the constituent groups have tended to rely on the
identity-based struggle for access to the state and the resources that it
controls to protest exclusion and oppression as well as to demand basic
rights and socio-economic provisioning.
Linking party politics with internal colonialism, an officer from the CDD, Shamsudeen,
observed as follows:
Party politics has taken the dimension of internal colonisation and

exploitation by one ethnic group against the others in Nigeria. But with the
growth of democracy, democratic institutions and education, some of the
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members of the dominated or “internally colonised” ethnic nationalities

begin to question their memberships to the larger political community
(national identity), they question why they should cooperate with the other
ethnic nationalities in the country and or, see themselves as one (national
integration) when their slots of national resources are being taken by “non-
indigenes” in their midst. Why the other ethnic regions are developing at
their own expense by harnessing the natural resources found in another
ethnic region is a big challenge to national integration in Nigeria. In other
words, the rise of militancy, Avengers, and other ethnic militias, especially
in the South-South region, results from failed policies in Nigeria.
Similar views were also expressed by Akwara et al. (2013), who remarked that:
they question why their indigenes are not found within the corridors of
power in their natural ethnic regions and at the national level, and why
they should continue to support the governments at all levels, and therefore
employ all possible means to bring the governments to be responsible and
accountable.
This has led to the proliferation of ethnic militias that terrorise the citizens across the country
and the adoption of different legal frameworks that challenge national laws in some parts of
the country.
Conversely, Olanrewaju (2015) observes that the crisis in the Niger Delta is not unconnected
with the problem of marginalisation in terms of economic resources and political affairs.
Despite the fact, the region produces 80% of Nigerian income, the region suffers seriously
from poverty and low economic empowerment. However, the state further suffers a legitimacy
crisis as excluded groups emerge to demand their portion of the national cakes. In Nigeria,
national integration is the main problem in the process of nation-building. This is largely
because the country is divided along ethnic and religious lines. This has been one of the most
complex problems facing the country since independence.
These contradictions can only be resolved by discussing the “national question” in the various
countries. An officer from TMG, Babalola views on the challenges of national integration are
thus:
Challenges of national integration are of various dimensions. Meanwhile, free and fair
elections and zoning are the major problems of national integration in the country. The
principle of zoning adopted by PDP somehow works, but it has deepened the politics of divide.
Before elections, the elites within their regions or ethnic zones tend to create a sense of sharp
division to get certain resources into their personal affairs. This system of party politics has
disengaged Nigerians from the polity, and I mean the masses, the governed. This is a big
challenge to national integration because people who ought to serve as an instrument of
driving the nations’ goals are disenfranchised within the political process.
In supporting the view above, Ogbeide (2012) indicated that Nigeria has failed in several
elections in the country. Reports from across the country show that the people’s mandate
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has been abused, traumatised and brutalised. In effect, the evidence of several elections
demonstrated that INEC is visibly deficient in logistic and preparations for elections. Nigerians
could no longer afford to tolerate this level of vulgar disenfranchisement, which is a blatant
abuse of the people’s will, and this has negative bearings on national integration. Similarly, a
member from the CLEEN Foundation posited that:
A large number of political parties lack internal party democracy.

Candidates are predetermined before the elections. Typical of this was the
last Ondo State governorship election and other elections in the country.
Generally, monetary politics and godfatherism pose challenges for
national integration. When democratic values are not at play, then national
integration will be rhetoric.
In a different view, a respondent added that:
The problems of the state of origin instead of the state of resident and good
governance are issues serving as a challenge to national integration. This
situation has disenfranchised Nigerians in a different part of the country
who are not in their ancestral land (state of origin). It is in this atmosphere
politicians have intensified politics of hatred between and amongst ethnic
groups in Nigeria. This scenario has derailed political parties’ primary
function of national integration in the country. Nepotism, sectional, elites
and ethnic interests have become the nature of party politics in the country.
This situation contradicts Edmund Burke’s and other scholars’ understanding of political party
as ‘‘a body of men and women united, for promoting by their joint endeavours the national
interest, upon some particular principle in which they are all agreed’’ (Edmund Burke cited
in Clark, 2000). An official of the TMG views the challenges of national integration as follows:
All the political parties are ethnic or regional parties except PDP and APC.
The majority of the political parties in the country are ethnically and tribally
established. However, these major parties lack good leadership virtues, and
their internal management has created unresolved grievances and crises,
which have divided Nigerians into different factions and camps. Within PDP,
we have Sheriff faction, Jonathan’s factions, etc., likewise in APC Bukola
Sarake’s faction, Bola Tinubu factions and Buhari factions, this is not funny.
This is why political parties in Nigeria and their leaders cannot integrate
Nigerians.
Another school of thought has situated this argument on colonisation, therefore merging
different ethnic groups into a country. After the amalgamation of Northern and Southern
protectorates, Sir Frederick Lugard, the then Governor-General, created the Nigerian
Council. Sir Clifford, in 1922 introduced a new Legislative Council as stipulated in the new
Clifford constitution. However, this new Legislative Council was restricted to the Southern
Protectorate, whilst the North was governed by a proclamation from the Governor (Clark,
2000). Buttressing the argument above, Olusanya (1980 cited in Clark, 2000) argued that:
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The failure of Sir Clifford to fully integrate the North and South was the most unconvincing act.
The result was that the failure added to the challenges of national integration in later years.
This is because the arrangement only served to perpetuate ethnic parochialism. Thus, the
1914 amalgamation of the two protectorates created merely administrative and not national
integration. And after the departure of the colonial masters in 1960, ethnic elites consolidated
their powers, and this has been transferred to various Republics in Nigerian party politics.
Richard’s constitution of 1946 merged North and South. However, this also had some inherent
loopholes, which did not augur well for any meaningful National integration. The most salient
of these was establishing Northern, Western and Eastern Provinces, each with a House of
Assembly or Regional Council, consisting of members elected by the Native Authority. These
came to be compounded by other problems, which made instability inevitable, and in the end,
did not augur well for national integration. In a different argument, Oluwafemi, one of the
respondents, equally added that:
One of the greatest challenges to integration in the Nigerian state is the

Niger Delta question. The principle and theory of integration demand
the removal of barriers to integration. It means equating or ensuring the
development of all parts in the integration equation. However, the case of
this region poses the greatest challenge. The problem of youth restiveness
arising from unemployment, poverty and lack of proper education. These
variables constitute a big issue in Nigeria and have bearings with the
failure of leadership or party politics in the country. Those who allied with
certain values, such as the Boko Haram ideas and kidnapping business, see
this involvement as a means of survival. Since those that they entrusted
their mandate has failed them, especially on good policies and their
implementation. The quest for 1958, 1960 and 1963 pattern of revenue
allocation remain in the minds of those in the Niger Delta. A robust federal
system should build and allow each region to develop at its pace, but
successive governments have reversed the permutation, creating a problem
in our federal structure. This is where the Niger Delta question arises.
On this issue, Ehwarieme and Cocodia (2011) and Darah (2012) stress that in 1958 the allocation
of revenue from mining rents and royalties was in the order of 50% to the area where a mineral
was mined, 20% to the central government and 30% to a Distributable Pool Account. The
region that earned 50% also shared in this 30% based on equity. This progressive provision was
included in the constitutions of 1960 and 1963. However, this principle has been distorted in
the present allocation formula. Hence, the region or zone that produces the nation’s wealth
now seems to receive the least governmental intervention. This situation has led to militancy
and the quest for ‘resource control’, which may deny other regions of enormous resources
they currently enjoy whilst contributing minimally to the nation’s wealth. Differential levels
of development, which constitute regional integration in Africa, have the same effect on
national integration in Nigeria (Ehwarieme and Cocodia, 2011; Darah, 2012). On a similar
note, a respondent named Nworga observed that
Issues such as Boko Haram quit notice, secession, militancy, hate speeches,
employment, leadership failure are some of the issues threatening Nigeria
112
unity or what you called national integration. The issue of hate speeches
and secession have eaten deep into the Nigerian political system. Nigerians
don’t see themselves as one. The issue of hate speeches started in the days
of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tafawa Belewa and Obafemi Awolowo. Different
derogatory phrases and sentences were used that marred the unity of
Nigeria then. Even one of the prime factors that led to the civil war was
suspicion and the fear of superiority of one ethnic group.
Orji, one of the respondents, added that:
The major challenge of national integration in Nigeria happened to be the

attitude of political leaders towards issues affecting one region or ethnic
group. The Boko Haram insurgency wasn’t taken seriously at the initial
stage during President Jonathan/Sambo Administration. What I’m saying
is that ethnic and regional politics is still much alive in Nigeria political
system, and a country that is divided along ethnic or regional interest
cannot consolidate national integration. The ongoing hate speeches in the
country, secessionist movement, quit notice, and the unrepentant activities
of the militancy and Boko Haram have been linked to party politics of
ethnicity and regionalism. These actions have impacted negatively into
Nigeria’s integration. The politics of dividing the country into South and
North or Geopolitical zones connotes regional or ethnic interests, and this
is not healthy for the country. However, the APC government has put in place
mechanisms to checkmate the activities that encourage and promote ethnic
divides, especially on hate speeches. The APC government is very meticulous
in its appointment. The Nigerian military, the National orientation agency,
etc., have been strengthened to ensure national integration.
On the same basis, Adeseke of the PDP from Ondo State likewise observed that:
The activities of Boko Haram, weak institutions to tackle corruption, the

health of the president, quit notice, secession, militancy, hate speeches,
employment and inflation, are issues serving as a challenge to national
integration. That’s why some of us are calling for the restructuring of the
Nigerian political system. If Buhari’s administration continues in this
manner on the pretence on the fall dollars and blaming past administration
in their woes, then Nigeria is on the path of collapse or disintegration.
Equally, an academic from Edo University has added that
these activities of these individuals have threatened national integration in

the past and have given a negative image to Nigeria in the comity of nations.
Nigeria’s political parties have worsened the Nigerian political system. The ceremonial
primary election, automatic ticket, the syndrome of the party’s founding fathers, and zoning
have caused a setback to the enthronement of democracy. If there are no institutions to
consolidate democracy, then national integration is irrelevant and unattainable. But, in
113
addition, there the other hand, if the people have to be incorporated and play an active
role in their polity, this will signal national integration, which can be done through selfless
leadership and patriotism.
From the above revelations, the study has identified that the elite’s interest and the roles
of party politics, especially within political parties, have affected the quest for national
integration. These were justified through the information given by respondents during the
fieldwork. Moreover, works of scholars such as Ikelegbe (2014), Omodia (2015), Egwu (2014),
Ayoade (2008), Okonkwo et al. (2015) have identified that issues such as internal party
democracy and the problem of lop-sidedness of Nigerian federal system have given birth to
divided politics, which has affected the quest for national integration.
Findings and conclusion

This study utilised a qualitative technique through the means of an interview guide. Ted Gurr
Thesis Why Men Rebel was used to reveal the implications of party politics’ failure in Nigeria.
This study identified that the Nigerian politicians› unperformed nature and failed promises
regarding providing better education and other critical infrastructures had created porous
society and political erosion, which has given birth to insurgencies, social unrest and ethnic
militias. This, amongst others, has served as a barrier to national integration in Nigeria.
Subsequent governments have attempted to tame the menace through the provision of
federal character, creation of Niger Delta Ministry, amnesty programmes, poverty eradication
programmes, state creations, and so on. Extant literature in this study has identified that
these recommendations and policies have instigated disintegrative tendencies rather than
foster national integration. Respondents in this study have revealed that most politicians
are greedy and regard the public office as a tool for personal gains after elections. Politicians
see political offices as business empires to regain expenses spent during elections. This has
diverted public funds to private use. Public offices have given birth to patron-client politics,
patronage, neopatrimonialism and, rendering the masses empty and destitute against their
electoral mandates. This has been the thrust of disintegrative tendencies in the Nigerian
political system.
Recommendation
Best practices in African values and culture that buttressed selfless services to the entire
citizenry should be encouraged in party politics in Nigeria. There is a need for active political
engagement and aggressive political education to sensitise the masses to the essence of
national integration as a means for national building. Institutions should be reorganised for
active performance towards national integration.
114
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Probing xenophobia and the

establishment of a prosperous Africa
Tsoaledi Thobejane
University of Venda
daniel.thobejane@univen.ac.za
Introduction
Before 1994, when the oppressed majority were fighting for freedom, incidents of xenophobia
were never part of the body politic during the struggle for liberation in South Africa.
However, it is recorded that between 2000 and March 2008, at least 67 people died in what
was described as xenophobic attacks. Also, in May 2019, a series of Black-on-Black attacks
left 62 people dead. Ironically 21 of those killed were South African citizens who died at the
hands of immigrants. As a result, foreign governments began repatriating their citizens from
South Africa and blaming the country for not taking care of foreign nationals. At the heart of
these violent xenophobic attacks on fellow Africans lies the contradictions inherent in the
postcolonial narrative of Neo-Liberalism that continues to project Monopoly Capital as the
modus operandi for economic growth. In this narrative, the African continues to be seen, even
by their African brother and sister, as inconsequential in the larger context of Neo-liberalism
and Postcolonial politics.
Immigration has reached high proportions around the world. Pull and push factors bring
about an exodus of people from one country or continent to another. Global wars, famine
and poverty, are some of the factors that propel people to migrate. Statistics of Africans
immigrating to other parts of the world remain dauntingly high. It is also disconcerting that
most risk body and limb to escape their impoverished conditions by emigrating in search of
upward economic mobility. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,
more than 1.000 people had died in the Mediterranean Sea in 2019, trying to cross from Libya
to Europe. The Italian interior ministry indicated that some 7.939 migrants had reached Italy
by boat so far in 2019, which showed a decline to 63% in the same period in 2018 and 93% in
2017. However, despite the tough laws regarding immigration, the number of immigrants
keeps on increasing.
A recent Pew Research poll conducted in 2018 indicated that sixty-two percent (62%) of
Americans have become positive towards immigrants and immigration. Most Americans
told pollsters that they thought immigrants strengthened America and that immigrants have
positive attributes such as “hard work” and strong family values. They further indicated that
immigrants were good for the country. In another poll, most Americans who said they want
immigration levels to be reduced were at the lowest level, indicating that there is general
approval of immigrants in the country, contrary to the rhetoric that came from Mr Trump, the
President of the United States of America (USA) at that time. However, the Punch newspaper
(2019) shows that 34 Nigerians were deported from the United States of America for allegedly
118
committing offences. The deportees comprising 32 males and two females have committed
crimes ranging from drug trafficking and human trafficking. In the same breath, we are told
that during the first half of 2017, more than 12.000 Nigerians reached Italy through Libya
(Punch.com, 2019). By the end of 2016, there had been 27.000, a forty-eight percent (48%)
increase in immigration by the Nigerians. Nigerians are reported to have been the most
common nationality in bearing the brunt of deportation. The reasons for emigrating from
their home country vary. Others fled from Boko Haram, the Nigerian organisation known for
its affiliation with ISIS (or organisations fighting to establish an Islamic state).
Many, however, are economic migrants who venture into other countries to eke out a living.
Nigerian citizens continue to top the list of ethnicities most often deported. However, in
South Africa, some of them are saying that South Africans target them because of their good
work ethic. Ghana alone has deported close to 723 Nigerians on allegations of cybercrime,
prostitution, drug peddling, and illegal stay in the country. In a nutshell, over one thousand
Nigerians were deported all over the world within six months.
According to Thobejane (2013), most of the working-class South Africans view immigrants
as a threat. They argue that immigrants take jobs and social benefits from the natives of
the country. Almost sixty-one percent (61%) of South Africans thought that immigrants were
responsible for a crime. Between 2010 and 2017, the immigrant community in South Africa
increased from 2 million to 4 million. The widespread xenophobic violence that erupted in
South Africa in 2015 is still fresh in our collective memory. Yet the utterances of the late King
Goodwill Zwelithini, a Zulu Monarch who told his people that immigrants are in the country
to disturb the peace of South Africans, were stoking the fears of South Africans and stirred
anti-immigrant sentiments, especially amongst the Zulus. Perpetrators of xenophobic attacks
have always cited competition for jobs and criminality from other parts of Africa as reasons for
their outbursts against Black foreigners. What is strange, though, is that European and Asian
immigrants are not targeted in these attacks. We are told that in Cape Town, some foreign
nationals were gathered at the UN Refugee Agency’s offices, demanding that the agency
should help them leave South Africa (United Nations, 2019). The refugees were fed up with
xenophobia. The immigrants were camping out in front of the office, some holding babies,
others waving the flags of their countries, singing “Enough is enough, we want a solution”.
The city of Johannesburg also reported many disenchanted immigrants who also sought
intervention and help from the South African Government. However, there was a disconcerting
growth of evidence indicating that some Nigerians were killing one another to control
drug spots, especially in Johannesburg (www.dailytrust.com). This begs us of the following
questions: “What are the real courses of immigration in the world? Why are people emigrating,
and where do they emigrate to?”
Causal factors of immigration

According to Brettel and Hollified (2000), there is no single theory widely accepted by social
scientists regarding the migration phenomenon as research of migration is intrinsically
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interdisciplinary. It involves all the disciplines, including sociology, Political Science, law,
economics, demography, geography, psychology and cultural studies. However, we are all in
agreement that migration is stimulated largely by economic motivations and the desire to
escape conflict and relocate to countries that can give one some sort of refuge. In addition,
much of the migration patterns in the world reflect perceived expectations about differences
in income and the quality of life the immigrants would like to pursue (Todaro, 2011, Brettel and
Hollified, 2000).
In Africa, much of the migrations happening seem to respond to insufficient productive

capital, the low quality of life, and poorly functioning labour markets (Todaro, 2011). Also,
the rising demand for unskilled labour has seen some migrations on the rise, especially from
countries trapped in political violence. Furthermore, it has been proven that many households
agree to leave their familiar surroundings when their home countries do not provide for their
physical protection from attack or abuse or have poor public-service delivery and governance
at the local and national level or high unemployment, especially in Africa. According to
Zimmermann (1999), the motivations for migration may be described as combinations of
social, ethnic, and politically related push and pull factors. Yet as Bauer (2018) observed,
in many studies, wage and employment differentials (linked to the probability of locating a
position abroad) were statistically significant predictors of migration. These differentials
seemed to produce the opposite of the expected effect in several cases, such as xenophobic
attacks. Lack of basic health and education, Political Conflict, insecurity, poor governance,
lack of political freedom, corruption, human rights abuse inter-alia have been documented
as some of the ills behind the exodus of people from or running away from political conflicts
in Africa.
One of the comments usually made by some immigrants in South Africa is that many African
countries hosted exiled political activists and liberation movements at the height of the
liberation struggle. In his unpublished article, Khumalo (2019) mentions that Africa has 54
countries. Only three of these hosted the liberation movements, and that those South Africans
who went to exile are not more than seventy thousand in number. Those who were abroad
were subjected to conditions and restrictions. He further mentions that Angola, Zambia and
Tanzania are on record as having hosted our freedom fighters. However, this was done after
an agreement that they would go back to South Africa. He further asserts that Mozambique,
Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, and Lesotho expelled liberation fighters. Those who
remained in these countries were living in camps and were supported by the United Nations.
The living conditions in these camps were palpable, and they were only allowed to travel
around with permits. He further alleges that members of the Pan Africanist Congress in
Tanzania once demonstrated against the harsh treatment they received at the hands of the
host country, and almost seventeen of them were gunned down by the FFU unit, which was a
special task force in the country. In Nigeria, it is believed that students protested against South
African refugees and said that they were in the country to take their jobs and to marry their
wives (Khumalo, 2019).
The South African borders are notorious for being porous, so the country is presently
encountering many illegal immigrants. Most of them do not have skills except to engage in
illicit activities and untaxed small business activities. The irony is that liberation activists were
120
well hosted by European countries, which allowed them to go to school and work and purchase
houses and take their children to school. However, some African countries such as Zimbabwe
and Botswana hosted the Black Consciousness movement (now the Azanian People’s
Organisation and the Black Consciousness Movement Unity). Cadres of this movement used
Zimbabwe as the gateway to go to other countries such as Libya for advanced military training
(Ananian People’s Organisation, 1998). They later used Zimbabwe and Botswana as launching
pads for their military activities.
Further afield in Somalia and Eritrea, the exiled South Africans were given some stipends and
allowed to take their children to school for free. I could also venture to say that Umkhonto We
Sizwe soldiers fought in many wars, especially in Africa. The army had the most experienced
fighters. Many of its cadres trained in countries like the former Soviet Union, China, Cuba,
Libya, Tanzania, and Zambia. Not only did the combatants of the African National Congress
(ANC) train in guerrilla tactics, but they were also experts in urban or conventional warfare.
They could not have gained this knowledge had it not been for the ANC’s help in these countries
(Thobejane, 2012).
Literature review
The onslaught that was visited upon foreign nationals stems from the historical de-
humanisation of Black people such that virtues that were instilled by the intellectual works
of Robert Sobukwe, Kwame Nkrumah and Bantu Biko have given way to crass materialism,
opportunism and lack of political foresight, especially in South Africa. Therefore, delving into
the writings of these African revolutionaries is essential in mapping out our way forward in
frustrating the strides made by xenophobia. In particular, it is worthwhile to look at the theory
of Pan-Africanism and Black Consciousness as weapons to fight against the onslaught of
Xenophobia and African self-loathe.
Revisiting Africanism; Robert Sobukwe, Kwame Nkrumah

and Bantu Biko
Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, the doyen of Pan-Africanism who died in February 1978, said the
following in defining Pan-Africanism which is essential in uniting Africa:
Africanism is based on the belief that unity is vital to economic, social, and
political progress and aims to “unify and uplift” people of African descent.
Pan-Africanism opines that the fate of all African people and countries are
interwoven. At its core, Pan-Africanism asserts that African people, both
on the continent and in the diaspora, are one and have the same ancestral
history and a common history as well as a single race. Moreover, Africans
share a culture and a shared cultural fate for Africans in the Americas, West
Indies, and the continent.
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Sobukwe was a strong believer in an Africanist future for South Africa and rejected any model
suggesting working with anyone other than Africans, defining African as anyone who lives
in and pays his or her allegiance to Africa and is prepared to subject himself/herself to the
African majority rule. Sobukwe strongly advocated for the need for Black South Africans to
“liberate themselves from mental slavery. Sobukwe argued that Africans had the power to
reclaim a society taken from them through colonialism and imperialism.
The fight in the 1950s and 60’s within the ANC, a party presently ruling South Africa, was
brutal, causing a fair amount of violence which led to the creation of the Pan Africanist
Congress (PAC). This fight led to Robert Sobukwe and his comrades resigning from the ANC en-
masse to form the PAC. The goal of the PAC was to get rid of the servant mentality through the
identification of other African Nationalist movements and through what the Africanists called
“self-identification”. This sense of unification and power would end in 1960 in Sharpeville,
where a protest by PAC would turn into a police massacre. The apartheid police opened fire
and killed sixty-nine protesters who the PAC politicised. Sobukwe was taken to jail without a
fair trial, and both the ANC and PAC were banned. The government later penned down a policy
called the Sobukwe clause, which emphasised that Sobukwe must be detained for life and
isolated in prison.
Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah, a revolutionary who helped to bring about a free Ivory Coast, called on all
Africans across the world to see themselves as belonging to one African Nation. Nkrumah
opined that all the people of African descent are Africans and belong to the African nation.
Therefore, the spirit of Africanness must bind us together. Nkrumah envisaged a borderless
Africa, which would be known as the Union of African States. Pan-Africanism postulated by
Nkrumah talked about the need for the unity of Africa and indicated that there are plenty of
resources in Africa (Nkrumah, 1978).
He further said that:
It is for the Africans to marshal the resources in the active service of our
people. Unless we do this by our concerted efforts, within the framework of
our combined planning, we shall not progress at the tempo demanded by
today’s events and the mood of our people. The symptoms of our troubles
will grow, and the troubles themselves become chronic. It will then be too
late for Pan-African Unity to secure the stability and tranquillity in our
labours for a continent of social justice and material well-being. Unless we
establish African Unity now, we who are sitting here today shall tomorrow
be the victims and martyrs of neo-colonialism.
These words by Nkrumah still resonate well with the present socio-political predicament in
Africa. When writing this paper, an estimated total of 0.8 to 0.9 million Africans immigrated
to the United States in 2017, accounting for roughly 3.3% of all total U.S. immigrants. From
2000 through 2005, an estimated 440.000 people per year emigrated from Africa; 17 million
migrants within Africa were estimated for 2005. However, the figure of 0.44 million African
122
emigrants per year (corresponding to about 0.05% of the continent’s total population) pales
compared to the annual population growth of about 2.6%, indicating that only about 2% of
Africa’s population growth is compensated for by emigration. This does not bode well with the
vision laid down by Kwame Nkrumah. The data below shows migration patterns to the U.S. and
the European Union.
Top countries of birth of sub-Saharan migrants living in the United States and the European
Union, Norway and Switzerland in 2017, in thousands (Source: Pew Research Centre).
The United States of America.
Nigeria 280 000 Somalia 90 000

Ethiopia 220 000 Liberia 80 000
Ghana 160 000 Zimbabwe 50 000
Kenya 120 000 Tanzania 50 000
South Africa 100 000 Cameroon 50 000
The World Bank indicated that close to sixty-three percent (63.0%) of migration was estimated
as taking place intra-regionally, whilst twenty-four point eight (24.8%) of migration was to
high-income OECD countries and also including South Africa. The top ten migration corridors
as researched by the World Bank (2018) is as follows: 1. Burkina Faso to Côte d’Ivoire, 2.
Zimbabwe to South Africa, 3. Côte d’Ivoire to Burkina Faso, 4. Uganda to Kenya, 5. Eritrea to
Sudan, 6. Mozambique to South Africa, 7. Mali to Côte d’Ivoire, 8. The Democratic Republic of
Congo to Rwanda, 9. Lesotho–South Africa, 10. Eritrea to Ethiopia and Nigeria to South Africa.
In terms of destinations, as of 2017, nearly three-quarters (72%) of Europe’s sub-Saharan

immigrant population was concentrated in just four countries: The United Kingdom (1.27
million), France (980.000), Italy (370.000) and Portugal (360.000). In the United States, migrants
from sub-Saharan Africa can be found across the country, with 42% in the American South, 24%
in the Northeast, 18% in the Midwest and 17% in the West (Pew Research Centre, 2018).
The above figures support Nkrumah’s assertion that African countries need to plan thoroughly
to stop the largest number of immigrations in almost every nook and cranny of the continent.
Nkrumah (1979) indicated that unless we plan for the survival and progress of Africa, we
shall not progress at the tempo demanded by today’s events and the mood of our people. But,
unfortunately, African countries still battle to attract visionary leadership. For instance, Jean-
Claude Duvalier, President of Haiti (1971 – 1986), embezzled close to USD 300 million to USD
800 million whilst in office for fifteen years, whilst Sani Abacha, President of Nigeria from
1993 to 1998, embezzled close to USD 2 billion to USD 5 billion for his five-year tenure. Also,
Mobutu Sese Seko, President of Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to
1997, embezzled USD 4 to USD 5 billion for his thirty-two years in office. It is also worth noting
that Zimbabwe, under Robert Mugabe, had its fair share of corrupt activities. The scandals in
Mugabe’s government have been exposed for more than ten years. Yet Mugabe was able to
cover them up through his iron-fist rule. These scandals include (but are not limited to) the
Paweni scandal of 1982, National Railways Housing Scandal of 1986, Air Zimbabwe Fokker
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Plane Scandal worth USD 100 million in 1987, Zisco Steel blast Furnace Scandal of 1987,
Willowgate Scandal of 1988, War Victims Compensation Scandal of 1994, GMB Grain Scandal
of 1995, VIP Housing Scandal of 1996, Boka Banking Scandal 1998, pillaging of diamonds in
Chiadzwa from 2006 to present as well as the Airport Road Scandal from 2008 to 2014 and the
pillaging of the central bank under Gideon Gono, to mention just but a few.
South Africa also suffers from widespread corruption, even though it performs better than the
other countries in the African continent. The public procurement system is prone to corruption,
and bribery has become the order of the day. The country has an anti-corruption framework,
yet laws are inadequately enforced.
The writings of Biko

Steven Bantu Biko, the founding father of the Black Consciousness philosophy in South Africa,
asserted that the system of apartheid saw Blacks as additional levers to some complicated
industrial machines waiting to be exploited (Biko, 1979). In this system, Blacks competed with
fellow Blacks, using each other as rungs up a step ladder leading them to White values. Blacks,
most of whom were/are involved in violence today, should realise the need to rally together to
rid themselves of the shackles that bind them to servitude. Group pride and self-determination
to attain the envisaged collective- self is dead within Black communities. He further cautions
us to reject the individualistic cold approach to life. He says that we must seek to restore to the
Black (African) man the great importance we used to give to human relations, the high regard
for people and their property and life in general, to reduce the triumph of technology over man
and the materialistic element in our society. Blacks have been part of an exploitative society
and culture in South Africa. No wonder that they react so shamelessly and violently to anyone
who threatens their being. Biko says that capitalist exploitative tendencies, coupled with the
overt arrogance of White racism, have conspired against the Black man.
Furthermore, violence can be seen as a continuous process influenced by socialisation towards

politics. This socialisation, within the South African context, has been such that anything
African is backwards. Biko articulated Black Consciousness as a battle for the mind waged
in the subconscious. Biko wrote that the call for BC was more than a reactionary rejection of
Whites by Blacks. The quintessence of Blacks’ realisation is that, to feature well in this game of
power politics, they have to use the strategy of group power and build a strong foundation for
this. Being a historically, politically, socially and economically disinherited and dispossessed
group, they have the strongest foundation from which to operate.
Therefore, the philosophy of Black Consciousness expresses group pride and the determination
by the Blacks to rise and attain the envisaged self. At the heart of this kind of thinking is the
realisation by Blacks that the most potent weapon in the oppressor’s hands is the mind of the
oppressed. Steven Biko asserted that BC has to do with the mental emancipation that serves
as a precondition to political emancipation and embraces a Pan-African outlook in life. Biko
presents a paradigm that supports a liberatory form of education through Black Consciousness
by saying that it is through this philosophy that the oppressed masses in the country could
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identify themselves as a unit in their struggle against racism and all forms of injustice (Biko,
1976, p. 85). In so doing, they will be on their way towards creating a prosperous Africa where
xenophobia will not be tolerated.
Biko further wrote;
From this, it becomes clear that as long as Blacks are suffering from
an inferiority complex; a result of 300 years of deliberate oppression,
denigration and ridicule, they will be useless as co-architects of a normal
society where man is nothing else but man for his own sake. Hence what
is necessary as a prelude to anything else that may come is a very strong
grassroots build-up of Black Consciousness such that Blacks can learn to
assert themselves and take their rightful claim (1978, p.21). He reiterated
the views of Marxist theory in affirming Black Consciousness and liberatory
education as a theory of self-consciousness that introduced a distinct
epistemological position as opposed to White racism in South Africa.
The theory is, according to Marx, a process in society. It comprises the production, deployment
and organisation of concepts (Marx cited in Resnick and Wolf, 1987, p. 2). Black Consciousness
as a theory meant, broadly, the interpretation of White racism and a reflection of those
concepts arising out of it (i.e. White racism), which were unacceptable to Black Consciousness
and Black people in general. Biko espoused the belief that it would take Black people and the
young militants who took the torchbearers of revolution, to liberate themselves from mental
oppression. In this light, Africanism and Black Consciousness, if infused into the curriculum,
could eventually develop an African who is imbued with the spirit of oneness and self-love.
Xenophobia, which is Black-on-Black violence in the South African context (as most European
and Asian descent immigrants are not affected), will eventually give way to an anti-xenophobic
South Africa.
Theoretical framework
This paper is influenced by the Neoclassical theory of immigration propounded by Michael
Paul Todaro (born 14 May 1942), an American economist and a champion of development
economics. The paper also borrows from Adam Smith, who considered poverty and
unemployment as push factors for migration and higher wages. The theorisation of migration
started by these two economists explicitly indicates that migration is caused by the push and
pull factors of economics. These economic factors are poverty, unemployment and political
instability of countries. Unparalleled waves of poverty and political instabilities have played
a major role in Africans migrating to other countries. However, some people migrate even
though there is relative calm and peace in their respective countries. Countries like Nigeria
are relatively calm, yet almost 20 percent of its citizens have migrated to all parts of the world.
South Africa has received many immigrants over the years even though it is a new democracy
compared to the rest of Africa, which liberated itself from colonial rule many decades ago.
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According to Kurekova (2011), migration is also driven by the geographic differences in labour
supply and demand and the resulting differences in wages between labour-rich versus capital-
rich countries.
Xenophobic attacks and Neo-Liberal policies

The departure of African communities from their respective countries is exacerbated by
the neo-liberal policies that enable the ruling elites to continue to plunder and pillage the
resources of their respective countries. Several governments in Africa chose to endorse
neo-liberal economic policies that militate against the economic needs of their citizenry.
The persistence of the harsh conditions in their cities, townships, and villages proves that
neoliberal policies endorsed by elitist political leaders will not yield any deliverance from
their squalid conditions in villages and townships in most African countries. Hence, an exodus
of Africans running away from their respective countries, searching for economic prosperity,
is elusive. The leaders (most African leaders who have become the comprador bourgeoisie)
will always be protective of their individualistic gains. Neo-liberalism has seen an upsurge
in inequalities in wages and salaries around the world. These inequalities, combined with
internecine wars, have precipitated the exodus of people into other countries in search of
greener pastures. In explaining what neoliberalism entails, Harvey (2007) asserts that it is
a Utopian project to realise a theoretical design for reorganising international capitalism
or a political project to re-establish the conditions for capital accumulation and restore the
power of economic elites (Harvey D, 2007, p. 19). Neoliberalism rose after the realisation
of challenges faced by capitalism (what was then called threats to values of civilisation by
capitalist historians, economists and philosophers). Immigration and xenophobic behaviours
of certain nationalities cannot be excluded from the policies of Neo-Liberalism explained
above.
Conclusion
To date, I am yet to see the liberal press and the media, in general, addressing what may be at
the heart of the attacks and counter-attacks between foreign nationals and South Africans. If
it was not of self-hate (as in Biko’s writings), how would one justify the brutality of our people
towards each other? South Africans are gradually disenchanted by the present political
climate and are seeking ways to vent their frustrations. Crime can be another way of doing this.
Thugs can also use guns as an excuse to further their ill-perceived notions. Xenophobia and
Black-on-Black violence, which compels a man to harm his fellow human being, is another way
of judging the self-hate and self-loathe levels exhibited by perpetrators of xenophobic attacks.
Hegel (2010) once argued that security is the supreme social concept of civil society. Society
exists only to guarantee for each of its members the preservation of their personhood. Human
beings, regardless of race, colour or creed, have imprescriptible rights to be free. If not, they will
seek or strive to seek greener pastures somewhere. Hence the highest number of immigrants
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who are risking their lives to go to another country is perceived to be economically and
politically stable. Small wonder that people will always emigrate to other countries searching
for security, political stability and freedom. The development of a meaningful self-image, as
shown by Biko (1976), Nkrumah (1969), Sobukwe (1966) and Nyerere (1978), to mention just a
few, are dependent on the complete restructuring of society towards Africanism.
Recommendations
In our quest to create an African nation, Curtis Mayfield, the famous jazz artist, penned the
following lyrics in 1996:
We people who are darker than blue

Are we gonna stand around this town
And let what others say come true?
We’re just good for nothing they all figure
A boyish, grown up, shiftless jigger

Now we can’t hardly stand for that
Or is that really where it’s at?
We people who are darker than blue
This ain’t no time for segregatin’

I’m talking ‘bout brown and yellow too
High yellow girl, can’t you tell
You’re just the surface of our dark deep, well
If your mind could really see

You’d know your colour the same as me
Pardon me, brother, as you stand in your glory
I know you won’t mind if I tell the whole story
Get yourself together, learn to know your side

Shall we commit our own genocide
Before you check out your mind?
I know we’ve all got problems

That’s why I’m here to say
Keep peace with me and I with you
Let me love in my own way
Now I know we have great respect

For the sister and mother, it’s even better yet
But there’s the joker in the street
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Loving one brother and killing the other

When the time comes, and we are really free
There’ll be no brothers left, you see
This song is as relevant today as Mayfield first sang it in 1996. Though he was questioning
racism and hatred amongst the Blacks within the American socio-political order, the song
still finds resonance with what is presently happening in Africa and, more especially in South
Africa in this period of xenophobic attacks that are surely taking the country back. Educational
institutions are very important to our self-image. Hence, a radical restructuring is required in
every aspect of learning to re-introduce concepts such as Ubuntu, Self-love and Africanism
so that our people can go back to the basics of what makes Africa a continent with a humane
face. Our schools and universities should be involved in the daily struggles of our people as
they also develop a culture that transcends tribal traditions or national boundaries. A culture
that looks outward to Africa and the world at large. The correction of historical faults such as
Black-White relationships, racist cultural norms, and values geared towards One Africa, one
continent.
Conclusion
This paper critiques the concept of “xenophobia” concerning immigration. It posits that at
the heart of violent attacks on immigrants lies the contradictions inherent in the postcolonial
narrative of Neoliberalism. The paper also alludes to the economic and political reasons
that influence migration’s Push and Pull Factors. The chapter further opines that the
internalisations of an inferiority complex amongst Africans propel us to reach sub-humanity
levels that result in what is presently termed xenophobia. Finally, the chapter utilises a
content analysis method to seek valid contributions in literature to understand concepts such
as xenophobia, Black-on-Black Violence and migrations in Africa.
References
Biko, S., 2005. I write what I Like. New York. Cambridge Press.
Brettell, C. & Hollifield J.F. (eds.). 2000. Migration theory: Talking across disciplines. London:
Routledge
Harvey, D., 2007. Contradictions and the end of capitalism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hegel, G.W.F. & Inwood, M., 2007. Hegel: Philosophy of Mind: Translated with Introduction and
Commentary. Oxford University Press.
Kurekova, L., 2011, April. Theories of migration: Conceptual review and empirical testing in the
context of the EU East-West flows. In Interdisciplinary Conference on Migration. Economic
Change, Social Challenge. April (pp. 6-9).
128
Nkrumah, K., Arrigoni, R. & Napolitano, G., 1963. Africa must unite (p. 97). London: Heinemann.
Punchng.com., 2019. Better quality of life will discourage migration to Europe, others
Ambassador Abdullahi - Punch Newspapers (punchng.com). Available at: https://www.
thesouthafrican.com/news/xenophobia. Accessed on the 13 May 2019.
Smith, C.S. & Todaro, M.P., 2015. Economic Development. New York: George Washington
University Press.
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The land question and economic

transformation with a focus on the
Ratombo community
Rendani C Themeli,
&
Van der Westhuizen, J D N.
University of Venda
janvdwes11@gmail.com
Introduction
This chapter presents land questions and the economic transformation of land reform in South
Africa, focusing on the Ratombo community. Land is a very important natural resource, which
plays a significant role in developing communities. This study makes use of Robert W. Cox’s
Critical Transformation Theory. The land question remains a disputed “anxious historical
criticism” of South Africa’s democracy, which divides people along racial lines. According
to Cox, marginalised people need justice that could bring socio-economic transformation
to the community. Ratombo beneficiaries are frustrated about acquiring their land back
and the government’s backlog, attributed to the lack of funding. This chapter will look at
the post-settlement implications of land reform and particular challenges for food security.
A qualitative method was used to conduct interviews with members of the Communal
Property Association (CPA) committee, workers and beneficiaries to identify post-settlement
implications. Oral history and documented material will help to discover the understandings
of the community on certain subjects. Results such as the lack of financial support, capacity
building, environmental issues, slow pace and poor administration are some problems.
The government needs to introduce post land securing support mechanisms and designs to
support land beneficiaries. This chapter also wants to confirm LRP as a vehicle for livelihoods.
The RSA Land question and economic transformation remain a contested issue. RSA White
Paper (1998) mentions that South Africa has a rich history of annexation, racial domination,
and land dispossession. Black people were forced off the land they owned and depended on for
their livelihoods by numerous legislative policies and other intimidating measures.
Govo (2014) explains economic transformation and land reform as to how a complete change
can happen. RSA became a democracy on 27 April 1994 after a prolonged struggle against
white domination. The democratic RSA government implemented land reform to rectify
the past racial injustices, correct twisted land ownership patterns and alleviate poverty.
However, according to (Manenzhe, 2007), more than 73% of the projects (including land
restitution projects) have become a fruitless exercise. Two decades ago, land reform hardly
transformed the agrarian structure of RSA communities as it had only made small impacts
on rural livelihoods. Different political analysts, politicians, and academics made the stormy
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challenges of the land reform programme clear.
This chapter has narrowed its focus on the Ratombo community to evaluate the post land
settlement implications for RSA’s land reform programme to reach a brief solution and
recommendations. The Ratombo community was granted land in 2004 and is currently being
managed by the Ratombo CPA. This chapter looks at the socio-economic implications of land
reform, particularly food security and economic transformation challenges. However, this
paper seeks to achieve the following objectives:
• To evaluate post-settlement implications, strengthen food security and reduce

poverty.
• To explain how the land restitution in Ratombo has transformed the livelihoods of
land beneficiaries.
Historical background
Nefale (2000) states that the Ratombo community originated from the Ramabulana clan in the
early 1800s and settled in and around the Levubu area. Ratombo shared common boundaries
with Matumba on the western side and Mauluma on the eastern side. Nemudzivhadi (1977)
describes the Ratombo community as one of the Luvuvhu River valley communities, which was
forcibly removed from their land by the White government in the 1930s. The Ratombo name
came from their first chief, which means the owner of the stone. The community was detached
from Levubu in the early 1930s by the White government.
Ramudzuli (2010) stated that the land affairs bought the farms in the Levubu area to form a
White irrigation settlement. This removal brought about the total removal of the Ratombo
community together with other native Africans from the Levubu valley such as Ravele,
Masakona, Shigalo, Madzivhandila, Matumba, etc. They were destined for the different areas
chosen for them by the government. As a result, the Levubu valley became White settlements.
The Chief and his community of Ratombo lost their land and resettled at a portion of Tshituni
tsha Fhasi Nzhelele. Other groups migrated to neighbouring villages such as Ha-Mashau,
Tsianda, and Ha-Mutsha. A new village was created and became known as Ha-Ratombo. Khosi
Ratombo lost his chieftaincy and became a headman.
Methodology
A qualitative methodology will be used. For example, interviews and the use of primary and
secondary literature reviews were made. Strauss and Corbin (1998) suggest that qualitative
methodology allows a researcher to produce findings not arrived at by statistical procedures
or other means of quantification. Some of the data may be quantified, but the bulk of the
analysis is interpretative.
This chapter adopted a case study method to gather information about the unit of analysis.
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The researcher is dependent on a range of methods to gather data. Such methods include
major techniques such as those outlined by Silverman (1993, p. 32), namely observation, text
and documents, interviews, recording, and transcribing data. Oral history and documented
archival material will be used to explore the experiences of the people in Ratombo on certain
issues, such as land displacements and land restitution on the livelihoods of land beneficiaries
and farmworkers. According to Belcher (1999), in Africa, history and oral tradition are
intimately linked, as much of the continent’s past is recoverable only through oral sources.
Political debates over the land question

This study of the Ratombo land question and economic transformation is guided by Robert
Cox’s Critical Transformation Theory (RCCTT). The RCCTT debates about the struggles of the
marginalised landless South Africans for fairness in land redistribution justice. This study was
supported by Sibanda (2010) in his attempt to challenge the existing discriminating structures
that resulted in the RSA transformation process backlog of society’s development. Robert
Cox’s macro-theory of change suggests that the marginalised are a social force that could
bring about social and economic transformation.
The RCCTT focuses on change that originates from the ‘bottom-up approach. Sibanda (2010)
argues that the marginalised landless people are isolated from the creation and production
of ideas, institutions, and social practices within which material production occurs. As a
result, the social and political order potentially undermines the marginalised. However, this
potential is reduced by the fact that they are mainly concerned with survival and adaptation.
Sibanda (2010) further stated that the status of the landless people should not be
underestimated. Therefore, there is a need to support beneficiaries of the land reform program.
The marginalised people are a constant threat to stability in a country. The politics of land
in South Africa have shown this through revolutionary measures, e. g. the intermittent land
invasions and occupations of vacant land by the landless people in South Africa are testimony
to this. Currently, there are inherent fears regarding the land issue about its potential to throw
South Africa into chaos.
According to the Mail & Guardian (07 November 2016), EFF leader Malema made statements
on 26 June at a Freedom Charter rally in Newcastle. Although he demanded the illegal
occupation of land at the EFF’s national people’s assembly, Malema informed the crowd that
the achievements made in 1994 meant nothing without land ownership for Black people. He
proceeded by saying Black people continued to be servants to their White counterparts in South
Africa. He further criticised the African National Congress’ (ANC) economic transformation
policy and said that the ANC had sold out when it negotiated a new Constitution in the early
1990s.
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Theoretical and political viewpoints

In this study, transformation relates to both the negative or positive changes, which took place
at the livelihoods of the land reform beneficiaries. The concept of economic transformation
has recently been a dominant subject in the public domain of South Africa. This subject came
from the growing political interest by different stakeholders, including political parties,
non-governmental organisations and civil society movement uniting behind the concept
and reiterating calls for change in the traditional economic pattern of South Africa. The land
reform policy is undeniably at the centre of most of these debates: particularly given restitution
farms and their contribution to the economic empowerment of rural communities. The land
can be viewed as a precious resource readily available to be utilised by a community to uplift
themselves from the surge of poverty cemented by historical injustices in land allocation and
oppression of Blacks in South Africa. The provision of land to poor communities is viewed as
a departing point to transform the economy for the emancipation of Black South Africans,
including the Ratombo community.
When the government granted the Ratombo CPA their right to manage their farm, there was a
genuine concern if the Ratombo CPA could succeed in their restitution land. The government
was concerned that the farm was allocated in a region regarded as a food basket in the northern
part of South Africa. On the other hand, there was excitement about the farm produce, and the
task of the Ratombo CPA was to sell the fresh produce locally and abroad. This would positively
impact this poor community, as they would have to share the income and wealth. The land
restitution on behalf of the Ratombo community was completed in 2004. Generally, there was
high anticipation from the community about the economic benefits of owning the farm under
the CPA act. In this regard, it is important to revisit the primary objective of land reform.
The land policy was introduced in 1996 with a primary objective to redress the historical
injustice perpetrated by the White government in land allocation. There is a general
perspective in South Africa that land, in particular, should be used as a political tool to bring
about economic change to poor rural communities such as the Ratombo community. However,
it is important to note that the policy had far-reaching implications regarding financial
and economic benefits for previously disadvantaged groups. It is a significantly important
attempt to evaluate the economic impact of land allocation on the Ratombo communities. In
particular, grassroots benefits for the land receivers. The concept of economic transformation
had steered the interest of many academics to do more research on the subject and see how it
has influenced government policy on land reform. This issue has been linked to the struggles
of Blacks, particularly in rural communities. The communities are poor. It is important to
understand better this concept of economic transformation concerning the South African
context. The concept of economic transformation refers to a long-term change in dominant
economic activity in terms of prevailing relative engagement or employment of able
individuals to economic activities. The failure to achieve land and agricultural reform has
also negatively affected food security. In its renewal policy document, the ANC led government
has emphasised that and view it as a next phase in the struggle for liberation from colonial
and apartheid domination. The land reform policy framework was designed to be a key
paradigm for rural economic transformation, particularly to poor communities left behind by
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the mainstream economy of South Africa. It is important to reflect on these issues also in the
economic transformation within the Ratombo CPA. The government attributed this to a lack of
production under the Ratombo CPA, which directly impacted economic activities.
Ratombo and its land question and economic

transformation
This chapter was motivated by research conducted in the Makhado Local Municipality,
Vhembe district, within the Limpopo province of South Africa. The area is located in the North-
Eastern part of the province. The place is situated ± 40 kilometres east of Makhado Town and
consisted of communities whose claims had been successfully restituted with Levubu farms.
The Ratombo CPA was established in 2004 after their land was granted back, and it currently
has 309 members considered beneficiaries. The area is settled through land claim initiatives
and currently covers 1 346 hectares (ha). The total number of hectares claimed is 9 692 4925;
therefore, 8 346, 4925 hectares are still outstanding. The Ratombo community enterprise
produces mangoes, oranges, bananas, avocados, macadamia nuts, guava, and timber wood.
The project started with 120 workers in 2014. The Ratombo communities were saved from the
agenda of the White government’s land allocation system as it favours the minority White
settlers.
Governance and administration at the level of community

property institutions
Coetzee (1991) states that administration includes decision-making; planning the work to be
done, formulating objectives and goals; and working with the organisations to gain support
and funds for the programme. He also stated that Social justice and equality in administration
imply prohibition, control and regulations. Public servants use their discretion in decision-
making, but this also creates a risk of unjust discrimination. Individual judgements,
therefore, need to be based on compliance standards rather than on the personal attributes
of beneficiaries. According to Malahlela (2013), administrators must follow social justice and
equality principles, and unjust discrimination based on family members, social standing in
the community, physical features, gender or cultural heritage must be avoided at all costs.
The farm was allegedly left in poor condition when the Ratombo CPA took control in 2004
due to neglect by the former owners, e. g. some machinery was not properly functioning.
According to the Vice-Secretary of the Ratombo CPA, Ms Grace Managa, the CPA had to deal
with various challenges, including frequent General Manager changes, because of the lack of
organisational experience. The frequent changes also created factions.
Nepotism also hinders progress due to unskilled labour and lack of experience. Nepotism took
place because the jobs on the farm were given to better-known and more important people
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and were biased; this has led to a shortage of skilled labour, as the posts were not being
given on criteria based on merit and capacity. These factors harmed the productivity and
the management of the farm. As a result of corruption, reduction also claims its toll. Masindi
respondent states that the project started with 120 workers, and there are currently only 88
workers. Workers often suffer from dismissals and retrenchment as the farm is not growing
and do not have enough revenue to be sustainable due to maladministration. Some problems
are due to poor management and incompetence. The current Ratombo community lacks unity
and is poorly coordinated. The relevant government departments, meant to assist, are well
known as some of the weakest amongst the weak.
Financial irregularities and difficulties in paying workers on time, committed by a former

General Manager of the Ratombo CPA, contributed further to the problems. Ms Grace Managa
stated that the Ratombo CPA could not pay workers for two months because there was no
money. “We had to sell mangoes before they were ripe just to make some money”, she said.
However, she added that despite difficulties since receiving land in 2004, the CPA persevered
and was now in a better state and condition.
Theft and corruption took place. Due to the enormous economic crisis on the farm, both the
workers and the management indulge in theft, stealing equipment, tools, and money on the
farm, hindering the growth of the farm.
There seems to be corruption rife within the Ratombo family. Some members have been
destroying farm equipment for their gain, and other money has been stolen from the farm’s
petty cash. The rest of the members seem to be misdirecting finances into other accounts
before depositing the remaining money into the main account. It seems everyone would like to
gain something before the actual work is done, as large amounts of money are being misused
by family members who resign from jobs to work in the family business to gain access to the
family farming funds.
A lack of self-control has led to the dismissal of various people who seem to question the
whereabouts of the money and the misuse of machinery.
Key positions in the project business have been given to inexperienced and unqualified family
members who seem to be running the business into the ground. Community members around
the area have been complaining that whatever jobs are available are given only to the royal
family members, which is unfair as other ordinary people are residing in the area.
Slow pace
The main criticism of the Ratombo restitution is the slow pace of implementation of restitution,
according to respondent Maanda, who is the deputy chairperson of the Ratombo CPA. By 2005,
the total number of hectares claimed was 9 692, 4925, 8 346, 4925 number of hectares are still
outstanding. Only a small portion of the farm had been transferred to the Ratombo community.
This was disturbing, considering that the programme started before 2005. The government’s
target was to transfer at least 30% of the land by 2014. One community member stated, “They
135
will react destructively” if the government continues to fail to keep its promises of distributing
our missing piece of land.
Further, the demarcation issue was the main factor that affected the slow pace. When the
land claim was established and the land was restricted for the Ratombo clan, the Ratombo
community felt that the other parts of the neighbouring areas belonged to Ravele and
Masakona. This led to lengthy court battles that continue to bleed the business dry as legal
fees must be paid.
Strategic partnership
Hellum (1998) described Strategic Partnership Model as an attempt in ‘marrying social
justice and business’. It is a ‘hybrid approach’ under the influence of market-led approaches
to land reform. According to Matukane (2011), the main objective of the Strategic Partnership
Model was both to maintain commercial production and meet the development needs of
the beneficiaries. In other words, it was meant to secure a mutually beneficial solution
and ‘sustainable land reform’. The Ratombo enterprise is one of the community-owned,
commercial, agricultural productions. The enterprise has flaws and complex challenges to
land reform policies in South Africa. The most relevant question that remains unanswered is
how this model has succeeded in transforming the livelihoods of the Ratombo community.
They and the CPA appointed the strategic partnerships because they can loan money towards
an operating company that was formed.
The Ratombo CPA and the Xigalo CPA embarked on a strategic partnership called Mavu trading
enterprises. This strategic partnership was short-lived and often described as a marriage of
suitability by the parties involved. However, the marriage failed, and the major cause for this
partnership’s failure was interruptions on acquisition expenditures by the State, leading to
breaks in the transfer of ownership to the communities. According to informers from former
Ratombo workers, Mavu spent roughly R10 million on effective farms.
Job creation and Beneficiaries’ income

Agreeing with SADC, farming is considered the engine for development because it is the biggest
employer and provider to the GNP and provides inputs for production and selling. Poverty is
alleviated through employment. Therefore, restitution claim projects should be supported
by increasing investment, improving trade, and promoting private sector investment. Job
creation is an important aspect of poverty eradication and economic development.
According to Koopman (1997), the potential benefit of land restitution is that it helps broaden
the home market by increasing incomes, consumption, and purchasing power.
The majority of households (88.4%) in the GLM had an income of less than R1 600 per month
in 2001. By 2008, the number of people earning this amount or less had dropped to 80.8%.
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This indicates that the rate of job creation was lower than the demand for employment (IDP,
2011/12, p. 29). Females (55.9%) because of male absenteeism, with the result, head many
households that many residents live in absolute poverty, reliant on social grants and free basic
services (IDP, 2011/12, p. 27).
In the Ratombo case, a small group of community members has profited through access to
employment, often as part of strategic partnership agreements, and it appears that more
highly educated members, and men, are most likely to reap these economic benefits.
Respondent Mr Ramanugu, former chairperson of the CPA, the majority of beneficiaries get no
solid benefit from the restitution except a small group of the community who are employed.
Payment income has not been passed on to other members, nor would it have made a great
solid contribution to their livelihood, given the income concerning the size of the group.
Though beneficiaries are supposed to get support, people disagree on whether enough
technical support is being offered to make land reform successful. Income is an important
aspect of the sustainability of agricultural projects.
Respondent (HRM) Human resource manager Miss Masindi indicated that most workers
receive a monthly salary of more than R1.500, as is reflected by 59.2% of the respondents,
whereas 13.7% earn a monthly salary of R2000 – R5000. This variety of income shows
continuous change, as indicated by 91.1% of the respondents. There were changes in the
monthly income of household beneficiaries due to the shifting monthly income. The majority
of the respondents of the restitution farms receive less than R3000 per month. There were no
changes in the household income due to no changes in the wages. This agrees with a part of
the RSA (2007) results that most beneficiaries receive no material benefit from the restitution.
Contribution at the community level allows the choice of a project to reflect the needs and
preferences of the community; a project is then designed to reflect the local information,
ensuring that local conditions, preferences, and circumstances are taken into account. Equally
important is that the local participation engenders commitment, which is necessary for
important project sustainability over the long run, and participation in the project becomes
part of the transformation process. The productivity of the agricultural projects depends on
the effectiveness of the workers’ positions on the farms. Most of the respondents (75.2%) were
employed temporarily on the restitution projects. About 24.8% were permanently employed
beneficiaries as outlined during a focus group discussion with the CPA and the Ratombo land
restitution top management.
Skills development
Skills development is a key to transforming economic sustainability according to Matukane
(2011), who states that the objective of the training is to allow the nominated members
who are employees to completely manage the land as employees of the company for the
whole assistance and benefit of the company. The lack of the use of modern or indigenous
agricultural methods seems to be hampering their business further. Because of the floods in
137
2000, the land was returned to the Ratombo clan with a topsoil problem. They were not skilled
in enriching the soil once again after removing the topsoil from the floods.
Respondent Masindi, the HRM manager, stated that workers had no agriculture skills except
passed matric; only a few workers have tertiary education. In 2015, the Ratombo CPA committee
appointed a mentor, former owner of the farm, to assist them. However, their lack of skill and
proper business model makes it easier for easy manipulation by their mentor who assigns
work to specific companies so that he too may profit from them indirectly. The responses show
that the majority have a modest educational background. This observation corroborates
with the RSA (2005) guide of the Department of Agriculture that skills can be developed and
maintained through mentoring, training, education, and physical projects. The current
implementation of a project is possible through training, particularly the consolidation and
development of trained human resources and institutional capacities in terms of techniques
and skills necessary to assess and manage risks. Training involves the transfer of expertise and
knowledge and the development of appropriate skills and facilities.
Post settlement Support

Post settlement support has been unsuccessful. This case study shows that in the absence
of post-settlement support in grants and good preparation, the land reform beneficiaries
embark on those land-use initiatives with which they are most familiar. Little support for
Black smallholder farmers is on offer, and no land reform farms have been officially sub-
divided. The Ratombo community was funded with only ZAR 11.000.000 (eleven million Rand)
by the Department of Agriculture, and the amount was not enough to effectively make the
development sustainable. According to a former CPA chairperson, the beneficiaries did not
receive individual support services, although some beneficiaries received support services in
the workplace. The type of support that the Ratombo beneficiaries received was in protective
clothing, as is reflected by 25.5% of the workers; most of the workers did not mention the
support they got at the workplace. The widespread dissatisfaction with the slow pace of
land reform and its unwieldy mechanisms is likely to give rise to outbursts of protest. The
Recapitalization and Development Policy Programme (“Recap”) of 2014 replaced all previous
forms of funding for land reform, including settlement support grants for the restitution
beneficiaries. Recap beneficiaries must have partners recruited from the private sector as
mentors or “co-managers”, who write their business plans.
The Ratombo land restitution farmworkers request access to many services, such as financial
monitoring and assessment skills. The land restitution projects need support services for
the projects to be sustainable. Whilst land reform beneficiaries are supposed to get support,
people disagree on whether enough technical agricultural support is being offered to make
land reform successful.
Manenzhe (2008, p. 11) states that for the land restitution projects to operate for long periods,
they need to be supported financially, training for the beneficiaries, advisory services and
access to production inputs and infrastructure. These results agree with the points reported
138
by RSA (2005) that the role of government in land and rural support is to finance bulk
restructuring like irrigation equipment, also to continue to support and develop research,
markets, extension services and information for land and agrarian reform. For the farms to
grow adequately, proper funding is needed.
Environmental issues
Handelman (2009) stated that the transformation of agricultural development is also
controlled by good agricultural projects and environmentally friendly practices. Those
who are poor and hungry may be prone to harm or destroy their immediate environments to
survive. The impacts of land reform on production were worsened by the 2000 floods and the
cycle of wider economic decline. In 2016, the Ratombo project was affected by drought and
had problems with veld fires. If the environmental issues are well addressed, the project will
also be fruitful. The findings indicated that the Department of Agriculture aided the project
of the respondents. The findings further agree with the points stated by Matukane (2011) that
if the environment is protected, sustainability can be obtained. However, sustainability needs
to be achieved to exceed the maximum of its capacity for restoring its equilibrium. It may not
exclusively recover, and eventually, human beings will most likely not benefit from it.
Conclusion
The RSA government land reform initiatives have largely failed to bring transformation
measures for communities and farmers. This view is supported by Manenzhe (2007), specifying
on the statistics that at least 73% of restituted farmlands were fruitless, generating neither
food nor jobs.
This chapter has highlighted some key matters for Ratombo’s land question and economic
transformation. It has argued that the Ratombo restitution is critical to improving the
livelihoods of the intended beneficiaries. Failure to provide the support undermines the
developmental potential of land reform. This chapter, therefore, argues that access to land
should be complemented with the building of sound institutions at the local level with the
capacity to enable land reform beneficiaries to use their land and other resources efficiently
and effectively. Access to land should further be supported by providing support services
such as extensive advice, access to credit and access to affordable inputs. This case study
shows that despite the lack of necessary support, the economic transformation of Ratombo
projects is evident. If the farm administration fails, likely, the project may never succeed, and
consequences may be suffered. Consequences such as the lack of financial support, capacity
building, and environmental factors are now being addressed by a few community members,
using their very own limited resources at a very basic level.
The research results show that the average productivity of the restitution projects is low due
to low productivity and lack of support services from relevant stakeholders. The Ratombo
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restitution project has faced various financial difficulties. This project depended on
government grants and strategic partnerships appointed by the Department of Agriculture to
develop the production input (skill transfer, financial management, and farm management).
A sound smallholder strategy for South Africa is needed to improve the performance of land
reform and requires a vibrant change in operation. Whilst there is a group working hard to
succeed the farm, their experiences highlight the importance of external sources of finance,
whether from the State or a commercial partner. Therefore, interventions from the State when
it decides to become more involved should not eradicate those initiatives but rather find
ways to enhance them and increase their productivity. We share Lahiff (2003, p. 48) view that
if land reform meets its wider purposes, new ways will have to be found to transfer land on a
considerable scale and provide the required support services for a much broader landowner
group.
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Gendered vulnerability and adaptation

efforts to the health impacts of climate
change in a rural community in Limpopo
province, South Africa: A gendered
perspective
Sejabaledi A. Rankoana
sejabaledi.rankoana@ul.ac.za
Introduction
Climate change encompasses increases and decreases in temperature and shifts in
precipitation. These changes affect the environment that provides humans with clean air,
food, water, shelter, and security. Climate change threatens human health and well-being in
numerous ways, including water and food quality, with implications for human health. It is
assumed that vulnerability to these health impacts is gendered with the women as victims. This
is because women and men are shaped by their societal expectations, which affect their roles
in the economic and social spheres. This study’s focus is understanding the degree to which
women, as food and water producers and providers, are vulnerable to the health impacts of
change in temperature and precipitation patterns and their capacity to adapt to the change in
terms of their cultural roles and expectations.
A qualitative study was conducted with 89 women from a rural community in Limpopo province,
South Africa. The study results show that the women are aware of changing temperature
and precipitation patterns. The women’s cultural obligations as food and water providers
make them more vulnerable to various health disorders due to changing temperature and
precipitation patterns. However, they are predisposed to a shortage of water and food, which
is a health risk for malaria infections, diarrhoea, cholera and dysentery, and poverty and
malnutrition. These conditions undermine women hygiene and sanitation, which negatively
affects maternal health and economic productivity. The women have developed indigenous
mitigation and adaptation practices, which they use to cope with food and water insecurity,
such as adjustment of subsistence crop production practices and rainwater harvesting. This
study concludes that the gendered cultural responsibilities assigned to women are major
contributory factors to the health impacts of climate change. The study suggests integrating
the women’s knowledge of ecological change and adaptation practices into climate policies
to understand adaptation behaviour brought about by gendered vulnerability to the health
impacts of temperature and rainfall variations.
142
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) reports that climate change
encompasses both increases and decreases in temperature and shifts in precipitation. These
changes affect the environment that provides humans with clean air, food, water, shelter, and
security. Climate change threatens human health and well-being in numerous ways, including
changes that affect water and food quality with implications for human health.
The present study is motivated by the Commission on the Status of Women’s (2008) assumption
that men and women are differently vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to the
nature of their role and position in society, access to resources and the ability to cope with the
effects of climate change. The study is not a comparative study but a description of how the
women’s socio-economic roles as food and water producers and providers, predispose them
to the health impacts of climate change and the indigenous adaptation practices the women
use to cope with the negative health impacts. The study was conducted in a rural community
in Limpopo Province, South Africa, following Midgley et al. (2007) and Babugura (2011)
observations that South African water, agriculture, forestry, biodiversity and ecosystems,
human health and rural livelihoods are expected to be impacted negatively by climate change.
Madzwamuse (2010) and Ziervogel et al. (2014) affirm the observations mentioned above
that South African projected climate change shows an increase in temperature with reduced
rainfall whose health impacts include depletion of water sources and biodiversity, soil erosion
and decreased subsistence production (Kruger and Sekele, 2012). These observations justify
the apparent disproportionate gendered impacts of climate change. Women are mostly
affected by a lack of safe water and food to maintain their health and well-being (Babugura,
2014). There is a general observation that women are mostly affected by the negative impacts
of increased temperatures with little or no rainfall. This is because of their cultural obligations
and socio-economic status, especially the poor who depend on subsistence agriculture and
natural water resources for household consumption (Davis, 2008).
Babugura (2014) supports that women are expected to be more vulnerable than men to the
impacts of climate change. This is because the majority of them are the poorest and most
disadvantaged groups in society. Sorensen et al. (2018) posit that temperature and rainfall
variations impact health, including exposure to heat, poor air quality, extreme weather events,
reduced water quality, and decreased food security, affecting men and women differently
depending on location and socio-economic factors.
The South African National Climate Response Policy (2009) reports that drought and increased
temperatures are expected to increase the intensity of climate change, negatively impacting
food and water amongst the poor, especially women and girls who rely on rain-fed agriculture.
Extreme weather, increased incidence of disease, and growing food and water insecurity –
disproportionately affect the world’s 1.3 billion poor, the majority of whom are women (Alam
et al., 2015). This observation corroborates Buechler’s (2009) report that low-income women
in agricultural communities are amongst the poorest people —the most vulnerable to the
negative impacts of environmental change. Poverty and climate change are closely related
because the poorest and most disadvantaged groups, especially women and girls, tend to
depend on climate-sensitive livelihoods, predisposing them to climate change (Human
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Sciences Research Council, 2004). The World Health Organisation (WHO, 2010) adds that women
in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to climate change because they are highly
dependent on local natural resources for their livelihood. For DEA, 2018) and the South African
National Botanical Institute [SANBI], 2011), increased demand for safe and quality water
may negatively impact women, girls, and elders’ health and well-being. These support the
United Nations Framework Convention on climate change [NFCCC], (2007) version that women,
especially those in poverty, are vulnerable to the health impacts of climate change because
of their distinct health needs, such as the provision of food and reproduction. Babugura (2014)
concludes that food and water are the basic elements of health and the basis for women›s
livelihoods.
The women’s vulnerability to the health impacts of climate change is determined by biology
and the social roles and responsibilities assigned to them by their culture (Easterling, 2000).
The IPCC (2007) reports that exposure to changes in the environment varies across individuals
depending on their cultural roles and responsibilities. The United Nations Development Plan
for Nepal (2009) adds that women are dependent on natural resources for securing their
livelihoods through their responsibilities for family farming, collecting water and biomass
for energy. In developing countries, women are often in charge of obtaining water, firewood,
and other resources for their families. Still, these resources are directly impacted by climate
change, meaning that women must travel further and work longer hours to access the
resources during a crisis (WHO, 2010). From the IPCC’s (2007) reports, it is noted that based on
the inequalities associated with socially constructed gender roles, women are more affected
by the impacts of climate change. Social and cultural norms, gendered division of labour,
physical mobility, and entitlement to decision-making processes at both the household and
community levels are additional risk factors (WEDO, 2007). Mainlay and Tan (2012) add that
gender inequality in the context of climate change affects existing behaviours and relations
and can induce adverse changes in gender relations. For example, women are primarily
responsible for fetching drinking water and providing food for their families. During times
of crisis, the women’s workloads increase because more time and effort are required to fulfil
these duties.
Adaptation to the health impacts of climate change is possible because the women’s
social roles and potential for agency afford opportunities for promoting solutions to
sustainability, disaster risk reduction and solutions to health threats (Sorensen et al., 2018).
Local communities have a collective wealth of knowledge about indigenous mitigation and
adaptation strategies to cope with climate change (Masipa, 2017). For Okonya and Kroschel
(2013), weather forecasting is an important mitigation practice in the rural communities
of Tanzania, where people observe the behaviour of plants, animals and birds to predict the
weather. Okonya and Kroschel (2013) add that elders’ adaptation and mitigation decisions
are based on predictions made by observing stars, winds and cloud patterns, the behaviour
of specific wild animals, or some plants’ flowering. These indigenous early warning methods
help many communities project the upcoming rains and their intensity and influence how the
communities prepare themselves to adapt to the extreme weather events (Sithole et al., 2016).
These indigenous adaptive practices address the underlying causes of vulnerability, lack of
empowerment, and weaknesses in health care, education, social safety nets and gender equity
(Kronik and Verner, 2010). Additionally, local farmers, especially women, ensure food security
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through mulching to moderate soil temperature, crop diversification and planting short-
season crops to minimise the risk of poor production (Nyong et al., 2007).
For the IPCC (2007), adaptation practices can differ in geography and natural resources,
types of livelihood activities, and different environmental systems, social-cultural practices,
beliefs, norms, histories, and politics. All of these factors shape localised constructions
of environmental risk and the decisions to cope with risks. Alam et al. (2015) confirm that
women contribute to adaptation and mitigation efforts in many parts of the world by creating
innovative and localised solutions to build resilient communities. The present study describes
women’s perceptions of climate changes and their health threats to their capacity to sustain
their health and well-being. Specific objectives are to describe the women’s perception of
climate variation, its health impacts on the women as food and water producers and providers,
and the indigenous adaptation practices used by the women to ensure food and water security.
The study provides evidence-based findings on the health impacts of environmental change
and their gender dynamics. This type of enquiry can support the development of culturally
appropriate responses to environmental change, thus acknowledging the significance
of spirituality and sense of place in natural resource management decision-making
whilst supporting indigenous decision-making structures to respond to the complexity of
contemporary challenges (Babugura, 2014). Alam et al. (2015) suggest that as the world
struggles to grapple with rapid-onset disasters and respond to slower degradation caused
by climate change, it is critical to ensure that the plight of women is firmly on the agenda of
concerns and that women from different backgrounds can lead in negotiations and participate
in the design and implementation of climate change programs.
The women are instrumental in organising themselves and others around environmental
issues for sustainable development (Dankelman, 2002). The UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC, 2007) reports that a gendered action plan is necessary to incorporate
a gendered perspective in all elements of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The
Sendai Framework supports this plan for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015), which recognises
women as important stakeholders in risk reduction. The women’s efforts to reduce health risks
fall within the scope of community-based adaptation to environmental change focused on a
community-led process, based on communities’ priorities, needs, knowledge and capacities
(Reid et al., 2009). This approach requires environmental and health practitioners to explore
environmental change impacts and responses in partnership with communities, drawing
out local knowledge and understanding the complex relationship between the climate and
livelihoods.
Despite observations that climate change impacts mostly on the health and well-being of
women, international dialogue around climate change has only recently begun to address the
gendered dimensions of climate change and recognise the role women could play as agents
of change and solutions holders. The UNFCCC (1992) acknowledged that women were more
vulnerable to the effects of climate change. It further recognised the disproportionate impact
of environmental change on women and their role in the negotiations by improving their
participation in the decision-making process to combat effectively, mitigate, and adapt to
climate change. This was a historic decision because it was the first time the COP21 negotiations
in Paris specifically addressed the importance of increasing women’s participation in climate
change programmes.
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Methods and materials
Study Area
Mogalakwena community falls within Mogalakwena Local Municipality. The community is
one of the rural communities surrounding Rebone Town. The area falls within the summer
rainfall region of Limpopo province, with the rainy season lasting from November to March.
The average rainfall is 600-650 mm. The rainfall period occurs from November to February.
The highest rainfall occurs in January and December. The average rainfall declines from
east to west. Thunderstorms are recorded fairly often. Hail and fog are infrequent. The area
generally experiences a hot semi-arid climate. Summer days are hot, with temperatures
varying between 28°-34° C in October to March. Summer night temperatures are hot to mild,
varying between 16°-21°C. The winter day temperatures are mild to warm, varying between
19.6°-25.2° C in April to September. Winter nights are cold with temperatures of 4.3°-12.1° C
(Mogalakwena Local Municipality Integrated Development Plan (IDP), 2018/2019).
Environmental challenges are inadequate sanitation systems, erratic rainfall, drought

and inconsistent water supply, whilst the mines and industrial activities negatively affect
underground water quality. Climate change has a significant impact on food availability,
accessibility and stability. It also poses a significant risk of increased crop failure, loss of
livestock and impact on local food security. Land use ranges from residential, subsistence
farming and livestock holdings. The largest veld types are as follows: Arid Sweet Bushveld,
Mixed Bushveld, Sourish Mixed Bushveld, Sourish Bushveld, Pietersburg Plateau False
Grassveld, Springbok Flats Turf Thornveld, and North-Eastern Mountain Sourveld. The
vegetation is not static and tends to change over time (improve or deteriorate). The main
causes for these changes are climatic changes (e.g. rainfall) and over utilisation (overgrasing)
(Mogalakwena Local Municipality Integrated Development Plan (IDP), 2018/2019).
Socio-economic life
The community is rural, and settlement occurs in blocks of houses with proper planning and
the provision of basic household infrastructure. The residential area comprises demarcated
housing stands with a block of demarcated ploughing fields on a flatter and red-sandy area
(Statistics South Africa, 2017). Education levels are low, as income earned by low-skilled
labourers is lower than income earned by highly skilled workers, which suggests that the
general population is poor. Over the years, there has been a steady decline in the number of
persons who have not received formal education. The percentage of persons with no schooling
has decreased from 15% in 2001 to 9% in 2011, whilst those with education higher than grade
12 has increased from 3% in 2001 to 5% in 2011. Most of the individuals without schooling
were females. One of the key social problems facing the community is poverty. Unemployment
estimates are between 45% and 70% of the economically active population. According to
Census 2011, of the 78 647 economically active (employed or unemployed but looking for work)
people in the district, 40, 2% were unemployed. The unemployment rate of Mogalakwena is
almost double that of the other municipalities in the district. This could be attributed to a
reduction in mining activities in recent years. The majority of unemployed women provide
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food for their households by producing subsistence crops in the home gardens (Statistics South
Africa, 2017). The major economic activity is subsistence farming, which confirms women’s
cultural roles and obligations of procuring food and water.
Despite having electricity, most households continue to use firewood to cut their electricity
costs and sell to others. The community members collect wood to sell amongst themselves for
cooking and major events such as funerals and parties and sell to schools. The government
nutrition programmes require that the schools cook for their learners (Mogalakwena Local
Municipality Integrated Development Plan[IDP], 2018/2019). Mogalakwena community
members are borehole dependent on water supply. Most of the boreholes are owned by
community members. Borehole water levels are shallow, salty and sometimes come out with
rust particles. The water quality of the borehole water is seriously impacted by water pollution,
causing water contamination in underground water (Mogalakwena Local Municipality
Integrated Development Plan [IDP], 2018/2019).
Research question
The main research questions were:
1. What is your understanding of climate change?

2. How does it affect your cultural roles and responsibilities as a food and water
provider?
3. Which indigenous practices do you apply to ensure food and water availability,
accessibility and quality?
Study Design
A qualitative study was conducted to examine women’s discernments of change in climatic
conditions and their health impacts and the indigenous adaptation practices used to adjust
to the health hazards.
Study Population
The target population was the women in the Mogalakwena community. A sample of 98
households was purposely selected. The selection criterion was in terms of age, which was
restricted to age 30 years and above. Another criterion was the women whose roles and
responsibilities are to provide for their family needs, including water and food as basic
elements of health. A larger sample (n = 89) was used to obtain diverse responses about the
women’s climate change discernment, health impacts, and adaptation practices.
Data collection and analysis

Data for this study were obtained from primary sources. This was achieved through the use of
a semi-structured interview schedule. Data were collected through direct interactions with
the women. Semi-structured interviews were conducted through focus group discussions.
Eleven focus group discussions were conducted with women of the years between 30 and
90. The responses provided were captured in a notebook and an audio recorder. Data were
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transcribed to facilitate qualitative analysis. A thematic content analysis of data was used by
identifying common themes and issues, repetitive and conflicting themes from the responses.
Quality criteria
The ethical authorisation was obtained from the host institution. The local authorities
allowed the researcher to conduct the interviews in the community. The women consented
to participate in the study by signing the consent form, and their names and identities remain
nameless throughout the study. Completeness and reliability of collected data were obtained
through data analyses with the women, who clarified inconsistencies, errors and data gaps.
Results
Women’s socio-economic characteristics

Table 1. Socio-economic characteristics of the women
Characteristic Number of Participants

Age
Up to 39 13
40-49 25
50-59 20
60- 89 17
90 and above 14
Education
Illiterate 5
Education below grade 12 17
Grade 12 52
Diploma 15
Household size
1-5 68
6-10 21
Type of shelter
Hut 2
Shack 1
Modern brick house 86
Household monthly income and source
Social grant (less than R1600) 18
Salary (less than R3000) 26
Salary (more than R3000) 20
Other sources (less than R1000) 16
Other sources (More than R1000) 9
Head of the family 29
Not head of the family 60
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The majority (28%) are aged between 40 and 49 years, followed by 22% between 50 and 59.
There are fewer (5%) women without formal education. The majority (58%) obtained Grade 12.
Many (76%) women belonging to households with 1 and 5 and fewer (24%) have a membership
of between 6 and 10 members. The women (20%) depend on social grants and a monthly salary
(22%) of more than R3000. 23% of the women depend on money derived from other sources.
Most women (97%) live in modern brick houses with fewer huts and shacks. All the women are
permanent residents of the Mogalakwena community, with about 67% living in male-headed
households and the rest (33%) living in female-headed households.
Women’s cultural obligations and vulnerability

This section describes the cultural roles of women as food and water providers and producers.
A summary of the responses is that:
We are the major food producers and providers for our families. Most
of the food provided for our families is produced through subsistence
crop production in the home gardens. The crops are produced in the
home gardens for a sustainable supply of vegetables, porridge and fruits
throughout the year. These are processed to provide porridge, which is the
staple starch, vegetables and fruits. The crops are cultivated in the home
gardens in summer, subsequent to the first rain, usually between the end
of September to the beginning of October. Some of the crops we produce
recently include the following:
Millet (Pennisetum spicuntum Koern and vars). Family: Gramineae.

Vernacular: Leotsa. Although it is vulnerable to granivorous birds, which
feed on immature cobs resulting in a poor harvest, it is the most preferred
crop. We harvest matured cobs, threshed, winnowed and store the seeds for
future use. The meal is prepared by grinding the grain.
Cow-pea (Vigna sinensis Endb). Family: Leguminosae. Vernacular: Monawa.

Cow-pea is the most important legume produced in the community. The
tender leaves are used to prepare a palatable side dish that is eaten fresh or
dried. The dry pods are prepared as whole-grain stew or side-dish. Storage
of this side dish is possible. It could be dried in the sun and stored for future
consumption.
Kaffir melon (Citrullus vulgaris Schrad Ex. E. and Z.). Family: Cucurbitaceae.
Vernacular: Morotse. We use matured fruit to prepare a traditional dish
called kgodu. The dish is prepared by slicing the inside of the fruit, which is
cooked with maise meal and sugar. Kgodu is relished with the dried seeds
obtained when the fruit is sliced. It is also relished with milk. Tender leaves
make a palatable dish relished with porridge. The product could be dried in
the sun and stored for future use.
149
Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.). Family: Cucurbitaceae. Vernacular: Mofodi/

Morotse. The young, tender leaves are prepared to make a side dish. The
leaves are sometimes stabilised by a mixture of the leaves of Theepe
(Amaranthus thunbergii) and Monyaku (Cucumis etticenus). The side dish
could be dried, stored and eaten during the time of food scarcity. The ripe
fruit is sliced, boiled and eaten raw. The seeds are fried and eaten with
porridge.
As water providers:
We are in charge of providing water for our household consumption. The

main water resources are the Mogalakwena River and private boreholes.
We ensure that water is always available, so all the family members should
have enough water to bathe every morning and evening before bed. The
water is also required to enable us to keep our houses neat always. We do
laundry twice or more in a week to keep our family members neat all the
time. We need water to maintain our families’ hygiene all the time.
Perceptions of climate change

When asked about awareness of climate change, twenty-three participants
Noted:
There is a decrease in rainfall. Rainfall is no longer satisfactory.
Responses from forty-four women were that:
We started experiencing a change in rainfall and temperatures since

the year 1990. Rainfall has become scarce and unpredictable. There is a
noticeable change in the timing of rainfall. Recently it came late and makes
the rainy season shorter. The delay in rainfall makes it intermittent.
Ten elderly women reported:
We noticed a decrease in rainfall about 30 years ago, and that was the
last time we had good rainfall. Since that time, rain has become erratic.
Recently we experienced rainfall in winter. We have started experiencing
an intermittent drought.
Forty-five women mentioned:
In present times, summer is hotter than it was 30 years ago. There are
increased hotter days because winter has become warmer and shorter.
Winter is warm instead of cold and has little precipitation.
Nine elderly women noticed:
150
The seasons are beginning to be shorter because of short winter, longer

warm days and short rainfall season. We observe strong winds when we
expect rainfall.
89 % of the women mentioned indications of erratic rainfall and increased temperatures:
We lose livestock and obtain poor production of subsistence crops.
Other women (6 elders) mentioned the change of seasons as an observable change in climate
conditions. The responses were:
Summer is becoming longer with shorter winter.
Twenty-six women reported weather predictions.
Changing climatic conditions are signalled by the changing positions of

stars, the sun and the moon. For instance, a shiny moon signals a lack of
rainfall. In winter, the sun is positioned towards the north and the south in
summer. Any change in these positions signals climatic disasters such as
little rainfall with thunders. This prediction is high in the months of June and
July. This can be done on any of the days in these months. The appearance
of clouds indicates a high probability of rainfall. We also use the behaviour
of plants to predict the next season. For instance, the abundance of fruits of
Mohlopi [Uapaca kirkiana] signals a good season with abundant rainfall.
Six elderly women supported:
We use the appearance of the moon in the sky to predict the seasons. When
the moon is very bright, it indicates that we have approached the winter
season with little or no precipitation.
Additional predictions were:
Asthma, flu, cough and fever are other weather forecasters. The presence of these ailments in
humans signifies cold conditions, windy and humidity. Excessive heat and warming towards
the end of the dry season indicate a higher likelihood of rainfall, whilst high temperatures
during the night indicate a likelihood of rainfall. Strong and swirl (sesasedi) winds indicate
forthcoming rainfall onset, whilst lightning characterises a short rainfall spell.
The health impacts of climate change

The women were asked to describe how rainfall changes and increased temperature impact
their roles and responsibilities as food producers and providers, and water providers for
household consumption.
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Health impacts of rainfall variation

Food insecurity
The women have mentioned that the most remarkable health impact of climate change is
food insecurity. The provision of food is mainly through subsistence crop production, which is
currently characterised by poor production due to scarce rainfall patterns. The women with
little education qualification, those obtaining little income, and the elders reported that
subsistence crops are the main source of food security. The food bought from the retails is
consumed as supplementary to subsistence crops. Women have this to say:
We used to produce nutritious subsistence crops produced from our home

gardens and fields. We had enough to provide for our families throughout the
year. The production of subsistence crops is recently poor under the current
unpredictable rainfall patterns. Rainfall is scarce. We produce little, poor
quality crops which supplement the food we buy from supermarkets. This
is also a challenge to elderly people who prefer subsistence crops because
they believe that they are more nutritious than food from retail stores. Our
well-being has recently changed. We associate scarcity of food with poverty,
poor health and well-being. Reduced production of crops is exacerbating
hunger and malnutrition associated with marasmus and kwashiorkor in
children.
Water insecurity
Thirteen participants reported:
We need clean water for cooking, washing, bathing and cleaning. Lack of
clean water is affecting our health conditions badly. Our personal hygiene
is compromised as we do not have reliable water sources for household
consumption. We are unable to sustain the hygiene status required for
our households due to a lack of clean water supply. The river water is
contaminated due to a lack of recharge from rainfall. The most common
disease which attacks us when we consume contaminated water is cholera
and dysentery. Sometimes children bathe in the river, which predisposes
them to diseases such as bilharzia, diarrhoea, cholera and red-eyes.
Ten participants reported:
Many people are infected by cholera and dysentery because they consumed
contaminated water. These conditions are prevalent in our community.
Warmer temperatures accelerate the rate at which stored and stagnant
water purifies.
Twenty-five women reported:
As women, we need enough clean water for bathing, washing, cooking and
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cleaning. Lack of enough water compromises our families’ hygiene.
Health and well-being impacts of increased temperature

The women agreed that:
Recently summer is hotter than it was about 30 years ago. This type of
weather makes us vulnerable to diseases such as heat stress, swollen body,
headache, fatigue, dizziness, and hypertension. The heat restricts our
movement to fetch water from distant places.
Adaptation practices
When asked about the indigenous practices the women use to ensure sustainable production
of subsistence crops, the responses were:
Weather forecasting
The women mentioned that:
Estimating a season with or without rainfall helps us prepare ourselves

for the next season. Preparations for a good season, a season with enough
rainfall, embrace preparation of the fields, seeds and early planting. A bad
season is prepared by manuring the soil, mulching and harvesting rainwater.
Soil preparation
Of all the women, 83 reported:
We use the kraal manure, garden residue and kitchen waste to fertilise
and improve soil productivity. These materials are tilled into the soil and
watered to improve the soil fertility and moisture content.
Crop diversification
Responses from all women were that:
The growing of crops generally commences after the first rain has fallen.
In the past fifteen years, we used to receive enough rain to enable us to
plant the home- gardens. Recently, with unpredictable rainfall, we produce
millet, beans and melons from our home gardens because these crops
are short-seasoned and drought resistant. We plant the seeds of the crops
preserved from the previous harvest, but sometimes we buy the millet, nuts
and melons seeds from the retails. We mix all the seeds in one container
and spread them evenly all over the garden. This pattern of planting makes
simultaneous growth of all the crops in the gardens and maximises a better
153
production for the provision of vegetables, fruits and other products.
Preservation
The most common preservation practice reported by the women is sun-drying of the beans,
nuts and seeds to preserve the materials for future use.
The women reported:
We collect the fresh, tender leaves of Vigna sinensis, Citrullus and Cucurbita
pepo and put them in the sun to dry off. This process makes it easy for us to
preserve them for future use. Sometimes the cooked leaves are spread on
the steel sheets and put in the sun to dry off. The dried materials are stored
in plastic bags and buckets. The seeds of millet are mixed with the ash of
sekgopha (Aloe ferrox) for prevention against weevils. The seeds could be
stored for up to three years.
The women reported that water security is ensured by:
Rainwater harvesting and storage: Storage tanks and buckets are put at strategic points to
harvest rainwater.
Buying:
Our main challenge with polluted water in the river and decreasing
household borehole water levels is overcome by buying water from
households with strong borehole output. The water costs $1/4 per 25l
carried in tubs and wheelbarrowed for a long distance from the borehole to
the household.
Thirty-four women reported that:
We buy water from households with boreholes. We need the energy to walk
a distance of about half a kilometre carrying water in wheelbarrows. Longer
distances and increased time to look for water often lead to our inability to
satisfy other household responsibilities such as working in the fields.
Discussion
The study examined women’s perception of climate change and its health impacts, their
vulnerability status as food and water producers and providers, and the indigenous
adaptation practices used to ensure food and water security. The findings indicate that
women are the main food and water providers. These are their main cultural roles and
responsibilities. Food and water are essential elements of good health and well-being. The
provision of these has changed due to less rainfall and increased temperatures. The women
demonstrate a clear discernment about the change in climatic conditions, manifesting as an
154
increase in temperature and scarce rainfall. A notable discernment is a change in the onset
and availability of rainfall by more than 70% of the women. The women reported occasional
observable rainfall, increased temperature patterns since the year 1990. These changes are
believed to result from changing seasons: short and warm winters, long warm days, and short
rainfall seasons. Seasonal changes are supported by unusual appearance, disappearance, and
celestial bodies’ behaviour important in rainfall prediction. Lebel et al. (2017) supported this
type of weather forecasting that gender may shape perceptions of change and risk insofar as
these designate people’s place and power in communities and shape their livelihood practices
and access to resources. According to Chaudhary and Bawa (2011), the local community’s
perceptions of climate change involve the awareness that their climate had changed and
negatively affected their health and well-being. Bahal, Ansah, Boroto, Nkegbe, Deridder,
Akita, Kahinda, Nortje, Nohayi, Budaza, and Mavundla (2018) support that awareness of
changing temperature and rainfall conditions is enabled by community members’ ecological
knowledge.
The women without secondary education qualification, the least income earners and elders,
and those responsible for more than five family members find it difficult to satisfy their
families’ food requirements. These women are more vulnerable to the impacts of rainfall
scarcity, as they try other means such as buying food from retailers to ensure the production
and provision of food for their families. The Commission supports these observations on the
Status of Women (2008) that gender norms, roles and relations determine vulnerability to the
health impacts of climate change.
Babugura (2014) shows that in South Africa, gender-differentiated impacts of climate
variability are manifested in women’s cultural roles and responsibilities. The WHO (2010)
confirms that the women’s roles and responsibilities place an extra burden on them under
climate threats. Alam et al. (2015) agree that women and men often do different work and have
differentiated access to resources and information, which may exacerbate their vulnerability
to the impacts of climate change, leaving the women responsible for managing households
even when they are not culturally perceived as heads of household.
The women’s socio-economic conditions exacerbate their vulnerability to climate change. The
use of shacks and mud-huts is a sign of poverty due to higher rates of unemployment, lack of
basic education and lesser family income, which predispose the women to poverty and poor
well-being. Lancet (2018), Chersich and Wright (2019) corroborate that in South Africa, many
citizens are unemployed and over half of them live below the poverty line.
The availability, quality and accessibility of food are dependable upon favourable
environmental conditions. The main observation from the study is that rising temperature
with decreased rainfall constrains subsistence crop production, which is the main food
source and a basic determinant of good health and well-being. Subsistence crop production is
characterised by little, poor quality production supplemented by procuring exotic retail food.
Food insecurity is the main health impact of scarce rainfall negatively affecting the women’s,
elders’ and children’s health and well-being. Poor production of subsistence crops is putting
stress on women as food providers for their households. Failure to provide food for one’s
155
family, coupled with the cost of exotic food, exacerbate hunger and malnutrition associated
with marasmus and kwashiorkor. This situation is similar to Zimbabwean rural communities
that experience hunger and malnutrition due to persistent drought (Gasana et al., 2011).
Pachauri and Reisinger (2007) maintain that climate change affects women’s health through
various mechanisms, including disruptions of agricultural ecosystems and depletion of water
resources. Haque et al. (2012) support that weather and climate affect key determinants
of human health, mainly food resources. Makina and Moyo (2016) agree that women and
girls disproportionately suffer health consequences of nutritional deficiencies and carry an
additional burden of travelling further to collect wild vegetables.
Kabir et al. (2016) add that local communities are aware of deteriorating health and well-
being conditions as food production declines due to decreased rainfall. Mugambiwa and
Tirivangasi (2017) attest that food security is under threat, with crop yields likely to decline in
subsistence food production.
In the study, the women do not have access to safe drinking water due to prolonged rainfall
scarcity with increased temperature patterns. The women’s health conditions changed with
an increased lack of reliable rainfall resulting in partial drought responsible for decreased
water levels in the river and boreholes.
The study reports compromised women’s hygiene, cholera, and dysentery due to a lack of
safe drinking water. Myers et al. (2011) support this finding that climate change affects the
fundamental requirements for health, mostly safe drinking water. Alam et al. (2015) observe
that prolonged periods without adequate rainfall may cause drought, resulting in a shortage
of safe water. Kabir et al. (2016) add that local communities are aware of deteriorating health
and well-being conditions as freshwater becomes scarce. The negative climate impacts on
water resources have diverse effects on women’s health (Abedin, 2019) as an inadequate water
supply for drinking, bathing and farming accelerates ill-health and poor living conditions.
The risk of diarrhoea, cholera and skin diseases increases with change in precipitation
patterns that compromise freshwater supply (BIRDEM, 2012). Water scarcity compromises
hygiene, particularly for women and girls, who may need it for purposes uncommon to men,
especially during pregnancy and menstruation (Alam et al., 2015). Lack of adequate access
to safe water and sanitation is a key factor in maternal and child mortality. It is dramatically
more pronounced in rural settings susceptible to rainfall and temperature variations (Centre
for Scientific and Industrial Research [CSIR], 2010). The obligation to travel further for water
makes the women prone to stress-related illnesses and exhaustion (WHO, 2010). In the study,
the women are aware that temperature increased instantly with less rainfall predictability.
This situation places them susceptible to heat-related ill-health conditions, including stroke
and dizziness. The heat also restricts their movement to fulfil their cultural obligations as food
and health care providers.
Further observations from the study results are that the prediction of the seasons is done
through observance of the appearance and the behaviour of plants and animals and celestial
bodies, which are used as adaptation practices to the health impacts of climate change. In
the study, the women use their indigenous adaptation practices to ensure the sustainable
production of subsistence crops, which fulfil basic dietary requirements. The practices
156
reported include soil preparation, which is accomplished by using garden residues and
refusing to fertilise and improve soil fertility and moisture content. Crop diversification is
practised to maximise opportunities for a good harvest. The women plant together the seeds
to ensure the simultaneous growth of all the crops in the garden.
Okonya and Kroschel (2013) support that local communities and farmers developed a rich
knowledge base of predicting climatic and weather events based on observations of animals,
plants and celestial bodies used as climate change mitigation and adaptation practices. The
use of weather forecasts and adaptation measures is similar to the weather forecasts used to
make crop and livestock production decisions, conserve the environment, and deal with other
natural disasters (Alam et al., 2015; Egeru 2012).
The planting adopted by the women is corroborated by Bahal et al. (2018) that crop
diversification minimises the risk of harvest. The soil conservation practices adopted in the
study are similar to the Himalayan farmers’ soil moisture conservation through ploughing and
compressing of the fields in winter (Negi et al., 2013). Similarly, Benin farmers use indigenous
adaptation practices such as animal manure and extensive cropping systems to enhance crop
productivity (Saïdou et al., 2007). Another observation from the study results is that the women
preserved crops and seeds to maintain future food security and further cultivation. This type of
indigenous preservation strategy is named by Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) (2009)
as the trusted means of preserving crop plant materials for future use.
Boakye-Achampong et al. (2012) affirm that women have a unique base of experience and
knowledge that can increase the productivity of smallholder agriculture and contribute to
household food security. The women’s crop production practices increase the quantity of
food available to their households and reduce household food insecurity and susceptibility
to poverty and malnutrition (Baburuga, 2012). For Alam et al. (2015), the women are powerful
agents whose knowledge, skills and innovative ideas support the efforts to combat the effects
of climate on through their adaptation and mitigation efforts to build resilient communities.
Based on these efforts, the Nepal government created a climate change Policy in 2011 that
supports the engagement and participation of women in the implementation of climate
change-related programming (USAID, 2010; Sudeshna, 2011). The African Development Bank
(2009) concludes that the women’s ability to serve as precursors in climate change adaptation
and prevention is critical to the country’s food supply and economic efficiency.
Rainwater harvesting and storage is the most common water security system used to
ensure sustainable water availability, accessibility and use in the study. The women’s major
challenge is the lack of safe drinking water, which forces them to buy water from their
neighbours with boreholes. The women are aware of their compromised health conditions as
it is a challenge to provide clean water to bathe, clean, drink and wash regularly. The women
adaptation strategies to water security are supported by the UNFCCC (2007) observations that
many women in developing countries are expected to face shortages of water and food as
risks to health and life due to climate change. Skinner (2011) notes that because women are
predominantly in charge of unpaid household chores and caregiving in less economically
developed countries, especially in rural communities, their health and well-being are directly
affected by water insecurity brought about by the negative impacts of climate change. Pearl-
157
Martinez et al. (2012) report that in Haiti, women are designated with responsibilities that
require more time as a result of climate-related food and water shortage perpetuating the
cycle of poverty and their continued marginalisation (climate Change Gender Action Plans
[ccGAPs], 2015). Alam et al. (2015) confirm that livelihood scarcity leaves the women to head
households without the social stature or material resources. As they travel greater distances
to collect the resources to support themselves and their families, they are more prone to attack
and abuse. The adaptation practices adopted by the women to cope with food and water
shortage are referred to as secondary prevention measures to lessen the impacts of climate
change by Myers et al. (2011).
Conclusion
The main health impacts of climate change affecting women are unavailability and
inaccessibility of quality food and safe drinking water. The women and their families are
vulnerable to poor health and well-being because they lack these basic elements of health
care. As food and water providers, the women’s cultural obligations grapple with the
negative impacts of increased temperatures with less precipitation to ensure availability,
accessibility of quality food and water. They lack basic resources for household consumption,
which compromises their hygiene and well-being. Increased temperature, unpredictable
rainfall, depletion of food and water resources negatively impact the women’s well-being
and threaten their ability to provide for themselves and their families. As the food and water
resources decline, the women use the indigenous adaptive practices to ensure safe drinking
water and food for their families. The adaptive practices are indigenous and community-
based. Similarly, food security practices are not sustainable as subsistence crop production is
reliant on rainfall. These indigenous mitigations and adaptation practices are relevant to the
women’s social roles and responsibilities as the providers of household needs.
This study makes a significant contribution towards the understanding of the health impacts
of climate change. It provides a roadmap for the inclusion of women’s voices in developing
and implementing climate adaptation policies. This should create a space for women already
working to combat, mitigate, and adapt to the effects of climate change, as suggested by the
Climate Change Gender Action Plans to include women in climate mitigation and adaptation
programmes. South Africa, like several states, should design national frameworks to limit the
negative impacts of climate change and promote women’s activities to address the gendered
dimensions of climate change. The main objective is to integrate gender issues in mitigation
and adaptation efforts to minimise risks to women and ensure that women are included in
decision-making to promote their participation in climate change adaptation programmes.
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Social media distorting and corrupting

the African traditional child
development agenda
Christopher Rwodzi
Tshwane University of Technology
RwodziC@tut.ac.za
&
Itani Peter Mandende
MandendeIP@tut.ac.za
&
Mary Makgato
MakgatoMM@tut.ac.za
Introduction
Digital literacies on social media distort and corrupt our African traditional child development
with information that contradicts our values and beliefs. While some linguists have condemned
some of the out-of-school digital literacy practices as ‘wrecking’ our languages and pillaging
the vocabulary, it remains a challenge for cultural practices to be enforced. Texting, audio
and video recording are digital literacy practices providing access to unedited versions
of information corrupting our children. This chapter explores the violations, distortions
and corrupt tendencies in the out-of-school digital practices savaging child development
procedures. Qualitative research design-based interviews were used to understand cultural
practices, violations and the impact of connectivism and networking in the African child
development context. Critical issues to be reviewed include access to unsuitable content,
addiction to cyber habits, failure to adhere to parental guidance, connection to undesirable
cultural practices in other parts of the world and distortion of cultural protocol.
Technological development leading to the widespread use of social media has led to
complaints on perceived abuse of language. Pillaging, distorting and violating cultural
practice has become a common feature within and across generations the world over. This
chapter reviews the impact of social media on child development in sub-Saharan Africa. Short
message services, Telegram, WhatsApp text messages, audio and video, Twitter and Instagram
and other social media connections have become a common means of communication for
parents and their children. Whilst this form of communication for most of us has become
a substitute for letter writing, screaming, smoke or fire lighting, drum beating, traditional
representation, this new form of communication disrupts our formal language writing system
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and communication channels. This chapter explores the impact of social media on child
development in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. It will draw examples from Setswana,
Tshivenda and ChiShona cultures. The discussion reflects on observations from teachers and
lecturers regarding the challenge of cultural practices by the techno-savvy generation. It will
also discuss the observations of parents who complain that their children do not take matters
relating to their cultural upbringing. It also examines unfamiliar cultural practices that the
children often display due to borrowing from cyber communication practices. Finally, the
chapter briefly reviews the African traditional child development education programme and
reflects on Christian perspectives regarding child development.
African traditional child development perspectives
African traditional approach

This section discusses the traditional notion of child development in the traditional African
society in communication. According to Peresuh and Nhundu (1999) and Ladzani (2014),
African traditional education had an unwritten curriculum whose aims and objectives were
a product of the community as per the elders’ recommendation and their lived experiences.
It was not documented that the practices were not planned according to modes of delivery,
psychological stages of upbringing and physiological development. The lectures were usually
delivered in the evening through storytelling, drama and role-play. Children, family members,
and even visitors were told stories related to the children’s environment. Experts in storytelling
had language and communication skills through idiophones, idioms, proverbs, riddles coined
in body language for effective communication.
Kinyanjai (1993) states that culture is the totality of a people’s experiences in social, spiritual,
economic and political life passed from generation to generation through a complex and
ever-changing learning process, participation, engagement and action. Therefore, culture is
dynamic, but any change should be consistent with the people’s beliefs, values and practices.
Ogungubure (2011) points out that culture, therefore, is a summation of all things referring
to language, origins of a group of people, symbols, art, history, folklore, songs, dances,
celebration and struggles in their environments. It is a set of rules that enable humankind to
interact, live, learn, create and share experiences to mitigate life challenges in the process of
becoming. This discussion attempts to review cultural changes and challenges resulting from
technological development, leading to social media practices. Technological development
has reduced communication barriers across regions and global boundaries. This change has
provided access to different cultures, including global cultures. Where do we stand in sub-
Saharan Africa concerning maintaining our cultural practices in the wake of social media
development?
Teaching in the African cultural context was supported by language structures such as
proverbs, idioms and riddles. These linguistic structures were a reservoir of the distilled
wisdom passed on to the next generation. What is the role of social media as a product of
technological development in cultural practices and transmission? How does the use of social
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media distort and corrupt our cultural practices in sub-Saharan Africa?
In Setswana culture in South Africa, proverbs were used to teach and warn children against
misbehaviour in society. Many scholars have defined proverbs as short and concise sayings
that express some traditionally held homely truths in terse language to transmit cultural
heritage to the children. They are usually metaphorical and often for the sake of memorability
and alliterative (Ndlovu and Sibanda, 2014, p. 3). For example, a Setswana proverb, Lo ojwa
lo sale metsi (The small branch is easily breakable), means that the child must be taught
manners whilst still small/young). The following Setswana proverbs have been categorised
according to messages they carry:
Proverbs that:
a) encourage:
Mafura a ngwana ke go rongwa.
Translation: Everyone must send the child without being paid.
Meaning: The child is communally owned and brought up in African society.
b) that advise:
Ngwana wa dikgomo ithute molodi o gopole motlha malata

a ile.
Translation: The child should teach himself how to whistle before the
workers are gone.
Meaning: The child should learn to do things on his/her own whilst parents
are still alive.
c) give a stern warning:
Ngwana yo o sa lleng o swela tharing
Translation: The child who does not cry will die on the back of his/her mother.
Meaning: If you do not let other people know of your problems, they will not
assist you..
The above examples are Setswana proverbs which are meant to produce morally and well-
behaved children and individuals in the particular society. Through proverbs and idioms,
African children are to develop healthy attitudes and get accepted by their society. It is not
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only proverbs that teach children to know how to grow well and belong to society but also
idioms and riddles play a significant role in the development of children. With socialisation
within and across cultural groups, the child develops identity and becomes a social being with
Ubuntu/Botho/Vhuthu values in the African context. However, with the advent of social media,
groupings are now organised according to interests and choices. An example of a Tshivenda
riddle that discourages incest is “Thaii, tsha nkunda ndi lipo”, meaning that one cannot touch
his sister’s breasts. Discussions on social media groupings rarely use idioms, riddles and
proverbs as sources of wisdom. This leads to the selection of groups whose cultures are not
related to indigenous practices. What is valuable to children is electronic sources because
they believe it is authentic (Prensky, 2001). According to Prensky (2001), digital natives spent
more hours with digital technology, and their digital literacy practices determine their
values, beliefs and attitude to life. Furthermore, the language dominating social media often
promotes and perpetuates the hegemony of Western culture, if literacy is a social practice
patterned and in conventional ways of using written language (Hague and Payton, 2010;
Savage and McGoun, 2015).
Grandparents used the language carefully by selecting appropriate words and avoiding
obscene words in the presence of children. It was taboo to speak of explicit sex, nudity and
dating to under-aged children. This precaution was designed to control access to information
either through graphic images or text to under-aged children. This was done to avoid children
making experiments that would end up with incest. The idea was to wait until their cognitive
level of development, probably, when the puberty stage had fully materialised (Peresuh and
Nhunduh, 1999).
There were roles allocated to storytellers who had undergone training. On the one hand, girls
received stories from grandmothers in the kitchen during the evening, where they would be
taught cooking and cleanliness. Thus, they were inducted into motherhood and caring for their
children and husbands in line with the group’s cultural values. On the other hand, the boys
would receive their stories from their grandfathers around a fire in the evening. Hunting and
farming skills such as cattle rearing were taught to young men by the elders. Boys were taught
how to look after their families and strengthen family identity and cultural beliefs (Peresuh
and Nhunduh, 1999). Fundamentals of family practices, beliefs and valuables were discussed
at the end of every story.
Mogapi (1991) posits that Bogwera in Setswana is a traditional practice where boys were
taught how to behave in their homes and the society when they get married. The school for girls
is called Bojale, in which they were taught how to take care of their immediate and extended
families. If a boy or a girl does not attend these schools, they are mocked and sometimes not
considered man or woman enough by society. This is how child development in traditional
African society was supported. Still, because of social media, these practices are no longer very
important to the African child as they are shown how to behave through social media, where
they are sometimes exposed to harmful content.
In ChiShona culture, children reaching adolescents would be exposed to a traditional practice

called Mahumbwe to prepare them for adult life. Girls would play the role of mothers, and boys
played the role of fathers. The cult was played so that no crossing of boundaries was possible,
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although some combinations would end up in marriages. In this practice, sex was taboo, but
boys and girls could showcase their creativity in seduction dances and the ability to take care
of the family (Kahari, 1990).
According to the African perspective, the marriage between a husband and wife is a marriage
between two families: the family of the bride and that of the groom. Ansell (2001, p. 698)
supports and says that African marriages serve many purposes,
“…. functions relating to the distribution of material resources, the

establishment of relationships within and between lineages, the
maintenance of social control and the construction of social identity. These
functions are intricately interconnected.
Megasa (in Kyalo, 2012, p. 213) concurs by saying that “…the communities involved share
their very existence in that reality, and they become one people, through marriage, and
their families and clans are also united”. Tatira (2016, p. 123) concurs and says, “Marriage in
Shona society is not a one-side decision by two individuals, but a union which the in-laws from
both sides must normally approve”. Amongst the Vhavenḓa, the groom must inform his aunt
(father’s sister) about his intention to get married so that the aunt will inform his parents. From
there, the negotiation process for marriage is initiated by the groom’s family. Then, amongst
Batswana culture and tradition, the groom informs his uncle (mother’s brother) if he has found
a partner to marry, and the marriage negotiations begin.
According to Mafela (2000), the arrival of Europeans and the dominance of technology in
Vhavenḓa culture has created a force that undermines and relegates traditional cultural
practices to primitive thinking. Family secrets were shared, emphasising why the secrets
remained sacred for the safety and unity of the family. The elders used a well-selected
language code suited to the level and age of their learners. Unlike today, cell phones, cameras
or photographs were taken that could eventually be leaked to friends and spelling shortcuts,
abbreviated words, acronyms and emoticons for communication purposes.
Cultural practices across Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, respect the bodies
of the deceased. Therefore, their typical pictures or images should not be circulated to the
public, but social media has been circulating faces and bodies of the deceased in sometimes
compromised circumstances.
Christian ideologies in child development

Evangelisation and Christianisation of Sub-Saharan Africa was a product of colonisation
and the so-called modernisation. Christian names, family and cultural practices were
exposed to other versions of viewing cultural practices. For example, traditional African
names were understood and reserved for pagans. It was seen as a diabolical practice by
the missionaries, including the appeasing of ancestral spirits. According to Kahari (1990),
appeasing the ancestral spirits, communication with the departed and believing in traditional
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rituals was not tolerated by the church authorities or missionaries. Important information
regarding the doctrine and Christian dogma came from the Bishops and the church canon.
The information communication was according to the hierarchy of the church in line with
the social superstructure. Although child development practices had to change, access to
critical information remained under control because the churches respected the privacy of
the information on reproduction. Catechism taught children about the grace of God and the
blessings. For example, the statement ‘cleanliness is next to Godliness’ encourages children
to be clean.
This teaching coincided with the teaching from traditional education on cleanliness. The
challenge in the digital age is the lack of control with access to information, thereby distorting
cultural practices and reduced contact time between parents and children. Reports of pots
burning their contents during cooking in the house, unattended children consequently
involved in accidents, and extreme attention to social media, distance children from their
parents and creates conflict amongst family members. The key question is whether television
programmes have replaced parents and authentic texts and images from television and radio
shows at the expense of family discussions. Cell phone connections and networks tend to take
much of their time on electronic media (Prensky, 2001). In some sections of society, parents
have become strangers to their children, which contradicts even Christian values and beliefs.
The influence of colonial powers in African child development agenda

The coming of Europeans to African changed and modified our way of life as Africans. They
brought commerce, Christianity and civilisation, aspects that were not common in our cultures.
These practices had a direct and indirect impact on our lives and the upbringing of children.
For example, access to commercial time, advertisements for alcohol and cigarettes were just
simply the content not destined for children. Now that social media provides connections
through social media such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter, the children have access to
adverts that promote smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages that may affect young people.
Social Media
Social media consists of any online platform connection permitting the exchange of
information or channels for user-generated content. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, WordPress
and SharePoint are typically social media connections allowing transfer and sharing.
According to Oihagu and Okorie (2014), social media have become embedded in our daily
lives because they largely fashion our perceptions of the world, construct meaning, interpret
the world and create social identities. The technological determinism theory posits that
the introduction of technology to society causes changes to social structure. Surprisingly,
social networks in sub-Saharan Africa in particular and on the African continent, in general,
continued to grow at a steady rate with many more countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda,
Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Cameroun, Tunisia, Morocco and Kenya adopting the new
technology. The growth of social media has been attributed to Africa’s consumerist tendency
to purchase finished goods and the love of unquestionably exploring new technologies
from the west. In a psychological context, society resilience will manifest in adapting to the
new technology. The technology will shape, adjust, and modify people’s feelings, attitudes,
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thoughts, and interactions. Solo-Anaeto and Jacobs (2015) point out that 1.32 billion young
people were connected by June 2014. Therefore, cyber communities developed, exchanged
cultural beliefs and practices because social media are collective online communications
dedicated to community input. The 2011 UNICEF South African Report on Children Social
Media shows that of the 44 million users of MXit, 73 % of the number of users comprise people
between the ages of 13–25, pointing to the fact that the majority of the users of South Africa’s
most popular social network are teenagers and young adults. The critical concern for this
discussion is to understand whether all inputs are desirable and to what extent they violate
African indigenous cultural practices.
Fostering child development and training in the digital age:

Merging culture and social media.
The diagram below illustrates the merging of cultural practices and the activities involved in
social media. Cultural beliefs, values and practices feed into social media practices.
Figure 1.1 Relationship between culture and social

media practices
The relationship between culture and social media above is that social media literacy
practices feed content into our cultures. Communication on social media involves discussions
on cultural aspects which in traditional society were not supposed to be communicated
through digital technology or required traditional protocol. With the advent of technology
with connectivism and networking, digital literacy practices that incorporate communication
of cultural aspects now provides quick links that young people use to communicate cultural
aspects on social media. Dominant culture on social media does not complement African
traditional culture on how traditional issues should be communicated. It is important to
indicate that cultural practices cannot be distanced from social media literacy practices
because it is rooted in human social relations. Based on the link between culture and social
media practices illustrated above, the major challenge is the cultural practices accepted
in social media practices. If the capital culture is expressed in English as a medium of
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communication on social media, then the culture promoted is not African. African culture is
challenged and has to change to adapt to the new social practices in other cases.
Positive effects of social media participation

Child Development in the digital age is a welcome agenda. Technology has brought our
children’s entertainment and academic digital resources, language learning proficiency
to our children’s learning within and across cultures. Children have become addicted to
social media, such that their lives and activities are focused on their images on social media
platforms. Some social media platforms have become learning and teaching sites for teens
and their parents. It is common to discover discussion groups for school and university students
on social media for assignments and academic tasks. Some schools and universities use blogs
for completing assignments and classwork activities. Children update each other on social
media with politics, social issues, entertainment, health information and medical conditions,
and jokes. They also share information on their ambitions, achievements and solutions to
their problems. Social media exposes them to out of school digital literacy practices on an
educational continuum, which eventually will support their academic studies. Whilst it is a
good idea to connect to friends at convenient times, classmates and interest groups, the African
traditional beliefs and values are particular about some associations. The sub-heading below
discusses some of the practices that contradict African values.
Negative effects of social media on cultural practices

In African traditional culture, the sex education curriculum was controlled by the elders in the
community. It was not permissible to express sexual feelings until such a time after graduating
from traditional school. Even after the traditional school initiation, parents of families of
those who wanted to arrange the marriage were responsible. The two lovers did not know how
much lobola would be paid because that was not their role as children. Divorce prevalence
was limited because parents were highly involved in the marriage arrangements. Unlike in the
past, today young people choose their partners without any consultation with their parents.
This trend is being encouraged due to the modern marriages shown on social media platforms
and is open for public comments and opinions.
An example is ‘My perfect wedding’. These days young people, especially young African people,
find themselves dating and even getting married through social media, ignoring all the stages
that an African marriage process should follow (Malobola, 2001; Mawere and Mawere, 2010).
The traditional system where youth would inform the elderly, close relative to him/her, is
being eroded by online dating about his newly found love. The whole process has shifted to the
public, making it vulnerable to opportunistic attacks. Montgomery (2000, p. 62) asserts that
the increasing commercialisation of the web, the rise of the user data collection practices and
the migration of violent video and audio games to the online media increases the toxic media
environment that poses significant harm to youth.
Social media platforms provide access to sexting-a digital practice which involves sending
and receiving or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs or images via the cell
phone. Many of these photos and videos have gone viral on social media platforms with some
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hashtags. Because of children’s limited capacity for self-regulation and susceptibility to peer
pressure, they are at risk of making sexual behaviour experiments that expose them to HIV/
AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. For Africans, children between the ages of 1 to
15, discussions involving sex are taboo. Still, because of social media, those boundaries have
been removed, and children under the age of ten text and send pictures, videos and content
on sexual matters. The extreme practices include online dating, cybersex and harassment.
Burton and Mutongwizo (2009) define cyber violence as ‘intentional acts carried out by groups
or individuals using electronic forms of contact, repeatedly and overtime against victims who
cannot defend themselves.
In addition, social media expose young children to violent crime, photoshopped and
unsuitable video clips showing murder, rape cases and robbery. African cultures do not
support crime, and this provision motivates children to make experiments. The language
used for communication in such platforms and spaces teaches the African child to lose the
respect of their parents and adults. WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram are used to instigate
strikes and violence in politically volatile environments. Cartoons, pictures of high profile
people, senior citizens and responsible authorities are often posted on social media with
denigrating and dehumanising comments. These digital literacy practices on the social media
platform damage and destroy our cultural practices so that young people criticise adults who
are custodians of customary law and pillars of the social fabric in African society by accessing
harmful content in our practices. Cyber participants and the perpetrators of psychological
outcomes such as depression, anxiety, severe isolation and other social pressures are active
on social media.
Role of parents in child development

Parents play a critical role in guiding their children, but environmental dictates usually
challenge them. Parents need to understand the environment in the digital age to keep
themselves abreast with current trends and perspectives. Parents of the digital age happen
to be ‘digital immigrants (Prensky, 2001). Digital immigrants, in Prensky’s view, are those
born before computers were invented. The challenge with this category of parents is limited
proficiency in digital skills and, in other cases, a negative attitude towards the use or
participation in the digital space. Therefore, parents in this category cannot supervise their
children on cyber participation.
Methodology
Qualitative research procedures were used to gather information about how children
develop in the information age in sub-Saharan Africa. Qualitative research design is ideal
for a social issue to be studied and understood in its natural way. Young people on university
campuses, school grounds and their out-of-school digital literacy practices need to study
natural settings. Text messages, blogs and forwarded messages were used as collected data
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for analysis, including texted pictures and videos. Qualitative strategies were used for both
data collection and analysis in the context of the study. The data interpretation and analysis
is done using qualitative methods, although quantitative methods have been used to support
the qualitative approach.
Sampling procedures
University students and learners from high school were selected. Purposive sampling
procedures were used to gather data about young people’s responses to the use of social
media in the context of their culture. Denzin and Lincoln (2005) posit that purposive sampling
targets richer data sources to develop patterns and understand the phenomenon. The study
targeted university students because they are easily accessible to the researchers as lecturers
and former high school teachers. Students were interviewed in groups and as individuals on
how participation in social media affects their cultural practices. Interviews and discussions
were carried out during the students’ social time. The researchers interviewed fifteen (15)
students from universities around Gauteng. Male and female students responded to interview
questions as shown by summarising their responses in the table below. In addition, the
researchers interviewed Setswana, Tshivenda and ChiShona speaking students because their
cultures are also familiar to the researchers.
Data collection
Research instruments used were interviews, observation and document/text analysis.
Students at universities and learners in schools were sampled and interviewed on how they
used social media and analysed its effect(s) on parenting. The study selected five (5) students
from a university in Zimbabwe and ten (10) students from a university in South Africa. Students
selected from the university in South Africa were those representing Tshivenda culture and
Setswana culture. A total of fifteen (15) male and female students participated in the study.
The purpose was to understand the impact of social media on cultural practices. The data
presented may not represent all the ideas about the impact of social media on African culture.
Still, the research seeks to bring insights into the experiences of the digital generation. Sections
of the youth, mainly students at tertiary institutions, were used for data collection that shared
their experiences on social media concerning the violation of their African culture.
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Data presentation
Broad view Youth responses
Social Media distorting Provides access to information before their appropriate cognitive age.
our culture Exposes young children to sexist language resulting in them making
premature trials and risk attempts.
Teaches children to be disrespectful, for example, cartoons, pictures and
videos that deform characters of leaders and parents.
Reduces family time as young people become addicted to texting and
chatting to online friends.
Disrupts family, clan and community protocol and procedures on
communication.
Leaking confidential information to in-laws in wrong
contexts and timing.
Social media helps Provides online guidance on health matters and medical conditions and
support child is available 24/7 (24 hours every day).
development in Access to projects and information on how to make a living.
African cultures Access to online educational material and expert advice.
Provides entertainment and sharing of important information on
weather patterns.
Creation of business opportunities.
Access to digital skills and online digital literacy practices.
Storage, transfer, modification and access to poems, songs, drama and
other performances across the nation and international boundaries.
Exposes African languages and culture to the international arena for
participation in international contexts.
Social media corrupting/ Dating online is not permissible in African society because it exposes our
violating our culture sons and daughters to unfamiliar cultures.
Alienation of children due to online socialisation.
Stressing and depression may be caused by online bullying.
Creates unnecessary anxiety, stalking.
Social media corrupting/ Linking with online communities which have undesirable practices such
violating our culture as Satanism and terrorist networks.
Criticism of our cultural practices due to poor understanding of our
practices. The ‘Reed dance’, a Zulu cultural practice, has been criticised
as a human rights violation. Yet, it preserves our dignity
and controls the sexual behaviour of young people in preparation for a
good marriage.
Dressing in traditional regalia has also been exposed to criticism for
being associated with primitive thinking, inferiority complex and savage
ideas.
Adverts on the use of condoms, safe sex and organ enlargement corrupt
our children because the practice provides an indirect induction to sex
life prematurely.
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Interpretation and analysis of data

Data collected from the 15 participants and messages observed from their social media
communication indicate the cultural disruptions and violations brought by the mode of
communication. During interviews, 10/15 (67%) participants indicated that they date online
and often send messages and pictures that are obscene. However, the 10 participants stressed
that they only send such messages to close friends or family members such as sisters or
brothers. In other cases, 8/15 (53%) participants indicated the kink to undesirable content
such as Satanism which is not accepted in African traditional cultures.
The boys and girls (12/15) (80%) who participate on social media such as Facebook, Twitter,
WhatsApp and other social media expressed the abuse, stress and cultural violations they
experienced on the social media platforms. While other cultural aspects such as dress code or
rituals are enforced by parents 13/15 (87%) of the participants indicated that they have been
criticised by friends, classmates and even family members for displaying cultural practices
on social media. Despite the violations and corruption, all participants indicated that social
media platforms offered a wide array of benefits. Some of the social media networks do not
protect users against stalking, hacking and other forms of information that can be abused.
Governments have not moved in swiftly to put legislation on the use of social media or other
forms of interventions to mitigate in cases of violation of cultural practices and human rights.
This silence from the government according to 6/15 (40%) of the interview participants has left
social media as a ‘jungle’ where the fittest survive. State-controlled media such as radio and
television have editors who regulate the use of language and content that is broadcasted to
the public but social media does not have any editorial policy (ICASA 2016); 2. About 8/15 (53%)
of the participants indicated that they have received adverts on condoms, alcoholic beverages
and other substances with great potential to influence them to indulge in sex, drugs and other
unacceptable behaviours.
All participants indicated that social media is available 24/7 (meaning that it is available for
24 hours every day) making it a reliable connection for communication for any time of the day.
While this availability can be seen as an advantage, parents have to check on their children
who may not get enough rest during the night in preparation for an effective school day.
Incomplete homework, poorly accomplished tasks and too much attention to social media
activities characterise the school children living in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Participants
(3/15) (20%) confirm their battles and struggles with parents forcing them to do homework
while they prefer to be in isolated places listening to music from their smartphones or watching
videos on YouTube. Kowalski, Limber and Agatston (2012) note that many parents often take for
granted the inherent dangers of the internet because as children, they did not grow up using
mobile phones or the internet; in the case of their children, the internet is simply considered
part of life. Parents will need to ensure that the good norms and values of African culture are
inculcated into their children’s home training alongside formal training from school. Sound
home training greatly increases the possibility of grooming children who turn out to become
responsible internet users. Children should be taught to love, respect and empathize with their
friends and schoolmates irrespective of their sex, race, colour or sexual orientation.
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Discussion of findings
Technological development is important on the global platform but its inception in the African
child development environment needs proper integration and management (control). While
access to information on health matters and other academic knowledge is significant, there
is a need to control information flow in order to protect and defend violations of our cultural
practices that have maintained social cohesion for the past generations.
While the techno-savvy generation are basically digital natives, participation on social media
should be regulated. We suggest digital tools with access to online content should be regulated
at the point of sales like alcohol sales or driver’s licences but this can depend on different
communities. Participants in this study indicated during interviews that there is a need for
some measure of control because social media is a typical ‘jungle’ at the moment. The results
of our premature intervention may not show today but for decades to come, dysfunctional
characters, anti-social behaviour and social misfits can be a product of poor socialisation
or exposure to cyberculture. Limo (2010, 5) states that new digital media technologies have
created ‘individualized information systems’. Young people have developed personal
habits and secrets in their lives posing a risk to their future. However, not all social media
participation may be harmful but that parents and guardians need to adjust to the new social
setting in the digital space. The other challenge indicated during interviews with university
students on social media is the idea that most parents and guardians who are the custodians
of African culture and indigenous knowledge systems are not technologically proficient. Most
parents learn to access some technology functions on smartphones from their children. It is
difficult to control something that you do not have full control over.
To a greater extent, social media has transformed the African child’s life in many different
ways. King (2009) attributes African youths’ craze for social media to the psychological effects
of adolescence. Adolescence is a period of self-discovery and awareness. It is also a period in
life when children seek independence from their parents. Most teens have to spend more hours
in a secondary school or in a university most times located in a different town or city far away
from parents’ supervision. Adolescence is a difficult phase in life in which the youngster has
to battle with the tough decisions of whether or not to take smoking, drinking and gangs or
engage in casual sex. In this phase of life, teens try to create an identity for themselves. Young
people want to be accepted by their peers and respected by others. On social media platforms,
teens try to take on new personalities to fit the stereotypes around them (Ephraim, 2013). The
process of constructing personalities and identities on social media comes with distortions as
information is sacked, modified and fed onto the public domain. Young people struggle with
the requisite skills of selecting authentic texts and how to handle the information exploding in
cyberspace. Parents should learn to provide children with advice online and to accommodate
technology in parenting. While parents have social media connections with their children, it
is recommended that they also enforce cultural practices through social media connections.
Claims and empirical evidence from researchers show that there is no going back to traditional
methods of communicating cultural practices but should integrate on digital technology
communication landscape.
175
Conclusion
This chapter attempts to explore the social media practices which corrupt African traditional
practices of child development and upbringing. Technology development and innovation
is a welcome agenda for communication in both business and social communication, it
has a negative impact on African traditional beliefs, values and practices. It concludes
by encouraging parents to monitor the participation of their children on social media.
Governments and the technology and communication industry also need to develop regulatory
frameworks and guidelines on the use of social media platforms. Developing monitoring
systems and tracking child participation on social media could assist parents and guardians
on child development in the context of African cultural practices in sub-Saharan Africa.
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177
Human-caused environmental
degradation and conservation efforts in
a rural community in Limpopo province,
South Africa
Moshohli K. Malatji
&
Sejabaledi A. Rankoana
sejabaledi.rankoana@ul.ac.za
Introduction
This study aimed to explore the extent to which human activities may cause environmental
degradation with a special focus on the use of indigenous plants to satisfy basic human needs.
The study also examined community-based efforts to conserve native plants for future use.
Data presented in the study was collected through focus group discussions, and transect
walks with a stratified sample of livestock owners, herders, woodcarvers, traditional health
practitioners, and men and women in the Dikgale community. The results show that the
natural environment is becoming degraded due to scarcity and the loss of native plants. These
plants became scarce and extinct when the local area was transformed into a settlement
area and agricultural fields and when plants were over-harvested for health care, food, fuel,
timber and stock feed. These are the major human activities responsible for environmental
degradation. The impact of these activities is mitigated by the observance of cultural taboos
and customs regulating the harvesting and collection of plant materials to conserve the
resources for future use. The study recommends the intervention of local authorities to curb
the adverse trend of indiscriminate felling and collection of native plant materials, to prevent
environmental degradation through vegetation loss.
Environmental degradation is defined as any change or disturbance to the environment

perceived as deleterious or undesirable (Johnson et al., 1997). It is caused directly or indirectly
by anthropogenic activities that extract various environmental resources faster than they
are replaced, thus depleting them (Huesemann et al., 2003). Pimm et al. (2014) attest that
environmental degradation through aspects such as over-exploitation of natural resources,
pollution, and deforestation can contribute to resource scarcity, particularly arable land,
water, genetic resources, medicinal plants, and food crops. In addition, over-exploitation of
native plants contributes largely to environmental degradation (Wills, 2006).
The extinction of native plants is one factor responsible for environmental degradation
attributed to human overpopulation, continued human population growth and over-
178
consumption of natural resources (Bulte and Van Kooten, 2000). Humankind had a greater
impact on the status of biodiversity than on any of the other components of the natural
environment (Wills, 2006; Van Wyk, 2011). Amjad, Arshad and Qureshi (2015) assert that in
underdeveloped countries, the members of rural communities depend on native plants to
acquire basic livelihood requirements. However, a lack of sustainable use and management
of plant diversity may strip the natural environment in communal areas by 2020 (Eberhard
1990; Katewa et al. 2003). King et al. (2005) prove that unsustainable use of native plant species
constrains the productivity, composition and diversity of terrestrial ecosystems. Turner et
al. (1990) confirmed that human activity is the biggest cause of degradation of biodiversity.
Corrigan et al. (2011) add that the primary cause of damage to terrestrial ecosystems is its
exhaustive cultural uses as a source of food supply, energy, livestock feed, medicines and local
technological production.
Steidl and Powell (2006) and Angassa et al. (2012) confirm that overuse of natural vegetation
is a major cause of biodiversity loss that modifies the natural environment. Modification of
the environment to fit the needs of society poses negative effects, which has become worse as
human overpopulation continues (Blair, 1996; Semenya et al., 2014; SANBI, 2015). Hawksworth
and Bull (2008) maintain that plant diversities would continue to grow exponentially without
human interference. Sahney et al. (2010) agree that humans have accelerated the rate of plant
loss which, coupled with climate change effects such as unpredictable rainfall, drought and
erosion, caused serious environmental degradation (Dye, 2010; Sharma and Mishra, 2011;
Bellard et al., 2012).
Dependency on native plants accelerates environmental degradation through the

procurement of plant materials to fulfil human needs. However, members of rural
communities use their IK practices to conserve and manage important native plant resources.
These practices are useful for achieving sustainable natural resource use and protecting the
environment (Mwamidi et al., 2012). This study was motivated by Stedman-Edward’s (1998)
assertion that overuse of native plant materials contributes to the depletion of indigenous
plant diversity and the natural environment. The emphasis of this study is examining the
potential impact of human activities on natural plants with a cultural value. Furthermore, this
study describes the indigenous practices observed by the members of the Dikgale community
to conserve local plants with known cultural uses.
Methods and materials
Study area
The study was conducted amongst the Northern Sotho of the Dikgale community in Capricorn
District of Limpopo province, South Africa. The community is located within Polokwane Local
Municipality, approximately 40 km east of Polokwane City. It covers 71 km2, roughly six km
long and 10.8 km wide (Statistics South Africa, 2011). The area is on an average of 1400m above
mean sea level. It has a mean annual rainfall of approximately 505 mm and daily average
summer temperatures of between 16˚C and 27˚C and between 5˚C and 19˚C in winter. Annual
179
rainfall occurs mainly between October and April (Kanjala et al., 2010), and fewer community
members grow rain-fed subsistence crops in the home gardens and ploughed fields.
Mixed bushveld characterises the vegetation, with this veld type having many variations and
transitions. The two main variations are Combretum apiculatum veld, semi-deciduous trees
that grow up to 10 meters tall, or sometimes a shrub remaining shorter, and the Terminalia
dichapetalum veld. Terminalia dichapetalum veld occupies the sandy plateau between
Matlabas and Mogol Rivers, the sandy northern, western and eastern slopes and valleys of
the Waterberg, extending along the Crocodile-Elands valley and the Olifants River in the
Groblersdal district and the northern foot of the eastern part of the Soutpansberg. Natural
plants in the Dikgale community are used as food sources, fuel, timber, medicine and animal
feed, but are mostly non-existent worldwide (Statistics South Africa, 2011).
Research question and objectives

The main research questions were: (i) Which native plants are useful in the culture of the
Dikgale community? (ii)What are the main human activities responsible for native plant loss?
(iii) Which local efforts are taken to conserve the plants?
The importance of this study is the exploration of the human activities responsible for natural
plant diversity loss and to describe the indigenous practices observed by the members of the
Dikgale community to conserve native plants used for basic communal needs.
Data collection
A qualitative approach was adopted to examine human activities that could lead to the
destruction of useful indigenous plants. Data was collected from a stratified sample of 100
participants. The participants were selected through a purposive sampling technique.
Table 1: Participants - Indigenous plant users

CLASSIFICATION MALE FEMALE
Livestock owners 9 3
Herdsmen 5 1
Woodcarvers 5 0
Traditional health practitioners 3 1
Ordinary community members who collect indigenous plant materials for fuel,
30 43
timber and food
Total 52 48
The participants were aged between 25 and 86 years. Data was collected through focus group
discussions and transect walks with participants.
The research questions were: (i) Explain the human activities that could cause native plant
180
loss? (ii) What are the effects of native plant loss on human life and the natural environment?
iii) Which indigenous conservation methods are practised to conserve the plants?
The discussions were conducted with groups of livestock owners (two groups of six participants
each), herdsmen, woodcarvers, and ordinary community members with five groups of men,
six members each, and six groups of women, six participants each and one group of seven
participants, and one group of traditional health practitioners. Transect walks were carried out
with herdsmen, woodcarvers, fifteen men and twenty women at different times. The objective
of these walks was to collect evidence of human activities leading to damage of the local flora,
effects of native plant loss on human life and the environment, and to gather information about
the indigenous mechanisms used to conserve it for future use. The discussions were conducted
in Sepedi, the local dialect. Field notes were recorded and analysed through content analysis.
Data analysis
A thematic content analysis was used. Themes such as habitat transformation, logging,
collection of plant materials, overgrasing, environmental degradation, and cultural taboo
emerged during data analysis.
Ethical considerations
Prior informed consent was obtained by explaining the aim of the study to the local authorities,
after which they allowed focus group discussions to be conducted and transect walks
undertaken. The participants consented to participate in the study by signing a consent form,
and their names and identities remained anonymous throughout the study. The researcher
obtained ethical approval from the University of Limpopo Ethics Committee.
Quality criteria
Quality of collected data was ensured through purposive sampling to make up a stratified
sample of livestock owners, herdsmen, woodcarvers, ordinary community members, and
traditional health practitioners to obtain detailed information about human-induced threats
to indigenous plants. Prolonged engagement with the participants during focus group
discussions and transect walks and quick reviews of data with the participants were used to
ensure that data represented the participants’ views and not the researcher’s. Confirmability
was determined through interpretations, conclusions and recommendations based on the
data derived from interactions and ecological observations.
Results
Table 2: Native plants under threat and their cultural uses identified by participants presented
alphabetically according to scientific names
Scientific and Family names Local name Part used Cultural use

Aloe ferox Mill. Asphodelaceae Sekgophana Leaf Medicine for stomach-
ache and external sores
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Amaranthus thunbergii Moq. Theepe Leaf Fodder, vegetable

Amaranthaceae
Aristida congesta Roem & Schult. Motšikiri Culm Fodder, broom
Poaceae
Aristida sp. Poaceae Kgolane Culm Fodder, broom
Artemisia affra Jacq. ex Will. Lengana Leaf Medicine for fever,

Asteraceae cough
Cleome monophylla L. Merotho Leaf Fodder, vegetable
Capparidaceae
Cucumis africanus Monyaku Leaf Fodder, vegetable
L.fCucurbitaceae
Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. Mahlakahlaka Culm Fodder
Poaceae
Dichrostachys cinerea (L.) Wight & Moretšhe Leaf, timber Fodder, construction of
Arn. Mimosaceae poles
Dicoma gerrardii (Harv. Ex. ADC) Phelalegolana Bulb Medicine for cough
Asteraceae
Dovyalis caffra (Hook.f. & Harv.) Mohlono Fruit, thorn Protective medicine
Flacourtiaceae
Elephantorrhiza elephantina Mošitšana Leaf Medicine for diarrhoea
Burkei Benth. Fabaceae
Euphorbia tirucalli L. Mohloko Leaf Medicine for snakebites.

Euphorbiaceae Fencing
Faidherbia albida (Delile) A. Chev Mokgaba Twig Medicine for infertility
Fabaceae
Gnaphalium helichrysum L. Mohlahlaila Branch Medicine for indigestion,
Asteraceae broom
Grewia flavescens. Juss. Tiliaceae Mothetlwa Leaf, wood Fodder, construction of
household utensils
Harpagophytum procumbens Lempate Leaf Medicine for indigestion,
(Burch) D.C. Ex Meisin. ease birth
Pedaliaceae
Cf. Hypoxis L. Hypoxidaceae Phela Bulb Medicine for cough
Ilex mitis (L.) Radlk. Aquifoliaceae Monamane Root Medicine for indigestion
Ipomoea albivenia Leselahlolo Fruit Poultice for external
(Lindlk.) Sweet. Convolvulaceae sores
Kirkia wilmsi Engl Modumela Whole plant Shade, medicine for
Simaroubaceae infertility
Kleinia longiflorus DC. Mmale Stalks Medicine for sore eyes
Euphorbiaceae
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Lippia javanica (Burm F.). Mošunkwane Leaf Medicine for fever,

Verbenaceae cough, flu
Lycium sp. Solanaceae Ngangi Root Medicine for stomach-
ache
Pappea capensis (Eckl & Zehl). Morobadiepe Root, wood Medicine, construction
Sapindaceae. of household utensils
Peltophorum Africanum Sond. Mosehla Bark Shade, medicine for
Fabaceae stomach-ache,
Raphionacme sp Periplocaceae Tsema Bulb Medicine for
acceleration of growth
Ricinus communis L. Mokhure Leaf Poultice for external
Euphorbiaceae sores
Sclerocarya birrea (A. Morula Leaf, bark, fruit, Fodder, medicine
Rich) Hochst. Anacardiaceae timber for infertility, fruit,
shade, construction of
household utensils
Senegalia burkei. Mimosaceae Mokgwaripa Deadwood, Fuel, construction of
timber poles
Senegalia erioloba E. Mey. Mogohlo Pod, deadwood Fodder, fuel

Mimosaceae
Senegalia karroo (Hayne) Mooka Deadwood Fuel
Mimosaceae
Senegalia mellifera Vahl. Benth Mokaka Deadwood Fuel
ssp. Mimosaceae
Senegalia tortilis (Forssk) sp. Mošu Pod, deadwood Fodder, fuel
Mimosaceae
Urginea sorguinea Shinz. Sekanama Bulb Medicine for blood
Hyacinthaceae diseases
Vangueria infausta. Rubiaceae Mmilo Fruit Fruit
Warbugia salutaris (G.Bertol). Molaka Bark Medicine for
Canellaceae tuberculosis, intestinal
worms, rheumatism,
arthritis
Ximenia caffra Sond. Oleaceae Motshidi Root, fruit Fruit, medicine for
infertility
Ziziphus mucronata Willd. Mokgalo Leaf Poultice for external
Rhamnaceae sores
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Human-caused environmental degradation
Deforestation
Data from focus group discussions and transect walks revealed that logging, collecting
plant materials, overgrazing, and fire is the main human activity with a potential impact on
indigenous plant scarcity.
Habitat transformation:
Livestock owners and herdsmen mentioned that:
Many plant materials browsed by our livestock have been removed when a
new settlement was developed. The grass, shoots and trees bearing leaves
and pods browsed by our livestock have been abolished in developing the
new settlement area. Loss of this native fodder also resulted when plants
were removed to make fields to produce crops.
Woodcarvers stated that:
The removal of trees to create new residential units has led to damage
to most of the matured plants we use to create artefacts and household
utensils. Loss of timber has negatively impacted our production because we
collect timber at a reasonable distance from the village site.
The responses from the male participants revealed that:
Our local vegetation is significantly reduced by bush-clearing when the land

was cleared for settlement purpose due to rapid human population growth
and an influx of people from outside our area of jurisdiction. The growing
human population needed fields to cultivate subsistence crops and pastures
for their livestock. In the area’s transformation, large tracts of land were
cleared, leading to the rapid destruction of many useful plants. Tall and
matured plants such as Sclerocarya birrea and Senegali species survived,
as they were spared for shading and used as homes for rainbirds, which
sing for rain in taller trees. The removal of trees and other plant types to
establish cultivation areas caused habitat loss and threatened the survival
of numerous plant species. Furthermore, plants were removed along the
borderline when new roads were developed.
42 females reported similar observations:
Many plants which are sources of food, medicine and fuel have been
removed when new fields for crop production were developed. The plants
from which we collected plenty of indigenous fruits and vegetables are
damaged in developing a new settlement area to accommodate our grown-
up or married children or those that wanted to be independent and have
their own residential units.
184
Traditional health practitioners’ responses corroborated by three males and 13 females were
that:
Much of the herbs we harvest to make healing medicines are no longer available because
the area we have been collecting them is converted into a settlement area. The plants were
removed when the land was cleared to offer community members a place to stay.
Collection of plant materials

Participants reported four methods of obtaining useful plant material as the main human
activities that could lead to native plant destruction.
Logging
Woodcarvers reported that:
We collect timber from Sclerocarya birrea and Pappea capensis species

to make household utensils. Timber is collected by cutting the main trunks
of the species with a sharp axe and saw. In the same way, procurement of
construction poles to make fences and cattle enclosures demands extensive
timber obtained by cutting the tree stems. The main trunks are often cut,
thereby destroying the entire plant. This method of obtaining timber is a
major threat to the local vegetation. Some plants can re-sprout from their
roots or stumps whilst others cannot do so, leading to their total destruction
and disappearance.
Collection of medicinal plant species

Traditional health practitioners and 18 community members reported that:
We harvest native plants to make medicine to treat human disease and other
ill-health conditions. These plants are dominant over other plants, and as
a result, their over-exploitation negatively affected the local vegetation
composition. We have a challenge of procuring plants with medicinal value
because of their scarcity in the local environment. We walk a distance of
about 5km to search for scarce medicinal plants, and sometimes we collect
them beyond our communal area, adding pressure on the plants wherever
they occur.
Collection of firewood
22 males and 43 females stated they collected and continued collecting firewood to keep
warm and cooking. The collection of firewood is, however, restricted to deadwood.
40 female respondents reported that:
The most common sources of fuel are currently scarce. We compete over
the scarce firewood. This makes us collect wood from live plants. Live wood
185
is collected and left to dry for use as firewood. Many of us have heaps of
deadwood as we collected enough live wood to preserve it for future use.
Overgrazing
The herdsmen mentioned that:
Sometimes we have to cut down live species to be grazed by cattle. This

activity has caused the loss of a wealth of sources of fodder species in the
community. We drive livestock to browse available grass (mainly Aristida
species) in the neighbouring White farms.
10 male participants stated that:
Excessive trampling of the veld by cattle has led to soil erosion, particularly
on the slopes of hills. In this way, plant life is further disturbed as run-off
rainwater increases, does more damage, and reduces penetration into the
reduced soil.
Fire
20 male participants, including all herders, detailed the following:
Uncontrolled use of fire may cause substantial damage to the local

vegetation. We use fire to clear the forest in winter to ensure the growth
of new pastures such as grass. We burn dry coarse grass and shoots for new
ones to emerge. We burn these responsibly by controlling their use.
Efforts to conserve native plants

In the study, participants mentioned that they have cultural practices that inform the
restrictive use of indigenous plants. These cultural practices play a primary role in the
preservation and conservation of native plants. Cultural uses observed by the participants’ are
stated in their responses.
Food sources
All female participants mentioned the following:
We observe taboos regulating the harvesting of indigenous vegetable

materials and fruits. The main purpose of the taboos is to preserve plant
resources. Examples of taboos include a restriction to uproot vegetable
sources such as Amaranthus and Cleome monophylla. The prescribed
method of collection of these plant materials involves the collection of
tender leaves and immature flowers. A common belief about this practice
is that uprooting of vegetables may result in migration and scarcity of
the plants and may invoke supernatural sanctions in the form of hail or
186
thunderstorms. In the making of tea, we collect only the tender leaves of

Gnaphalium.
The males and herdsmen added:
We know that it is taboo to strike down the fruits of Marula, Vanguaria

infausta and Ximenia caffra. We collect the fruits by plucking or gathering
them from the ground after they are shed. We observe a taboo restricting
the striking of fruits down with a stick, as the plants will be destroyed when it
loses many of its leaves and branches. We believe that if the fruits are struck
down, a bad omen in the form of thunderstorms will occur and destroy all the
crops in the fields.
Construction material
The woodcarvers stated that:
We obtain timber by cutting two or three branches from the opposite sides
of bigger multi-branched plants, thus ensuring the continuous growth of the
species. The harvesting of wood to construct huts and livestock enclosures
is restricted to matured straight stems cut from the opposite sections to
preserve the species. Immature species are not felled for timber harvesting.
Tall and matured plants may not be cut down. These species are singled out,
as they are believed to be the homes for rainbirds. The rainbirds sing for rain
on matured and tall plants, and if these trees are cut, there would be no rain.
Collection of wood for fuel

The female participants reported that they collected deadwood as a source of fuel. A fine of
R 150 is imposed on anyone found cutting live plants for fuel.
Collection of medicinal sources

Traditional health practitioners, 12 male and 23 female participants, said:
We do not harvest plants with medicinal value haphazardly. Collection of

roots is confined to a small portion from one side of the plant after which,
soil is replaced to conserve the species and bark is collected from opposite
sides of a trunk, and a handful of the leaves is collected.
Traditional health practitioners responded, saying:
If a medicinal plant species are overexploited, the moya (spirit) that

inhabits the plant will cause the medicine prepared out of the plant will
become ineffective and the disease or condition treated will not be healed.
Observance of this taboo is recently motivated to preserve the remaining
scarce medicinal sources.
187
Role of the local authority

In the study, participants mentioned that the conservation of local vegetation rests with the
local Chief. As custodians of cultural norms and traditions, the Chief ensures that community
members abide by using and preserving the local vegetation sustainably. It is reported that it is
customary to collect dead wood for fuel. Perpetrators are fined R 150 paid at the Chief’s kraal.
Discussion
The participants demonstrated knowledge of useful indigenous plant species, which are
still valuable in the culture of the Dikgale community. They all responded in terms of which
plant materials are harvested for particular purposes. The study results show that the original
vegetation of the Dikgale community is significantly reduced when land is cleared for
settlement purposes as a result of rapid human population growth and an influx of people from
outside the tribal area. Furthermore, arable land is developed and allocated to households for
crop production. In the area’s transformation, large tracts of land were cleared, leading to the
rapid destruction of many native plants. Tall and matured plants such as Sclerocarya birrea,
Warburgia salutaris, and Senegali species are protected as sources of shade. This observation
proves that human settlement is established in areas of high biodiversity, which often have
relatively rich soils and other attractions for human activities (Gonzalez et al., 2000; Isbell
et al., 2009). Sahney et al. (2010) and Hanski (2011) support that when large areas of forests,
cropland and open space are converted into urban areas, many indigenous plant communities
are likely to decline. He and Hubbell (2011) add that habitat transformation is considered the
most pervasive driver of biodiversity change, with more species extinct due to deforestation
alone. Destruction of intact ecosystems causes loss of habitat for many species and breaks
down the ecosystem’s ability to function (Hanski, 2011).
Overuse and competition over scarce plants have the greatest effect on native plant loss.
Observations from the study are that native plant over-exploitation and livestock trampling
simultaneously exacerbate habitat loss and environmental degradation. Timber harvesting
is the main activity accelerating native plant loss. Turner et al. (1990) observed that
timber harvesting causes immediate vegetation destruction and disturbance, long-term
environmental change and possible destruction of natural habitats. He and Hubbell (2011)
corroborate that the increased demand for wood for construction contributes largely to
deforestation.
Overharvesting of many medicinal plants wherever they occur in the Dikgale community has
contributed to local vegetation loss. This finding is supported by Cheikhyoussef et al. (2011)
that change in the quality and availability of medicinal plants is attributed to destructive
harvesting techniques. This practice is in line with Wiersumet et al. (2006), who remarks that
intensive harvesting of wild medicinal plants due to their increasing use has in many places
resulted in overuse, which is a serious threat to indigenous plant diversity. If a fire is not used
responsibly by controlling it, it could be a significant cause of deforestation, according to
Cheikhyoussef et al. (2011).
188
Indiscriminate firewood collection and collection of live wood for fuel in the Dikgale
community has negatively impacted the local vegetation’s status. Many plants with hardwood
are extinct. Barany et al. 2005) stated that Southern African rural communities depend on
woodlands as a primary energy source, and firewood collection has acutely degraded land and
destroyed many important plant species (Berry et al. 2005). Rasethe et al. (2014), Khavhagali
(2012), Cruz et al. (2013), Street and Prinsloo (2013) agree that the use of indigenous plants
may have negative implications on the status of the indigenous flora if the species are not
properly harvested and collected. Bellard et al. (2012) observe that trees are severely lopped,
mostly owing to firewood collection. Livestock grazing in the Dikgale community contributes
to vegetation loss as the herdsmen cut live plants as fodder sources. Todd and Hoffman (2009)
add that grazing intensity alters plant species composition and decreases perennial palatable
leaf succulent shrubs. Martindale (2007) adds that forest patches are further affected by
increased human exploitation, such as livestock grazing. These changes in vegetation
structure may have negative effects on ecosystem functions, such as the provision of shelter
and food for wild animals (Rashid and Sharma, 2012). Bösing et al. (2014) argue that livestock
grazing should not negatively impact the abundance and diversity of the local vegetation as
the cattle only graze the leaves, grass, shoots and pods from the host species.
Despite evidence of overuse of available plants in the study area, participants reported several
indigenous practices observed to conserve available local flora. These involve following
the methods of procuring particular plant materials and selecting specific plant materials
to be collected. For example, the collection of vegetative materials is restricted to selecting
tender leaves, whilst fruits can never be struck from the trees. Medicinal plant collection is
guided by strict observations such as collecting a portion of the roots, leaves and bark whose
failure may invoke supernatural intervention. These procurement restrictions are observed to
conserve useful plant species. These cultural observations are similar to the religious beliefs,
traditional beliefs, cultural values and practices used by the Shona people of Zimbabwe
to conserve the environment and specific useful plants. For instance, the Shona people
believe ukatema muhacha, mvura haizonayo, which means “if you cut down the muhacha
tree (Parinari curatellifolia), it will not rain”. This taboo is based on the understanding that
the muhacha is an important fruit tree that produces very nutritional fruits to both human
beings and animals, especially in times of drought where there would be a shortage of food
(Chemhuru and Masaka, 2010; Ngara and Mangizvo, 2013). The local authorities also play a
major role in native plant conservation by instituting penalties to perpetrators. Observations
of the role of the local authorities in plant conservation are supported by Ngara and Mangizvo
(2013) that the Shona communal law binds all community members from felling mibvumira,
michakata and misasa trees and anyone who breaches the by-law is fined one herd of cattle
payable at the Chief’s court.
Conclusion
This study was conducted with a stratified sample of indigenous plant resource users to obtain
information about human activities with the potential to cause environmental degradation.
189
The natural environment of the Dikgale community is partially degraded. This is due to the
removal of native plants to develop new settlements and agricultural land, the methods
of harvesting plant materials, and uncontrolled fire. These human-caused activities are
responsible for native plant scarcity and extinction. Logging alone has negatively affected
the local vegetation composition. Overharvesting of plants for medicine, fuel and timber is
another major human activity responsible for native plant loss. Fewer surviving plants are
conserved by the observance of customs and taboos regulating the harvesting and collection
of plant materials. The study recommends the intervention of local authorities to curb the
adverse trend of indiscriminate felling and collection of native plant materials to prevent
environmental degradation through vegetation loss. Similarly, environmentalists should
be consulted for guidance about the removal of native plants before decisions to extend the
residential areas could be implemented.
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Selected salient features for research in

the human and social sciences
Lobelo D. Mogorosi
University of Venda
lobelo.mogorosi@univen.ac.za
Introduction
This chapter focuses on selected salient features of research design and methodology in the
human and social sciences. These are familiar aspects of any academic research project,
but many graduate students often get their study designs, methods, and processes wrong.
Features of interest here include the generic mandate of research, aspects of preparation of
research proposal, the importance of ethics in any formal research process, the generic phases
and steps in the process. These include critical research design issues such as approaches
(qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods), broad research designs, and data collection
choices. All these salient features are discussed to assist human and social researchers, and
students make appropriate choices in their research designs, methods, and processes.
At its simplest, formal research and its processes bring insight and take place between a
problem and inquiry on the one hand, and on the other, the formal presentation of study results.
Research projects are set to accomplish established goals, achievable through some idea
development, followed by proposed plans. Proposed plans usually detail how investigative
undertakings are to unfold. These are commonly known as ‘academic research proposals’ for
either study or commissioned in an academic environment. In preparation of formal research
proposals, selecting research design and methodology is the key and central aspect of the
endeavour. Thus, the step should be treated as one global phenomenon that encamps many
aspects of study design and methods.
The chapter does not cover all aspects of standard research design and methodology in the
human and social sciences but focuses only on those identified as salient in the process. These
features are aspects of any academic research project. Still, they are frequently approached
nonchalantly and incorrectly by many students when choosing their study designs and
methodology. Of interest here, including what the generic mandate of research is (or should
be), a reminder about the importance of ethics in any formal research process, and the
generic phases and steps in the process. Then in tabulator forms - qualitative and quantitative
approaches, broad categories of research and data collection choices are presented and
contrasted. Finally, some space is dedicated to mixed methods. The goal here is to assist both
researchers and students in the human and social sciences be more informed about making
appropriate research projects.
Research endeavours in the human and social sciences are largely focused on exploring,
describing, predicting, explaining, comparing, correlating, evaluating some phenomena, or
testing hypotheses related to some activities, questions, or focus. Properly selecting focus
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areas (alternatively, purposes or objectives) help researchers formulate their study aims and
objectives. Hence, at the beginning of proposals, researchers need to ensure that the focus of
their projects is indicated. They need to clarify what their particular study is about, how the
researcher proposes to do the study, what is it that such a plan intends to find?
Research, research design and methodology

The relationship of all manner of disciplines and research has not always been easy.
Research helps to expand insight into any matter and hitherto unanswered questions and
create new knowledge. Regrettably, there is often an ambiguous relationship between it
and corresponding disciplines. Adherents and practitioners seem unenthusiastic about its
use (i.e. processes, methods, data or findings) in their work. Using social work as an example
representing the family of human and social sciences and professions, Lorenz (2011) offers
a telling statement that social work ‘has always had an uneasy relationship with research’
(p.48). He further observes that it (i.e. social work),
has always been suspected of lacking an empirical base that was not
borrowed from studies conducted by other disciplines, and there is certainly
good reason to suggest that the profession has a need to confront data about
the outcomes of its interventions .
(Lorenz, 2011, p. 49).
Lamentably, Lorenz’s (2011) assertion may also be true to many disciplines and professional
practices.
What, then, is research? From its comprehensive perspective, Bouma and Ling (2004) see
(social) research based on its triple features and identities as a discipline, science and
process. First, a discipline involves collecting, weighing, and evaluating evidence to give an
interpretation, account and depiction of some phenomena; science is about producing an
acceptable description of some aspect of how the universe works. Finally, Bouma and Ling
(2004) point out that a process involves using acceptable methods and procedures.
From its process perspective, Kumar (2011) believes that six (6) factors should characterise
an undertaking to qualify as research. These undertakings should be controlled, rigorous,
systematic, valid and verifiable, and critical. Additionally, evidence is at the core of such
projects.
From its utility perspective, research is about obtaining scientific knowledge utilising specified
methods and procedures, most probably relying less on personal feelings and opinions. It
involves planning and systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data. What is
being done should pass a test of examination over time. According to Saunders (2007: 69),
scientific research enquiry is an empirical undertaking that follows the most rigorous mode
of knowledge production. Focusing on social research, Welman, Kruger and Mitchell (2012)
view it as obtaining scientific knowledge through various objective methods and procedures.
Referring to the world of medical research, South African Medical Research Council (MRC
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Guidelines for Medical Research, n.d) see research not so different from Welman et al. (2012),
Wilkinson (2000) and Saunders (2007), but added two factors, namely, testing and evaluating
designed to contribute towards generalisable knowledge.
For its mandate, research, in general, is an enterprise beyond just collecting information
but focuses on expanding boundaries of understanding and obtaining insight through the
creation of new knowledge by responding to unanswered questions (Goddard and Melville,
2009; Welman et al., 2012). Generic mandates of research and research projects include testing
ideas, theory and hypotheses testing, a challenge to beliefs or practices, problems solving, and
steps (for a proposal, process, programme or policy).
Finally, this section ends with defining two elements of research design and methodology.
Firstly, the element of research design. Monette, Sullivan and DeJong (2008) and Mouton
(2001) see research design as a detailed plan or blueprint that outlines how a research project
is conducted. Creswell (2014) thinks of research designs as types of inquiry within qualitative,
quantitative and mixed-method approaches that provide specific direction and procedures.
Second, the element of research methodology. Babbie and Mouton (2001) consider research
methodology as the method, techniques, and procedures employed in implementing the
research plan and underlying principles and assumptions that underlie their use. In addition,
Welman et al. (2012) state that research methodology considers and explains the logic behind
the research methods and techniques.
Linking with the African-centred worldview that this chapter has adopted for its philosophical
foundation, Mabvurira and Makhubele (2018, p. 15) caution both African scholars and students
when they state that:
Eurocentric research methodologies have failed to consider African

cultures. Europeans assumed that the African mind is not capable of any
systematic philosophy. The biggest challenge with Eurocentric ideology is
that it masquerades as a universal view in many fields such as philosophy,
linguistics, psychology, education and anthropology.
Thus, African scholars and students need to think about how they plan and conduct their
research carefully. The issue is not to keep regurgitating imported ideas but rather to
interrogate ideas and plans and, importantly, be creative.
In research proposals, the selection of research design and methodology is at the core
of research endeavours. The step should be treated as one inclusive phenomenon that
incorporates features of study design and methods. Again, the process is about choices
concerning the technical aspects of a research project plan. Research design and methodology
express both the structure of the research problem and the plan of investigation used to obtain
empirical evidence. Designs help guide researchers about critical study issues, namely, what
observations to make, how to make them, and how to analyse them. The selection of a research
design and methodology means a commitment to a plan and overall scheme of the programme
of the research undertaking (Babbie and Mouton, 2001; Bouma & Ling, 2004; Creswell, 2014;
Franklin, 2013; Mogorosi, 2017; Steinberg, 2015).
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Depending on the nature and approach of a study (i.e. qualitative, quantitative or mixed
methods) and corresponding demands and requirements, an example of factors that need to
be considered for research designs and methodology include (also see Box 1):
• Approach and type of the study (qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods)

• Purpose of the study (alternatively ‘focus’)
• Study hypoThesis (if assessed to be necessary)
• Study population (or information source) and sampling procedures (if necessary)
• Data collection methods and instrument
• Data analysis methods and process
• Pilot testing
• Authentication of information sources, methods and processes (reliability and validity
for quantitative studies; trustworthiness for qualitative studies)
• Ethical considerations
• Proposed division of the study report and bibliography
• Work plan and project budget
Philosophical assumptions
The author here is from a social work education background in the South African context. For
what social work is, both the International Federation of Social Workers and International
Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) (2014) define it as follows:
Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline

that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the
empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human
rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to
social work.
The African-centred worldview informs this chapter. The core argument of the African-
centred worldview in education is critical thinking, decolonisation and indigenisation. It
seeks to challenge the subordination of thoughts, ideas, or choices of Black /African people
perpetrated by imperialism. An African-centred worldview encourages demystifying ideas
that other cultures (in an African context - European, White, colonial) may be superior over
Black /African cultures (Mabvurira and Makhubele, 2018; Thabede, 2008). The thinking and
approach also are that no one should be blind to their genesis. The same must apply to how
projects in research endeavours should be approached. This is about discerning wholesale
adoption of imported ideas and methods at the expense of indigenous, available, valuable,
and useful in particular environments - and risking ending with incorrect, useless, and at times
harmful analyses and answers critical research questions.
To help decolonise social work education, for example, Tamburro (2013, p. 5) believes that the
best way involves adopting post-colonial theory. This theory advocates for the ‘inclusion of the
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voices, stories, and cosmovisions of Indigenous peoples’. She describes ‘cosmovisions’ as a view
about the world, the cosmos and spirituality. Furthermore, for approach and analysis of socio-
economic dynamics, the author here agrees with Prah’s (2017) sentiments and arguments,
that, ‘An Africa-centred approach implies that it is through the familiar African experience
that teaching and curriculum development should be constructed’ (Prah 2017, p. 35). As well
as that, ‘African students must know the world through African eyes and experience. We must
not be afraid to say this’ (Prah 2017, p. 39).
With the apartheid legacy of South Africa, for example, any endeavour that anyone gets
involved in - including research – most of the time, there is very little room to escape ‘own
background’: i.e. looking through the prism of race and historical racial divisions. However,
that does not encourage indiscriminate subjectivity. Rather, there is always that inescapable
lens through which all people perceive the world. In another paper, the author challenges
social work educators and researchers to develop theory and training suited to the clients’
socio-economic environment - i.e. if the profession remains relevant and effective (Mogorosi
& Thabede, 2018). In an African cultural context, aspects such as spirituality, ‘wholism’,
appreciation and respect for particular cultural nuances are fundamental and must be
considered when insight and analyses are required (see Mogorosi and Thabede, 2018;
Mabvurira and Makhubele, 2018; Thabede, 2008).
Makofane and Shirindi (2018, p. 28) suggest that an African-focused researcher is well-
positioned ‘to consider cultural aspirations, understandings and practices of indigenous
people during the research process.’ In the same vain - advocating for Afrocentric
methodology in social work research as a step towards Africanising the profession - Mabvurira
and Makhubele (2018, p. 10) argue that:
Africans have been researched from a Western standpoint using Western

methodologies, some of which do not recognise beliefs, values, traditions,
mores, and taboos central in African life.
The dominant world view is key to any efforts to such transformation endeavours, to ensure
research in any context is decolonised and indigenised and is sensitive to local cultures and
practices. In an African context, it must be an African worldview.
Ethical issues in research

Ethics in research is about the protection of human dignity, social justice and engender trust.
Shaw (1999, p. 74) makes a simple but enormously telling statement: ‘Naivety about ethics is
unethical’. Yes, by the time a practitioner in any endeavour gets into its activities, at a very
minimum, they should be au fait with its requisite ethics. Thus, researchers should foster
a culture of accepting responsibility and accountability for their actions. It can be argued
that interest in and willingness to enforce them actively help enhance knowledge within
any discipline and increase the standing of those involved (Babbie and Mouton, 2001; Kirst-
Ashman, 2015; Mogorosi, 2018). Broom (2006, p. 155) reflects that ‘(b)being ethical is vital for
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the production of good quality research and avoiding damage to the field (study site)’. Gorman
(2007, p. 13) highlights that unethical research may harm the individual, the institution,
and the profession and impact the future willingness of potential participants to engage in
research.
Adopted study designs and methodologies must comply with requisite quality, the law and be
culturally sensitive. Ethical research practices ensure that scientific work and practices do not
harm, either by commission or omission. Due to lack of knowledge, experience, guidance, or
negligence, researchers who are not competent tend to cause a lot of harm due to their poor
practices.
Bell (2017) points out that ethics in research control and regulate the research initiatives
(namely, ethics committees, assessment of risks, maintenance of appropriate standards) and
ensure that the research processes are conducted responsibly. A universal process usually
involves obtaining standard institutional approvals. That is why obtaining such institutional
ethics approval before research begins, and maintaining high ethical standards throughout
a research project, are central to good scientific inquiries. These ethical standards include
upholding confidentiality, ensuring and guaranteeing the safety and well-being of study
subjects and sources of information (Peled and Leichtentritt, 2002; Broom, 2006; Mogorosi,
2018).
Many study subjects may fall within either ‘stigmatised social classes or groups’ (e.g. the
poor, ill, and less educated) or ‘vulnerable populations’ (e.g. social minorities, the needy,
children, people with disabilities), thus making them susceptible to abuse. Research with
such groups, therefore, requires processes that demonstrate higher levels of sensitivity and
ethical constraints. No effort should be spared from ensuring that very minimal exposure to
discomfort, for example, is experienced by any research source of information (Leeson, 2017;
Mogorosi, 2018; Oliveira and Guedes, 2012).
Discussing a need for carefulness on the choices and development of research designs, Koocher
and Keith-Spegel (1994, p. 60) capture the ethical challenge of poorly designed studies when
they state that:
Poorly designed studies yield uninterpretable, easily misinterpreted, or

useless findings. Participants have at best wasted their time, and at worst,
were needlessly put at risk or harmed. Future consumers also may be
harmed if the findings are generalised and applied.
Finally, in this section, proper research plans, proposals and implementation should,
therefore, include (Mogorosi, 2018, p. 92):
• Adherence to discipline-specific conventions and relevant code of conduct

• Respect for the rules (i.e. law, human rights and international conventions)
• Competent seniors supervise work
• Attention and advice is sort for the use of new technologies
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• Obtaining approvals of the institutional review committees

• Obtaining consent from participants, informants and legal guardians
• Necessary and fair disclosure of funding, affiliation and associations
• Objective analysis and reportage of results, and also that
• Fair disclosure of results is provided.
The development of research ideas and proposals

Investigators need to dedicate sufficient time conceptualising that they wish to spend time
researching, for if not properly done, consequences include questionable projects and findings.
Therefore, the research proposal writing process involves preparing a plan or a ‘blueprint’ of
a project, and proposals show how researchers plan to arrive at the planned destination (i.e.
study results and conclusions, as well as a written report). Significantly, a proposal needs a full
rationale and clarity of purpose (i.e. the what, why, where, when and how). An ironic question
here is appropriate: ‘how can the answer be correct when the question being asked is not?’
Research ideas that assist with the development of possible research proposals come about
from various spaces and sources. These include:
• Observation (problem areas in the discipline and general life)

• Previous research (academic publications, theses, reports)
• Theories, hypotheses, understandings, explanations (in the discipline, competing and
contradicting issues)
• Personal interests (general questions in the discipline, unsolved issues, controversies,
myths), as well as
• Current /old subjects (local, national and international matters requiring attention
for solutions and recommendations).
Table 1 lists suggested issues that need to be considered when students work on their research
ideas and projects. This list is designed to assist both supervisors and students
Table 1: guiding issues and question for idea development
Supervisor Issues and Questions Student Issues and Questions
• Is the research idea worthy of • Can the student pursue this topic with
research? sustained enthusiasm?
• Is the topic researchable, solvable • Can the research be completed within
and suitable to the level? a reasonable period?
• Can the research questions and • Will there be adequate resources
findings potentially generate (i.e. equipment, time and funding)
further research? available to complete the research?
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Supervisor Issues and Questions Student Issues and Questions
• Is the selected topic challenging • Does the student have the

and manageable in size for a level competency (knowledge, experience,
(master’s vs doctoral)? ethical understanding) to conduct
• Will the study make an original the research?
contribution to the body of • Not all ideas are always worthy of
knowledge? investigation!
• Will it be relevant to future career • Prepare factual and logical
options? arguments to counter initial ‘No’ to
own presented ideas.
Source: Albertse (2006)
Appropriately focused projects require pointed and good research questions (see also Ellis
and Levy, 2008). These are overarching questions to which researchers seek to answer. Shirindi
(2018, p. 55) states that good research questions
… define the focus of the proposed research project. When developing a

research question, the researcher must do preliminary research on the
chosen topic of interest, brainstorm on who will benefit from reading the
paper or book. In addition, the W5H technique (Who, What, When, Where,
Why and How) questions are formulated based on the general research
question.
Developing research ideas on a well-articulated and argued problem establishes the potential
for producing meaningful project results. Ellis and Levy (2008, p.18) - with the assistance of
previous work of Kerlinger and Lee (2000, p. 24) - state that an ‘adequate statement of the
research problem is one of the most important parts of research.’ Thus, preparing research
problems and questions involve a proper mixture of ideas, analysis, and logical inferences.
These can only be done the old fashioned way correctly: the knowledge of basic research
methods and grounding discipline, as well as reading, discussing and revising.
While developing proposals, prospective researchers must expect challenges and naturally
be part of such a process. They should approach the exercise with open minds and a willingness
to learn. They should, therefore, expect to:
• Spend time developing ideas (broadly discussing and reading helps to open minds)
• Be potentially ensnared into attempting to study everything about their research
ideas (stick to your stated focus, aims and objectives)
• Feel pressurised by too many requirements (be focused on your goal)
• Be criticised and challenged (it is not personal, make it a learning process)
• Often to feel confused and helpless (it is natural, especially when under pressure)
• Make mistakes (do not feel discouraged), and finally to have to
• Correct through re-writing (it helps to improve plans).
201
In addition to it being a planning tool, a proposal is required and necessary to:
• Justify a project
• Demonstrate the competence and expertise of a prospective researcher, as well as
• Serve as a contract for the envisaged research project.
A good research proposal consists of a series of logical steps and tasks. For it to be persuasive,
it needs to be descriptive and clear. When a proposal is examined, the following questions
must have been considered (Babbie and Mouton, 2001; Bouma and Ling, 2004; Mogorosi, 2017;
Saunders, 2007; Welman et al., 2012):
• What the researcher wants to do (major research questions and hypotheses)

• Why is that important and necessary (justification of the study)
• How that is to be done (research design, methodology and process)
• Where is the study going to be done (study location and study material)
• What will be the benefits of the results (findings and their utility)
• Project plan (identification and timed milestones), and
• Required project resources (knowledge, experience, materials and monetary).
Supervisors and academic committees charged with assessing post-graduate students’
research proposals and plans, a useful example of an assessment tool, are presented in Box
1 following.
Box 1: research proposal assessment tool

MAJOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ISSUES ISSUE QUALITY
ADDRESSED ASSESSMENT
Yes, No or Excellent, Good,
I. ADMINISTRATIVE SECTION Not Applicable? Average or Poor?
Administrative Aspects (formal evidence attached?)
Departmental Approval
Proofreading
Prefatory Pages (including abstract /summary)
Work Plan /Schedule
Proposed Project Budget
General Document Requirements (length, structure,
attachments)
II. RESEARCH PROPOSAL TECHNICAL SECTION
Proposed Study Title
Introduction & Background (including motivation &
relevance)
Statement of the Research Problem (including major
research questions, objectives, purposes, hypoThesis)
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Literature Review (including the definition of concepts

& theoretical framework)
Original Research Contribution (for doctoral studies)
Research Design & Methodology
Nature & Design of the Study
Study Source of Information /Population
Sampling & Procedure
Data Collection Method(s) & Instrument(s)
Reliability and Validity /Trustworthiness
Data Management & Analysis
Pilot Testing /Study
Ethical Consideration
Proposed Outline of Study Report /Division of Study
Report
Bibliography
III. RESEARCH COMMITTEE DECISION SECTION
Research Argument (ideas academically informed,
sound & logical?)
General Assessment (quality of the research proposal)
Eventually, research proposals should convey ideas and plans on how a project is to be
undertaken. Thus all its critical aspects must be well articulated. Furthermore, to produce
good research proposals, the end product must be written in a clear and accessible style that
communicates well with the reader (Bell, 2017; Creswell, 2014; Kumar, 2011).
Selected features in the research process

As stated earlier, the chapter focuses on identified salient features of research design and
methodology. These features include: general phases and steps in the research process,
purposes of a study, approaches (qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods), four broad
categories of research designs, and selection of data collection methods.
General phases and steps in the research process and

project
The first salient feature here is about general phases and steps in the research process. The all-
purpose research process (which may be adopted for any of the approaches) constitutes five
broad phases and ten generic steps, as shown in Table 2 following here.
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Table 2: phases and steps in the research process

PHASES ACTIVITIES STEPS IN RESEARCH
A Idea Development 1. Formulation of a research idea (topic, question)
2. Literature review
B Selection of Research 3. Selection of a specific design (e.g. qualitative,

Design and Methods quantitative or mixed methods)
4. Selection of data collection method(s)
5. Selection of study source(s)
C Preparation of a 6. A formally written research project plan (proposed

Research Proposal report outline including major research
questions, study aims & relevance; issues in steps
1-10; research instrument(s) & pilot test plans;
ethical considerations; timeframes; budget)
D Research Process 7. Data collection

8. Data processing
9. Data analysis
E Report Writing 10. Presentation of the findings (in a formal report)
Table 2 presents five (5) phases and ten (10) steps in a generic research process. The second
phase (selection of research design and methods) focuses on the researcher needing to spend
time planning, conceptualising, developing and concretising ideas about the envisioned
research project.
Purpose of a study
Sometimes referred to as ‘focus’ or ‘objectives of a study, the purpose of the study is a point at
which a researcher needs to explain that which they are trying to accomplish in their project;
in the manner or shape it is envisaged to assume (Marshall and Rossman, 2000; Neuman, 2000).
Thus, research projects are largely aimed at or focused on description, prediction, explanation,
comparison, correlation, evaluation of some phenomena, or various combinations.
Similar to other research teachers, the author has experienced challenges where when
students are asked about ‘purposes’ (or objectives) of their studies, they use non-research or
colloquial terms that they wished to ‘study’, ‘investigate’, ‘examine’, ‘find out, or ‘learn more
about …!’). Indeed, research undertakings are set out to meet all these! However, the question
would remain: ‘but what is your specific study purpose or objective?’
Various authors describe and clarify eight (8) different purposes of a study, as briefly explained
in Table 3 following here (see Bless et al., 2006; Bouma and Ling, 2004; Creswell, 2014; Dodd
and Epstein, 2012; Kumar, 2011; Monette et al., 2008; Neuman, 2000, 2003). Understanding how
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each factor is described will help ensure that studies are ‘appropriately purposed, focused or
explained’.
Table 3: description of objectives /focus /objectives of a research project

Focus /Purpose of Studies Description
1. Explanation Aimed at efforts to know about the “why.”

(thus … explanatory study) Establishing causal relationships
2. Exploration Aimed at developing preliminary ideas and move towards refined

(exploratory) research questions
Focus on “what” questions
Getting into hitherto uncharted areas of a discipline (cutting edge
studies), or known areas using a different view and examination
method
3. Comparison The focus is on similarities and differences. The effectiveness of

(comparative) treatment modalities, properties as well as systems are compared
Two or more cases are examined
4. Description Aimed at describing particular phenomena

(descriptive) The purpose is to paint a picture using words or numbers
Answers questions such as who, when, where, and how
5. Evaluation Aimed at assessing designs, policy implementation, achievement

(evaluative) of goals and objectives, as well as the use of social interventions
6. HypoThesis testing It is about testing statements whose validity still needs to be

proved
Bases for approach include assumptions, suspicions, ideas about
phenomena, relationships, situations, theories, understanding or
explanations
It involves the process of establishing value judgements based on
evidence
7. Prediction Attempts to make projections about what will occur in the future
(predictive) or how phenomena would play themselves in settings given
certain specified circumstances
8. Correlation Aimed at assessing the presence /absence of corresponding

(correlational) development, variations, progression v/s regression, changes v/s
fluctuations, evolution with contrasting factors of study interest
9. Eclectic Combination of any number of the study focus /purpose listed here
Research designs or approaches (qualitative, quantitative

and mixed methods)
Research designs or approaches help guide researchers about critical study issues: what
observations to make, how to make them, and how to analyse them. They usually assist with
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expressing both the structure of research problems and plans of investigations used to obtain
empirical evidence. In addition to the need for critical thinking and creativity, selecting a
research design or approach should be guided by criteria, principles and cautions against
possible bias, as shown in Table 4 following here. The information in the table here is based
on critical and seminal work in the theory of social and human science research by authors
such as Bless and Higson-Smith (2000), Creswell (2014), Kerlinger (1986), Monette et al. (2008),
Rubin and Babbie (1989), Steinberg (2015), on the approach, nature and types of research
designs in the social, human and behavioural sciences.
Table 4: Factors of research designs

FACTORS DESCRIPTION
Research Design Features A commitment to a plan and an overall scheme of a research

undertaking
Research designs assist with what observations to make, how to
make them, and how to analyse them
The focus of Research Design In human and social sciences, the focus is usually on the 4 P’s
(people, problems, programmes or some phenomena)
On the 4 P’s, the focus is on: conditions, orientation or actions
Criteria for Selecting Research Does the design help the researcher answer set research
Designs questions?
Does it help in controlling extraneous independent variables?
Does the design address issues of the degree of obtrusiveness?
Does the design address internal and external validity?
Can the results be generalisable?
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Guiding Principles for Selecting Parsimony (i.e. researchers need to keep designs as simple as
Research Designs possible)
Degree of obtrusiveness (i.e. the need to ensure that sources of
information are interfered with as little as possible)
Proper resource allocation (i.e. ensuring that necessary resources
are properly put in place for best study results)
Triangulation (i.e. the need to use various methods to double-
check the accuracy of study methods and information sources)
The problem of ‘trained incapacity (i.e. while making method
choices, the need for researchers to be mindful of possible own
biases and blind-spots, due to their training and knowledge)
Ethical appropriateness (i.e. the need to pay attention to ethics in
all research processes)
Compliance with conventional discipline practices
Sources of Bias in Selected Selection bias

Research Designs History and maturation
Regression towards the mean
Test and reactive effects
Instrumentation
Experimental mortality
Research designs and approaches available in the human and social sciences may use
qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. Brief references are made to definitions that
Creswell (2014) provided for each. First, he defines quantitative research as an ‘approach
for testing objective theories by examining the relationship among variables’ (p.4). Second,
he sees qualitative research as ‘an approach for exploring and understanding the meaning
individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem’ (p.4). Third and final, Creswell
(2014, p. 4) indicates that mixed methods research is ‘an approach to an inquiry involving
collecting quantitative and qualitative data, integrating the two forms of data, and using
distinct designs that may involve philosophical assumptions and theoretical frameworks.’
This paper agrees with Creswell (2014) that often quantitative and qualitative studies are
mistakenly viewed as either rigid, distinct or opposites; but that these represent different
ends on a continuum, as well as that studies tend to be more of either one, rather than being
exclusively one of the two. To complete the explanation, Creswell (2014, p. 3) adds that ‘Mixed
methods research resides in the middle of this continuum because it incorporates elements of
both qualitative and quantitative approaches.’
Quantitative researchers operate similarly to photographers, whose interest is finding

interesting subjects matter, then take snapshots to both ‘record’ and present what the
environment exhibits (e.g. properties of the picture: numbers, sizes and shapes, coordination,
and shades of objects in the snapshot). Alternatively, qualitative researchers are mainly
preoccupied with metaphorically ‘painting the picture’ of what is in front of them (e.g.
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understanding what is put together, how, the meaning, and the snapshot message).
Furthermore, qualitative researchers are also akin to pioneer miners whose interest is finding
mineral-rich green fields, then dig, either knowing what is underground, speculating what
they may find or just taking chances. Thus, comparing the two, while quantitative researchers
are into ‘taking the picture’ - as it is, qualitative researchers are interested in understanding
the ‘meaning of the picture’ and how it was put together.
Combining various elements of our analogies here (i.e. photographers, thinkers and miners),
mixed methods researchers are comparable to chefs, who conceptualise and plan menus,
gather ingredients, measure and mix these in particular ways, then witness the outcome.
There have been disagreements and misconceptions about which designs or approaches
are better or superior. For example, Tashakkori and Teddlie (1998, p. 3) have discussed ‘wars’
about qualitative-versus-quantitative methods. They discuss that qualitative vs quantitative
debates ‘have raged in the social and behavioural sciences regarding the superiority of one
or the other of the two major social science paradigms or models’ (see their Chapter 1, ‘More
Details Regarding the Paradigm Wars’ and ‘The End of the Paradigm Wars and the Emergence
of Mixed Methods’). It must be emphasised, however, that no research design or methodology
is superior to any other. Of significance is selecting approaches, designs and methodologies
that will best assist in getting the answers to the research questions at hand.
Over the years of teaching, the author has heard students indicating a preference for one over
the other. Matters at hand?
• How many, how often, the size? You count, you measure! (quantitative approaches
may suffice)
• Appreciation, understanding, feeling, experiences? You come closer to experience
and understand! (qualitative approaches are suggested)
Very simplistic examples may suffice here:
Quantitative approach /studies

Core question(s) of interest for quantitative research are about ‘what is the situation /what is
going on, at a particular point in time, i.e. mostly cross-sectional (see Table 5). Such studies
mostly deal with larger data sources, tend to be more structured, adopted methods are likely
to be specific and fixed and follow logical, sequential steps. For data, these studies are more
into broader understanding, wider view, quantification and measurement of phenomena,
and adopted processes can be replicated. Quantitative study designs and approaches may be
suggested and be the best way to go, for example, when researchers wish to:
• provide a descriptive demographic profile of students in the School of Human and

Social Science at the University of Venda
• evaluate post-graduate students’ comprehension of research methodology
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• conduct a correlational analysis of crime-rate statistics in the G.G. community during

the electric presence and failure periods over three months of January to March 2021.
Qualitative approach /studies

Core question(s) of interest for qualitative research are about ‘what is the meaning of the
situation here /what the meaning of what is going on here is’ (see Table 5). Such studies
mostly deal with uniquely chosen sources of data (mostly case studies). Major methods in such
studies tend to be comparatively less structured, less precise and not fixed, and follow steps or
processes informed by uniquely obtaining situations. For data collection, qualitative studies
tend to be exploratory, more in-depth, for discovering and deeper understanding of given
phenomena. Thus what is dealt with tends to be unique and less likely to be replicable.
Qualitative study designs and approaches may be suggested and be the best way to go, for
example, when researchers wish to:
• Describe how parents dealt with the loss through the death of their new-born babies
• Explain how relatively new marriages tend to fail
• Explore the usage of idioms in the 1980s novels by authors A.A. and B.B.
• Explore AAA group experiences of social acceptance /racial discrimination /
xenophobia in South Africa.
Often in the human and social environment, circumstances tend to be more grey than firm - as
it were - Black or White. This may complicate the process of what to do to obtain answers to
the questions at hand. Thus, the best way to obtain a fuller understanding of the complexities
involved may lie in a more comprehensive approach that involves adopting a mixed methods
approach. As indicated, the chapter is grounded on the African-centred worldview. Factors
such as spirituality, ‘wholism’, cultural nuances, and immersion in the subject matter are
critical in this worldview. Therefore, it behoves those researching within settings such as in the
African context to understand mixed methods designs and approaches.
Data in the human and social sciences often come in words, numbers, actions, observations,
or combinations. Based on what is available, researchers need to make decisions about the
approach and suitability of the data and its analysis. To ensure proper emphasis, focus and
direction of their studies (whether in-depth, broader or comprehensive view of phenomena
at hand), researchers need to know the difference among research designs and methods. The
research questions and the nature of required data help guide the choice of approach to a
study. Table 5, following here, summarises the factors that characterise both qualitative and
quantitative study approaches.
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Table 5: the nature and factors of research designs

FACTORS QUALITATIVE DESIGNS QUANTITATIVE DESIGNS
Major Questions What is the situation? What is the meaning of the
What is going on? situation here?
What is the meaning of what is
going on here?
Information Interest In-depth, for further exploration, Wider view, for a broader
and Focus therefore, better understanding explanation and understanding
Characteristics and A smaller number of subjects /smaller A large quantity /volume of study
Study Materials volume material material
Get closer to the subjects and context Further away from study subjects
Possibility of double-checking Lesser understanding of the
Immediate information and flexible context
Measure the quality Utilises numeric measures
Ability to get information after
the fact
Examples of Methods Field studies methods: interviews, Survey methods: interviews,

of Inquiry and Data essays, case studies, focus groups, questionnaires, Likert scales,
Collection biographies, participant observation, multiple choices items, records
recordings and social indicators
Methods used are flexible, unique and Methods used are fixed,
therefore, hard to replicate standardised, easier to replicate
Sampling Methods Mostly use non-probability and both Mostly use probability methods
statistical and non-statistical methods and statistical sampling
Unit of Analysis A smaller number of study objects: A larger number of study objects:
individuals, activities, artefacts, individuals, activities, groups and
groups, structures and organisations organisations
Methods of Data Uses thematic data-, narrative data-, Descriptive data analysis
Analysis and discourse analyses (condensed and summarised
data, measures of central
tendency, measures of
variability).
Inferential data analysis
(correlation, Z-test, T-test, Chi-
square test)
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Verification of Study Trustworthiness (to encompass both Validity and reliability

Data reliability and validity)
Interpretation of the The philosophical view is idealism The philosophical view is realism
Findings Analysis proceeds by induction Analysis proceeds by induction
More subjective and philosophical and More objective formalised and
with less strict process stricter process
It relies more on the researcher’s Scientific, likely to be objective
intuitive and artistic abilities, Use of standardised statistical
knowledge, and experiences procedures
Focus on the holistic view Focus on the specific aspects
General Language Narratives, subjective Trends, objective, numbers
Advantages View phenomena in their context Reach a larger number of

Better understanding informants
Possibility of double-checking Broader understanding
Flexibility & immediate information Ability to get information after
the fact
Disadvantages Possibility of violation of rights Context less understood

Risks of injury and legal Difficult to test cause-effect
More expensive (resource) Less flexibility
Subjectivity /loss of detachment Human error: possibly higher
Possibility of the Hawthorne effect Response rate: usually lower
Mixed methods approach /studies

As discussed earlier, mixed methods are the third alternative to both qualitative and
quantitative methods and approaches. It combines elements of both within different phases
of the research process. There are still debates relating to which of the two approaches to
start with when adopting these mixed methods. One example is about which data collection
methods to start with (qualitative or quantitative)? Dodd and Epstein (2012, p. 112) state that
such studies begin with getting qualitative data. Adding that ‘traditionally’ …
mixed-method studies should “progress” from qualitative studies that

conceptualise issues and generate hypotheses to quantitative studies that
rigorously “test” them. (Dodd and Eptein, 2012, p. 112).
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The same authors (Dodd and Eptein, 2012, p. 112), however, emphasise that at times the
opposite can also be true,
Those researchers who recognise the usefulness of following quantitative

research with qualitative, emphasise the illustrative and explanatory uses
of qualitative data collection and analysis.
There is no harm in the cost-effective adoption of elements of one approach in a study of

another nature - especially if such projects assist in answering study questions. There should,
however, be reasons for adopting elaborate qualitative and quantitative approaches in one
study, as the use of multiple methods and sources of data are likely to be burdensome (time
and resource-wise) to anyone conducting research. Various authors indicate that the mixed
methods approach come in different gradations and can be applied at any of the three
critical stages in the research process. These stages are: during either design, fieldwork or
interpretation /contextualisation stages (see Bell, 2017; Dodd and Epstein, 2012; Tashakkori
and Teddlie, 1998; Teddlie and Tashakkori, 2009). Box 2 here presents Bell’s (2017, pp. 128-129)
and Tashakkori and Teddlie’s (1998, p. 43) explanation of types, stages at which mixed methods
can be applied, as well as reasons thereof:
Box 2: Mixed methods in research

Mixing methods’
• Mixing qualitative and quantitative methods and processes
Generic types of mixed methods

• Dominant-less dominant mixed methods
• Sequential mixed methods
• Parallel /simultaneous mixed methods
Stages Where Mixed Methods Can Be Infused In Research

• Research design stage (drawing different research questions that may require both qualitative
and quantitative methods)
• Fieldwork (data gathering and analysis) (some circumstances at this stage may lead to a need
to use a mixture of methods. But that may have a resource cost implication due to incorporation
after the planning stage)
• Interpretation and contextualisation (to assist in understanding the context, outside ‘objective’,
‘pure’ findings
Why Use Mixed Methods?

• Development: to use one design or method to inform the next
• Initiation: To assist with the possible discovery of paradoxes, contradictions, fresh perspective
• Corroboration /triangulation: to check that ‘same results’ be derived from both qualitative and
quantitative methods
• Elaboration: the qualitative data analysis exemplifies how the quantitative findings apply in
particular cases
• Complementarity: qualitative and quantitative results differ, but together they generate insights
• Contradiction: it is useful where qualitative and quantitative findings conflict
Sources: Bell (2017), Tashakkori and Teddlie (1998)
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Analogies may be useful for illustration here. An example could be going through the Law
and Order /Justice System, where human dynamics meet biomedical sciences. A complainant
comes forward to report a matter:
• A desk officer at the Police Service, using mostly quantitative methods, would have
a file opened. The interest was largely on collecting basic information (e.g. through
brief story-telling and narrative: nature of matter, what happened, where, and
involved). Then, upon preliminary assessment and analysis, a fuller investigation may
be recommended.
• Officers in the Investigation Unit would spend time and resources sifting through the
information, using mostly qualitative methods to elaborate and complement initial
assessment (through fieldwork for fuller context: in loco inspection, surveillance
and observation, forensic and pathological testing, reconstruction and recollection,
illustrations, examination of records and other evidential material, interviews and
probing). The Investigation Unit may then recommend the proffering of charges and
forward the report for prosecution.
• Using mixed methods, which involves sifting through all information presented by
the police to confirm and corroborate information for better and further contextual
clarity, the Prosecution Authority would have to decide what should happen next,
i.e. recommend either institution of further prosecution investigations, or decline to
prosecute.
Researchers - especially those emerging - need to realise that several factors guide the
selection of a study design: the set aims and objectives of the study, how best to achieve them,
and the availability of resources (e.g. skills, funds and time).
Table 6, following here, presents four broad categories of research designs and their various
characteristics. These are laboratory experiments, field experiments, field studies and
surveys. The reader needs to emphasise the wording ‘broad categories’, as these four are just
that, rather than singular designs. Under each of these four, specific types of study designs can
be chosen (e.g. what type of laboratory experiment is to be chosen?). Furthermore, under each
of these four broad categories, there is a wide range of sub-types of designs. For ease of reading
and understanding the contents of Table 6, characteristics presented therein include design
features, focus and goals, aims of using a particular design, and finally, both advantages and
disadvantages of each of the four broad designs.
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Table 6: four broad categories of research designs
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TYPE OF DESIGN LABORATORY EXPERIMENT FIELD EXPERIMENT FIELD STUDY SURVEY
What is? Called true experiments, laboratory Alternatively referred to as social Being non-experimental, field Surveys study larger populations.
experiments are conducted under a experiments. studies are empirical inquiries They are aimed at establishing
controlled environment. These quasi-experiments are aimed at discovering relations incidence, distribution and interaction
The aims include ‘pure and conducted in a natural but and interaction of human and of social variables.
uncontaminated conditions’ to controlled environment. social variables in a realistic
They focus on getting straightforward
maximum control of extraneous setting.
They are aimed at careful data on social status, trends and
variables. control and often manipulation Interest: attitudes, practices, orientation (i.e. views, beliefs, attitudes,
Major issue: ‘how is X related to Y, of extraneous and independent perceptions of individuals or behaviours and affiliation).
how strong, under what conditions?’ variables in natural settings. groups in a setting.
Data gathering methods: panels,
The control of independent Data gathering methods: interviews, observation.
variables, however, is less than in interviews, observation,
Sampling is an essential ingredient.
a laboratory setting. secondary analysis.
The challenge for researchers is Sampling is essential but not
to create conditions closer to true always necessary.
experimental settings.
Design Features Designs: explanatory, exploratory Designs: evaluative and Designs: descriptive and Designs: evaluative, descriptive,
(prediction) and evaluative explanatory exploratory explanatory, and exploratory
Sampling: uses probability Sampling: either probability Sampling: either probability or non-
procedures Sampling: mostly use probability or non-probability procedures. probability procedures. Choice guided
procedures. But the choice is Choice guided by the research by the research question and the nature
guided by the research question question and the nature of the of the population.
and the nature of the population. population.
Interest, Focus & Interest: conditions and actions Interest: conditions, actions and Interest: conditions, actions and Interest: conditions, actions and
Goals Focus: explanation, prediction and orientation orientation orientation
evaluation Focus: explanation, prediction Focus: description, exploration Focus: evaluation, exploration and
Goals: To test and establish true and evaluation and evaluation. description
cause and effect. Goals: To test and establish cause Goals: To establish and describe Goals: To establish the views, attitudes
and effect in natural settings. phenomena in natural settings. and social situations.
Aims Idea testing: yes Idea testing: yes Idea testing: yes Idea testing: establish facts
Theory testing: yes Theory testing: yes Theory testing: sometimes Theory testing: no
Develop processes: yes Develop processes: yes problem- Develop processes: often Develop processes: trends
Problem-solving: yes solving: yes problem-solving: contributes. Problem-solving: contribute.
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Possible Advantages It is possible to use random Variables in natural settings The basis of field studies A large bulk of information can be easily
assignment and manipulate tend to have a stronger effect as is realism: the natural gathered.
independent variables. compared to those in laboratory environment. Surveys can be replicated.
Contaminating conditions can be situations. Field studies are closer to real They are also cost-effective.
eliminated. The setting is more flexible life, therefore, less artificial
If the study design is properly
It is the researchers who decide the compared to laboratories. situations.
constructed, information tends to be very
conditions. The natural situation makes These studies are highly accurate.
Such experiments tend to be more studies more appropriate for heuristic. As a result, they
With proper knowledge, skills and
precise, thus more accurate and complex social and human possess greater potential for the
sophistication, a good job can be easily

unambiguous. phenomena. discovery of even unanticipated
done.
These designs are good for phenomena.
Internal validity is high.
testing theory and also for They tend to be flexible, as an
Such experiments can be repeated.
obtaining answers to practical adjustment that is needed can be
questions. accommodated.
Possible Disadvantages Replicable: yes Replicable: not easy Replicable: not easy) Replicable: yes
Generalisable: not always Generalisable: not easy due to Generalisable: not easy (due to Generalisable: yes (when proper
(artificial laboratory settings). the uniqueness of situations. uniqueness of situations). sampling is used).
Challenges: Hawthorne and test Challenges: selection bias,
effects. Challenges: Hawthorne and test Hawthorne effect. Challenges: the possibility of selection
effects, experimental mortality. bias.
Social Work
Table 6 here presents these four broad categories of research designs. By definition, the first
(laboratory experiment) are studies conducted within the artificially created environment.
Study materials are manipulated, followed by observations and recording outcomes
(e.g. growing plants in a room with a particular temperature, humidity, light). Laboratory
experiments cannot be practically or ethically conducted in the human and social sciences. In
contrast, the other three (field experiments, field studies and surveys) can be acceptable and
practical in the field.
Field experiments (sometimes referred to as social experiments) are situations where outside
or new elements are introduced in an already existing social setting to observe the outcome
(e.g., introducing new teaching methods in a class). Field studies involve what is mostly done
in social research. For example, human and social dynamics are studied through interviews,
observation, interfacing with materials, and going into the field (e.g. panel, document or
archaeological studies). Surveys are studies that are largely interested in establishing trends
and direction about specific factors, such as beliefs, attitudes, practices, occurrences, at given
situations and time frames (e.g. a study on food choices, voting patterns).
Selection of data collection methods

Data collection methods are specified employed techniques, measuring instruments, and
ways or activities to implement a research plan of gathering necessary study-related data.
Data collection instruments are tools that are used to gather information as part of research
projects. Examples of data collection instrument include research tools or devices such as
questionnaire or interview schedule, that are used to gather data about behaviour, attitudes,
beliefs or activities, occurrences or elements (Bouma and Ling, 2004; King, Morris and Fitz-
Gibbons, 1992; Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998; Teddlie and Tashakkori, 2009).
Discussing and contrasting data collection methods and processes in different research
approaches in social work, Makofane and Shirindi (2018, p. 30) describe these as follows:
Qualitative research does not answer ‘How many?’ or ‘What is the strength
of the relationship between variables?’ Instead, these questions may
be answered through quantitative research (Barbour 2014, p. 13). In
certain instances, both qualitative and quantitative research is utilised
in a complementary fashion to understand phenomena. The use of both
approaches is called mixed-methods. Qualitative researchers ‘study
things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret,
phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them’.
There are three methods to collect data: an examination of records, observation and self-report
measures (questionnaires and interviews). It is important to note that various combinations of
these methods can be utilised to maximise data quality. In addition to research questions for
specified studies, the stated aims and objectives help guide the selection of data collection
methods and instruments. The research concept needs to be operationalised, and measures
also constructed to enable measurement and evaluation processes.
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For the data collection method and instrument suitability, factors such as study aims and
objectives and the nature of a study are key. There are essentially three ways to collect data:
examining records, conducting observation, and using self-report measures. What matters
is that each researcher should make use of what they find useful from various sources as
methods and data collection instruments (see Balian, 1988; Babbie and Mouton, 2001; Bouma
and Ling, 2004; King et al., 1992; Saunders, 2007; Welman et al., 2012; Wilkinson, 2000). For ease
of understanding, a summary of each data collection method is presented in Table 7, following
here.
Table 7: Data collection methods

METHODS DESCRIPTION ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
Examination of These are systematic As records are already Records tend to be
Records: accounts of there, there is less incomplete, as their
The method is good in occurrences and demand for peoples’ purposes may not have
quantitative studies. other data (e.g., time. been similar to study
enrollment, sign-in Records ten to be needs.
Examples include field
list, applications, and objective. Recording and
studies and survey
logs). Information is extracting
situations. They give information
recorded in a tally information can be
at the occurrence
sheet. time-consuming and
of an activity rather
than retrospectively, burdensome.
therefore, avoiding The method can be
problems of forgetting inflexible.
and bias. There may be ethical
and legal constraints
to deal with.
Observation: Observers attend Observation tends to Time and other

The method is good in events to record be more credible, as resources are needed
qualitative studies. activities and the accounts are based in abundance.
patterns in a natural on actually witnessed Time scheduling can
Examples include case
setting over a activities. be problematic.
and ethnographic
given period (e.g. The data is more
studies and Observation is a skill
actions, behaviours credible, as the
experiments. that requires proper
and reactions, observation is within training.
rituals, ceremonies, the context of the
interactions and Observers need to be
study subjects.
work). Information credible in the eyes of
Therefore, the the observed.
is recorded using
method tends to be
electronic devices, The presence of an
more flexible and,
questionnaire-like observer can result in
therefore, can suit the
forms or tally sheet. the Hawthorne effect.
circumstance as found.
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Social Work
Self-report Respondents provide Questionnaires can People tend to be

(questionnaire): information in writing. provide answers more able and ready
The method is good in They may be asked to a wide variety of to express themselves
quantitative studies. to circle choices or questions. orally than in writing.
explain further. The A large population can It can be difficult
Examples include field
instrument is either be reached with this to request people
studies and surveys.
mailed to give to instrument. to complete the
potential respondents. instrument and return
Uniformity is imposed
on all respondents, it.
which is helpful for The method can be
data analysis. both times consuming
Anonymity and and expensive.
confidentiality are
usually provided for.
Self-report (interview): Here questions Interviews are useful Interviewing is time-

The method is good are asked of for all kinds of people. consuming.
for quantitative and respondents and the However, they are It involves a skill that
qualitative studies. researcher records. especially handy needs training.
Items are usually when respondents
They are useful for Interviewers need
pre-determined. are illiterate, have
experiments, case always be careful
Interviews can be face- language difficulties
studies and surveys. not to influence the
to-face or through and disabilities, or are
responses (how they
electronic devices (e.g. young.
appear and how they
phone). They also permit are asked).
flexibility.
They also
accommodate probing
and observation.
Having examined each type of data collection method, it is also essential to consider what
characterises these methods in terms of the following nine factors, as shown in Table 8
following here (see Balian, 1988; Mogorosi, 2017). The concept of ‘contextual’ as an assessment
factor reflected in the table means how each aspect depends on circumstances. In one setting,
the assessment may be good, while in another, it would be the opposite.
219
220
MAJOR CRITERIA CAPTIVE GROUP IN-PERSON IN-PERSON PHONE (interview) MAIL COMPUTER generated
(Questions to be raised) (focus group / (Interview) (Observation) (questionnaire) /options (Multiple
individuals) Choice)
How is the accuracy of collected data? Excellent Excellent Average to good Good Average Average to good
(contextual) (contextual)
What are the chances of quick data Excellent Average Excellent Excellent Poor Average to good
collection? (very fast) (very fast) (contextual)
What is the degree of cost- Good Poor Excellent Poor to excellent Average Average to good
Table 8: Choosing suitable methods of data collection
effectiveness of data collection? (contextual) (contextual)
What is the potential of low interview Average Poor Excellent Poor Excellent Excellent
bias?
What is the degree of anonymity of Poor to excellent Very poor Excellent Poor to excellent Excellent Poor to excellent
respondents? (contextual) (contextual) (contextual)
What are the chances of clarification Excellent Excellent Poor to Excellent Poor Average
of questions? excellent
What are the degrees for potential Poor to excellent Excellent Average to Good Poor Poor
in-depth responses? (contextual) excellent
What are the chances of maintaining Excellent Average Excellent Average Poor Good
quality with less supervision?
What are the chances for a high Excellent Average to Excellent Average Poor Very poor
response rate? excellent
(contextual)
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Social Work
Thoughtfulness must be paid to the appropriateness, cultural sensitivity and ethical issues
when data collection methods and processes are decided upon. Researchers cannot just keep
following the mechanical process to decide upon all these, as they need to pay necessary
attention to appropriate standards.
In South Africa, the continent and the rest of the developing world, writers, scientists and
thought leaders may have to introspect about what and how they may have been conducting
(wrongly or unethically) research in the past. As Mabvurira and Makhubele (2018, p. 15)
cautioned African scholars and students, ‘Eurocentric research methodologies have failed
to consider African cultures.’ In a similar vein, in another paper, the author here warns and
advice researchers displaying less care about cultural sensitivity and ethical practices:
There have been instances where ‘outsiders’ get into contact with
individuals and communities in research-related activities without
expressed permission: taking pictures, asking for information, as well as a
demonstration of some activities (singing, dancing, recitations). Sometimes,
the less formally educated and poor people may ‘agree’ to participate in
certain activities that they may not fully understand or agree with, believing
that some of their existing personal and socio-economic challenges may be
attended to. Scant attention, therefore, may be paid to informed consent,
confidentiality, dignity and possible risk exposure related to some of these
processes and actions
(Mogorosi, 2018, p. 84).
The discussions on the data collection section are concluded by linking it with the directives
for professional ethics of the author’s home discipline here (social work). The South African
Council for Social Service Professions (SACSSP), in its guidelines for research and evaluation,
highlights that social work professionals are expected to be sensitive to cultural diversity at
all times. Furthermore, the council implores ending discrimination and social injustice by
promoting social justice and change (see Research and Evaluation [Section 5.1.4] of SACSSP
Guidelines of Conduct, Code of Ethics and the Rules for Social Workers, n.d.). Therefore, critical
issues relating to ethical practices should not be seen as unnecessary obstacles but rather be
seen as helping to ensure that sources of data - including people, animals, and the environment
- are all dealt with due respect.
Conclusion
This chapter focuses on selected salient features of research designs and methodology in
the human and social sciences. As indicated in the introduction, these are familiar aspects of
any academic research project but are often taken lightly or gotten incorrectly by beginners
in research. Features of interest include the generic mandate of research, a reminder about
the importance of ethics in any formal research process, the generic phases and steps in the
process, and then present and contrast qualitative and quantitative approaches and data
collection choices. The basic idea is to remind and assist researchers in the human and social
sciences to be more informed about appropriate research designs and methods.
222
Social Work
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Specialised fields of social work practice

and focus areas on democratic South
Africa
Malesa Kgashane Johannes
University of South
maleskj@unisa.ac.za
&
Raliwedza Emmanuel
Pikitup (City of Johannesburg Municipality)
Raliwedza.man@gmail.com
Introduction
Social work is a dynamic profession that constantly needs to keep abreast of contemporary
trends and developments in society. The social work profession is defined as the profession that
promotes social change, problem-solving in human relationships, and people’s empowerment
and liberation to enhance well-being. Through human behaviour and social systems theories,
social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles
of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work (IFSW/IASSW, 2018). In
contextualising the definition for South Africa, Potgieter (1998) defines social work as a
professional activity that utilises values, knowledge, skills, and processes to focus on issues,
needs, and problems that arise from the interaction between individuals and families groups,
organisations and communities. It is a service sanctioned by society to improve people’s
social functioning, empower them, and promote a mutually beneficial interaction between
individual and society to improve the quality of life of everyone. Potgieter’s definition coheres
with the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and International Association of
Schools of Social Work (IASSW) definition of social work. It is understood that social work in
the 21st century is dynamic and evolving, and therefore no definition should be regarded as
exhaustive. It will be improper to talk about social work and ignore the practitioner (social
worker) as the implementer.
The term “social worker” in the South African context is a protected title. No person without
the requisite qualification and registration with the South African Council for Social Service
Professions may use the title or practice as a social worker. Any person who violates this
is liable to deregistration. Many social workers generally practice with other disciplines
in multidisciplinary teams, and social work operates within a welfare sector that needs to
collaborate with other sectors such as health, education and housing, to mention but a few.
Social work is practised in various settings, including health settings, correctional services,
community settings, Non-governmental organisations offering welfare services. Social
workers offer various services within various contexts as specialised fields of practice. South
Africa has emerged from many years of apartheid rule, which has left huge discrepancies
227
between groups of people. These gaps are significantly divided along racial lines and urban
and rural lines - concerning employment opportunities, income, education and training, and
provision of basic services, including social welfare. The democratisation of South Africa
in 1994 brought to the fore new challenges in all spheres of life and social relations, which
led to the emergence of various fields of specialisation within the social work professions.
These specialised fields include but are not limited to gerontology, clinical or health setting;
employee health and wellness services; forensic social work; probation services, school social
work, adoption social work and occupational social work.
In its various forms, social work addresses the multiple, complex transactions between people
and their environments. Its mission is to enable all people to develop their full potential,
enrich their lives, and prevent dysfunction. Professional social work is focused on problem-
solving and change. As such, social workers are change agents in society and in the lives of the
individuals, families and the communities they serve. Social work is an interrelated system of
the following:
Practitioners must understand that the interrelated system characterised by the three
elements is well understood before application in practising as social workers. The three
elements are therefore elaborated below:
Social work values

Social work grew out of humanitarian and democratic ideals, and its values are based on
respect for the equality, worth, and dignity of all people. Since its introduction over a century
ago, social work has focused on meeting human needs and developing human potential.
Human rights and social justice serve as the motivation and justification for social work
action. In solidarity with disadvantaged people, the profession strives to alleviate poverty and
liberate vulnerable and oppressed people to promote social inclusion. Social work values are
embodied in the profession’s national and international codes of ethics.
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics “is intended to serve as a
guide to the everyday professional conduct of social workers,” according to the NASW website.
It outlines six ethical principles that “set forth ideals to which all social workers should aspire.”
This chapter will explore those six social work core values: service, social justice, dignity and
worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence.
The importance of ethics and values in social work is more than just compliance with
regulations and requirements. In a profession in which the clients are often vulnerable and
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Social Work
unable to advocate for themselves, they must advocate for them and be passionate about
empowering the vulnerable, oppressed, or poverty-stricken. The below table outlines and
provides a brief description of some important and or core values adopted from NASW and the
South African Council for Social Services Professions:
Table 1: Social work values by NASW and SACSSP

1 2 3
VALUES Addressing social ills Social workers Every person is

and helping others is advocate for the different, with different
Service a primary goal of all oppressed, the cultural and social
social workers. Service voiceless, and others values. Social workers
Social justice is the value from which who cannot advocate are mindful of those
Dignity and worth all other social work for themselves. differences, treating
of a person values stem. each person with
dignity and respect
Importance of human and promoting their
relationships clients’ capacity and
Integrity and opportunity to address
competence their own needs
and improve their
situations.
4 5 6
VALUES Social workers To facilitate these Social workers must

connect people who relationships and continually strive
Service need assistance improve others’ to expand their
with organisations lives, social workers knowledge base
Social justice and individuals must exhibit and competence to
Dignity and worth of a who can provide the trustworthiness at all make meaningful
person appropriate help. times. contributions to the
profession.
Importance of human
relationships
Integrity and
competence
Practice
Social work addresses the barriers, inequities and injustices that exist in society. It responds
to crises and emergencies as well as to everyday personal and social problems. Social work
utilises various skills, techniques, and activities consistent with its holistic focus on persons
and their environments. Social work interventions range from primarily person-focused
psychosocial processes to involvement in social policy, planning and development. These
include counselling, clinical social work, group work, social pedagogical work, family
treatment and therapy, and efforts to help people obtain services and resources in the
229
community. Interventions also include agency administration, community organisation,

and social and political action to impact social policy and economic development. The
holistic focus of social work is universal, but the priorities of social work practice will vary
from country to country and from time to time depending on cultural, historical, and socio-
economic circumstances
Theory
Social work bases its methodology on a systematic body of evidence-based knowledge
derived from research and practises evaluation, including local and IK specific to its context.
It recognises the complexity of interactions between human beings and their environment
and people’s capacity to be affected by and alter their multiple influences, including bio-
psychosocial factors. The social work profession draws on theories of human development
and behaviour and social systems to analyse complex situations and facilitate individual,
organisational, social, and cultural changes. Theories that can be used include:
• Social learning,
• Solution-focused,
• Problem-solving model,
• Crisis intervention psychopharmacology,
• Advocacy,
• Feminism,
• Cognitive behaviour,
• Narrative,
• Emotional focused,
• Experiential,
• Relational,
• Multigenerational,
• Familial systems (structural, strategic),
• Internal family systems,
• Psychodynamic,
• Strength-based,
• Empowerment theory, and
• Rights-based theory.
Specialised fields of social work practice and possible

theories
One of the strengths and distinguishing features of the social work profession is its global
level. In addition, social work embraces various areas of specialisation such as Adoption
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Social Work
Work, Clinical Social Work, Forensic Social Work, Management and Supervision, Occupational
Social Work, Probation Services, School Social Work, Social Policy and Planning, Social Work
Education and Social Work in Health Care.
Adoption social work

Adoption work means an all-inclusive professional service to the biological parents, the child
and the prospective adoptive parents, which forms an integral part of the adoption process
during the pre-adoption, adoption and post-adoption phases.
According to Reding (2013), adoption has been a part of family building for many years, even
written in the bible. The history of adoption begins with informal adoptive arrangements. As
informal adoptions became a part of family building, there was often a sense of secrecy and
shame behind the adoption. Families living in poverty and single mothers felt pressure from
society to place their children for adoption so stable families could raise them. Adopting
families also faced the struggle of battling beliefs that adopted children often inherited
‘mental defects’ from their birth parents (Kahan, 2006).
The adoption process typically begins with a home study investigation and education for
parents about adoption expectations conducted by a social worker (Sar, 2000). Post-adoption
services can include support groups, advocacy, information sessions, parental training,
counselling, respite and crisis intervention (Atkinson and Gonet, 2007). Multiple studies
have determined that whilst parents might be grateful for their services, they want more
(Atkinson and Gonet, 2007; Linville and Lyness, 2007). Families who have adopted children
want professionals working with adoptees to be adoption competent (Atkinson and Gonet,
2007) and improved coordination between service providers and more parent support groups
(Linville and Lyness, 2007). The adoption social worker offers the following services:
Pre and post-adoption services are available for families who are going through the adoption
process. Social workers guide families through the adoption process. Families wanting to
adopt a child must first engage in the qualification process, which requires a home study
where home circumstances are looked into. The social worker conducting the home study
231
investigates reasons for adopting and expectations for family life after the adoption. Those
wishing to adopt that are assessed include marital status, education, employment history,
income, personal life, legal history and health history. In addition, home studies can encourage
parents to attend support groups and information sessions to further their education about
adoption (Sar, 2000). In summary, the services of an adoption social worker are:
Assessment and, where applicable, counselling of the child;
• Counselling of the biological parents,

• Recruitment, assessment and preparation of prospective adoptive parents and after-
care services,
• Preparation of reports on a proposed adoption under the Child Care Act and,
• Origin inquiries and tracing of the parties involved in the adoption.
Relevant theories applied by adoption social workers:
Bio-psycho-social Paradigm
The bio-psycho-social paradigm views human development and functioning through a
multiple lens approach, including biological, psychological, and social. These three variables
are sub-variables, such as culture, economy and politics (Forte, 2007). This paradigm
encourages professionals to view a client from multiple angles and perspectives, essential
to building human life. The interaction between biological, psychological, and social systems
forms human behaviours (Hutchison, 2018). Behaviours from a child adopted from a Child
and Youth Care Centre, for example, have the possibility of stemming from biological (birth-
family history), psychological (trauma suffered), and social systems (daily interactions with
caregivers or other children). Another example of viewing the bio-psycho-social paradigm
problem is with children exposed to drugs and alcohol during pregnancy. This kind of exposure
often has lasting effects biologically and psychologically. Social workers offering services to
this unique population of adoptees and families can benefit from considering the variables,
biological, psychological, social and sub-variables, culture, economy and politics.
Interdisciplinary cooperation is essential within the bio-psycho-social paradigm (Forte, 2007).

In terms of adoption disruption, cooperation is required between adoption agencies, case
managers, counsellors, medical professionals, mental health providers, foster care systems,
school systems, and advocacy groups. Likewise, cooperation between the education system,
healthcare providers, mental health providers, social services, and counselling is necessary
to treat this population (Golding, 2010) properly. Using a paradigm that focuses on all the
dimensions involved in a client’s life is believed to be essential by Tarren-Sweeney (2008), who
has advocated a holistic view for treating children who have been adopted. Holistic mental
health treatment would ultimately focus on the mental health aspect whilst including all
other areas and aspects of life. Additional aspects of life that need to be considered include
school, community, religion, culture, emotional health and physical development (Tarren-
Sweeney, 2008).
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Social Work
Multi-level family practice

The multi-level family practice model is comparable to the family system model, with an
extended worldview (Hutchison, 2018). A family system considers all family members,
interactions, roles and communication amongst members when working with a client
(Hutchison, 2018). The multi-level family model focuses on the same aspects as family systems
and includes a broader outlook, viewing the family in terms of neighbourhood, economy,
politics, culture, and the global socio-economic system (Hutchison, 2018). Changes in these
factors can extend or limit resources available to families and determine how a family views
their situation and challenges. For example, either a change in adoption policy could affect
families hoping to adopt or those who have adopted positively or negatively.
Combining the bio-psycho-social paradigm with the multi-level family practice model to
treat adoptees or families who have adopted would give providers a worldview. They would
be keeping in mind biological, psychological and social factors, along with specific family
dynamics, neighbourhood qualities, economy, politics and culture. Using the bio-psycho-
social paradigm and multi-level family practice model during the adoption process allows all
aspects of the child’s life to be considered and accounted for when deciding what services are
necessary for the adoption process.
Clinical social work

Clinical social work shares with all social work practice the goal of enhancing and maintaining
the psychosocial functioning of individuals, families, and small groups. Clinical social
work practises the professional application of social work theory and methods to treat and
prevent psychosocial dysfunction, disability, or impairment, including emotional and mental
disorders. It is based on knowledge of one or more theories of human development within a
psychosocial context (NASW, USA).
Forensic social work

Forensic social work is a professional speciality that focuses on the interface between society’s
legal and human systems. It includes such activities as providing expert testimonies in courts
of law, investigating cases of possible criminal conduct and assisting the legal system in such
issues as child custody disputes, divorce, non-support delinquency, spouse or child abuse,
mental hospital commitment and relatives’ responsibility (Barker and Branson, 2000). On the
other hand, Forensic social work is defined as:
… the practice speciality in social work that focuses on the law, legal issues,
and litigation, both criminal and civil, including issues in child welfare,
custody of children, divorce, juvenile delinquency, non-support, relatives’
responsibility, welfare rights, mandated treatment, and legal competency
(Barker, 2003)
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Forensic social work helps social workers in expert witness preparation. It also seeks to educate
law professionals about social welfare issues and social workers about the law. Social workers
in this field are registered with the South African Council for Social Services Professions
(SACSSP) as a specialisation. According to Carstens (2006, p. 191), “The concept ‘forensic’ can
be defined as the application of scientific principles and methods to a legal problem with the
primary function of providing expert testimony in a court of law.”
Occupational social work

Occupational Social work, commonly known as Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP),
is defined as a worksite-based programme designed to assist in identifying and resolving
productivity problems associated with employees who experience personal concerns. These
concerns may include health, marital, family, financial, alcohol, drug, legal, emotional, stress,
or other personal factors, affecting employee job performance (EAPA-SA, 2005, p. 5). EAP are
specific programmes designed to help employees with personal problems (Bernardin, 2010).
According to Swanepoel, Erasmus and Schenk (2008), EAP involves social services offered to
troubled employees who need professional treatment for varying kinds of personal problems.
These problems are typically serious enough to impede work or function as fit and able adults.
According to Luthans (2008), social workers/EAP practitioners typically provide employees
with confidential counselling and follow-up on issues of personal or work-related concerns.
They also provide family workshops and consultations (related to marriage, single parenting,
working parents), stress management workshops, relaxation seminars and other kinds of
support. Often, the mere peace of mind that EAPs provide, knowing that there is support
available, can help ease some of the stress that employees face in today’s environment.
EAP services are provided in conjunction with Employee Wellness Programmes

implementation. According to Slocum and Hellriegel (2007), employee wellness refers to a
health management initiative that incorporates disease prevention, medical care, self-care,
and health promotion. According to Bernardin (2010), Employee Wellness Programmes (EWP)
are designed to prevent employee problems. Tobacco use, alcohol and substance abuse,
sedentary lifestyles, poor nutritional habits, excessive and unnecessary stressors in the
workplace, and inadequate employee abilities to cope with stress are examples of targets of
EWP Luthans (2008) states that wellness programmes are a special type of benefit programme
that focuses on keeping employees from becoming physically and mentally ill. There is
considerable evidence that employees who exercise regularly are less likely to take sick days
and thus reduce health insurance premiums and loss of productive time.
The emergence of occupational social work in South Africa

Occupational Social work (OSW) in South Africa started in the mid-1960s when occupational
social work was seen evolving in South Africa and became concerned with employees and
work organisations (Du Plessis, 1990). Several factors contributed to the strengthening of
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OSW, including the lack of literature in occupational social work, which led to the introduction
of courses and various studies, contributing to its introduction in South Africa.
According to Maiden (1992), as cited by Pillay and Terblanche (2012), although other
organisations had commenced utilising social work services in the early 1960s, the first
EAP in South Africa was introduced by the Chamber of Mines (COM) during the 1980s. This
occurred after the COM had employed the services of a consultant to research the feasibility
of implementing an externally provided EAP in the mining industry. Furthermore, the study on
the introduction of EAP at the COM is a milestone in the development of EAPs. In 1986, employee
assistance was accepted in principle, and the COM introduced two counselling centres in two
mining areas in the country. Thus, EAPs have expanded beyond the mining industry to the
financial, food, motor and public sector.
Stutterheim and Weyers (2002, p. 2) provide a historical development on introducing social

work services in the South African Police Service (SAPS). Initially, SAPS only appointed spiritual
service providers, particularly chaplains, but the social problems of employees intensified,
and the chaplain’s services became insufficient. Consequently, in 1969, the Minister of Police
authorised that chaplains be substituted with ‘welfare officers’. The then appointed welfare
officers were recruited from the ranks of SAPS who had had at least nine to twelve years’
experience in SAPS. Those welfare officials were not professional people but were familiar
with the organisation’s activities, culture, and structure. However, according to Ackerman
(2002), as Stutterheim and Weyers (2002, p. 2) quoted, welfare officers could not live up to the
tasks expected from them. As a result, it was decided that fully trained social workers would
be employed. As a result, a social work division, which gave social workers some status in the
organisation, was established in 1979. That step helped in creating twenty-nine social work
posts at SAPS.
Ozawa (1980) and Googins and Godfrey (1987) developed theoretical models that influenced
military social work’s initial thoughts about OSW (Van Breda, 2012, p. 22). Their models
described the history of OSW practice along the lines of micro and macro practice. Van Breda
(2012, p. 22) further mentions that those models also encouraged occupational social workers
to engage in macro practice activities. Witwatersrand University introduced a course on OSW
in 1990 (Maribe, 2006, p. 15). The first South African National Defence Force (SANDF) research
department for social work was established in 1997 (Van Breda, 2012, p. 20). This initiative
set aside a team of social workers having several years of military social work practical
experience to offer dedicated attention to developing new knowledge and interventions for
the organisation. In the 1990s, Arista Bouwer, a military social worker, implemented social
work supervision courses. The courses were implemented to empower senior social workers
who could supervise younger social workers to develop social work services in the SANDF.
Kruger and Van Breda have contributed hugely to the growth of OSW in South Africa. The
authors assisted SANDF to develop an OSW practice model that helped guide social work
practitioners as they worked with employees facing occupational challenges (Van Breda and
Du Plessis, 2009). The model not only guides practice but also shapes reporting requirements.
The model is also a key element in the induction training provided to all new social workers. As
much as OSW was mainly seen in the military sector, it is now broadly practised in other public
and private organisations.
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OSW as a specialised field

“OSW” means a specialised field of social work practice, which addresses the human and
social needs of the work community through a variety of interventions, which aim to foster
optimal adaptation between individuals and their environment, and focuses on the following:
A systemic approach where the employees, the organisation, and the broader environment
receive equal attention in planning an intervention, whether at a micro, meso or macro level,
is required. This applies to interventions questing to understand the impact of fluctuations
in the market economy, political or social changes and international events on the social
worker’s employing organisation and all its stakeholders from the lowest level worker to
the shareholders. Additionally, a binocular vision in which individuals and the employing
organisation, and the broader community, are seen as the client systems, interfacing between
the organisation and the broader community.
“OSW services” are services pertaining to-
• Work-focused assessment, assessing needs or problems of various client systems in

the workplace and the reciprocal relationship between them,
• Work-focused interventions,
• Work-focused policy and programme development,
• Concurrent multi-level practice.
Benefits of OSW
Occupational social workers can play various roles in the workplace, such as organiser,
advocate, mediator, teacher, facilitator, negotiator, planner, developer, writer, analyst,
manager, implementer, monitor and evaluator. This statement alone shows how hugely OSW
can benefit employees, the organisation and the community. Different authors have noted
many benefits for utilising occupational social workers in an organisation:
• Promotes healthy social functioning of employees and their families, productivity,

efficiency and performance (Van Breda, 2009, p. 284).
• Contributes to the well-being of employees and increases productivity (Schweiz,
Suisse, Svizzera and Svizra, 2014, p. 2).
• Successful OSW interventions decrease absenteeism and presentism and can
therefore save an organisation a lot of money.
Therefore, it is apparent that OSW services benefit the employee and the organisation, unions,
and the wider community.
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Social Work
Professional registration requirements for OSW

It is an obligation that occupational social workers register and pay annual fees under SACSSP
as a statutory board. Registration here can be two-fold- as a social worker or as a specialist in
OSW. The South African Council for Social Service Professions (2017) stipulates the following
requirements for registration and recognition as a specialist in OSW:
• Recognised qualification in social work and is registered as a social worker with the
Council; and master’s degree and at least two years practical experience within the
scope of OSW services; or
• Postgraduate diploma or certificate and three years practical experience within the
scope of OSW services; or
• Five years of appropriate practical experience within the scope of OSW services.
It is a matter of choice but highly recommended for occupational social workers to join the
South African Occupational Social Workers’ Association (SAOSWA) as an association for
occupational social workers. The association was launched to promote and protect the
interest of occupational social workers and their client system (SAOSWA website).
Probation Services
The origin of probation services dates back to 1841 when John Augustus of Boston persuaded
a Judge to release an offender to him for supervision in the community rather than sentence
him to prison (Lawrence and Hesse, 2010, p. 225). The purpose of probation practice is to strive
for the effective administration of youth justice and criminal justice, strive to prevent crime,
victim empowerment, and generally, to fulfil its functions as outlined in the Probation Services
Act, 1991, as amended in 2002. The probation officers offer the probation services. In South
Africa, a probation officer is “a qualified social worker who is appointed as a probation officer
under Section 2 of the Probation Services Act (116 of 1991). According to Taylor, Fritsch and
Caeli (2007, p. 263), a “probation officer is defined as a person who performs intake screening
to determine whether the case will be handled formally or informally by the juvenile justice
system”. Mays and Winfree (2006, p. 171) define probation officers as persons who serve as
juvenile courts intake decision-makers by collecting information that will enable the court
to decide whether the case is appropriate for formal juvenile court disposition or not. Hess
and Drowns (2005, p. 305) also define probation officers as intake officers who recommend
whether to move ahead for court processing or to release the juvenile to the parents with a
warning or reprimand.
In terms of the Probation Services Act 116 of 1991, the probation officer has several duties
towards offenders and their families, communities and victims of crime. Offenders of any age
may be eligible for probation services. Still, in practice, probation officers have been actively
prioritising child offenders during the past decade, which is in line with policy and legislative
developments. According to the Probation Services Act, the probation officer has a duty,
amongst others, to:
237
Investigate the circumstances of an accused person to report to the court on their treatment
and committal to an institution and to help the family
• Assist the probationer in complying with his or her probation conditions to improve
his or her social functioning, which includes supervision, pre-trial programmes for
children, as well as community-based sentencing options
• Report to the court on progress and supervision of a probationer
• The prevention and combating of crime
• The rendering of assistance to the families of persons detained in prison or secure care
centres and the families of a detained person
• The reception, assessment and referral of an accused and the rendering of early
intervention services and programmes, including mediation and family group
conferencing information to and treating offenders and other persons. The
assessment, care and treatment, support, referral for and provision of mediation in
respect of victims of crime.
The observation, treatment and supervision of persons who have been released from a prison
or a reformed school. Who are probationers or have been placed in the custody of any person
in terms of the law.
• The establishment, financing and establishment of shelters

• The investigation of the circumstances of a convicted person, the compiling of a pre-
sentencing report, the recommendation of an appropriate sentence and the giving of
evidence before the court
• Reintegrating persons released from prison into the community and their families
• The investigation of the circumstances of an accused and the provision of a pre-trial
report recommending the desirability or otherwise of prosecutions
• Restorative justice as part of appropriate sentencing and diversion programmes
New activities for probation officers

The Probation Services Amendment Act 35 of 2002 was signed into law by the President in
2002. This Act provides a legislative framework for many activities already being provided by
probation services because of pilot projects and innovations in service delivery. In addition,
the Act amends the Probation Services Act in several ways, for example, by introducing
assessment, support, referral and mediation services in respect of victims of crime:
• Providing for the establishment of restorative justice programmes and services as

part of appropriate sentencing and diversion options
• Providing for the reception, assessment and referral of an accused person and the
rendering of early intervention services and programmes, the investigation of the
circumstances of an accused person and the provision of a pre-trial report on the
desirability or otherwise of prosecution and the investigation of the circumstances of
convicted persons
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Social Work
• Providing for the mandatory assessment of every arrested child who remains in
custody before his or her first appearance in court
• Providing for the competency of a probation officer to recommend an appropriate
sentence or other options to the court (a function already recognised by the courts in
practice)
• Providing for the establishment of a probation advisory committee to advise the
Minister on matters relating to probation services
School social work

School social work is a discipline that differs from generic social work practice. The overall
aim is to provide social work services to learners, parents, and educators who experience social
barriers within the context or the learning site to prevent and overcome barriers, which inhibit
learners from reaching their full potential. The goal of school social work should be to give all
children the opportunity and resources to help them succeed academically and socially in a
safe and healthy school environment. Social work in a public school setting plays a vital role
in developing students and linking them to the resources and support necessary to maximise
their potential in the educational process (O’Donnell, 2000). Schools provide a formative
experience for children. Schools can be a haven or a horrible and dreaded place, depending on
the child’s experiences. The images of crayons, brightly painted walls, and bulletin boards can
create joy or fear for a child. Peer interactions with other students can be a source of pleasure
or alienation. Many children cannot respond effectively to the school environment because
of their home and family lives. The school environment has traditionally required students to
conform, and those who could not meet a school’s expectations dropped out. However, laws
require schools to conform to the needs of students, providing a setting in which all children
can be educated.
The focus here is on the multifaceted role of the school social worker and the ways school
social workers can utilise their knowledge, skills, and values to improve student’s lives. The
part of the chapter attempts to help the reader understand how to incorporate social work
skills into the public school system on an individual, group, and community level. It focuses
on the basics of being a school social worker, including building relationships, assessment,
working with multidisciplinary teams, and helping children and adolescents address the
difficulties that keep them from performing well in school.
Multifaceted roles of a school social worker

The main goal of school social work is to enable students to function and learn in the school
environment. School social workers practice in a secondary setting—the primary purpose
of schools is to educate students, not to provide social services. The school social work
practitioner will often be the only social worker in a school and sometimes in an entire school
district. Therefore, autonomous school social work practice requires skills for all levels of
239
practice - micro, mezzo, and macro. School social workers work primarily with individual
students. However, they also develop and facilitate groups for students and parents. Effective
school social work practise consists of collaborating, consulting, developing behaviour plans,
and training others to work with difficult children in the context of a child’s daily school
experience (Frey and George-Nichols, 2003). In addition, school social workers are involved
in training and resource-building activities such as staff development, community education,
and grant writing.
School social workers assist interdisciplinary teams by providing information from a thorough
assessment of students, including collateral sources. A treatment team that utilises experts in
the testing, diagnosis, and referral is the most comprehensive way to assist needy children and
their families. School social workers also provide direct treatment to students, so the social
worker reports to team members about the progress during counselling. Some school districts
employ social workers to assist with severe mental health issues as part of crisis intervention
teams. These school social workers work across all age groups from primary to grade 12. Their
training and experience in serving a whole system utilising the ecological systems perspective
allow them to add a unique perspective to an intervention team.
School social workers can orchestrate and support a unified and comprehensive intervention
plan for children (Frey and George-Nichols, 2003). Members of school crisis teams often
include a psychologist, social worker and school nurse. The goal of these crisis intervention
teams is to intervene when there are serious problems such as suicide threats, violence, abuse,
severe behaviour problems, deaths of students or teachers, and other school crises. In addition,
assistance from social workers is often required during a crisis and afterwards to provide grief
counselling and debriefing or to assist affected families by referral to an outside agency.
School Social Workers’ basic tasks

Despite the social worker’s many roles and responsibilities, four basic tasks have been
identified as common to all school social workers. These are:
• Consultation with others in the school system as a member of a team.

• Assessment applied to a variety of different roles in direct service, consultation, and
program development.
• Direct intervention with children and parents in individual, group, and family
modalities.
• Assistance with program development (Constable, Kuzmickaite, Harrison, and
Volkmann, 1999).
In other words, school social work seeks to enable learners to make maximum use of the
academic, developmental and social opportunities afforded them in the school setting.
Therefore, school social work promotes a culture of learning and developing the human
potential to cater to all learners’ needs.
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Social Work
The school social worker forms part of the multidisciplinary support team that renders support
services to schools within inclusive education.
Social work in health care

Social Work in health care can be defined as a specialised field in social work that focuses on
the complete person to improve the interaction with the environment. as a source of resources
to address the imbalances that might have occurred due to illness or disability. Therefore,
the social workers in this field have to be skilled to assist persons in dealing with their social,
emotional and environmental problems associated with illness and disability.
Medical social workers assess the psychosocial functioning of patients and families and
intervene as necessary. Interventions may include connecting patients and families to
necessary resources and supports in the community, providing psychotherapy, supportive
counselling, grief counselling, or helping patients expand and strengthen their social
support network. Medical social workers typically work on an interdisciplinary team with
professionals of other disciplines (such as medicine, nursing, physical, occupational speech
and recreational therapy and so on).
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Authentic trauma work in South

Africa: Implications for the social work
professions
Anneline Keet
Nelson Mandela University
Annaline.Keet@mandela.ac.za
Introduction
This chapter argues for trauma-informed social work practices understood through historical
disruptions that manifest themselves in social problems. It further argues for interventions
that invest in indigenous knowledge systems as inherent strengths that communities possess,
but are marginalised by westernised practices and ways of doing. The concept of historical
trauma helps explain the psycho-spiritual distress of many South Africans in the post-colonial
and post-apartheid era. Poverty and inequality, high levels of interpersonal violence and
substance abuse exposes communities to continuous trauma and creates fundamental
challenges for many South African communities. The very origins of trauma require a
particular emphasis on the South African historical context, which the westernised Post
Traumatic Stress (PTSD) intervention is not equipped to address. This challenges the skill sets
of social workers and community workers working with traumatised individuals and groups.
Social and community workers in the Nelson Mandela Metropole were interviewed using an
explorative and descriptive research design. The interview questions explored their views on
trauma as expressed within the communities they work in and their views on using indigenous
knowledge systems as strategies for psycho-spiritual healing.
This chapter reports on a qualitative study conducted amongst a small sample of social
workers, focusing on their perspectives of how current-day social issues in South African
communities are influenced by a history of apartheid and how social issues translate into
intergenerational trauma experiences for community members. Views on the law enforcement
and justice system were explored to support work done in communities with many social
challenges and high levels of community violence. Furthermore, this chapter will illustrate
social workers’ views on how training prepared them to work in spaces where community
trauma is high and their views on indigenous knowledge systems in these communities and
how they can be used in their social work practice. The study used historical trauma as a
theoretical lens to understand social workers’ experiences and argue for trauma-informed
social work training. A specific focus was placed on historical and intergenerational trauma
that encapsulates the country’s particular history in understanding current-day issues.
Despite the high hopes that prevailed during and after independence and a shift to a
democratic dispensation in 1994, the manifestation of social disruptions in South Africa
through high levels of community violence still prevail. Many social problems such as
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Social Work
substance abuse, crime and gender-based violence predated this period have resurfaced or
endured (Eagle, 2015). Eagle (2015) further suggests that as South Africans, we struggle to
escape a rather tenacious set of social patterns concerning crime and violence. The impact of
high levels of exposure and associated fear, anxiety, anger, aggression, and disillusionment
contributes to a breakdown in desirable aspects of social cohesion. This creates a context
in which further violations continue to occur, as the conditions for people to want to work
together and prosper do not exist. Social workers spend most of their professional lives in and
around communities where social issues, including violence, are regular.
The country’s social issues and levels of violent crimes cannot be discussed outside of its
historical context. Given our history and the current levels of poverty and inequality, it is
surprising that we do not have higher crime levels. Statistics show that between 2012 and 2013,
827 children were murdered in South Africa - more than two a day, and 21.575 children were
assaulted, with almost half of these reported as severe. During the same period, 2.266 women
were murdered, and 141.130 women were victims of attempted murder, gender-based violence
and common assault (Gould, 2014). Violence against women and children has been a constant
concern for South Africa due to their continued vulnerable positions in the patriarchal society.
However, men have not been spared, and the overall statistics of violence in our society are
even scarier. In 2012/13 alone, 13.123 men were murdered (Gould, 2014) - approximately 36
men murdered each day. Between 2017 and 2018, 985 children were murdered, 3.915 women
were murdered (Timeslive, 2018), whilst 16.421 men were murdered (Nkanjeni, 2019). All these
numbers show an increase over four years. With violence remaining so rampant, the number
of South Africans who have experienced and witnessed violence increases all the time, and
with that, the extent of national trauma (Gould, 2014). The persistent exposure to violence
has serious consequences for the nation’s well-being and our ability to raise healthy young
children who feel safe in the environment. Because of these high levels of crime and violence,
many South African citizens are in constant flight or fight mode, expecting the worse to happen,
creating an environment for re-victimisation and inter-generational cycling of violence to
continue, a view supported by Hinsberger, Sommer, Kaminer, Holtzhausen, Weierstall, Seedat,
Madikane and Elbert (2016).
South African history should help us understand the context for crime and violence and
citizens’ attitudes to its law, policing and the criminal justice system. Before 1994, people,
particularly Black South Africans, had little reason to respect and trust the law. During the
apartheid regime, the government had ultimate control over the police, keeping Black South
Africans in check and brutally clamping down on what they deemed as dissent. The state used
the security forces to ensure that native South Africans lived in a constant state of anxiousness
and fear (Onishi, 2016). Transformation of the law enforcement that changed from henchmen
of a White-minority rule to a security institution there to serve and protect every citizen has
been painful with major challenges. Those that held positions of power maintained corrupt
practices that were used in the apartheid state. Politicians and bureaucrats were seldom
accountable before a court of law for acts of corruption or the abuse of power before 1994.
Sadly, corruption and the continued use of deadly force, especially towards the marginalised
communities, continues to fuel distrust and division (Onishi, 2016). People who become
victims of abuse, crime and violence need to feel that they can trust the police and the criminal
245
justice system for the appropriate recourse. It is thus important that the police’s actions instil
trust in communities.
Methodology
The research is qualitative and operates within an interpretive paradigm as it concerned itself
with understanding the world from a subjective point of view (Gray, 2009). This approach is
appropriate to studies that seek to elicit participants’ accounts of meaning, experiences or
perceptions, as explained by Fouche and Delport (2011). It also aims to describe rather than
measure and emphasises a thorough understanding of an issue under study, using small
samples to explore experiences, perceptions and feelings rather than facts and figures as
explained by Kumar (2011). The study is informed by the explorative and descriptive design.
The components of this design fit the purpose of this research as it set out to examine a
little understood issue or phenomenon, develop preliminary ideas about it, and refine a
research question. It also “paints a picture” using words or numbers to present a profile, a
classification of types or an outline of steps to answer questions such as who? when? where?
and how? (Neuman, 2011). This study intended to understand the occurrence of historical
and intergenerational trauma in local South African communities from the viewpoints of
social workers. It also explored their views on IKS and how these can assist in trauma work in
communities. The study employed non-probability purposive sampling to conduct intensive
interviews with six Community-based social workers. Strydom and Delport (2011) state that
purposive sampling refers to the technique based on the researcher’s judgement concerning
the participants who have the most relevant attributes and represent the population.
Interviews were used as a method of data collection to develop an in-depth understanding

of the phenomena from the participants’ point of view, unfolding the meaning of their
experiences to uncover their lived world as stated by Greeff (2011). Semi-structured interviews
were utilised because it contains open-ended questions composed in an interview guide.
Greeff (2011) stated that semi-structured interviews are suitable when one is particularly
interested in the complexity of the process when an issue is controversial or, as in the context
of this research, personal. A thematic analysis was conducted (Frey, Botan and Kreps, 1999),
searching for and engaging with data related to the central questions of the research (Bowen,
2009). Six themes emerged and are discussed under the data analysis section.
Historical trauma as a community health challenge

Historical trauma is emotional wounds or the suffering shared by a group and multiple
generations, with contemporary groups experiencing the trauma-related symptoms despite
not being present at the past traumatising events (Mohatt, Thompson, Thai and Tebes, 2014).
It differs from intergenerational trauma that refers to the transmission of trauma across
familial generations. Historical trauma functions as a contemporary narrative with personal
and public representations (Mohatt et al., 2014). The everyday struggles of historically
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marginalised communities for social and economic rights depicts a history of misrecognition
with its effects visible in the present. Historical trauma as narrative representation connects
histories of traumatic events experienced by groups to present-day experiences and contexts,
including the contemporary health and wellness of a group or community. It operates through
a narrative engagement that includes trauma as a concept represented in everyday life
events. History can be regarded as a socially endorsed memory that links history to present
suffering or resilience. Thus, historical trauma is emotional wounds rooted in an event or
series of events outside of the direct experience thereof. The experience is mediated via
different communication platforms that involve a spatial and temporal distance between the
event and the experience (Crawford, 2013).
With a focus on the Canadian Aboriginal experiences, Waldram (2013) suggests that historical
trauma has emerged as a framework to understand contemporary social suffering and serve
as an expression of community distress. Historical trauma also serves as a useful framework
to contextualise the social challenges in many South African communities at present. The
consequences of the Group Areas Act (1950) and the Abolition of Passes and Coordination of
Documents Act (1952) on people’s lives are vivid examples of events creating historical trauma
in the psyche of large groups of South Africans. Black families were torn apart, as working
Black men lived in hostels in big cities whilst their families could not come live with them. The
Group Areas Act (1950) meant that parents had to travel far every day to get to their places of
employment, affecting the parental supervision children would receive when coming from
school, influencing how families could spend time together (Wyngaard, 2019). These had a
huge impact on family life and the parenting choices available to families. The Group Areas
Act (1950) also resulted in the forceful removal of families from their homes into small two-
roomed homes that provided no privacy for family members. According to Wyngaard (2019),
these are acts of humiliation that caused harm to the identity of groups of people. The wounds
left by such historical events become visible through social dysfunctions like alcoholism,
drug abuse, domestic violence, and crime (Nicholas and McIntosh, 2002). These are signs of a
damaged social identity for social workers. Understanding this interrelated nature of trauma
is important if social, and community workers are to work alongside communities to break
these cycles of traumatisation.
Research done by Mohatt, Thompson, Thai and Tebes (2014) focusing on the Canadian First
Nations People, alludes to such a damaged social identity when showing a relationship
between family histories of forced removals from families of origin and behavioural health
challenges in later generations. These challenges include sexual violence, involvement
in the child welfare system and drug abuse, amongst others. In the South African context,
whole communities were moved to fit the apartheid spatial engineering. During the colonial
and apartheid era in South Africa, the vast relocations happened without the marginalised
groups having the financial or political resources to make these moves successful (Weeder,
2006). Within such a disruptive context, groups of people are marginalised and squeezed
out of mainstream political and social life. Their histories are misrecognised (Eze, 2008) and
presented to the world through the voices of others. An over-reliance on statutory intervention
in social work may address the need to safeguard vulnerable young people and a nation with a
damaged social identity but does little to heal the past wounds.
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For healing to take place, people must engage with their historical trauma in ways that are
meaningful to them. Healing is designed to ameliorate historical trauma, and the latter exists
as an emerging expression to allow for healing (Waldram, 2013). Historical trauma emerged
as a framework to explain contemporary social suffering amongst displaced people and as an
idiom of distress that connects the individual to the social, the cultural, and the historical. This
historical understanding explains contemporary social problems and situates it strategically
along a continuum of agency that allows for healing, despite the ongoing presence of colonial
risk factors (Waldram, 2013). It contextualises healing and guides people to take control of
their healing in the current context. When social workers deal with the social problems of
displaced people outside of their historical context, they run the risk of over-pathologising
individuals and families. The general diagnostic description of post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), whilst central to trauma work, cannot address the complexity of traumatic
experiences in our communities where a cultural misrecognition occurred (Batesman,
2016). Understanding historical trauma as a cultural disruption provides a more nuanced
understanding of trauma, especially amongst health professionals and social workers who
provide services to communities where cultural and intergenerational trauma may manifest.
Intergenerational trauma as consequences of ongoing

violence in communities
Apartheid, through its brutal discrimination, exploitation and oppression, left a deeply
traumatised society. Despite the change to a democratic dispensation in 1994 and the Truth
and Reconciliation process, the collective historical trauma emanating from the brutal acts of
this period has not been sufficiently addressed. The traumatic memories affect not only those
who have personally experienced conflict and violence but future generations through what is
known as intergenerational transmission of trauma (Adonis, 2016).
Despite the well-documented atrocities of the South African apartheid past, there is limited
focus on transmitting trauma across generations (Hoosain, 2013). By understanding how
trauma from the past is transmitted from one generation to the next, social workers may
intervene effectively in families and communities who have experienced trauma over several
generations by addressing and acknowledging past trauma. Hoosein’s (2013) concerns are
especially important when considering that ongoing violence in marginalised communities
coupled with the inability of the justice system to intervene effectively have dire consequences
for community members exposed to violence and individuals involved as perpetrators.
The intergenerational transmission of trauma has far-reaching consequences also in the

context of community violence (Cheteni, Mah and Kamfula, 2018). The witnessing and self-
experience of violence indirectly influence both PTSD severity and perpetrated violence
via appetitive aggression. Appetitive aggression refers to the positive feelings associated
with violent behaviour perpetration (Hinsberger et al., 2016). It has been shown to provide
resilience against the development of PTSD in people returning from the battlefield (Meyer-
Parlapanis, Weierstall, Nandi, Bambonyé, Elbert and Crombach, 2016).
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There is a connection between witnessing violence and being attracted to it, according to
Hinsberger et al. (2016), but self-experience of violence is an even stronger predictor for
appetitive aggression. This view is supported by trauma and violence during childhood,
giving rise to re-victimisation and violence’s intergenerational cycling. Re-victimisation is a
recognised occurrence in rape where girls exposed to sexual abuse as young children are at
increased risk of being raped again in childhood and experiencing intimate partner violence
as adults.
Equally, boys who were sexually abused in childhood are at risk of later becoming sexual
abusers. Women who witness violence directed against their mothers might be at risk of
violent victimisation, whilst boys are at risk of becoming perpetrators. Both victimisation
and perpetration are part of a broader process of socialisation of children into adults who
display dysfunctional patterns of behaviour and distorted expectations of power (Seedat, Van
Niekerk, Jewles, Suffla and Ratele, 2009). South Africa as a country continues to experience
high levels of intimate partner violence despite numerous public attempts to address it. Much
of the intimate partner violence could have been prevented if boys had not witnessed violence
against their mothers (Seedat et al., 2009). The investment in programmes to address intimate
partner violence, other forms of gender-based violence and crime, in general, may remain
marginally successful if the intergenerational transmission of trauma is not addressed as
integral parts of its intervention strategies.
The experience of trauma and violence in childhood affects brain development and reduces
the ability of children to form strong emotional relationships later and empathise. Exposure
to violence can enhance the likelihood of developing psychopathological disorders, including
those that may manifest initially in teenage delinquent peer associations such as gangs, which
often provide the context for early anti-social behaviour and acts of violence (Seedat et al.,
2009).
The inability of a country to disrupt the cycle of violence in families and communities has
dire consequences for generations to come as the intergenerational transmission of trauma
continues uninterrupted. Multiple generations of families can transmit the damage of
trauma through the years. Whilst each generation of a family may experience its own. The
initial experience can be traced back decades (Coyle, 2014). People are especially at risk of
trauma and an inability to work through it when they come from a family with trauma in their
parents and generations before. Where trauma has been untreated, parents can transmit the
untreated trauma to the child through the attachment bond and the messaging about self and
the world, safety, and danger. Intergenerational trauma also plays out in parental neglect and
the internal resources children gain or do not gain because of their parent’s ability to provide
them with it.
These resources refer to a healthy view of the self, the ability to trust oneself and one’s
perception of reality, connect with other people, and receive support to trust that other people
can act in your best interest. Without these resources, interactions with stressful events are
potentially overwhelming to the psyche (Coyle, 2014). Each one of these interactions affects
not only the individual but the next generation as well. Understanding intergenerational
trauma transmission for families and communities would provide a productive framework for
child protection services and work with families and communities.
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Poverty, inequality and violence

Life in low-income urban communities in South Africa is often characterised by a cycle of
violence that is difficult to break (Hinsberger et al., 2016). Gang violence and vigilantism
often follow, as a community’s response to gangsterism creates a situation where community
members constantly feel threatened. The contributory factors of community trauma and its
violent expressions lie in the historic and ongoing root causes of social inequities, including
poverty, racism, sexism, oppression and power dynamics, and the erasure of culture
and communities (Falkenburger, Arena and Wolin, 2018). The disinvestment in certain
neighbourhoods through poor housing, poorly developed public spaces, violence and lack of
stability or consistency render large groups of people vulnerable. The link between poverty
and crime is, however, not necessarily a linear one. Some studies provide evidence in favour of
a link between unemployment and crime, particularly property crime.
Bhorat, Lilenstein, Monnakgotla, Thornton and van der Zee (2017) in their research looked at
various studies focusing on the relationship between poverty, inequality and crime. Whilst
they found an overall positive correlation in the empirical literature between inequality,
poverty and crime, the link between poverty, inequality and property crime seems to be the
most significant. This seems to be the same in the South African context, where there also
seems to be a significant positive relationship between inequality and property crime, but
not violent crime. According to Bhorat et al. (2017), youth unemployment is positively linked
to property crime but not necessarily a violent crime. It seems that a variety of risk factors
associated with poverty contribute to the poverty/inequality-crime link.
Education serves as a determinant of crime, with individuals more likely to engage in crime if
they drop out of school before obtaining formal education. People who dropped out of school
are represented more in the prison population than the general public. Education attainment
coupled with skills development increases the probability of entering the formal labour
market and encourages individuals to make choices that do not include committing a crime.
Youth aged between 15 and 35 are more likely to engage in criminal activities than older age
cohorts. Their representation in the prison population is greater than the general population
(Bhorat et al., 2017). This is thus a particularly vulnerable societal group, and as Hinsberger
et al. (2016) indicate, young men are more likely to be perpetrators in violent scenarios and
victims in criminal situations. Homicide is the leading cause of fatal injury in South African
men, at a rate seven times higher than that for women. This number is highest for the age group
15 to 29 years, with homicide rates of 184 per 100.000, which equates to nine times the global
rate.
In South Africa, the relationship between crime and poverty is complex, and Cheteni et al.
(2018) argue that numerous studies on crime and poverty have failed to provide compelling
reasons for the link between the two. The reason being that poverty is multidimensional,
whilst several factors not linked to poverty cause crime. Whilst there is a link between crime
and poverty, this relationship does not occur simultaneously but sequentially (Cheteni et
al., 2018). For instance, witnessing violent crimes does not simultaneously occur with high
poverty rates or inequality. Furthermore, the causality between poverty and crime involves a
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complex interrelationship amongst the community and individual variables (Valdez, Kaplan
& Curtis, 2007). They argue that the higher the concentration of poverty, the higher the levels
of aggressive crime, but they also indicate that individual-level indicators can serve as
deterrents to the acts of violent crimes.
Even where there are high levels of poverty, social attachments can result in individuals not
engaging in the act of violence and for social solidarity to prevail. This view of Valdez et al.
(2007) seems to correlate with participants in this study. They referred to community acts of
kindness and care that prevailed even amongst high levels of poverty and these would act as
protective measures. Participant two reflected on how it used to be possible to go to uncles
and aunties in the community who acted as the overseers in the community. Participant four
also indicates how it was possible for them as a child-headed household to draw on the support
from neighbours.
The complexity of the poverty and crime relationship that Cheteni et al. (2018) allude to can
also be viewed through the crime opportunity theory, which states that opportunity determines
the outcome of environments prone to crime. This theory argues that offenders look for an
opportunity before committing a crime and cannot do so unless the opportunity is available
to break the law. Weak law enforcement throughout South Africa and in marginalised
communities makes it possible for crime to escalate. All the participants in this study alluded
to a weak police and justice system that the community cannot trust, thus supporting the crime
opportunity theory. However, not all opportunities to commit crime translates into criminal
activities (Cheteni et al., (2018). The rational choice theory indicates that offenders aim to
maximise benefits and minimise costs to a decision.
Consequently, the offenders look for crimes that offer immediate satisfaction and require
little effort to complete. According to this theory, offenders are rational beings who explore
the vulnerability of the criminal justice system to their advantage. This furthermore speaks to
the need to improve the country’s law enforcement strategies.
IKS and its role in cultural healing

IK include beliefs, rituals and perceptions, ways of learning, local technology, stocks
of knowledge and the practices of acquiring and transmitting it, Chambers (as cited in
Maunganidze, 2016). IKS refers to a large body of knowledge and skills developed outside the
formal education system that enables communities to survive in their specific environments
and is an integral part of poor people’s strategies for survival (Maunganidze, 2016). According
to Eze (2008), these knowledge systems have also been misrecognised and written out of
the mainstream bodies of knowledge. Thus, it becomes important for the education system,
specifically the higher education platform, to engage critically with its progress with
incorporating IKS into the university.
Higher education in Africa has not been relevant to the needs of African people (Kaya and
Seleti, 2013). They see the problem embedded in the educational structures inherited from
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colonialism based on cultural values different from most indigenous societies. This disconnect
depicted in higher education systems and society is meant to perpetuate continued social,
economic, and technological ties between African countries and their former colonising
powers (Kaya and Seleti, 2013). If these ties continue without an awareness of the power
relationships that underpin them, IKS will continue to struggle for its rightful position in the
higher education system.
Focusing on the need to use indigenous languages in educational spaces, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
(1986) sketched the educational system as a weaponised structure that uses chalk and the
chalkboard to impose psychological violence within the classroom. This system creates
practitioners who cannot break away from the imperialist control of the economy, politics and
culture. We seem to run the risk of continuing to alienate our communities by failing to address
the issue of IKS in our higher education system. From a social work perspective, a lack of a
historical understanding of trauma and ignorance towards IKS and its value for the profession
intensified this alienation. Participants in this study alluded to curriculum content removed
from the realities of the communities they work in. Whilst they could identify indigenous
knowledge systems within the communities, they work in. Their social work training has not
integrated these for them.
Older people are invaluable to the transmission of IK. Older people are the information
storage and processing units of society (Dixit and Goyal, 2009). Different societies use their
older people as carriers of knowledge in many ways whilst others do not really. The extent to
which older people are recognised for their knowledge also differ significantly in the South
African context, and their voices do not infiltrate the formal education spaces. Interestingly,
participants in this study recognised older people for the knowledge they have. They raised
concerns that these are not utilised.
The numbers of experienced mental health professionals on the African continent remain
low, and this problem can be alleviated if primal health care receives more recognition (Nare,
Pienaar and Mphuthi, 2018). Ninety per cent of African countries and all South-East Asian
countries are reported to have less than one psychiatrist per 100 000 people, whilst the ratio
for indigenous practitioner per community is 1:200. Yet, despite clear evidence that many
countries, including South Africa, struggle with its supply of Western health care, indigenous
practitioners are still denied recognition and active involvement in providing community
health care, and their practice ridiculed. Despite this mockery, South Africa is experiencing
an increasing number of people who use both the Western health and indigenous knowledge
systems (Nare et al., 2018). Suppose the country understands primal health care and recognise
that it is already widely used by many community members. In that case, it can formally co-
exist with primary health care, and the burden on the health care system can be alleviated.
Findings
In this section, the biographical data of the participants in this study are provided. Whilst the
participants’ ages vary significantly, they have less than ten years of practice experience as
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social workers. Because the researcher wanted to understand their views on how social work
training prepared them for working in communities with high levels of trauma, the relatively
short period since they completed their studies has been advantageous.
Table: Biographical details of participants

Gender Age Years of social work experience
Participant 1 (P1) Female 51 10 months (with significant
experience of working in
communities before qualifying as a
social worker.
Participant 2 (P2) Female 46 5 years
Six themes emerged from the data. These were; a) the presentation of social issues in
communities, b) the presentation of historical and intergenerational trauma, c) The impact
of our apartheid history on current-day social issues, d) policing and the justice system, e)
relevance of social work training in equipping social workers dealing with local challenges,
and f) Indigenous Knowledge Systems in communities
The presentation of social issues in communities

Participants in this study identified many social issues prevalent in the communities where
they work. Substance abuse amongst adults and young people seems to be one of the major
social issues for communities. Substance abuse seldom operates in isolation and can be the
forerunner of other social issues. Many environmental factors interact with substance abuse
(Spooner and Hetherington, 2004). These are called the social determinants of drug use and
include the social and cultural environment, the economic environment and the physical
environment. “Most of the problems are driven by alcohol and drug abuse….usually the
perpetrator was under the influence, or the mom was drunk” (P4). Spooner and Hetherington
(2004) suggested that substance abuse is often a symptom of larger personal or societal issues,
as indicated by one participant. “It is often not about the abuse itself. It is often something
at home or in the environment” (P1). Participant three alludes to environmental features
that contribute to an escalation of substance abuse when saying, “Because there are no
recreational facilities but a tavern around every corner”. The observation by this participant
reflects a social, economic and physical environment that normalises excessive substance
abuse for young people.
School dropouts and teenage pregnancies are also very prevalent in the communities these
participants work. Both these phenomena limit young people’s prospects and keep them
trapped in a cycle of poverty. Teenage fathers have a lower probability of graduating from
high school (Fletcher and Wolfe, 2012), and teenage parents generally find it more difficult to
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escape poverty. When teenagers fall pregnant, they are often not ready to commit to a long-
term relationship, increasing absent fathers’ phenomena. “There is a high number of absent
fathers with young parents often not emotionally mature to provide structure for the child”
(P5). Thus, it is not surprising that family instability seems to be another social issue that
participants identified as a social problem they encounter. “The family often lack the skills
to solve problems, like communication skills between the mother and child, I often have to
explain to parents how to deal with the child’s developmental stage” (P1). The vulnerabilities
of families also affect the social fabric of the community, like participant two explained.
…communities are falling apart because families are falling apart. It is either
an absent mother or an absent father and even when the parents are present,
they are not really ‘present’ as they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs
and children do whatever they like, often resulting in teenage pregnancies…
(Fletcher and Wolfe, 2012, p. 12).
It is usually within such unstable situations as depicted above that gangsterism seems to
flourish. Large numbers of young people are trapped in gangsterism because of poverty,
unemployment and unfavourable socio-economic living conditions (MacMaster, 2010),
resulting from many years of political exploitation and deprivation. Most of the participants
identified gangsterism as a major social issue. Participant six explains, “…it was shocking to
me the number of gangsters in Port Elizabeth”. Participant two links family instability and
young people’s affinity to join gangs, “…parents have less influence on their children and
gangs are the brotherhood that provides them with a sense of identity”. High levels of sexual
abuse are another social issue social workers in this study encounters. As one participant
explained, “We never had a shortage of young kids who were traumatised by rape and sexual
abuse” (P6). Parents are often also complacent in cases of sexual abuse, “…where families sell
off their children as sex slaves” (P5). Young children witnessing this may view it as normal and
become perpetrators long before comprehending their actions. As mentioned by participant
five, “I found four boys molesting a ten-year-old child whilst working in schools”. Substance
abuse often plays a role in sexual crimes, as indicated by participant four, “…often the
perpetrator was under the influence of alcohol or the mother was drunk”. These views shared
by participants of this study, speaks of a social entrapment that makes it difficult for young
people to navigate their own lives beyond the confines of an environment that was never
designed with their optimal human development in mind.
Social workers’ experience of trauma emerged as a subtheme under social issues. Secondary
trauma in social workers is not often discussed (Hesse, 2002). However, it can seriously affect
their personal and professional well-being. Community violence and gangsterism expose
social workers to security risks and trauma. Participants six reflects on this as follows; “Two to
three times a month we are unable to go into the schools due to gangsterism. Social workers
will come back telling you that they had to seek refuge due to gang activities in the community”.
Work with families where violence has been normalised can also pose a risk for social workers.
Participant five related an incident where a mother threatened to harm her, “…what do you
do when a mother threatens you by saying – if you knock on my door again I will shoot you…I
don’t think the university realises the context that we work in”. Work in communities where a
high level of traumatic events occurs adds the strain on care work. If the social work profession
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fails to recognise this, it runs the risk of a high turnover of human resources and a workforce
blunted by exposure to trauma.
The presentation of historical and intergenerational trauma

Both historical and intergenerational trauma refers to wounds/suffering shared by a group
and multiple generations after that, with contemporary groups experiencing the trauma-
related symptoms even though they were not present at the traumatising events (Mohatt et
al., 2014). What is specific to intergenerational trauma is that it refers to trauma transmitted
across familial generations. Historical trauma happens on a larger scale and is usually related
to the genocide of people, where some major event is aimed at a particular group because of
their status as an oppressed group (Coyle, 2014). In the study, participants referred to trauma
that has both historical and intergenerational elements. The relocation of whole communities
as part of the apartheid special engineering had large-scale ramifications, as indicated by
participant one:
I listened to my mom about how they were forcefully removed from areas
where they had bigger houses to these smaller spaces with two rooms for a
whole family with an outside bathroom to share with another household. I
grew up like that where in one room you can hear everything that happens
in the other room, meaning parents do not have influence on what their
children hear or not.
Social workers are thus not only working in communities where elements of historical
trauma are present, but they also carry these wounds through their own experiences. The
intergenerational transmission of trauma through familial generations are also evident in
the communities where these participants work. “When I speak to a client, and I get the history,
I see the same pattern of what happened in the mothers unfolding in the 16-year-old girl’s life”
(P2). It also influences how people deal with issues like sexual violence, as reflected upon by
participant four.
…you often find when you work with a child that was raped, the mother
went through a similar experience and when the perpetrator was someone
popular in the community the mother advice the child that nothing will be
done about it and it is best just to deal with it in the family.
Crime may also be normalised to an extent. MacMaster (2010) indicates that gangsterism and
the violence surrounding it shows that many people have almost accepted it as part of their
everyday reality. Many youngsters even romanticise it and hero-worship well-known gang
members. Participant four alludes to this, stating the following:
When people live off crime, for example the father is a criminal and the
child do the same, they normalise it. You find a father saying that the child
don’t need to do it in his own community but can do it in other communities”.
Participant five calls it a “vicious cycle” where the normalisation of
behaviours are internalised. “Kids fall into the trap very easily … I observed
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young people at the age of 10 having a boyfriend and by the time they
get to high school, smoking, drinking and multiple sexual partners are
normalised”
The intergenerational transmission of trauma in historically marginalised communities

create particular challenges for social workers. A trauma-informed practice may provide
them with the tools they need.
The impact of our apartheid history on present-day social issues

The impact of our apartheid history has been widespread, with many remnants thereof still
present currently. This study highlighted two of these apartheid legacies, namely, apartheid
spatial engineering and damaged collective self-esteem. Wyngaard (2019) calls these acts
of humiliation that caused harm to the identity of groups of people. The forced removals that
saw people moving from homes that had more space to accommodate families to small two-
roomed homes, often with shared ablution between families, negatively affected the lived
experiences of many South Africans, as alluded to by participant one. She observed through
her own life experience and stories told by her mother how the forced removals redefined
families’ living spaces in dehumanising ways. “This still gets to me”. The social conditions
created through forced removals have created physical discomfort and could shape people’s
view of the world they live in. Participant five explain it as follows:
The small houses that were built often had to accommodate three
generations of a family as some of the adults had no job. As a result, young
children are again exposed to over-crowdedness and there seems to be little
change. They are exposed to drugs and kids feel there are no end to it…kids
feel maybe I must finish matric or maybe I don’t have to.
Thus, these conditions create a sense of demotivation for people who do not have a vision of a
better future.
All participants believe that people in communities still struggle with collective low self-
esteem because of historical marginalisation. “…we have this innate sense of inferiority, not
being good enough” (P2). Participant one explains it as follows: “We did not have a voice, our
worth was determined by someone else…if we received labels, we went with it”. These views
are supported by Bruce (2006). They indicate that apartheid racism has been internalised by
many South Africans, contributing to low self-esteem and a sense of insecure social status.
This low self-esteem negatively influences how people view their future. “People normalised
this life of poverty. They don’t think they are entitled to the help out there” (P3). Language, as
alluded to by participant five, continues to maintain unbalanced power relationships. “The
dad may be drinking over the weekend but is hard working. He takes his kid to his gardening
job at his White boss where he ‘ja baas, nee baas’ (yes boss, no boss), and then you hear this child
talk about his dad going to work for the ‘lanie’. This is a language often used unconsciously
to legitimise existing social relationships and power differences (Fairclough, 2001). Social
workers should be aware of these nuanced tones of disempowerment that find expression in
everyday language. It can inform their understanding and help them build empowering social
work practices that penetrate layers of systemic invalidation.
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Policing and the Justice system

Participants identified a weak policing and justice system as contributing factors to ongoing
social issues. “Just last year during Child Protection Week…we had a child at risk of going back
home to a sexual perpetrator…I took the child to the police, and they did not know what to
do” (P6). This experience is echoed by participant three, who indicates that the police are ill-
equipped to deal with cases involving children and send people from “pillar to post”, resulting
in children getting lost in the system. The perception that victims are not sufficiently protected
is also fuelled by badly managed cases between law enforcement and the justice system.
…a client of mine was in an abusive relationship. She got a protection

order, he got out and fought with her again, and she ended up in ICU. He
was arrested but is out on bail. She lives with the scars of the abuse and the
police, when challenged wants to know what more they should do as they
gave him a warning” (P3).
Views shared by Onishi (2016) and Gould (2014) allude to challenges of citizens’ attitudes to
the policing and criminal justice system. During the Apartheid era, the government used these
systems to enforce oppression, damaging people’s trust in them as protection instruments.
Unfortunately, corruption and deadly force in the law enforcement sector, continue to fuel
distrust and division (Onishi, 2016). Comments made by participant five seems to corroborate
this view. “I encountered a child that conflicted with the law, and he indicated, ‘ag my dad
will sort this out, my uncle works for the police”. Participant Four also supported this view,
who states, “…even the tsotsies know nothing will be done. Cases often stop after the affidavit
was done”. These views on the police’s response to acts of criminality, when looking through a
lens of the crime opportunity theory and the rational choice theory (Cheteni et al., 2018), show
weaknesses in the system that allows for crime to flourish.
Relevance of social work training in equipping social workers dealing

with local challenges
All participants in this study completed their training between 2000 and 2019. Their reflections
on their training are thus relevant to the current training context. Some aspects of training
deemed relevant focused on a person-centred approach for some participants as it allows
them to work from the service user’s point of view. Many participants found relevance to the
social context in their work from psychopathology in Psychology, victimology in Criminology,
Anthropology and Sociology. One participant argued for stronger integration of elective
modules in the preparation of the social worker for the South African context.
For me, integrating these theories between different disciplines will help
… These disciplines in Humanities comes from the same basic principles…
knowledge should not be used in silos but in combination. Social work must
take responsibility for the integration of these into the discipline so that a
social work module can speak to the pathology of a victim, because these
are the kind of things we work with (P6).
257
Generally, participants are of the impression that the training has not prepared them to
understand the country’s history and how it influences the well-being of South African citizens.
History should not merely be chronological but must speak to the interconnection of wider
forces that shape people’s lives, institutions and disciplines (Smith, 2014). For her, specific
historical events are better understood when viewed as being related to socio-political,
economic contexts and circumstances around peoples’ livelihoods. Participants expressed
concerns that curriculum content is often removed from the local context and highlighted the
need for a decolonised curriculum. This resonates with Lekganyane (2018) views that social
work education and practice continue to destabilise IK and customs. Although social work
students engage with families, indigenous people and communities, they still need to be
provided with cultural values, norms, skills and knowledge in the classroom setting that are
significant to cultural settings. “I did not like being taught about work from other countries…
all these books have a Eurocentric stance” (P5). Participants also allude to a de-contextual
social work training that does not stimulate their curiosity. “If you talk to me about the things
that happened here, I sit up and listen. It will allow us to draw parallels between our past and
our present” (P2).
Social work text based on a local history that excludes historically marginalised groups
does little to prepare social workers for the field. “I was taught history of social work that
traumatised the living daylight out of me. I was taught about some NG Kerk history that
does not help any Black person I am working with now” (P6). The social work history these
participants were exposed to seems to follow the same path of an apartheid history that wrote
some people out of existence (Eze, 2008) as expressed by participant six.
…so they talk about this lady who went in the Anglo Boer War to bargain for
the concentration camps, but they don’t talk about the concentration camps
of the farm workers of the families. This is not part of the social work history
book. Anyone who wants to know about the first Black social worker must be
politically inclined.
Participant one offered a valuable way of how a focus on history should be included. “Whilst
we are living and working in a very diverse country, if a student is located in a community,
say the Northern areas, let them study the Northern areas, the history thereof, and then they
can say they know where people are coming from”. Both participants one and four speak of
strategies that recognise the community as experts in their own lives. “Information about
their history can be shared from the bottom-up” (P1). Participant four reflects on her strategy
of overcoming the professional divide between herself and the community, “…I decided
to move to the location amongst the people. I don’t want to go into the community as an
expert”. Participants in this study expressed a strong need for a curriculum that would help
them develop a comprehensive understanding of their local context, recognising the lived
experiences and the people they serve.
Participants also questioned their ability to deal with trauma in the community. “Knowing
what to do when people are traumatised is difficult, and if you do not get the right supervision,
you are often traumatised, and then tomorrow you must be off going to see another person…
you also have to debrief” (P4). “…I chose empathy, but even I had to distance myself in my work”
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Social Work
(P6), speaking to the need to protect the self from being traumatised. Social workers who are
well equipped to work with trauma can rely on their knowledge about trauma to respond to
clients in ways that convey respect and compassion, honour self-determination, and enable
the rebuilding of healthy interpersonal skills and coping strategies (Levenson, 2017). A
trauma-informed social work practice can thus create an enabling environment for social
workers and service users.
Indigenous Knowledge Systems in communities

Participants in this study were able to identify three hubs of indigenous knowledge systems
that social workers can draw from. These are the family with specific reference to older people,
the community and traditional healing practices. Older people hold a considerable amount of
IK rapidly lost as they pass away (Haines, Du, Geuren, Gao & Treverrow, 2017). This resonates
with the concerns raised by a participant one who states:
…in my experience with older people in the Old Age Home … I realised there
is so much history there … they made belts and necklaces from junk in the
yard and they could tell me the history of these things. I think if we could go
back to basics … use them as valuable resources.
Participant two (P2) supports this view stating, “The wisdom of older people, even where they
are in Old Age Homes. There is a lady I always visit as she shares so much wisdom”. Older people
have also traditionally used their relationship with nature to provide for those dependent
on them. Participant four (P4) indicate as such; “In my family, older people taking care of
grandchildren, they work the fields, selling crops they plough and get what the kids need for
school….”
The extended family is regarded as a traditional support system that is not always recognised
in mainstream intervention strategies.
When I think of IKS, I think of where I come from, your intonjane’s, your
mkuluwa, even the lobola process. In all these, there are one thing that is a
golden threat, the family. I think what we are losing is the family structure
and the respect and dignity ascribed to it because those families hold the
history of your nuclear and extended family….
Traditional African communities share the responsibility of raising children, supporting

biological parents (Amos, 2013). She indicated that the African proverb on parenting says that
“a single hand cannot nurse a child”, which implies that although the biological parents are
responsible for taking care of the child, there is a shared obligation to do so. Many extended
families have been educated based on extended support, an indication of the strength of this
system. Social work with families that fail to recognise this extended support’s value misses
the very essence of traditional value systems.
Participants were also reflecting on the community members’ abilities to get along with very
little resources. “We can also learn from ordinary community members, where they are coming
from and how they make sense of their world…things we take for granted, to live amongst them
259
and see how they get along day by day, just getting water to wash” (P1). It seems that it is in the
very survival strategies of ordinary community members that a lot of knowledge is preserved.
“It is a skill to get along with so little” (P3). People in difficult circumstances are not passive
recipients of their circumstances. In their daily activities, knowledge is present, and mindful
engagement with them makes these knowledge-sets accessible to others.
Counselling has also been identified as an area where traditional forms of intervention can
exist harmoniously alongside other forms of help. “When people are HIV positive, it is said that
they can’t go to Sangoma. They must drink their pills. However, they need emotional support as
well and going to a Sangoma is between R100 and R400 whilst going to a psychologist is much
more” (P6). Traditional forms of help are regarded as more affordable for people, but they are
also seen as easier to reach and offered in ways that people can relate to.
To go to a psychologist, you must get into a taxi, go into town, sign forms
you don’t understand and are asked to talk about things you don’t really
talk about. With a Sangoma, they throw the bones, do not talk a lot as they
are supposed to see through the bones and you get your cleansing. It is very
liberating. It does not mean this system cannot be integrated into your other
treatment regime.
These views concur with Nare et al. (2018), who suggest that traditional healing forms can
live alongside western ways of help and healing. This will give recognition to a system that is
already widely used and will also lessen the burden on the healthcare system.
Conclusion
Whilst involving a small sample, this research shows that social workers are valuable sources
of knowledge who can inform the transformation of the social work curriculum. Their views
on how the country’s history of colonialism and apartheid contributed to the social issues
of present-day marginalised communities, speaks to a socio-political dispensation that
fractured the identity of large groups of people in South Africa and is thus in line with the
notion of historical trauma.
This research presented social workers as people interacting and understanding how a
history of severe social injustices affects the South African population and carriers of the
same historical trauma. Participants seem to witness the intergenerational transmission of
trauma throughout their work, and their experiences seem to correlate with research in this
regard (Adonis, 2016; Hoosain, 2013; Seedat et al., 2009; Hinsberger et al., 2016). The failures of
institutions like the police and the justice system seem to contribute to the country’s inability
to disrupt the cycle of re-traumatisation.
It does seem that social work training as experienced by participants in this study does not
fully prepare them for the world of work. There is a strong suggestion that theory needs to be
contextualised. Understanding the country’s history that connects social forces and how these
influences people’s lives (Smith, 2014), should be embedded into the curriculum. The views
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Social Work
shared by the participants strengthen the quest for the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge
Systems in the curriculum and the work with communities. In doing so, notions of emancipatory
social work are enhanced by its very nature. It gives recognition to the knowledge and skills
already present in communities.
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Whither indigenous African music:

Measures to protect the cultural heritage
Martison Nhamo
University of Venda
martisonnhamo@gmail.com
&
Madimabe G Mapaya
University of Venda
geoff.mapaya@univen.ac.za
Introduction
This chapter emanates from a study that sought to establish measures the governments of
South Africa and Zimbabwe could put in place to protect their traditional musical cultures.
Whilst African traditional music has been known to have rich aesthetics and utilitarian values,
the musical genres have been a perennial victim of marginalisation from the colonial period
up to the present, owing to the influence of urbanisation, globalisation, foreign musical
cultures, as well as foreign religious beliefs. As a result, there is a decline in the performance
and promotion of significant indigenous African musical instruments like chipendani. The
chipendani, which is made from a curved thin plank, is a plucked stick-zither chordophone.
As a result, the cultural heritage is facing possible extinction, threatening the disappearance
of one of Africa’s indigenous cultural items. The study argues that there should be some ways
of reviving and protecting the traditional African musical instrument, which is almost extinct.
Against this background, the study was undertaken to establish measures the government
could take to safeguard the musical cultures.
As a driving force in preserving culture, the United Nations Educational Scientific Cooperation
(UNESCO), in 2005 and 2008, recommends the documentation of a diversity of cultures in all
communities to help people access information across the globe. Like any other African state
in South Africa and Zimbabwe, most indigenous musical cultures are largely intangible and
on the verge of extinction. That scenario poses a danger to the school curriculum because
both the teacher and the learner cannot play or even identify musical instruments. The study
adopted a survey design in which culture experts participated in face-to-face interviews.
Data was content analysed. Research findings revealed that most traditional African musical
genres were getting extinct due to numerous challenges such as lack of funding, coordination,
and entrepreneurial skills. The researcher suggested collaborations amongst famous
contemporary African traditional musicians.
The Millennium Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, to which South Africa and
Zimbabwe are signatories, encourages member countries to promote their intangible and
tangible heritages so that the cultures of many people across cultural boundaries will get
access to such information. Like any other country south of the Sahara, the two countries
265
are home to various indigenous African musical genres, which, historically, have been
pronounced in all socio-cultural spheres of life. During the pre-colonial period, some African
musical performances used to be accompanied by indigenous musical instruments such as
chipendani. The instrument is a mouth-resonated bow that is believed to be one of the most
common melodic instruments in ancient Zimbabwe. It used to have a string made of sinew,
now a wire has replaced it.
According to the classification of African musical instruments, the chipendani belongs to a

category called chordophones. These are instruments with a string that produces sound when
the chord is plucked. In that regard, the chordophones played a significant role in the lives of
both old and young community members. The current writers sought to establish measures
the governments of South Africa and Zimbabwe could put in place to protect such indigenous
African musical cultures. By being Music Educators, the current writers made observations in
which both the teachers as service providers and learners as recipients could not play, let alone
identify many indigenous African musical instruments. The chipendani was chosen because
abundant literature shows that it was very popular in both countries. Despite that popularity
and its significance, the instrument has attracted scanty attention from researchers. Thus, the
decision to focus on the instrument was meant to complement the existing literature on the
instrument.
In fact, at the time of writing the chapter, there seemed to have been no evidence of the
musical heritage (chipendani) being taught in institutions of learning, because most music
educators lacked both the practical and theoretical knowledge to teach it. Thus, there were
gaps between the ideals of Music Education and the reality in the classrooms. For example,
after an assessment of a cultural lag of indigenous African musical cultures in Zimbabwe,
Nziramasanga (1999, p. 362) concludes that “The product of our music education is therefore
handicapped in participating in occasions where indigenous musical instruments and dance
are vital components.” Significant in the citation is the problem of a school curriculum that has
become somewhat redundant, owing to the half-baked products it produces annually. On the
other hand, a good curriculum produces competent graduates. In this paper, the researchers
focused on what measures African governments could take to protect their musical heritages
like the chipendani musical instrument. This augurs well with Nziramasanga (1999, p. 357),
who further opines that “It is important to protect and nurture Zimbabwean indigenous
culture, which lays claim to our nation’s cultural identity and authenticity.”
Further, section 16 (2) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe urges the state, all institutions and
agencies of government at every level, and all Zimbabwean citizens to endeavour to preserve
and protect the country’s heritage. Implied in the citations is the need to preserve indigenous
culture, including the musical instruments that are almost extinct. Documentation on the
chipendani is one of the most effective ways in which institutions and individuals can preserve
the country’s indigenous musical instruments.
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Background
Legend has it that the instrument was used for courtship, as well as entertainment. Given its
aesthetic and utilitarian values, the current researchers aimed at examining strategies for
preserving the instrument for the benefit of current and future generations. Several pieces
of research have been made in respect of the origins of the chipendani musical instrument. A
perusal of the available literature regarding the instrument’s origins appears to be shrouded
in some controversy. According to Raine-Reusch (2012), the chipendani has its origins in South
Africa and was commonly used for personal entertainment. The same author observes that the
instrument’s performance involved players singing and playing it as an ensemble. However,
(Kyker, 2016; Jones, 1992; Maraire, 1982) disagree with Raine- Reusch’s theory. They believe
that the instrument originated in Zimbabwe, arising from instrumental music for personal use.
Sharing the opinion is Jones (ibid), who observes that mostly, the instrument was played by
herd boys as they drove cattle from pastures, on their way back home in the late afternoon
or evening. Implied in the foregoing citation is the issue of the nexus between music and
agriculture. It can be seen that the chipendani musical instrument had a crucial role in animal
production since it was the music that would entertain herd boys as they were out to the
pastures. In essence, it meant that the kind of music would reduce boredom and stress on herd
boys. Ensembles of chipendani had both aesthetic and utilitarian values in music production.
It can also be concluded that besides entertainment, music was also used to communicate
important messages, teaching children cultural norms and values. According to Mills (1996),
Traditional African communities frequently ascribe vast powers to their music: the power to
heal sickness, create a bountiful game, and, in one case, free a man from prison. Significant in
the citation is the multiple functions and nature of indigenous music to which the chipendani
belongs. The researchers’ observation, coupled with reflections on archival materials, has
shown that there were hardly any instrument practitioners when writing this chapter, just as
there were no learners who could continue practising the musical heritage.
For some scholars like Jones (1992, p. 21), “It is possible that some instruments played in
Zimbabwe in the past have disappeared entirely, and will never be documented or recorded.”
Thus, the current effort was meant to highlight the significance of protecting African
indigenous musical heritage like the chipendani so that young people, especially the learners,
would appreciate the music as both culture and an element of culture. Unarguably, as the
country’s future leaders, they will become pro-active in protecting such valuable heritage.
The study also examined some strategies in which the two neighbouring countries, South
Africa and Zimbabwe, could employ to preserve the withering of one of the indigenous African
heritage. It was against that background that the documentation of chipendani music was
embarked upon. Readers would need to appreciate that the music material remains an African
identity that needs to be protected because people without identity would have lost dignity.
Documenting Africa’s musical cultures is a clear illustration of an appreciation of the Creative
Arts of the continent’s forefathers. From that appreciation, it is expected that the current and
future generations make innovations to develop further what was passed on to them by the
grandparents.
267
The following scholars have done research on the chipendani instrument (Kyker, 2016;
Mugovhani, 2016; Gottingen, 2013; Emmons, 2010; Scherzinger, 2010; Chitando, 2002; Jones,
1992; Maraire, 1982). Their reflections of the musical instrument concur that the instrument
has been handed down aurally and orally over a long period. In respect of that, limited human
memory has contributed to its loss of meaning and value. In that regard, the instrument’s
significance in the contemporary African community as it was at its creation has been adversely
affected. Thus, presently, the instrument is not appreciated, let alone understood by many
people, in the same way it was understood during pre-colonial times. Sharing the view is Kyker
(2016), who notes that it is often claimed that most stringed instruments have scanty written
documentation, just as their history is almost unknown, hence the contemporary knowledge of
early instruments is limited. The preceding observation implies that most indigenous African
musical instruments, including chipendani in the two neighbouring countries, are quickly
getting into oblivion. In essence, it would mean a complete loss of one of Africa’s intellectual
heritage, which presents quite a big loss to a valuable indigenous sound treasure.
Undoubtedly, the musical instrument’s importance in the two countries is seldom taught in
schools, colleges, and even universities because music educators lack basic practical and
theoretical knowledge of the instrument. Yet, for example, the Zimbabwe Junior School
Visual and Performance Arts Syllabus and the Ordinary Level Visual Arts Syllabus indicate
chipendani as one of the musical instruments that must be taught to learners in the schools.
Knowledge of such an indigenous instrument will help the young generation appreciate their
country’s indigenous musical culture.
Description of chipendani
It is a musical instrument that looks like a bow arrow and is made from a thin curved plank,
whose length ranges from 70 to 100cm, as documented in the scanty sources that were
consulted. The instrument has a solid cylinder of wood, 8 - 9cm long, in the centre of the bow.
As was illustrated in the background, it is worth mentioning that the chipendani is traced to
some Shona origin. As evidenced by the following song, when people in Zimbabwe perform the
music, they usually pluck the instrument to surrogate some Shona song lyrics. For example, the
following song is entitled ‘Ndezvameso.’
ChiShona English
Ere hee. Ere hee Ere hee. Ere hee.
Ndezvameso muromo zvinyarare It’s for the eyes, so just look and keep quiet.
The lyrics serve as advice to listeners that there are often incidences that one should refrain
from commenting. It is a life truism that sometimes people get into trouble by treading on
sensitive issues. Therefore, the best way to avoid sensor is to avoid commenting on issues of a
sensitive nature.
Tsvimbo dzora mombe
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ChiShona English
Tsvimbo dzora mombe, ndigodzora mbudzi Tsvimbo drive cattle, and I will drive the goats
The foregoing is a Shona song whose focus is on good animal husbandry by herd boys. It
reminds the herd boys of their responsibility. In the latter song, the word tsvimbo has a dual
meaning amongst the Karanga people. In the first instance, it means a knobkerrie. Culturally,
a man is supposed to carry the object, which he can use as a weapon for self-defence against
dangerous animals in the grazing areas since some can be bushy. On the other hand, the word
might refer to the name of a person with whom the herd boy takes turns to monitor stray cattle
on the grazing land and drive the animals on the journey back home after a day’s work. The
song is an indigenous Karanga song whose structure and style of singing is call-and-response.
Good responsibility like keeping a good eye on the cattle and goats ensured that the animals
neither strayed onto other people’s fields nor got lost. Musical instruments in pre-colonial
communities were symbolic and revealed people’s modes of expression and communication
patterns (Jones, 1992). A chipendani, just like any other African musical instrument, was
valued and highly regarded as part of the indigenous African heritage, which deserved to be
glorified as an element of African culture.
Picture: 2: Chipendani
In his study of African musical instruments for personal domain, to which the chipendani
belongs, Maraire (1982) established that in most cases, the performer plays the instrument
to himself to think of his problems or some places that are far away (nostalgic). Implied in
the citation is that instruments like a chipendani were designed for predominantly personal
use and frequently performed in a big ensemble. Thus, apart from enjoying personal
entertainment from the instrument, the player would also console himself on problems that
might be troubling him. Further, playing the instrument would help the herd boy keep awake
and not lose sight of the animals.
Research method and design

The study employed a descriptive survey as its research design. Citing David and Sutton (2004),
Chireshe, Qupa and Shava (2014) state that surveys are normally used where participants’
opinions or views on a particular phenomenon are sought. Given the foregoing citation, in
this study, the views of one instrument manufacturer (as a cultural practitioner) on what
governments could do to safeguard the musical cultures were sought, hence the survey
design’s suitability. Furthermore, the participant was considered most appropriate because
of his vast experience constructing and playing chipendani as a musical instrument. In
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addition to face-to-face interviews, data for the study were also generated from an insightful
review of secondary sources such as textbooks, previous researches, and journal articles that
were related to the topic, as the issue needed an extensive review of the status of the musical
heritage.
The researchers had face-to-face interviews with one sekuru VaMushipe, an experienced
chipendani instrument maker and player. The word sekuru means uncle, whilst Va is an
honorific connotation similar to the European term Sir. The participant managed to provide
valuable information on the instrument during the interviews which were conducted with him.
As has already been alluded to, the participant, as a culture expert, was both a player and an
instrument maker. However, although he had a wealth of information on the instrument, the
man could not perform many songs from the instrument as he claimed that he had forgotten
many songs due to lack of practice. Therefore, he could only demonstrate a little, which
enabled the current researchers to understand how the instrument functioned.
According to sekuru VaMushipe, the word chipendani has different explanations based on
different usages by different people. The first explanation refers to the instrument, whilst the
second one refers to the instrument’s music as it is being played. It is worth mentioning that a
mukashu tree branch is cut and left to dry for some time. It is then best carved for instrument
construction purposes. The wood is very light. Hence it is portable and gives comfort to the
players to carry since they used to walk for long distances to and from pastures. However,
with the decline in the performance and the preservation of this intangible African cultural
product, the prospect of its continued existence may not be guaranteed. It is therefore facing
possible extinction, hence the need to advocate for its safeguarding.
Mode of playing chipendani

Literature available suggests that the mouth-resonated bows were soft sounding and very
personal. In Jones’ (1992) knowledge, the instrument was most commonly played to while
away the time during solitary activities such as herding or as a diversion during long journeys
on foot. The instrument was played by plucking the fingers or strumming with a plectrum,
such as a piece of horn or reed, confirmed by sekuru Mushipe. Jones (ibid) explains that the
curved wooden bow would be held between the player’s lips. The player’s mouth and throat
were also used to change the various harmonics or overtones’ resonation, thereby bringing out
the different pitches. As manipulated by the player, the sound acoustics of the instrument is
significant in the preceding citation as the prime musical instrument.
During playing, the left hand holds the left-hand grip leaving the forefinger free to pluck the
left-hand segment of the playing wire. However, Jones (ibid) further observes that the exact
techniques of note production differ from one chipendani player to another. How the player
moves the lips, mouth, and jaws change the resonation and volumes of the pitches. For mouth
resonation, one places the lips with the mouth open, just to the right of the tuning noose on
the bow. According to sekuru Mushipe, in moments of pain, the chipendani could soothe
and console an individual. Equally, the audience may join in the emotional accompaniment
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induced by the performance. In the process, they share the feelings of the artiste, as would be
revealed by the songs.
Sharing the opinion is Muradzikwa (2014), who concurs and even adds that the player holds
the instrument in the left-hand by its handle with its arched ends facing away from him as he
places the back of the bow blade that has the string tied to it in front of his opened mouth, the
light area just to the left of the handle, where the bow comes in contact with the player’s lips.
Using the thumb and index finger of his free hand, the player plucks the shorter segment of the
wire string with the index finger of the hand holding the bow’s hand. He can also pluck the other
longer string segment. Implied in the foregoing observation is that the bow serves to transmit
the vibrating energy of the string segments to the mouth cavity of the player, which serves as a
resonator to amplify the sound. The melodies result from the player manipulating the shape of
his mouth cavity, bringing out specific harmonics of the pitches being produced on the string.
As was revealed by sekuru Mushipe, an artiste can demonstrate his sadness or happiness by
playing the instrument. The whole rhythm starts with the right-hand plucking or pinching the
string using the right thumb and forefinger. If the performance comprises some more players,
that rhythm then extends to others. Despite the critical role in shaping society and a heavy
influence in African societies, the instrument has lost its value to the Africans.
Whilst commenting on the values of a South African mbilamutondo musical instrument,

Mugovhani’s (2016) observation is that African instrumental music was not only used in
times of sorrow, it could also be useful in times of happiness and different ceremonies such
as weddings. Significant in the citation is that, like mbilamutondo, performers of chipendani
not only compose and perform music for self-entertainment to themselves but for others. It
was common practice for performers to play chipendani music for others as well. As shown by
literature, the instrument music featured prominently during the pre-colonial period (Kyker,
2016; Zindi, 2011; Chitando, 2002; Jones, 1992; Maraire, 1982). However, as has been alluded
to earlier, the musical performance primarily belonged to the private personal domain. It
was the type of music one would play as one was herding domestic animals or was guarding
maize fields against foraging birds. Such music created a situation in which there was no
space for boredom during solitude. In that regard, it can be seen how important the music was,
for it was an ingredient of food security. It should be realised that food security is crucial for
the survival of any community. In Mugovhani’s (ibid) view, for any performance, the choice
of music on each occasion was usually determined by the mood of the occasion. There were
songs for general entertainment, amusement, visitors, lamentations, war songs, victory songs,
etc. Implied in the view is that some musical instruments for the personal domain could also
be used for ensemble performance. Some participants would be playing whilst others were
singing simultaneously. Such music performance would be a shared group experience, which
the larger community at social gatherings would also enjoy.
According to sekuru VaMushipe (2018), a chipendani was largely a solo performance

instrument. The instrument was used for courtship. For example, the instrument player
would ask for drinking water from a girl. After drinking water, the player would then begin to
perform, after which he would then declare his interest to the girl by saying: Ndinokudawozve
(I love you). The participant further indicated that sometimes the girl would be so engrossed in
the music that she would follow the chipendani player.
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Withering of chipendani
According to Kallinikou (2005), there are various ways in which indigenous musical instruments
are being threatened. Several factors allude to this problem of the extinction of African
musical instruments. Chief amongst the challenges are globalisation, foreign religions and
urbanisation. Kallinikou (2005) mentions how globalisation brings an ever-spreading power
of a relatively homogeneous Western-sponsored pop music backed by enormous marketing
budgets. Clearly, available literature shows that Western musical genres have displaced local
African musical traditions (Chitando, 2002; Oehrle, 1992; Jones, 1992). It should be realised
that historically, indigenous African musical heritages used to grow from the circumstances
of rural life experiences. However, due to rural to urban migrations, such relocations have
weakened as rural life changes.
Furthermore, the urban dwellers comprise multiple ethnicities within their populations, who
prefer to dump their culture in preference to foreign religious fundamentalism. Ultimately,
that tends to weaken and silence African music completely. As Kallinikou’s (ibid) sees it, the
traditions can decline or disappear because people do not practise them, for whatever reason.
In particular, the current researchers had witnessed that the youths in both South Africa and
Zimbabwe were increasingly ditching African traditional music in preference for Western
inclined contemporary music.
However, there is a breed of some African scholars who are disturbed or hurt by the
disappearance of traditional musical heritages, since such material cultures are the hallmark
of an African identity. They define who we are as a people. Such Pan Africanist scholars and
their compatriots wish to see some conditions of pre-colonial Africa continued even though
it is beyond their capacities to make this happen. As indigenous African musical culture
activists, the current researchers’ simple desire is to document the chipendani instrument so
as to be known and appreciated. Resultantly, this would help to safeguard the instrument as
an indigenous African musical heritage. Sharing the opinion is Zindi (2011), who concludes
that the Shona people used the ancient musical instrument as an important function in the
development of African culture for hundreds of years. He goes further to ask why certain
sections of society shun the indigenous musical instruments today. Undoubtedly, one can
see the influence of Western countries and how that had a toll on most indigenous African
musical heritages. The current researchers believed that foreign religions and urbanisation
then drove local Africans to ditch their indigenous musical instruments, favouring Western
instruments such as the guitar, the electronic keyboard, the harmonica and the accordion. It is
not surprising that some people might have felt that in urban centres, those who continued to
play indigenous musical instruments like the chipendani, chigufe (panpipe) or the hwamanda
(horn) were then perceived as primitive by those who believed that it was only the things
coming from the Western world that would make one more acceptable, more respectable,
more modern and more fashionable (Mutero, 2015; Zindi, 2011; Chitando, 2002).
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Protecting the African indigenous musical heritage

The protection of indigenous musical cultures has been discussed by some scholars for several
years, though it remains a thorny issue. According to (UNESCO,2009; Kallinikou,2005), the
advent of new technologies in this matter has resulted in the surface raising not only legal but
political concerns in the context of international organisations. Embedded in the preceding
citation is the modern technologies that have given rise to indigenous African communities’
meanings, values, and beliefs. According to Kallinikou (2005), the traditional artistic heritage
should be developed and maintained by a community or by individuals who should also reflect
on the traditional artistic expectations of that community, depending on the form of musical
expressions, such as folk songs and instrumental music. Kallinikou (2005) goes further to
acknowledge the intellectual property laws as playing an important role in the protection
of traditional cultural expressions by providing legal clauses which can enable communities
and their members to benefit by commercialising their traditional creations, if they wish to do
so, or exclude competitors from free exploitation. Given the preceding citation, it should be
highlighted that communities in formerly colonised countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe
need to attach particular importance to the protection of their Creative Arts Industries. Such
a measure will go a long way in safeguarding their traditional heritage, which, for several
decades, has been spoiled and exploited commercially by some unscrupulous people whom
Mugovhani (2012) calls thieves from the seas and others from the deserts, without due respect
for the cultural and economic interests of the African communities in which the Creative Arts
originate. The major concern is protecting folklore expressions against misappropriation or
distortion that may result from their use. It should be mentioned that musical instruments
like chipendani form part of the folklore, which, in Thomson’s (1977) view, is the wisdom of the
people which ought to be protected since it is a living tradition that forms part of the universal
heritage of humanity. However, whilst Thomson’s view seems brilliant, it cannot go without
scrutiny. It should also be realised that sometimes the identification of the creator originating
the work is unknown. Hence the folklore becomes public domain because they go back much
further in time than legal protection granted by the international conventions. Whereas
copyright is based on identifying the creator or composer of musical artwork, in indigenous
African communities, the situation is in contrast with such a modern trend. It should be
mentioned that African folklore, including the musical heritage, is distinguished by anonymity.
Any cultural element is an attribute of a community, and it is communally composed and
owned. It is difficult to identify who the composer or owner of the artwork is. On that basis,
unscrupulous individuals easily exploit the poor unknowledgeable and unsuspecting culture
experts who create the artworks.
It is life truism that regardless of the profound utilitarian role that indigenous musical cultures
play in any African community, their popularity is waning. Mutero (2015) observes the situation
and laments that African indigenous music heritages face an unhealthy future as most young
people shun the indigenous music favouring Western-influenced contemporary music,
like the hugely popular genre known as Zim-Dancehall. This Jamaican-influenced popular
youth culture threatens Zimbabwean indigenous music’s continued existence as its rising
popularity is juxtaposed with the ailing popularity of indigenous music like chipendani. The
researchers’ observation is that most African governments are doing not much to safeguard
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African indigenous music. It is sad that in both South Africa and Zimbabwe, African indigenous
musical cultures are not promoted by government departments.
As illustrated by literature, in 1962, the Korean government launched a cultural preservation

system that guided the transmission of well over 100 traditions, which were then designated
as important intangible cultural properties “ (Chungyo Muhyong Munhwaje). Many of those
traditions would undoubtedly not have continued without the government’s intervention.
Significant in the citation is that the government’s preservation system can make great strides
in perpetuating the country’s cultural norms and values. That Korean success story could have
been achieved by obliging appointees to learn, teach, and perform in particular ways whilst
providing rewards in cash or kind to motivate indigenous culture practitioners. If the South
African and Zimbabwean governments could similarly embark on safeguarding initiatives,
that might help to revive an otherwise neglected musical culture. But if any government
intends to implement its cultural policies, including the musical ones, effectively, it has to
inject some financial support into the creative industries. It has to invest in safeguarding
musical heritage.
Whilst making a plea on what the South African government can do to avert the extinction of
the mbilamutondo instrument, Mugovhani (2015) sees it as being prudent for the South African
Government to play its role in preserving and safeguarding cultural heritage to prevent the
influence of alien culture to see a continued existence of these musical materials and values.
Taking a leaf from Mugovhani’s suggestion, we believe that unless African governments help
protect indigenous African musical instruments like chipendani, the valuable indigenous
heritage is in danger of extinction. In that context, we further encourage a situation whereby
there is an interaction amongst different stakeholders in the creative industries. In that
regard, stakeholders would be encouraged to play their role by identifying people who might
be talented in manufacturing authentic indigenous African musical instruments for national,
regional, and continental posterity. If this is done, undoubtedly, it will demonstrate the
richness of Africa’s indigenous knowledge systems.
However, it should also be noted that although some people might be obsessed by the spirit of
wanting to achieve fame and recognition in the academic and /or performance arts industries,
they should stand guided by some moral rights. Even if the work is not published, where the
author’s identity is unknown, but where there is reasonable ground to presume that they are a
community member, the artwork should be taken to belong to the respective community. Thus,
writers should not seek to appropriate communal works of the marginalised people.
Recommendations
A chipendani used to make significant functions that were known communally by many
members of the earlier generations. These functions need to be recorded, and advocacy
should be made for the resuscitation of this IK. Whilst the current study focuses on protecting
the chipendani musical instrument, further research could emphasise how to protect and even
popularise the heritage. From the findings of this research study, it can be recommended that
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African Musicology
the African indigenous musical heritage chipendani could be protected if:
• Institutions of learning could encourage their governments to mobilise financial

resources, which would then be distributed to the deserving beneficiaries at the
grassroots in the community. The Creative Arts practitioners, culture bearers, and
other stakeholders in the Creative Arts Industries could be motivated and encouraged
to set up clubs to protect and develop the African musical heritage. Those who are
genuinely African music enthusiasts could be supported through some grants to help
protect the musical heritage.
• The community could also be encouraged to embark on a financial mobilisation
exercise with the ultimate aim of setting up a digital library which will then become
the reservoir of their African indigenous music.
• Additionally, one wishes to see a situation in which there will be some grants for
researchers to undertake detailed fieldwork to record the disappearing musical
heritages like chipendani, similar to the one which, at the time of writing, this study
was being spearheaded by the British Museum (2019) documented that recipients
of grants could work collaboratively with local communities for significant periods,
observing and recording the different material practices in detail. In that respect,
some films, interviews, photographs and other illustrations could go a long way in
preserving the African indigenous musical heritages. Once the material has been
collated, it can then be uploaded onto an open-access digital database at a local
community museum. In that respect, communities in African countries such as South
Africa and Zimbabwe would be encouraged to build community museums and
archives so that their indigenous music heritages could be documented and kept. Such
museums and archives could undoubtedly attract domestic and foreign tourists who
may want to pay a visit and experience the African indigenous music. Clearly, through
such intervention strategies, the fast disappearing intangible musical heritages could
be preserved for the host communities and all humanity.
Conclusion
The current generation of both the South African and Zimbabwean populations lack interest
and appreciation of their own musical culture heritages in general and chipendani music in
particular. Consequently, the performance of the chipendani, like most indigenous musical
instruments, has become one of the most endangered heritages. In Mugovhani’s (2016) view,
the decline in the performance and the promotion of the intangible African cultural practice
and musical instruments and the prospect of their continued existence may not be guaranteed.
The preceding observation implies that the indigenous musical repertoires, chipendani
included, are disappearing at an alarming rate. Perhaps it might help if the two governments
could employ some intervention strategies to preserve the heritage. Regrettably, the limited
number of practitioners of chipendani music is on the brink of extinction. After the current
generation of those born during the two countries’ colonial period have gone, no one in the
next generations will be performing the musical instrument anymore.
275
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Representing the conceptualisation

of Umaskandi
Mbuti Moloi
University of Venda
mbutit@gmail.com
&
Madimabe G Mapaya
University of Venda
Geoff.Mapaya@univen.ac.za
Introduction
This article aims to present the making of ubuciko Besizulu in the development of
umaskandi, the role that has been largely neglected and regarded as impotent. Studies on
the development and practice of umaskandi have, for a long time, been approached from the
Western perspective using Eurocentric models of theorising. Consequently, the contribution
from music practitioners as to how their music is conceptualised and philosophised has
mostly been ignored. The inability of scholars to fully appreciate and comprehend the role
played by ubuciko Besizulu in umaskandi’s development has limited them from identifying
critical indigenous musical concepts. To formulate the argument in this article, I have
interrogated various available sources such as open-ended interviews and discussions, the
known history of the genre through earlier documentation, and participatory observations.
Whilst acknowledging the work done by yesteryear scholars and critiquing some of their
questionable offerings, this instalment will contribute to knowledge production about this
musical phenomenon.
Studies on umaskandi phenomenon have revealed a plethora of distortions and mis-

representations. Umaskandi has been erroneously presented, in many cases, as a
contemporary genre and interpreted as such. This erroneous presentation has resulted in
some unacceptable generalisations regarding its nature and status (Nhlapo, 1998). The
distortions and misrepresentations have elevated the Western perspective of umaskandi. Its
practitioners are relegated to no more history makers than creatures who are to be observed
for unusual features (Nwanosike, Oba Eboh, 2011). This came from colonialism, hence the
tendency towards direct appropriation and exploitation by Europeans of African social
institutions. Arguably, this has delivered the colonisers intended outcomes whereby there has
been a ‘devaluation of African creativity, agency and value systems, and an internalised sense
of inadequacy’ (Nyamnjoh, 2012, p. 1).
African knowledge systems suffered the same fate, whereby non-Africans researchers ordained
themselves as ‘experts’ in indigenous cultures. Thus, they presented a biased Eurocentric view
of the continent and its cultural practices. Consequently, Africans ceased to set indigenous
aesthetic goals and standards (Nwanosike, Oba Eboh, 2011), which led to viewing anything
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African, including African indigenous music-making practices, from an outside perspective.

Nyamnjoh (2012) has defined this phenomenon as a real or attempted epistemicide. This
phenomenon has nearly or entirely eradicated African indigenous knowledge systems. It has
consequently replaced them with the epistemological paradigm of the coloniser.
The article, towards contestation of perceptions, distortions, and misrepresentations of

meanings, functions and performance contexts in South African indigenous cultural practices
(Mugovhani and Mapaya, 2014, p. 9), raise some pertinent questions when writing, ‘must
we leave the past as it is, move on without the necessary redress? Alternatively, attempt
to rewrite the past information and correct the negative perceptions the earlier writings
have undoubtedly created?’ Undoubtedly, we can choose the former and leave the past in
the past. However, this raises another important question: how else can Africa and Africans
evaluate their progress in the so-called globalised knowledge economy if distortions and
misrepresentations are unaddressed?
According to Mapaya (2013b, p. 186), research as a tool concerned with Africa is designed
to perpetuate the Eurocentric agenda, thereby privileging Western superiority over Africa
or African. These salient features of the program remain palpable in some of the literature
documenting indigenous African music, including umaskandi. (Nyamnjoh, 2012, p. 18) has
correctly observed that’ few African researchers, even in African universities, have questioned
enough the theories, concepts and basic assumptions informed by the dominant epistemology’.
Indeed, confronting Western assumptions that might have impeded our understanding of
Africa and African musical practices remains pressing.
This article seeks to present the making of ubuciko Besizulu in the development of umaskandi.
In this study, the concept ubuciko Besizulu refers to the artistic knowledge of African
communities Amazulu, in particular, have of Indigenous African music’s philosophical,
spiritual, intellectual foundations, and integrity (Mapaya, 2014a). They have maintained it
despite the onslaught of African people’s culture and their way of life perpetuated through
colonialism and imperialism. The resilience and compartmentalising of authentic Isizulu
(Isizulu way of life), from all other social and economic factors, formed the basis for the
development of umaskandi. It should be noted that Ubuzulu (Isizulu way of life/ identity) has
given shape to umaskandi. In return, umaskandi speaks of what it means to be Umzulu (person
of Isizulu origins). Amazulu, like all other indigenous communities in South Africa and Africa,
has vibrant and dynamic indigenous music, cultural, and heritage practices. Music-making is
a part of the institutional life of a community, and to the music practitioner, music-making is a
way of life (Nketia, 1975).
Umaskandi is a genre that draws on the precious Isizulu musical principles and is most
prevalent in South Africa, particularly in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, and
Eastern Cape. Its popularity has resulted in some umaskandi songs being voted “Song of
the Year” at music awards ceremonies. As a social phenomenon, umaskandi deserves to be
explored and recognised as an innovative industry that impacts the South African music
business. Furthermore, studying and understanding umaskandi ‘arguably enables access to
knowledge existing within communities represented by such a phenomenon’ (Mapaya, 2013a,
p. 14).
279
To present the making of ubuciko Besizulu successfully, studying umaskandi needs analysis
such as marrying structural, textural, cultural and musicological approaches to arrive at an
approximate position where scholarship mediation does not supersede the opinions and
abstractions of the practitioners’ (Mapaya, 2013a, p. 6). In other words, omaskandi (umaskandi
practitioners), who are the people who make music daily, have to be accorded a voice in the
study of their music. There is an urgent need for scholars to inquire how Africans, Amazulu in
particular, in their respective languages and thought processes, conceptualise and express
their understanding of umaskandi. It is, therefore, essential to provide, through a thorough
study, some forms of insight into the role played by ubuciko Besizulu, which has been neglected
and regarded as impotent.
Scholars such as Rycroft (1977), Davies (1994), Mathenjwa (1995), Shabane (1997), Nhlapo
(1998), Pewa (2005), and Ntombela (2011) have explored the diversity of umaskandi. Still,
they have only made cursory incursions into the extent to which ubuciko Besizulu influenced
the genre. (Hammersmith, 2007, p. 7) argues that ‘adding indigenous content to the Western
context and processes, whilst continuing to ignore the need for indigenous context and
processes, cannot constitute innovative improvement’. In other words, there is a need for
omaskandi’s philosophical and contextual worldview, not only for improvement but to
provide an analysis that accommodates indigenous context and processes. This knowledge is
necessary for understanding the development of umaskandi.
Borrowing from Mugovhani and Mapaya (2014), it is sensible to declare as well that it is not this
article’s aim to undermine the efforts of earlier scholars and writers or negatively criticising
them ‘but to positively critique their writings to redress the resultant negative perceptions for
the benefit of scholarship’ (Mugovhani and Mapaya, 2014, pp. 2–3). It is hoped that, through
this study, detailed and comparative insight into the manifestation of ubuciko besizulu in the
development of umaskandi will promote the understanding of the genre, therefore benefiting
the umaskandi fraternity as well as scholarship.
This article proposes that indigenous African music, particularly umaskandi, is a cultural
phenomenon couched in the African culture to which Isizulu should be central (Mapaya, 2014).
In other words, the study of umaskandi needs analytical systems that are steeped in culture-
specific paradigms. This culture-specific paradigm will go a long way in confronting and
dealing with the Western biased perspectives that have imposed the superiority of the West
over Africa and African epistemologies.
This article interrogates some of umaskandi concepts informed by ubuciko Besizulu, such
as the pre-colonial Amazulu music, description of the term umaskandi, domestication
and subsequent indigenisation of musical instruments, as well as the philosophical
conceptualisation of umaskandi.
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The pre-colonial Amazulu music

The pre-colonial music amongst Amazulu societies consisted of music-making processes
generally organised as a social activity such as amahubo (indigenous Isizulu vocal music).
However, the individual musical expression could also be found where indigenous musical
instruments such as ugubhu, umakhweyana, imfiliji, isitolotolo, umambheleza, and many
others were prevalent. These instruments were played for self-enjoyment, or the performer
may perform in the open without addressing themselves to any specific audience. Such
individual performances become a part of community experience only when taking place in
a social context (Nketia, 1975).
Taking over as individual musical expression, umaskandi was predominantly solo music,
meaning that this was a continuation of a deep-rooted Isizulu process of music-making.
However, the commercialisation of the genre around the 1950s brought about some profound
changes that saw the addition of musical instruments such as electric bass guitar, drums, and
later keyboards to the music. The commercialisation of umaskandi, together with the labour
migration system that forced young men to seek employment in the cities, has resulted in many
scholars concluding that umaskandi was shaped and formed by these occurrences.
The occurrences of commercialisation and the labour migration system resulted in umaskandi
being prescribed several labels. They range from the musical expression of a condition
generated by migrancy or as a contemporary genre, to name just a few. Some scholars have
gone as far as regarding it as a response to an identity crisis experienced by Amazulu men. This
crisis has mutated with society’s changing dynamics over the past century (Olsen, 2000).
Umaskandi has been interpreted as Isizulu traditional music Rycroft (1977), Davies (1994)
and Nhlapo (1998). Scholars such as Mthetwa (1979), Coplan (1985) and Ntuli (1990) define it
as ‘neo-traditional instrumental music, that is, music in traditional idiom played on Western
instruments’ (Nhlapho, 1998, p. 15). The other school of thought refers to umaskandi as a
contemporary expression of a ‘Black Atlantic’ consciousness actively responding to hip-hop,
gospel and R&B (Gilroy, 1993). Nhlapo (1998) further argues that umaskandi is not just a music
category, but ‘it is a Zulu musical genre that is a domain of Zulu strolling musicians’ (Nhlapho,
1998, p. 16).
The following section gives an account of how omaskandi (umaskandi music practitioners)
over the years have couched and promoted umaskandi, thereby affirming the metaphor that
says music is culture. It should be noted that umaskandi is couched in the Isizulu language.
Hence, the exploration of omaskandi terminology concerning umaskandi will enrich the
description of this phenomenon and mainstream the African episteme (Mapaya, 2013).
Brief description of the term umaskandi

Ntombela (2011) writes that scholars such as Coplan (1985), Ntuli (1990), Mthethwa (1991),
Msimang and Ntuli (1991), Brubeck (1992), Grove (1994), Mathenjwa (1996), Shabane
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(1997), have agreed that the origins of the term umaskandi, is derived from Afrikaans word
musikant (musician). The exponent of this form is called umaskandi. Ntombela (2011, p.
25) further suggests that ‘uma igama elithi musikant silihumushela esiZulwini, lichaza
umuntu ongumculi. Esikhundleni sokuba lisiwe esiZulwini nencazelo yalo yesiBhunu lapho
lihunyushwa, leli gama lasiwa kuphela ngendlela eliphinyiswa ngayo kwathi incazelo yalo
yashiywa ngaphandle’ (when the word musikant is translated to Isizulu, it means a person
who is a singer. Instead of taking its Afrikaans meaning to Isizulu through translation, only
the term and its pronunciation were made and used) In other words, the word musikant does
not even begin to explain umaskandi phenomenon. Hence its meaning was not considered
in its coining. Scholars such as Nhlapo (1998) has argued against the general acceptability
of the word musikant by scholars after concluding that it is not supported. Therefore they
recommended more scientific studies on the etymological origins of the term.
According to umaskandi practitioners, the origin of the term umaskandi is neither here nor
there. They still perceive their music as indigenous music from the pre-colonial era, this going
as far as referring to Amazulu indigenous instrumental music as umaskandi omkhulu (deep
umaskandi) (Ntuli, 2017).
One of the most easily observable results of intercultural contact and communication is
borrowed words imported into the vocabulary of languages involved. In other words, the term
is adopted from one language and incorporated into another language without translation.
In the Isizulu language, some words provoke a more significant variety of associations than
their fixed counterparts in the English language. The word inyanga, for instance, may mean
the month, the moon, or the indigenous African healer. According to omaskandi (umaskandi
practitioners), the term umaskandi refers to the genre of music that is predominantly
associated with Amazulu communities. As well, the term refers to the practitioner of the
music. It is important to note that, concerning umaskandi practitioners, the term refers to the
musician who plays guitar, concertina or violin in the context of umaskandi performance. It
is also required that they observe a set of norms and fulfil expectations following umaskandi
making principles (Moloi, 2019).
In African societies, a social occasion on which a musical genre is usually performed, with
which it is associated, may lend its name to the related music (Nketia, 1975). Similarly,
umaskandi is named after the people who practise it.
Umaskandi: the practitioner

The word umaskandi refers to the musician who plays isiginci (guitar), inkositini (concertina)
or ivayolini (violin). Mbatha (2017) proffers the following explanation on the term umaskandi,
‘umculi kamaskandi uyena umaskandi, uma ungakwazi ukubamba isiginci leso sikamaskandi
awuwuye umculi ophelele mawunjalo’ (the musician who sings umaskandi is the one who is
umaskandi, if you cannot hold/play the guitar according to umaskandi stipulated methods
you are not an accomplished umaskandi) (Mbatha, 2017). In other words, umaskandi refers to a
musician who, in the context of umaskandi performance, must observe a set of norms and fulfil
expectations according to umaskandi making principles. Ndawonde (2017) argues further and
attests to the fact that ‘omaskandi bebe kade baziwa ngazo lezo zinsimbi, isiginci, ivayolini
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ne nkostini’ (omaskandi were identified by these instruments; guitar, violin and concertina)
(Ndawonde, 2017). According to Ndawonde (2017), the only musician who plays the guitar,
violin and concertina in a manner conforming with umaskandi making principles are referred
to as umskandi.
Explaining umaskandi concept, Ntombela (2011) suggests that, umaskandi umuntu okwazi
ukudlala isiginci esizihola phambili, acule phambili eqenjini, noma acule yedwa elekelelwa
isiginci, ahlabe izihlabo, axoxise isiginci indaba ehambisana neculo aliculayo (umaskandi is
a person who plays the guitar in umaskandi context, leading the group and at the same time
sing the lead, or sing alone accompanied by the guitar, must be able to play izihlabo and have
a conversation with a guitar about news associated with the song ) (Ntombela, 2011, p. 24).
In his offering to the description of the term, Ntombela (2011) has gone as far as mentioning
the norms and expectation which umaskandi must observe during the performance, such
as ukuhlaba izihlabo (an introduction into umaskandi performance), ukucula (sing), and
ukuzibonga (uttering praises).
This study has found that the word umaskandi originally refers to the musician who plays
guitar, violin or concertina according to ushuni kamaskandi (umaskandi concept of the
sound organisation). Ndawonde (2017) elaborates ‘kuqala thina emakhaya umuntu besithi
umaskandi engakarekhodi, nizwa ngesiginci ehamba ehlathini laphaya, okukanye nizozwa
ngenkostini ikhala umahlathini laphaya, noma ivayolini kungekho bass guitar noma
amadrums’ (long ago at home a person would be referred to as umskandi before recording
their music, and you will hear them through the guitar whilst walking in the forest. Some other
time you will hear the concertina in the forest or violin. There was no bass guitar or drums)
(Ndawonde, 2017).
This assertion was later corroborated by Ntuli (2017), who is umaskandi practitioner, when he
argued that ‘kuqala umaskandi ubungathakwa nalutho, bekuba nguwe nje nephimbo lakho
nesiginci’ (before umaskandi was a solo performance and not mixed with anything, it was
only your voice and guitar)(Ntuli, 2017). According to omaskandi, the term umaskandi does
not refer to any musician who might participate in umaskandi music performance. They insist
that only those instruments players of (guitar, violin and concertina) who perform according to
stipulated norms and expectations of execution of umaskandi are omaskandi (Nhlaph, 1998).
Some qualities and attributes are usually expected of umaskandi practitioner in general, such
as being creative within the confines of Ubuzulu (Isizulu identity). Xulu (1992) argues that
umaskandi preaches Ubuzulu (Isizulu identity) and promotes Isizulu (Isizulu way of life) ‘by
setting traditionalist standards that act as social reference points’ (Xulu 1992, p. 379). In other
words, the continuous expression of indigenous Isizulu music-making principles as they were
in the pre-colonial era is expected from omaskandi. In addition, Ubuzulu brings Isizulu dignity
and integrity into the discourse, as concerned with the past and the present and the future.
The acoustic guitar is by far the most popular musical instrument found in umaskandi, and this
is due to many young men who preferred them when introduced by Europeans (Rycrof, 1977).
Xulu (1992) remarks that omaskandi took up guitar because it became a recognisable symbol
of excellence amongst Amazulu societies.
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Umaskandi: the music genre

The manifestation of umaskandi, as discussed by scholars such as Coplan (1985), Davies (1994),
Nhlapo (1998), Olsen (2000), Pewa (2005), Ntombela (2011), and Titus (2013), emerged at the
turn of the 20th century. Scholars such as Rycroft (1977), Impey (1977), and Coplan (1985) have
suggested umaskandi could be traced from umakhweyana and ugubhu (Isizulu one-string bow
instruments) music from which it is presumed to have developed.
During the pre-colonial era, the most crucial characteristic of Amazulu musical traditions
was the diversity of expressions it accommodated. As Ndawonde (2017) point out, ‘Umculo
ebantwini abamnyama uyithina. Abantu abamnyama bayacula uma kushoniwe, kuculwe
amaculo anosizi, sijabule kushadwa kuyaculwa amaculo omshado, kuyoliwa kuchitheke igazi
kufe abantu siyacula’ (according to Africans, music is part of us. When there is bereavement,
Africans sing sad songs, rejoicing during marriage processes singing wedding song, during
the time of war spilling of blood we sing)(Ndawonde, 2017). According to Ndawonde (2017),
the music performed on these social occasions depends on the social event. It is customary to
organise the music concerning the different community activities or the needs of particular
situations.
In the early decades of the twentieth century, colonial movements accompanied by a Western
capitalist economic system introduced rapid and far-reaching change, which resulted in
some of the Isizulu musical tradition having to metamorphose into a new culture. It should be
borne in mind that during this time, most indigenous South African communities had social
structures of the pre-colonial period as a primary reference, even though these structures
were under siege of a significant dilution by colonial influences. As far as umculo womdabu
(indigenous Isizulu music) is concerned, the most apparent sign of colonial influence became
the material presence of foreign musical instruments. The contact with foreign instruments
meant that whilst omaskandi continued to practice umculo womdabu (indigenous Isizulu
music), it was necessary to modify and refine. This view is highlighted by Rycroft (1977) when
writing:
amongst the Zulu, what is played on some cheap Western instrument is

often not an attempted imitation of Western music at all, but rather an
expression of indigenous musical principles, which in some cases can be
more effectively realise through these new media that could be done on the
traditional instrument they have replaced.
(Rycroft, 1977, p. 221)
According to Rycroft (1977), the concept of Western music in as far as omaskandi is concerned
did not exist. It is evident in their encounter with foreign instruments, whereby no attempt was
made to incorporate Western musical principles into umculo womdabu (indigenous Isizulu
music). Instead, the opposite happened. Isiginci (guitar), inkostini (concertina) and ivayolini
(violin) were indigenised. The indigenisation led these instruments to exist side by side with
umakhweyana, ubhelebana, ugubhu, isitololo, udlokwe, umbeleza (Isizulu indigenous
musical instruments) and many other indigenous instruments.
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Umaskandi started as a genre in which a solo musician performed on isiginci (guitar), inkostini
(concertina) and ivayolini (violin) ngoshuni kamaskandi (according to the umaskandi method
of sound organisation). In the 1950s, the emergence of ensembles started to become a common
phenomenon. These ensembles were introduced at the same time when the commercialisation
of umaskandi began taking place. Nketia (1975) has observed that:
individual musical expressions have a place in traditionally masculine

activities as well, and maybe found in recreation, in work situations, or even
in the context of worship. An instrumentalist may play for his own enjoyment-
he may perform in the open without addressing himself to a specific audience,
or he may perform in seclusion… such individual expressions become a
part of community experience only when they take place in social context.
(Nketia, 1975, p. 23)
Similarly, Amazulu societies have indigenous musical instruments such as umakhweyana,

ugubhu, udlokwe, to name but a few that were used mostly for solo playing or to accompany
solo singing, as has been observed by Nketia (1975). According to Xulu (1992), umaskandi
acts as a point of reference within the society, and as music is generally organised as a
social activity, umaskandi mirrors society through music. Whilst umaskandi is an individual
expression, its performance takes place in a social context, and therefore this qualifies it to
become a societal experience. To understand the parameters of ubuciko Besizulu within which
umaskandi performance is conceived, one must appreciate that it is the constant purpose of
an African musical environment to depict life (Bebe, p. 1975).
Indigenisation of musical instruments found in umaskandi

The highest form of music-making in Amazulu communities has been the performance of
amahubo (indigenous Isizulu vocal music). Since the beginning of time, amahubo (indigenous
Isizulu vocal music) was a prominent feature of umculo womdabu (Isizulu indigenous music).
In Amazulu societies, amahubo are generally organised as a social activity. Their performance
context is done at funerals of prominent members of the community, such as Isilo samabandla
(king), induna (chief), umnumzane (head of the household), as well as at weddings, during the
war, and other commemorative ceremonies (Xulu, 1992).
Concerning solo instruments, (Nhlapho, 1998, p. 30) points out that ‘it was established that
ugubhu was mostly associated with men, whilst umakhweyana was the instrument of women’
Kirby (1968) also points out that umakhweyana:
is played by both sexes, the larger size by men, single or married, and the
smaller by maidens or newly-married women. Women who have been
married some time generally lose interest in the instrument. The largest size
is called inkohlisa or unkonka, the same name as that given to the instrument
by the Thonga, and alternative names for this form are imvingo and uqwabe.
The maiden’s instrument, which is of small size, is called uMakhweyana.
(Kirby, 1968, p. 208)
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Thus, from the above discussion, it is possible to conclude that the domestication and
subsequent indigenisation of Western instruments in umaskandi was the continuation or an
extension and a variation of a deep-seated indigenous Isizulu culture of music-making (Pewa,
2005). Indeed, the impact of urbanisation had a profound effect on the social structure of the
indigenous societies of Africa and South Africa, as most scholars have highlighted, whereby
conditions of labour migrancy forced mainly young men to seek employment in the cities.
Thus, the rich, expressive culture of music-making was part of the new reality that confronted
different indigenous communities living under appalling conditions such as hostels and
shantytowns.
There is evidence that omaskandi perceive their music the same way they do with pre-colonial
indigenous music. For example, when Ntuli (2017) was asked about Isizulu, indigenous music
instruments, he proffered the following explanation. ‘Umakhweyana umaskandi ojule
kakhulu loyo, besekubakhona umambheleza, sikubiza isitolotolo kusewumaskandi wonke.
Kukhona okuthiwa ubhelebana/sliter, imfiliji kusiwumaskandi konke lokho’ (umakhweyana
is a deeply rooted umaskandi, there is umambheleza we call it istolotolo, it is all umaskandi as
well as ubhelebana/sliter and imfiliji its all umaskandi) (Ntuli, 2017).
The view that indigenous Isizulu musical practices are the basis of umaskandi suggests the
following. No matter how the way of life of an African, Amazulu in particular, changes, or their
social institutions, political organisations, and aspects of economic life might have affected
their communities, it could not succeed with the music. The emergence of umaskandi around
the urban compounds was an expression of everyday experiences through living sound,
resulting from ubuciko Besizulu.
The philosophical conceptualisation of umaskandi

Aesthetic dimensions of the umaskandi phenomenon encapsulated by philosophy and
concepts can only be accessed through the language of omaskandi. It has been stated before
in this study that most of the omaskandi are Isizulu speakers. They originate from all over
the province of KwaZulu-Natal, with some few originating from the province of the Eastern
Cape. Therefore, meaningful interpretation of umaskandi cannot afford to disregard the
Isizulu language, as omaskandi have demonstrated in this study that they can conceive,
comprehend and most importantly, communicate knowledge about their music. Contrary to
some popular belief by some scholars that omaskandi do not use some scientific terminology
when discussing their music. These assumptions only serve to confirm the long-held corrupt
view that indigenous African music ought to conform to Western standards. In instances where
philosophical and conceptual dimensions are impossible to decipher because of the biased
approach to indigenous African music inquiries, narratives such as ‘no scientific terminology’
are prevalent.
Most of the theories applicable in the study of such phenomena cannot deal with the
intricacies of indigenous African music, including umaskandi. The reason is that disciplines
such as musicology, ethnomusicology and its scholarship are generally written from a Western
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African Musicology
perspective. In the instances where they have been applied to study indigenous African music,
they only succeeded in offending some people. As (Agawu, 2003, p. 38) correctly points out
that they force ‘African scholars to function on other people’s terms, learn other people’s
languages, parcel out their research using other people’s frameworks, and in the end, lose
out by achieving partial rather than full control over the protocols of other people’s scholarly
careers’ (Agawu, 2003, p. 38). Without a doubt, some deficiencies are inherent in these
disciplines as far as the study of indigenous African music is concerned. It could be argued
that disciplines such as ethnomusicology have succeeded in ordaining Western scholars
to claim expertise on African people’s lives and thus the rights to represent them (Mapaya,
2014b). These biased disciplines engender and perpetuate the notion that African cultures are
somehow inferior to Western cultures.
Omaskandi has affirmed that theirs was not to employ Western musical concepts to execute
their musical thought process. However, guided by ubuciko Besizulu, wherein these concepts
of musical thought processes are deeply rooted, they have managed to execute umaskandi
regardless of the fact that instruments used are not originally indigenous. Departing from the
premise that recognises the contemplativeness and discursiveness in the thought processes
of umaskandi making can go a long way in trying to enhance indigenous music scholarship.
Conclusion
On the whole, when concerned with umaskandi, we are concerned with the genre that was
and still is a continuation or an extension and a variation of a deep-seated indigenous Isizulu
culture of music-making. Hence, this article canvasses that to redress these misconceptions
and misrepresentations highlighted herein, it is crucial to do away with a common mode
of cognition in as far as the study of indigenous African music, particularly umaskandi is
concerned. Therefore, the study of umaskandi and all other forms of indigenous African
music requires the system of perception peculiar to it to confront this pervasive mentality that
renders the practitioners voiceless.
Utilising the philosophical conceptualisation of umaskandi does elucidate certain processes,

such as the categorisation of umaskandi, its scientific development, the ordinary language
used, and inference. Methodologies such as African musicology have benefited this study,
particularly in, according omaskandi a voice in the study of their music. Arguably, the ability
to understand, coupled with the correct use of the language, renders the process of clearing
up conceptual puzzles found in umaskandi a surmountable task. Every constituent part of
omaskandi’s language counts if we are going to understand them.
287
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Bahanwana in Limpopo Province, South Africa: Afrocentric and New Musicological
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Assertiveness. South African Journal of African Languages 34, pp. 29–34.
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Unpublished Master Dissertation , University of Venda, Thohoyandou.
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Ntombela, S. A., 2011. Amasu Asetshenziswa Ngomaskandi BesiZulu Emculweni Wabo.

Unpublished Doctorate Thesis. University of South Africa, Pretoria.
Ntuli, N., 2017., Interview by Author. Johannesburg May 05.
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Pewa. E.S., 2005., The Philosophical, Behavioural and Academic Merit of ‘Umaskandi’ Music.
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Rycroft, D., 1977. Evidence of Stylistic Continuity in ‘Town Music’. In Wachsmann, K. P., (ed.),
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Restoration of morals and values through

Ku Thawuza music and dance compound
Hanyani Khosa
University of Venda
Aubrey.Khosa@univen.ac.za
Introduction
Vatsonga are gradually losing their ground regarding morals and values. Indigenous music and
dance play a meaningful role in the lives of a particular cultural group. Knowledge of cultural
dances and songs is one of the key aspects necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the
customs of any cultural group. The morals, behaviour, and values of a proud cultural group are
shaped largely by music and dance. The danger of not adhering to a good behavioural pattern
shaped by morals and values is that there would be a lack of respect for others and that the
future generation would not be culturally inclined. The study approach that will be employed
in this paper is qualitative. Ku Thawuza is a Xitsonga indigenous art form that reprimands and
educates the audience about morals and values. This paper seeks to restore the morals and
values of Vatsonga by discussing aspects or elements of Ku Thawuza music and dance.
Most Vatsonga have lost their ground in their everyday living due to a lack of morals and
values. According to most respondents, morals and values should be restored for Vatsonga to
use as a yardstick in their daily lives. The challenge is that when people do not seem to fathom
their morals and values, it has a negative impact on their culture. Moreover, it is challenging
to define them as a particular cultural group, hence the lack of cultural identity. The danger of
moral degeneration is that Vatsonga will be considered as a cultural group without direction.
There will be no respect amongst one another, necessary lessons about general behaviour will
lack. Lastly, the future generation will live without cultural identity, resulting in total loss of
cultural identity.
If the morals and values of Vatsonga can be restored, it would be a good result that can benefit
not only the present Vatsonga but also the future generation. What matters most is that the
values of Vatsonga would be documented. Furthermore, Ku Thawuza music and dance can
form part of the Arts and Culture Learning Area syllabus for school children to be familiarised
with Xitsonga culture.
In this article, some aspects of Ku Thawuza that contain education about morals and values
will be discussed under the following sub-headings:
The history of Vatsonga

As far as Vatsonga’s history is concerned, an inadequate record of the history of Vatsonga exists.
The Vatsonga originated from central Africa. The majority of them settled in Mozambique,
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African Musicology
such as Musapa, Nyembani, Gaza, Bileni-Masia, Gwambe, Magudu and Maputo. According
to Magubane (1998), the first Vatsonga to enter the former Transvaal (now referred to as
Limpopo) did so in the 18th century. Some years later, the Portuguese colonised them. Vatsonga
live in Zimbabwe in Hlengweni, which is on the eastern side of Zimbabwe (Magubane,
1998). Hlengweni also exists in the western side of Mozambique and also comprises
Vatsonga.
One cannot separate the origin and history of Vatsonga from that of their cultural practices.
The origin of Vatsonga and how they lived their indigenous lives led to the foundation of
their indigenous cultural practices. According to one of the respondents, the dance started
when hunters returned home joyously celebrating their kill, walking rhythmically. This would
develop into a dance that, with improvisation, would gradually develop into more varied
and intricate dances. Progressively, they began to sing to the rhythms and thus established
indigenous Xitsonga music and dance, the respondent reported. She further stated that males
are the ones who started these dances, and they were later followed by female music and
dance. Thus, Muchongolo was the first art form to be made, which was later followed by many
others, including Ku Thawuza, the focal point of this paper.
Initiation schools play a major role in Xitsonga culture; they address morals and values.
Vatsonga girls attend musevetho (puberty school), and vukhomba (premarital school), whilst
boys attend an initiation school called matlala or ngoma. Both vukhomba and matlala mark
the passage from adolescence to adulthood (Manganye, 2011). During the attendance of these
initiation schools, indigenous music and dance also play a major role. Upon completion of
these schools, indigenous Xitsonga music and dance is performed during celebrations.
Performers of Ku Thawuza
This section discusses the performers who are involved in Ku Thawuza. The most imperative
logical aspects to be discussed include age, dancers, instruments and composers.
In any Xitsonga indigenous music performance, age plays an important role in defining who
participates in the particular dance. The age restriction helps to address morals and values
according to a particular age group. For example, songs sung by a particular group would
be relevant to such a group, and so would the choreography. Like any other music and dance
compound, Ku Thawuza has its prescribed age for performers. Traditionally, young girls
between the ages of 16 and 23 were the ones who participated in this dance. However, if a girl
got married before the age of 23, it was no longer acceptable for her to perform Ku Thawuza,
whilst unmarried girls over 23 were allowed to continue dancing until they got married
(Babane, Khosa and Sithole, 2013). This was echoed by one of the participants, as follows:
Khale ka matiko ncino lowu a wu nga ciniwi hi vanhu lavakulu. A wu ri ncino

wa tithugamama. Hi marito man’wana, loko u kala u tekiwa a wu nga ha
pfumeleriwi ku cina ncino lowu.
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In the olden days, the dance was not performed by old women. It was a dance
for the youth. In other words, when a woman got married, she was no longer
allowed to participate in this dance
(Anonymous, 2005: Interview).
Nowadays, Ku Thawuza is no longer exclusively performed by the age group mentioned above.
Generally, it is performed by married women. Furthermore, it is no longer performed with the
vibrancy and vigour befitting young women but has turned into a dignified dance. Lastly, it is
no longer accorded the status it deserves. Amongst the elderly groups, some indicated that
they performed this dance because girls are no longer interested. Lately, the dance is meant
for young ladies who have just graduated from initiation schools, women who are about to
get married. It is generally regarded as an energetic dance. It is believed that young women
would not slow down when dancing. They had to let everyone (spectators) understand that they
are still energetic. Another reason for the dance to be performed by unmarried women was
to demonstrate that they are ready for marriage. They would also wear very short traditional
garments (Tinguvu/Xithlekutani) to display their youthfulness. This made a great impact, and
it indeed resulted in several marriages. This argument was supported by the participant of
Sisimukani Gajeni when she said:
Vanhwanyana lava nga se tekiwaka va cina hi khinkhi swinene leswaku va

kombisa matimba na vuswikoti bya ku cina hi xihatla hi ndlela leyi va nga ta
kota ku nyanyula vahlaleri, ngopfu-ngopfu vavanuna.
Unmarried girls danced with a passion for showing their energy and ability
to attract spectators, especially men
(Marima, 2013, Interview).
The researcher concurs with the view that performers of Ku Thawuza should be young women
between the ages of 16 and 23. To preserve and promote Ku Thawuza as an indigenous art form,
the Department of Education, through the Arts and Culture Learning Area, is responsible for
engaging the relevant age group (who are young women) in the performance of Ku Thawuza.
This was observed on two occasions when the researchers visited the Arts and Culture’s
Indigenous Music School Competitions (Babane, Khosa and Sithole, 2013).
Performers that are discussed in the above paragraphs are direct. There are also indirect
performers; these are the ones who are not part of the group. Indirect performers only
participate during a particular event. They are spectators. When a group is performing,
spectators will join them using clapping hands and singing. By so doing, they enhance the
performance. In most cases, indirect performers could also make the texture of the music
thicker so that even a group that appeared unprepared could do well.
Choreography (dance)
Choreography is one of Ku Thawuza music and dance’s main characteristics and plays a vital
role in African music and dance in general. Most researchers argue that African music and
dance cannot function in isolation. This was confirmed by Rabothata when she said: “Malende
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dance cannot function without a singing component” (Rabothata, 1991). Diallo and Hall
researched the music and dance of the Bamara people in Mali and stated the following: “If they
sound a false note in the music or make a false step, they are supposed to die” (Diallo and Hall,
1989, p. 115). Of course, it should not necessarily get to a point where one’s life is at stake due to
a false step, but this emphasises the importance of accuracy in choreography.
Ku Thawuza is mainly a dance accompanied by music and drums, meaning that without the
dance aspect, there would not be Ku Thawuza. Therefore, choreography is at the core of
Ku Thawuza music and dance compound. Most groups have individuals who specialise in
choreography, even though they may also be functional in other aspects, such as singing and
drums. During dance practice, choreographers have the responsibility of coming up with new
styles of dancing. Each dancer is obliged to learn and dance properly in uniform. However,
individuals are at liberty to improvise to enhance their performances even though they are not
expected to exaggerate their ability.
When performers are dancing, the lead choreographer, mostly the lead vocalist, would whistle
around her neck. A whistle is used as a means of changing choreography. During an interview
with N’wa-Khosa, she indicated that:
Hakanyingi loyi a sumaku hi yena a chayaku Pepe ku kombisa leswaku hi

fanele ku cinca macinelo.
In most cases, the lead vocalist is the one who blows a whistle to signify the
change of choreography
(N’wa-Khosa, 2005: Interview).
When a whistle is blown, dancers would be prepared to change the choreography at the end of
a song cycle. Choreography can be changed as many times as possible in one song. By the time
the dancers reach the performance’s climax, they would likely have grabbed the spectators’
attention. The best performer would sometimes be given a price in the form of money and
other valuables by spectators.
According to some participants in this research, the number of dancers required for
performing Ku Thawuza ranges from six to twelve. This information was also evidenced during
the observations made during this research.
It is interesting to note that since Ku Thawuza is a dance for young girls who are not yet married,
the focus is on the waist, where they wear Xitlhekutani. They dance energetically and actively
in an endeavour to show potential partners that they are strong. In addition, dancers would
shake their waists well to grab the attention of males, as indicated earlier.
Composition
The composition of songs is a work of art, particularly when an individual comes up with a
new musical idea, such as a new melodic line that develops a new song or lyrics. These are
changed into a melody that results in the development of a new song. Most of the songs sung
during Ku Thawuza performances were composed a long time ago; they are Ku Thawuza
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original songs. Amongst other aspects, themes were mainly about morals, values, respect and
education. During the research, some members of the performance groups that the researcher
interacted with revealed that some groups were fortunate to have members who can compose.
They composed relevant songs about what goes on in the world, continent, country, and their
respective villages. One participant had this to say about a scarce skill:
Inkateko ku va na munhu wa vuswikoti byo qhambha entlaweni, vo tala va

hina a hi swi koti, xa hina i ku ticinela na ko ku yimbelela.
It is a blessing to have someone with the skills to compose in the group. Most
of us cannot compose. We can only dance and sing.
(N’wa-Sithole, 2013)
Recent composers, for example, would compose songs about politics, HIV/AIDS, praise songs
for their leaders, history, culture and youth’s behaviour (Babane, Khosa and Sithole, 2013).
Ku Thawuza was performed on different occasions. According to many participants, originally,

Ku Thawuza was performed after a girl had graduated from the initiation school; the occasion
is called Tikhomba. Another occasion where this dance was traditionally performed was when
a child was born. A goat would be slaughtered and eaten as people celebrated the birth of the
child. Sometimes, people would prepare home-brewed indigenous beer called Mqombhoti or
Marula beer, gather in one homestead as friends and relatives, and start drinking and dancing
Ku Thawuza.
The participants indicated that they did not dance Ku Thawuza for commercial purposes from
most of the interviews. Still, they do it for entertainment and show how proud they are of their
culture and traditions as Vatsonga. Nonetheless, when one amongst the performers excels,
people from the audience may give such a token of appreciation, such as money, to encourage
and reward her (as indicated in the section under indirect performers). For example, the
following is what one of the participants said about money:
Hambi leswi a hi nga cineli mali, loko munhu a cina ngopfu vahlaleri va
khumbheka va n’wu lula hi mali ku ri ndlela yo n’wu hlohlotela leswaku a
yisa emahlweni ni cinelo lerinene.
Even though we were not dancing for money, when someone dances
impressively, spectators would be moved and give them a token of
appreciation in the form of money to encourage such a dancer to carry on
the good work.
(Marima, 2013)
Contrary to what happened in the past when people danced Ku Thawuza, people form groups
that may perform during competitions to be compensated using money or other valuables.
Attire
It is also very significant to discuss the attire worn during Ku Thawuza. Most of the Ku Thawuza
music and dance groups ensure that they wear a uniform when they perform; without some
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uniform, they do not feel like they belong to one group working towards one objective.
Furthermore, they do not feel coordinated or as a unit. The following is an example of a woman
wearing traditional regalia:
On the head, a woman wears a Duku, which looks like a small towel. Some of the different
headgears’ names are Khanikha, Pandhani, Kwhinari, Siyandhani, Kayelamani, Thawula,
Mdumakule and a Qhazi. The women use their traditional make-up on their faces to look
beautiful. On the neck would be the so-called Vuhlalu (a beadwork sort of a necklace) such as
Xizambhani, Landzhela, Matshunyetshunye, Tikece, Xifezani, Khume and Landzhela.
Vuhlalu would be given different names, such as Mhaninkulu, which means the first wife. The
first wife was supposed to wear a Mhaninkulu to be aware of her status in the family. The other
Vuhlalu is called Tamani (a Mopani worm) because of its colours that look the same as those
of a Mopani worm.
A Yele is a shirt like cloth that has colours that symbolise the culture of Vatsonga. For example,
on a Yele, Ku Thawuza dancers wear a vest named Xihaka-Boyi. “Xihaka” is derived from the
verb “Ku haka”, which means to hang, meaning that the lady wearing Xihaka-Boyi is in love
with the guy (Boyi), and other boys must not propose to her.
Nceka is the Tsonga indigenous attire that women use to cover the whole body. There are
different kinds of Minceka; namely, Xihatimani, Tindhayimani, Xikatawa, Xilakanyani and
Tshamanasipho.
Nceka called Tshamanasipho was worn with a Xihaka-Boyi, and it covers almost the whole
body. Tshamanasipho is a statement by a lady married to Boyi who works too far from home.
Boyi is being told that he can keep his soap wherever he is because she (his wife) can wash the
Nceka, clean without soap. Under such circumstances, soap is used as an example; it means
that the husband (Boyi) does not take care of the wife and children back home. Finally, after
a long time, Boyi’s wife realises that it is not a good idea for Boyi not to support her (and the
children), and she decides to wear some white Vuhlalu, which makes him obliged to buy soap
to wash the white spots. By so doing, he starts supporting his family again.
Some of the performers prefer to carry wallets (beadwork); they tie them on Minceka. The
wallets were mainly for decoration.
Around the waist, especially on the stomach area, women tie a Nchungu. This towel looks like
a rope, citing resistance against hunger whilst dancing as a reason for tightly tying a Nchungu.
In addition, Tikhwini (beadwork) would be worn around the stomach to close the gap between
a Yele and Xibelani. Xibelani is a Tsonga traditional garment, also known as Tinguvu or
Xitlhekutani. On a Xibelani, dancers wear Vuhlalu with a shape of an eye, which means that
the husband (Boyi) was supposed to look only at the person wearing that particular Xibelani
and ignore other ladies.
On the wrist, dancers wear Vusenga, which look like bracelets. In between Vusenga, they wear
Xifamandhani, Swimanyela and Chochwani. Around the waist, they wear Xitlhekutani, which
is a traditional gear that is very short. On top of Xitlhekutani, dancers wear or tie the so-called
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Xigejo, also known as Xipereta, and it is made out of beads. As they dance, Xigejo would follow
the direction of Xitlhekutani in a very interesting manner. Swipereta (more than one Xipereta)
are about five in number, and they were all given different names; namely, Magezi (a male’s
name), Xipotwana (small pot), Nyeleti (a star) and Xigwagwa (small axe).
Nowadays, most people wear Tinguvu instead of Xitlhekutani; Tinguvu is not as short as
Xitlhekutani. On the legs, dancers wear Madeha. These look like Vusenga but are slightly
bigger. In between, Madeha performers wear Fanyafanya, Xikhalamazula, Timbhobvu and
Vukhotlo for decoration.
Performers originally did not wear shoes as part of the uniform when they performed. Things
have changed; however, now some groups wear shoes when they perform, and they make sure
that they wear the same shoes, even in terms of colour.
Instrumentation
During the performance of Ku Thawuza, dancers are not only accompanied by voices but also
by drums. One may say that it takes a certain dedicated person to be disciplined in playing a
particular instrument. Amongst the main instruments that accompany indigenous Xitsonga
music and dance is Xigubu (site drums). Johnston (1971) describes it as a double-membraned
cylindrical drum made from discarded canisters of all sizes. The site drums used during Ku
Thawuza performance are usually ten in number, whilst a big western drum is also used. These
site drums are made out of cowhide and tin. After a cow has been slaughtered, the hide is left
to dry. After that, they take it and put it in water for a week. After a week, the cowhide is taken
out of the water whilst still wet and cut into two circular pieces. The holes are cut around the
circular leather from the wet cowhide tied around the old tin. The tin lid is cut out from the top
and the bottom, creating two open sides, and the two circular cowhide pieces will be used to
cover the two hollowed sides. When the site drum is completed, it is kept safe for some days
before it is used.
It is important to note that the tightness of the hide determines the lightness of the drum in
terms of sound; the tighter the cowhide, the more ‘lighter’ the sound and vice versa. Thus, a
hide that is not hard enough contributes to the lightness of the sound. Similarly, if the cowhide
is hard, the sound will be heavier. Apart from the site drums, the texture of the music is further
thickened by a big western drum called Xigubu or Ndlhazi, which some performing groups use
in the place of the indigenous Xigubu.
The Western drum above is not the one that was used when the dance originated. However,
nowadays, almost all Ku Thawuza groups use it. The original indigenous Xigubu or Ndlhazi
was made from a big tin. According to many participants interviewed, the whole process of
making this big drum was the same as that of making a site drum. The only difference was that
they used donkey skin, not a cowhide, for the big drum. The reason was that the donkey’s skin is
harder than the cow’s, which implied that it would produce the required bass sound. This was
stated by one participant as follows:
Khale a hi tirhisa dzovo ra donki ku vamba hi rona Xigubu. Xivangelo a ku
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ri ku vona ku tiya ka rona. Ntikelo wa mpfumawulo wa Xigubu lexi a wu va

lowu hi wu languteleke.
In the past, we used donkey skin to make the big drum. Such skin was used
because it was strong. As a result, the sound produced by this drum was as
thick as expected. (N’wa-Sithole, 2013: interview)
The different sounds produced by the different drums warrant description from the discussion
on the making of different drums. Starting with the site drums. These drums are not of the same
size, and therefore they do not produce the same sounds. Drums are divided into different
parts, depending on the sounds they produce. The smallest site drums produce the lightest or
highest sound, whilst the bigger one produces a heavier sound. Before the drums are played,
they are put around the fire, especially when cold, to be audible enough. However, the big
Western drum does not need fire at all. Even when it is hot, site drums are put down, and they
face the sun’s direction. When they become hot, they tighten and produce a good sound.
Instrumentalists in this context refer to performers who are responsible for playing the drums,
Kudu horns, whistle and Pepe. Usually, the instrumentalists in Ku Thawuza are about fifteen.
These instrumentalists also participate as backing vocalists whilst playing their respective
instruments. There are no specific specialists in a particular instrument. One performer who
may do well in a particular instrument may also perform well in other instruments. In other
words, participants are multifunctional in their ensembles. The art of excellence in performing
on these different instruments results from thorough practice and dedication.
From the observation made during this research, drummers do not use palms of their hands to
play site drums but Tikhokho, which are drumsticks made from the Mopani tree. A small stick is
cut from the Mopani tree and is used to play site drums. The idiophone Kho! refers to the sound
that comes out when one strikes something. How the drums are played is the same way one
would strike something; hence the sticks made from the Mopani tree are called Tikhokho. The
outer layer is removed, and the inner one remains to produce an authentic sound effect.
In conclusion, it is important to note that all the human characters discussed in this chapter
are equally important. This is because they all have a hand in shaping the values and morals
of the performers and the spectators as well. For example, performers and spectators learn
about the importance of teamwork as it requires different roles to put up a meaningful and
complete performance. Furthermore, research has proved that participants behave in a
certain manner that shows a good upbringing. Therefore, it is concluded that Ku Thawuza
music and dance compound play a major role in shaping the morals and values of Vatsonga
and the whole society.
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Reference
Anonymous., 2005. Interview with Khosa H.A. Conducted at Xigalo Village. Malamulele.
Babane, M.T, Khosa H.A & Sithole A., 2007. Xitsonga Indigenous Music and Dance. In Cultures of
Limpopo Volume 1. Thohoyandou: VDM Publishers.
Johnston, T.F., 1971. The Music of the Shangana-Tsonga. Unpublished Doctorate Thesis.
University of Witwatersrand. Johannesburg.
Magubane, P., 1998. Vanishing Cultures of South Africa: Changing Customs in a Changing
World. Johannesburg: Struik Publishers.
Manganye, N.N., 2011. Indigenous Tsonga Children Game-Songs. Unpublished MA Research.

University of Pretoria, Pretoria.
Marima, G., 2013. Interview with Khosa H.A. Malamulele. Lombard Village.
Msomi, J.E.B., 1981. The role of music in an African Society. Durban: Zululand Branch
Newsletter, African Languages Association of Southern Africa.
N’wa-Khosa, C., 2010. Interview with Khosa H.A. Conducted at Jilongo Village. Malamulele.
N’wa-Sithole, M., 2013. Interview with Khosa H.A. Conducted at N’wa-Mankena Village. Giyani.
Rabothata, T.T., 1991. A Survey of Traditional Songs in Venda. Unpublished Masters

Dissertation. University of South Africa, Pretoria.
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African Musicology
Pragmatic analysis of Ikhomelele

monagethu, the lullaby
Mampaka Mojapelo
University of South Africa
mojapml@unisa.ac.za
Introduction
Lullabies have been part of oral traditions around the world since antiquity. Like other
pieces of oral tradition, lullabies have been passed down by word of mouth from generation
to generation, relying solely on memory for survival. The song’s composer is often unknown,
and the words and music that make up the lullaby become communal property. Due to the
passage of time, the spread of the lullaby over geographical spaces, and cultural contacts,
some lullabies exhibit variations even whilst fundamental similarities remain.
A lullaby is generally defined as a quiet song that is sung to lull a child to sleep. Serudu
(1989:30) defines a kunkurobala “lullaby” as a type of children’s song, košana ye bonolwana
ye e opelelwago ngwana gore a robale “a simple song sung to babies so that they can sleep”.
Melodically, a lullaby is characterised by simplicity, softness and repetitiveness, all of which
effectively facilitate calm and sleep. Verbally, it is largely considered simplistic, superficial
and nonsensical. Often accompanying the soft repetitive melody and simplistic nonsensical
words are rocking in the arms, on a swing or the minder’s back. All of these together contribute
to the achievement of the basic intent of a lullaby.
Some traditional lullabies are well-known across cultures due to their widespread use,
whilst others tend to be confined to specific cultural groups. For example, whilst lullabies
such as Hush, little baby and Twinkle, twinkle little star may be widely known, many English-
speaking countries also speak their indigenous languages with different original lullabies. All
communities can easily access lullabies that comprise concepts such as the stars and how they
twinkle since they are about universal phenomena. However, Finnegan (1968, p. 299) asserts,
“what might be expected to be a simple, ‘natural’, and spontaneous expression of feeling in
all societies – a mother singing to her child – is governed by convention and affected by the
particular constitution of the society”. The words found in lullabies are part of discourses that
emerge from the experience of the universe and of particular societal make-up. Hence, it is
hypothesised here that the function of a lullaby may be more than just putting a baby to sleep.
This chapter aims to analyse the lyrics of a selected lullaby in Northern Sotho to establish what
the discourse is about and then interpret it. A pragmatic perspective to the analysis allowed
access to the linguistic and non-linguistic contexts and the communicative force entrenched
in the discourse. The next section sheds light on the functions of lullabies as reflected in other
disciplines. The positioning of a lullaby then follows this within the meaning in pragmatics.
A brief background on the Northern Sotho situation serves as a precursor to the lullaby,
Ikhomolele monagethu, and finally, the lullaby is analysed and interpreted.
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Functions of a lullaby
Apart from the basic function of lulling a baby to sleep, a lullaby may serve various additional
functions, depending on specific cultures and aspects of human life. These functions include
communication, where the singing introduces language to the baby and fosters socialisation
and emotional expression from the minder, including bonding and exposing feelings.
Serudu (1990, pp. 47-48) declares the following about song in general:
• Koša ke setlabelo sa makgonthe sa go ntšha maikutlo a a tebilego a motho

“Song is a real tool of expressing a person’s deepest emotions”, and
• Koša ke tsela ye botse ya go lota setšo le ditlwaelo tša setšhaba

“Song is a good way of preserving the culture and traditions of a community.”
Beginning with the expression of emotions, Finnegan (1968, p. 302) brings up a Rundi
lullaby, O ce qui me donne du travail, in which, through the lullaby, “the mother expresses
and comments on her feelings and her expectations of the attitudes of others”. Similarly, in
referring to the Ngoni people of Malawi and the Nyoro of Uganda, Finnegan (1968, p. 300)
alludes to a situation involving upper-class people who hire nursemaids to look after their
children. In such cases, Finnegan notes that the nurses sing their lullabies, which express their
feelings about the mothers’ attitude. Therefore, it turns out that the function of the lullabies
sung by these nurses is not primarily to lull babies to sleep but rather to indirectly comment
to their employers about their positions that they are not brave enough to air directly
(Finnegan 1968, p. 300). Although the accompanying melody would be soft with a meditative
tone, characterising the song as a lullaby, the expression of emotions here can take place
only through the words and phrases contained in the lullabies. Emeksiz (2011) notes that if
the addressee of a lullaby is a living child, it is most likely that its intent is to put the child to
sleep. However, Emeksiz (2011) continues that not all lullabies are for sleeping. Other
functions of a lullaby may not involve a living baby, as is the case with the legend of the stone
baby in Emeksiz (2011). According to the legend, a woman was divorced due to her inability to
conceive. She responds to her deep sorrow and despair through prayer that takes the form of a
lullaby. She sings to a stone baby and pours out her personal feelings about her situation and
her shattered dreams.
Whilst human emotions such as these experienced by this woman may be universal, cultures
and traditions have differences. Even the universal human experience described in the legend
of the stone baby reflects traditions and practices that may be peculiar to one society but not to
another. Therefore, an examination must be made of what is entrenched in the lyrical content
for every lullaby.
Various disciplines have studied lullabies and their functions, discovering the power of such
music in developing a baby from as early as the foetal stage (Arabin, 2002). Garunkstiene,
Buinauskiene, Uloziene and Markuniene (2014) compared the effects of recorded and live
lullabies on stable preterm infants’ physiological and behavioural state outcomes. They
found that whilst the lullabies effectively reduced the heart rate of the babies, live lullabies
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have a greater beneficial impact on their sleep state than recorded ones. A study on tactile and
auditory stimulation in preterm neonates (Majella Livingston, 2014) finds that a combination
of recorded lullaby music and tactile stimulation results in positive effects on the growth and
maturation of the babies. Their crying patterns decrease, and positive patterns such as weight
gain, sleep duration, and feeding patterns increase. They also have stable physiological
patterns, such as heart rate and respiratory rate. In their paediatric music therapy, Loewy,
Steward, Dassler, Telsey and Homel (2013) find that the effects of live, parent-preferred
lullabies are beneficial for premature infants’ physiological and developmental functions.
A mother or minder sings a lullaby to respond to the baby’s crying or agitation. Although
generally, the baby may not understand the lyrics, lullabies are rarely hummed. Cass-Beggs
and Cass-Beggs (1969, p. 5) contend that lullabies are coloured by the thoughts, beliefs and
feelings of the nation or race from which they come. It is through the words that the thoughts,
beliefs and feelings can be revealed. Lullabies contain lyrics, however simple and nonsensical
they may seem. The lyrics contain information that addresses the baby or the situation as if he
or she understands. When babies catch a sense of connection and being communicated, they
typically respond by ceasing to cry, falling asleep, or even singing along by cooing or babbling.
A lullaby is, therefore, a type of discourse – a musical discourse. The information imparted by
lullabies may include expressing personal emotions and thought and collective feelings and
ideals. As long as a language continues to exist, texts in the language, including lullabies,
will also exist. Encapsulated further in the lyrics of lullabies may be culture-specific concepts
that are informed by the immediate physical environment, which in turn may have given rise
to certain customs and practices. It will not be sufficient to analyse only the basic meaning of
the words since, apart from the melody, the linguistic expression is informed by the context,
including social and cultural elements. Our quest to understand the meaning of a lullaby must
go beyond the literal meaning of words and phrases.
Meaning in pragmatics
In order to try to find meaning and interpret utterances in language, it is important to consider
parameters that constitute a meaning assignment. There is speaker meaning over and above
the meaning of words and phrases, which constitutes sentence meaning. Sentence meaning
is what a sentence or word means, that is, what it counts as the equivalent of in the language
concerned (Hurford and Heasley 1983, p. 3). Sentence meaning involves the basic meaning of
utterances, that is, their dictionary meaning. Thomas (1995, p. 2) refers to sentence meaning as
abstract meaning, as it has to do with what words could mean. Pragmatics is concerned with
much more than that, emphasising what the speaker does with words and their basic meaning.
Hence, speaker meaning becomes crucial in the understanding and interpretation of
utterances. Speaker meaning takes into account aspects of pragmatics, namely participants
and the context of the situation. Participants in a speech activity are the speaker and the
hearer. The hearer is further divided into the addressee, hearer and overhearer. The context of
the situation involves the physical, linguistic, social and epistemic environments in which the
utterance is made. From a pragmatic perspective, meaning does not only reside in words. Of
course, the basic meaning of words is important, but understanding the utterance ‘in context’
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or ‘in use’ takes language from the abstract to a practical and functional level. Hence, the
distinction and complementarity between sentence meaning and speaker meaning.
Thomas (1995) posits that speaker meaning has two levels: contextual meaning as the
first level and force. Contextual meaning takes care of (un)ambiguity in a given context of
discourse, whilst force has to do with the speaker’s intention with the utterance he or she
makes. Pragmatics advocates that any form of discourse, as a piece of language, should
not be seen in isolation from the participants and the context of utterances. Pragmatics,
therefore, explores “how individuals, given the situation in which they find themselves and the
linguistic means at their disposal, use their linguistic resources to try to achieve their goals”
(Thomas, 1995, p. 190). The idiom of the language in question and the socio-cultural context
of participants, individually and communally, will therefore come together to inform us more
about the linguistic content of the lullaby.
Northern Sotho and lullabies

Firstly, our point of departure must be from a realisation that Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa
Leboa) is a standard language that comprises many varieties spoken by communities with
diverse historical and genealogical backgrounds. These communities are also surrounded
by linguistic and cultural communities such as Batswana “the Tswana people” to the west
and south-west, Vatsonga “the Tsonga people” to the east and northeast, amaNdebele “the
Ndebele people” on the southeastern side as well as Vhavenḓa “the Venda people” to the
north. Within the wider Northern Sotho community, there are Northern Ndebele communities
whose variety of Sotho is influenced by their language of origin. The variety is identified in the
classification of Northern Sotho dialects as Ndebele-Sotho, belonging to the south-central
dialect cluster (cf. Mokgokong, 1966, Kosch and Kotzé, 1996). This scenario accounts for the
variations in oral forms that otherwise appear to be fundamentally similar.
This section will look at a selection of documented lullabies in Northern Sotho, leading to
the analysis of Ikhomolele monagethu. In the analysis, we will bear in mind the following
assertions made by Serudu (1990) and find out if they apply to lullabies.
• Koša ke setlabelo sa makgonthe sa go ntšha maikutlo a a tebilego a motho (p.47)

“Song is a valid tool of expressing a person’s deepest emotions” and
• Koša ke tsela ye botse ya go lota setšo le ditlwaelo tša setšhaba (p.48)

The following lullaby bears the word for “lullaby” in Northern Sotho, namely kunkurobala:
Lullaby A
Kunku robala, ngwana robala ‘Be lulled, baby sleep’
Nkunku robala, e, e! ‘Be lulled, sleep, e, e!’
Bangwe ba robetše, e, e! ‘Others are asleep, e, e!
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Ngwana robala, e, e! ‘Baby sleep, e, e!

Bangwe ba robetše, e, e! ‘Others are asleep, e, e!’
(Serudu et al. 1991, p. 83)
In lullaby A, above, a minder or mother puts the baby to sleep. Kunku is an onomatopoeic word
relating to the verb stem -kunkuretša “lull” or “calm” to quietness or sleep. In Northern Sotho,
the word for lullaby is kunkurobala (kunku + -robala), the second part of the compound being
-robala “sleep”. Hence, Northern Sotho for lullaby says, literally, “be lulled to sleep”.
As is the case with most pieces of oral tradition, the composer of a lullaby is unknown. In
Northern Sotho, some lullabies appear to be variations of the same piece. This phenomenon
can be attributed to the nature of oral tradition and factors, including the milieu as it is located
in space and time. As the song has been passed on in oral form from generation to generation,
it is also difficult to successfully claim that one version is the only correct version. The versions
will, however, have much in common in terms of tune and lyrical content. One community
will sing the same lullaby slightly different from another, fundamental elements of the
song confirming that the two communities are related. Another characteristic of lullabies is
that they normally do not have defined titles by which they can be identified as the same or
different. Often, the first line gets accepted as the title, an inclination that lullabies have in
common with hymns.
The following lullabies illustrate the claim made in this chapter that some lullabies are
variations of the same piece. The first two are from Serudu (1990), the third is from Makopo
(1993), and the fourth is from Mapaya (2005). Worth noting is that Serudu’s (1990) lullabies do
not have titles, but Makopo’s (1993) and Mapaya’s (2005) do.
Lullaby B
Ikhomolele samme “Simply cease to cry my younger sibling”
Mmagosamme o etla “My younger sibling’s mother will be back”
O tla go tlela le magapu “She is going to bring you watermelons.”
Ga se magapu ke marotse “It is not watermelons, it is marotse melons”
(Serudu, 1990, p. 43)
Lullaby C
Uwe uwelele uwee … ee “Uwe uwelele uwee … ee”
Ngwana wa mma robala, “My mother’s baby sleep”
Robala o ikhomolele “Sleep and cease to cry”
Bomma ba ile mašemong “Mother is gone to the field.”
Ba tla go tlela le magapu “She is going to bring you watermelons.”
Ga se magapu ke marotse “It is not watermelons, it is marotse melons”
Uwe uwelele uwee … ee “Uwe uwelele uwee … ee”
(Serudu, 1990, p. 43)
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Lullaby D: Ikhomolele
Uuuweeee, Uuweee, Uweeee “Uuuweeee, Uuweee, Uweeee”
Ngwanešo ikhomolele “My sibling, simply cease to cry”
Ikhomolele o itšalo; “Simply cease to cry as you are,.”
Mmago o sa ile mašemong. “You mother is still gone to the fields.”
O tlo go tlela le magapu,’ “She is going to bring you watermelons,”
Ge se magapu ke mekopu, “It is not watermelon it is mekopu melons,”
Mekopu ya Mmathamane. “Mekopu melons of Mmathamane.”
Ngwana ga’ lla ga ke mo rate, “A baby, when he/she cries I don to like him/her”
Ke rata ga’ re mpelege, “I like (it) when he/she says carry me on your back,”
Ka tšea thari ka belega. “(And) I take thari and carry on my back.”

Nka mo lahla ka mafuri “I could dump him/her in the back lapa”,
Ka ipelegela lehlaka, “(And) simply carry a reed on my back,”
Lehlaka le le sa llego; “The reed that does not cry;”
Le lla ka mohla’ pula, “It cries on the day of rain,”
Mohla’ pula le diphefo. “Day of rain and winds.”
(Makopo, 1993, p. 83)
Lullaby E: Ngwana’llang
Ngwana’llang ga ke mo rate “A baby that cries I do not like him/her”
Nka mo lahla ka mafuri “I could dump him/her in the back lapa”
Ka ipopulela lehlaka “(And) simply carry a reed on my back”
Lehlaka le sa lleng “The reed that does not cry”
Le lla ka mohlang wa phefo “It cries on day of wind”
Mohla wa phefo le dipula “Day of wind and rains”
Iye iye a e e, iye iye a e “Iye iye a e e, iye iye a e”
Mapaya (2005)
The lullaby may also conform to the objectives of particular media – differentiated here
as a university study guide (Serudu et al., 1991), published books (Serudu 1990 and Makopo
1993) and as recorded music published in CD format (Mapaya, 2005). However, there are
stark similarities between lullaby D Ikhomolele “Simply cease to cry” (or “Simply be quiet”),
which appears to be a combination of untitled lullabies B and C. Lullaby E, Ngwana’llang
“Baby that cries”, is a modern version of this lullaby, being the first stanza of the first track
on a jazz album Statements (Mapaya, 2005). The title of lullaby E is similar to the beginning
of the second stanza of lullaby D. From Mapaya’s (2005) longer song, only the first stanza is
selected as it bears a resemblance to the lullaby under analysis, lyrically and melodically. The
four lullabies, B, C, D and E, will be dealt with simultaneously with the lullaby analysis in the
next section, namely Ikhomolele monagethu. At this point, it will suffice to comment on the
meaning of words that are not contained in Ikhomolele monagethu below. These words are
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marotse, mekopu and thari. The words are also kept in their language of origin in the English
translation and therefore need to be explained.
Marotse (singular, lerotse) and mekopu (singular, mokopu) are used in these lullabies to refer
to the same fruit, according to dialectal varieties of Northern Sotho. Lerotse belongs to the
same plant family Cucurbitaceae, as does legapu “watermelon”. However, lerotse differs from
watermelon in that lerotse must be cooked before it can be eaten. Uncooked, it is unsuitable
for human consumption and can be fed only to livestock. It is also neither sweet, nor watery and
its flesh is yellow, never red. The seeds of lerotse are roasted and salted as an accompaniment
for bogobe “stiff porridge”, in the same way, meat and a variety of vegetables are used. The
roasted seeds are also eaten as a snack. There are two basic types of dishes made from lerotse.
For one recipe, lerotse is harvested in the very early stages of its growth when it is still soft. It
is sliced and cooked with the skin on to make a dish called mogouwane. The sliced pieces are
boiled in a little water and sugar, and, when done, the dish is eaten warm or cold. The second
dish made from lerotse is called kgodu or thophi (dialectal varieties). For the preparation of
kgodu, lerotse needs to be mature and hard. The skin and pits are removed, and only the fleshy
inside part is used. It is boiled and stirred until it is soft, and then the maise meal is stirred into
the paste and left to cook a little longer. A small amount of sugar is added for taste. Kgodu is a
type of porridge cooked from a mixture of lerotse and maise meal, and it is eaten hot, warm or
cold. Legapu “watermelon”, on the other hand, is a sweet fruit eaten directly from the field. It
is filled with sweet red or pink flesh and sweet juice. It is filling and hydrating as well as being
suitable for consumption by infants. When adults eat the fleshy part and drink the sweet juice,
infants are mainly fed the juice. However, depending on their age, they can also be fed small
pieces of the fruit’s flesh. The differences between lerotse and legapu are illustrated below:
Legapu “watermelon” Lerotse “lerotse melon”
The second word from the lullabies above that needs to be addressed is thari. To render thari
as just a “baby carrier” would be to do an injustice to the word and the language. Thari is a
unique type of baby carrier made from processed animal skin, predominantly goat, and is used
to carry the baby on the back. It is made to a specific pattern that enfolds the baby, and it has
four strings for strapping the baby to the carrier’s back. A baby carried in a thari is never held
in front of the person carrying it but is rather held on that person’s back. Creating the thari –
starting with selecting the animal for slaughter and moving on to the processing of the skin
and designing the thari, all the way up until a decision as to how the baby is to be carried – is
part of a whole knowledge system.
The rest of the words and concepts are contained in the next lullaby, Ikhomolele monagethu.
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Ikhomolele monagethu, the lullaby

The version that is the subject of analysis in this chapter is not documented in any of the oral
literature works of Northern Sotho. However, it is a well-known living lullaby, sung to babies
and passed on from generation to generation. We reflect on it in this chapter as much as
possible in its oral form. It has no defined title, and we have thus adopted its first line as its
title. It also provides evidence of being a version of lullabies B to E above.
Ikhomolele, monagethu “Simply cease to cry, my younger sibling”

Mmage samme o etla “My younger sibling’s mother will be back”
O tlo re tlela le magapu “She is going to bring us watermelon.”
Magapu a tšhemong yešo “Watermelon from my family’s field.”
Iyee, iyeye, aiyee (X2) “Iyee, iyeye, aiyee (X2)”
Magapu a tšhemong yešo “Watermelon from my family’s field”
Ngwana’ lla[ng] ’se mo rate “A baby that cries, I do not like him/her”
Ke tla mo lahla ka mafuri “I will dump him/her in the back lapa”
Ka ipopulela lehlaka “(And) simply carry a reed on my back”
’Hlakana le sa lleng “The reed-DIM1 that does not cry.”
Le lla ka mohla’ phefo “It cries on the day of wind”
Mohla’ phefo le dipula “Day of wind and rains.”
’Hlakana le sa lleng “The reed-DIM that does not cry.”
Le lla ka mohla’ phefo “It cries on the day of wind”
Mohla’ phefo le dipula Day of wind and rains.”
As a way of beginning the lullaby analysis, the first step would be to delve into its sentence
meaning –the dictionary meaning of the words. What words and phrases are used in the
lullaby, and what is their basic meaning? A few words and phrases that require further
explanation over and above the English translation provided will be examined for basic
meaning. We look into matters such as the role played by the reflexive prefix i- when it is added
to the verb stem -homola “cease to cry” or “be quiet” that give rise to ikhomolele “simply be
quite” or “simply cease to cry”. The reflexive prefix brings to the verb the element of reflecting
1 DIM = DIMUNITIVE
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the action to the subject, as in “do it to yourself” or “do it for yourself”, and also incorporates
the connotation of “simply” or “just”. Ikhomolele means “simply/just cease to cry” or “simply/
just be quiet”. Monagethu, “my younger sibling”, is an adoptive from the Nguni languages,
specifically the Northern Ndebele mnagethu “younger sibling”, which is closely related in
form and origin to the Southern Ndebele umnawethu “my brother”. It is a familiar word in the
Ndebele-Sotho dialectal areas of Northern Sotho, such as Mokopane, Zebediela, the original
Maune, Mashashane and other related and neighbouring communities. Typical of adaptives,
this word has undergone meaning shift and is synonymous with samme and ngwanešo as in
lullabies B and D, respectively. Ngwana wa mma “my mother’s child/baby” from lullaby C has a
similar meaning, although it does not carry in its content the idea of the eldership of the sibling
speaker to the same extent as the other two.
Another word that requires attention is mafuri “back lapa”. Lapa is a solid-walled structure in
front of the house or houses, defining the inside of the family unit. It is closer and more intimate
than the yard. The entrance to the lapa is called sefero, whilst the entrance to the yard is called
lesoro. Often a household has more than one lapa, the main one in front and a minor one at the
back of the main house or houses. Mafuri is the lapa that’s at the back and that’s also the minor
lapa, as opposed to the main lapa, which is at the front of the house or houses. Mafuri usually
hosts the morale “cooking hut” or “kitchen” and other minor houses of a family. Mafuri is not
the same space as the yard, which is outside this inner space. Finally, we have the word lehlaka
“reed” in the lullaby, which refers to the dried stalks of corn that are left on the fields after the
harvest.
The context of the situation covers the milieu as it is located in space and time. Socio-
culturally, this lullaby is set in a traditional village of the Sesotho-speaking people of the
northern part of South Africa. The setting may be similar to that of most cultural groups of Sub-
Saharan Africa. The place and time are characterised by subsistence farming. A variety of food,
applicable to different seasons, is obtained from the fields. Chores are mainly divided along
gender lines, with women mostly working the fields when the product is ready or almost ready
for consumption. Mothers, including those still breastfeeding, are active in working the fields
that, in most cases, are far from home. Often the mothers go to the fields for long hours, leaving
the babies at home with their minders, and they arrive back at various times in the afternoon.
A mother may arrive home a little earlier or later than usual, depending on the day’s activities
and environmental factors such as the weather. From this lullaby, we gather information from
the mention of magapu “watermelon” that the mother will bring and from tšhemong yešo “my
family’s field”, being the location where the mother is at the time that the lullaby is sung. The
selected lullaby is a typical afternoon musical discourse with a baby whose mother has gone to
the fields and where the baby is beginning to miss her. It is evident from the lyrics that it is not
the mother singing the lullaby and that she is away.
Concerning the participants, the speaker (singer) is the childminder. The opening line indicates
to us that the addressee is the baby. However, the speaker moves on to an indirect linguistic
address. The second line is indirect as if she has a different audience or is speaking to herself:
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Mmage samme o etla “My younger sibling’s mother will be back”
The direct address would be one of the following:

Mmago o etla “Your mother will be back.”
Or
Mma’ rena o etla “Our mother will be back.”
Or simply
Mma o etla “Mother will be back.”
Instead, she turns the addressee into a third person. Whether or not the baby is the direct
addressee or whether the speaker “allows the baby to overhear”, the fact of the matter is
that this lullaby is typically sung to babies who may not yet be able to understand the words
and respond. They can at least recognise and respond to the melody, the softness of tone, the
meditative repetition in tune, as well as to the accompanying rocking or patting. As for the
words and what they mean, they really express the speaker’s satisfaction as she communicates
to the baby and expresses her own emotions and reflects on her individual and communal
context.
Speaker meaning, context and the lullaby

If directed at a living baby, a lullaby is an expression of empathy for the agitated or crying
baby. The first part of the lullaby, marked as a separate stanza for convenience, contains a
promise. Because of the socio-cultural context and the physiological factors related to the
baby’s agitation, the minder presumes that the baby is missing his or her mother (not the
father, sister, grandmother or other family members). Hence, her first port of call is to promise
the baby that his or her mother will be back. Not only will the mother be back, but her return
is also associated with sweet things. The watermelon is the sweet thing that the mother is
likely to bring from the fields that even infants can enjoy. Together with the calming melody,
there is an underlying assurance that the mother did not just leave for fun but that she went
to get “sweeties” for them. In this part of the lullaby, the way of life in this rural community is
revealed.
The first part also serves as an individual emotional expression of the minder towards the
baby. A simple instruction or request for someone to “be quiet” or “cease to cry” is Homola
[verb in the imperative mood]. To turn the verb to the subjunctive mood and even attach a
reflexive prefix is a grammatical nuance and what that grammatical structure represents. It
is neither a command nor a normal request but a persuasion loaded with emotion. It says, “do
it for yourself, simply do it, and you will be fine”. The words monagethu and samme (variant
samma) “my younger sibling” are, on the surface, just kinship terms, but they are also terms
of endearment. To call someone samme, whether or not he or she is a biological sibling, is an
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indication of emotional connection at the time of utterance. In the case of the lullaby being
analysed here, the minder may not even be a biological sibling of the baby, but could also be
a cousin or younger aunt who lives with the family to help look after the baby. Therefore, the
kinship terms monagethu and samme express an emotional connection usually reserved for
siblings. The possessive phrase mmage samme “my younger sibling’s mother”, in a way, gives
the baby assurance of ownership of the mother so that when the mother arrives, she arrives
for him or her and is his or hers. This forms part of the consolation and calming expressed in
the lullaby.
The Iyee, iyeye, aiyee will be left out of the discussion because it comprises interjections
attributable to the musical aspect of harmonising and does not directly contribute to the
linguistics of the text.
This lullaby often goes as far as the first stanza: if the baby responds by calming down or
sleeping. If the baby does not respond positively, the lullaby proceeds to the second stanza. This
happens when the first strategy of enticing and promising does not work. The second stanza
brings in a change in strategy. The speaker communicates disapproval of the continuing
distress with a threat. The threat is to abandon the baby if he or she continues to cry, to dump
him or her in the family’s mafuri and, instead, carry a reed on her back. This kind of apparent
threat in a lullaby is found in other cultures, such as the Dutch lullaby Suze Naanje, ik waige
die, which contains the following line:
…ik waige die, wast toe wat grooter din sluig ik die, 2
“I rock you, but if you were older, I would slap you.”
What reflects in the second stanza and the Dutch lines is merely an indication of weariness on
the speaker’s part. Under normal circumstances, the minder is unlikely to carry out the threat.
She is beginning to express her emotions on the status involving the inconsolable baby.
The second stanza also draws a parallel between the baby and a reed, which would not cry. The
speaker says she would rather swop this baby for a reed because the reed would cry only when
it rains, and the wind blows. Of course, the dry stalks of corn left standing on the field would
make rattling sounds when the wind blows and when the rain splashes on them. The same
situation would apply to other things, such as dry branches of trees and dry leaves. However,
the speaker chooses to use lehlaka “reed” for comparison. Why is a human being compared
with a reed? Why does the speaker not compare this baby with a neighbour’s sweet baby, who
may be playing happily or asleep at the time?
Lehlaka ‘reed’ has immense significance in traditional Northern Sotho communities. The
significance links directly to babies and motherhood. Every first-born child in these traditional
communities was preceded by a reed baby, ngwana wa ditlhaka. Ngwana wa ditlhaka
(pronounced ngwana ’a ditlhaka and according to orthographic rules ngwana’ ditlhaka)
provides access to the Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and the philosophy of life of traditional
societies as the Northern Sotho. All girls at a certain stage in their life own ngwana wa ditlhaka,
2 http://speelmuziek.liederenbank.nl/?page=view&id=7041&v=1
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a baby made from the dry stalks of corn that remain in the field after harvest. Every girl of
marriageable age was given this kind of baby, not a doll (cf. Mojapelo, 2011), by older women
to own, name and care for in experiential motherhood. Younger siblings and cousins would
also help look after their sister’s ngwana wa ditlhaka as if it were a real baby. Ngwana wa
ditlhaka became a member of the family until a real child was born. When the girl is married
and pregnant, the in-laws prepare to return her to her family home to give birth to her first
child. When the first-born child arrives, ngwana wa ditlhaka gets dismantled. The baby adopts
the name of his mother’s ngwana wa ditlhaka, and ngwana wa ditlhaka’s beaded adornments
are transferred to the new baby. From this experience, the minder would know that there was
a baby that she used to look after, who never cried. But as she longs for calm and expresses
this comparison, she also cautions herself that the dry stalks of corn from which ngwana wa
ditlhaka is made do rattle sometimes. For the speaker to wish to carry a reed on her back
appears really nonsensical unless we dig deep down to see what lies beneath the nonsense.
Therefore, entrenched in these “nonsensical” lyrics is a rich cultural narrative transferring
beliefs and values. The veiled narrative reflects on a custom entrenched in the philosophy that
motherhood is not a matter of trial and error. It has been the traditional custom of the people
to prepare thoroughly for the role.
Back to Serudu’s (1990) statement of what song is about:
Koša ke setlabelo sa makgonthe sa go ntšha maikutlo a a tebilego a motho

(p.47)
“Song is a real tool of expressing a person’s deepest emotions” and,
Koša ke tsela ye botse ya go lota setšo le ditlwaelo tša setšhaba (p.48)
In this lullaby, it has been demonstrated that the speaker was expressing her emotions towards
the baby and the situation. The emotions include empathy, compassion, endearment and
weariness. The elements lending force to her utterances includes enticing, consoling, calming,
promising and threatening.
Conclusion
This chapter aimed to find out if lullabies do more than just lull babies to sleep. This was
done linguistically by analysing the lyrics of a selected lullaby in Northern Sotho, Ikhomolele
monagethu. The meaning was searched for from a pragmatic perspective. Pragmatics
considers that meaning goes beyond mere sentence meaning. Referential meaning alone,
without speaker meaning and context, tends to miss the intricacies of utterances. Without
context, pure referential meaning tends to miss the intricacies of utterances. Whilst we may
understand what the words and phrases mean, we also need to understand the speaker’s
intention in using those words. From a pragmatic perspective, the linguistic and contextual
analysis revealed that the selected lullaby encompasses both linguistic and IK and does so
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richly. The lyrics of this lullaby were found to be neither superficial nor nonsensical, rather,
they are building blocks for relationships and emotional expression and a lens through which
a people’s philosophy and customs can be viewed. As Serudu (1990) alludes, they also serve
to preserve the culture and traditions of a community. Mapaya (2005) makes the preservation
contemporary and relevant whilst keeping both the original melody and lyrics of the lullaby
intact. Taking this traditional wealth and presenting it in a relevant and attractive format to
modern society is preserving IK and Northern Sotho philosophy in particular. This particular
lullaby has demonstrated that a lullaby can be an intangible cultural artefact and a window
through which a people’s customs and philosophy can be viewed.
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Limited.
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Indigenisation of the South African

School Curricula through the Arts: Notes,
tones, opinions, and a quest
Madimabe Geoff Mapaya
University of Venda
Geoff.Mapaya@univen.ac.za
Introduction
First, I relate two anecdotes, perceived from a (Black) South African music
student’s and musician’s perspectives. These anecdotes only serve to
illuminate the perception of misalignment between African school curricula
and praxis. The first was; one late afternoon, whilst having supper in the
dining hall of the University of Cape Town preparing for a concert, a pianist
friend and fellow band member walked up to an upright piano standing
against the wall and started playing a concert few jazz tunes. In a moment, a
few female African students gathered around, begging him to play
‘something' (musical, I supposed). Little did the ladies know that their
request or remarks had a rather devastating effect on my friend’s ego; for
despite the beautiful and supposedly intelligible chord sequences he had
just run, he made no impression on them, hence their request for him to
stop ‘whatever he was doing’ and to start playing ‘something’. That
‘something’ was for many African students in the dining hall different from
what we, as music students and practitioners, considered artistic or
beautiful music.
The second was much earlier than the encounter mentioned above, a similar
eye-opening occurrence. However, this time from a much more intimate
experience, jostled one to issues of relevance as far as music preference and
pedagogy were concerned. Before my university student career, I ‒ as it
was, and in the main still is a common route for most Black South Africans
wanting to study music at a university‒ wrote the Associated Board of the
Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) examinations to obtain requisite grades for
university entrance. Domiciled in Tembisa ‒ a township in the northeastern
part of Johannesburg ‒ one often had to wait for parents and other family
members to retire for the night before the 3 x 3 square metre kitchen of the
house could be converted into a music practice studio. After three years of
music study and practice in this makeshift environment, I was finally
readying myself for my grade eight examinations when one night, I was
jolted by my father’s voice piercing through the still of the night; “when will
313
you start playing music?” What a discouraging moment! Safe to say, many
similar instances had since confirmed Nketia’s 1986 framing of African music
and Western-praxis disconnect. As epitomised by music education, this
conundrum forms a part of many music students in South Africa.
Naturally, the two instances, uncomfortable as they were, sparked a journey of introspection
and a deep reflection on the relevance of the music one was learning according to one’s music
education. They heightened the pondering on societal expectations placed upon African
graduate students destined to operate in an Africa-specific context. Accordingly, investment in
indigenising arts education made much more sense. Since these and similar experiences, a
quest to find a place for indigenous arts in general within the school syllabus became a
tormenting task. After studying music, most African graduates become involved in the so-
called popular music featuring considerable African elements to appreciative audiences,
making agitating for an Africanised curriculum a necessary mental disposition.
Whereas arts education in Black schools has been almost non-existent, it has always been
offered at previously Whites-only institutions (Younge, 1988; Andrew, 2011). As a result, the
manner and regard for the arts in this sector of the population have been somewhat similar to
what prevails largely in European and North American countries. The arts are appreciated.
Most importantly, their employment opportunities available for artists meant that arts
education was viable. In Black communities, to the contrary, the arts are widely ‘lived’ and
thus taken for granted even by schools and institutions of higher learning. The fact that
employment opportunities are almost non-existent in this sector of the population betrays any
attempt to support the arts, especially at the school level. Few historically Black-only schools
and/or tertiary institutions teach the arts. Those that do largely model themselves on White
institutions, which largely derive their conception from Euro-American experiences. Such an
approach to arts education is a system that generally privileges foreign arts and rituals at the
expense of local versions. This privileging of the foreign arts and rituals is attributable to
history. A significant number of individuals employed within such an education environment
gravitate more towards Europe than Africa. For this reason, arts education continues to derive
its models from Euro-American experiences (Akrofi and Flofu, 2007). Such is the misalignment
of arts education on the one hand and the realities of the overwhelming African majority on
the other.
Nonetheless, in most developed countries, the arts, in general, are held in some high esteem;
and, as such, are mainstays in curricula. They are studied in institutions such as universities
and conservatories. Yet, in South African, the arts are the Cinderella of education. Whereas
this status quo may be blamed on history, the lack of urgency in mainstreaming the arts today
continues to defy logic. At worst, this status quo suggests the backwardness of the country.
This article advances arguments that amount to advocacy for mainstreaming the arts,
especially indigenous arts, culture and heritage in all South African schools and institutions of
higher learning. To this end, observations, and appraisal of the South African situation;
particularly the planning and implementation of related policies, are used to tease some of the
salient issues that point to a less than ideal regard for the arts and to poor performance by
African students who endeavour to study the arts formally. Much as the focus is on the South
African situation, it is envisaged that other countries on the African continent that may have
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African Musicology
‘forgotten’ the importance of the arts could also benefit from the South African experience.
Today, a move towards internalisation and globalisation is undeniably strong (Botha, 2007).
Whereas trend will always be crucial in enterprises such as arts education, a deliberate
inwards focus when planning, resourcing, and delivering education, especially in a new
developmental context such as South African, is essential. Failure to appreciate this point
means the indigenisation project will forever be betrayed. For this reason, curriculum planners
in the then so-called New South African flirted with the Pan Africanist education idea. Sadly,
though, it is now clear that the aspiration for such a paradigm remains a mirage leading to the
processes of decolonising the curriculum more than two decades into the democratic
dispensation and three administrations (Mandela, Mbeki, and Zuma’s) later remain elusive.
Although academics have put this urgent need in the open, the return regarding policy
implementation should be cause for concern.
Feldman and Minstrell (2000) contend that action research relates well with educational
research, especially curriculum development. As a music teacher charged with designing or
reviewing the South African ‘music’ curriculum, I regard myself as an active participant in the
process because of my situation in the spectrum of music education. My educational, political
and artistic interests put me at a somewhat vantage point of shaping the arts curriculum in
South Africa. I have, over the years, participated in the drafting of the curriculum 2005 and the
recent Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). My first involvement with the
process was characterised by an expressed and urgent need by curriculum planners of the
then New South Africa to break away from the segregated and apartheid-rationalised
education system. This, in a way, explains the flirtation with the Pan Africanist approach,
which never really succeeded. On a personal note, the last was more meaningful in that one
was engaged as an academic from a university and thus qualified as what Chisholm (2003)
regards as one of the three ‘solicited voices’ in the curriculum review process. Logically, I
harboured a desire to ensure that arts education in the South African curriculum is
indigenised. My role as the lead author and chair of the music CAPS review and writing team
was reasonably significant. Beyond this limited contribution, officials appointed by the
minister and those employed within the ministry were ultimately responsible for the final
curriculum statement. Sadly, I had to exit the project towards the end due to what I perceived
as reluctance to follow through with some of the recommendations the team made, and most
seriously, the interference from one official. In this instance, the notion of participative
observation, governed to some extent by my scholarly training and administrative distance
from the process, accrues some currency.
As opposed to the now again fashionable musical arts nomenclature, the preference of
indigenous African music is noteworthy. Although the latter is an academic invention, the
former is closer to vernacular referents of the same thing. In Northern Sotho, for instance, the
indigenous African music denotation largely speaks to mmino was setšo (loosely translates into
cultural music). On the contrary, the musical art in its latest resurgence in South African music
education discourse represents an academic rationalisation of a phenomenon that, despite
acknowledging the conglomerate nature of African music practices, perpetuates the alienation
of indigenous practitioners of the very music it seeks to index. African scholars are increasingly
becoming wary of the disproportionate dialogue between scholars and practitioners, where
315
the scholar’s voice accrues importance at the expense of the knowledgeable practitioner’s
(Masoga, 2016).
Reason for Curriculum reviews

As evidenced by never-ending reviews and revisions, the South African education system
features a curriculum that is yet to settle. Curriculum 2005, as contained in the NCS
(1997), deemed too cumbersome for teachers (who became educators) with disparate
social and educational backgrounds; and for pupils (who became learners), had to
undergo reviews and revisions several times. Still, the Revised NCS of 2002 did not ease
anxiety levels within the education sector (see Department of Basic Education, 2011).
This is why the Zuma administration championed a somewhat radical (others would say
populist) transformational tangent (DOE 2009) that saw the education portfolio split into
two ministries; the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) on the one
hand, and the Department of Basic Education (DBE) on the other. The semi-autonomy of
Higher Education and Training and the heavily centralised nature of Basic Education were
bound to pursue the transformation agenda differently. The latter adopted the CAPS as
its latest policy. CAPS, in a way, reverted to the content-based curriculum; this amidst a
barrage of criticisms from some sectors of educators who still believed in the merits of
the Outcomes Based Education (OBE) approach (DOE 2009).
Nevertheless, the socio-political will to usher in a singular and functional education

system as envisioned in different legislation still motivates periodic curriculum review
processes, especially in the basic education band. Perhaps most importantly, the
importance of rethinking curriculum, especially the positioning of the arts considerate of
the African perspective and context, was encouraged by South Africa’s hosting of the 1 st
NEPAD Arts Education SADC Region Conference held in Newtown on 11 - 13 March 2015.
This conference was followed closely by the AU’s 4th Pan-African Cultural Congress
(PACC4) held in Sandton between 25 and 27 May 2015. By seizing such opportunities,
curriculum planners, local and international scholars, indigenous African arts
practitioners, and the general populace could realise the mainstreaming of indigenous
arts, culture, and heritage.
This article, therefore, uses IAM to reflect on the South African process of mainstreaming
the indigenous arts in the curriculum. By highlighting the disconnect between arts
education, the markets, and general practice. But first, we consider ideas on the general
position of arts, culture, and heritage in society.
The arts and the sciences

In most ‘civilised’ societies, it is hardly taboo to find the words art and science used in the
same sentence and sometimes in equal breaths (Raiffa, 1982; Carter, 1997; Lamb and
Bourriau, 1995; Smith, 1980). However, for science whose object is often tangible to reach a
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high innovation level, it must transcend into the artistic domain where the intangible and/or
aesthetics reside. That is why scholars such as Fontana and Frey (1994) could afford to coin
titles such as The Arts of Science. Conversely, for art to be systematised, it has to venture into
the realm of science; hence scholars such as Schultz and Williams (2002) or Kemp, Panofsky
and Wood (1994) could also write about The Science of Art and The Science of the Art: Optical
Themes in Western Art from Brunelleschi to Seurat respectively. Put briefly, to be good at
science. One should do it so well that it becomes an art. And to excel in the art, one must
practise or perform so impeccably well that it almost becomes a science. The
acknowledgement of this yin-yang relationship of arts and science has, to some extent,
normalised how the two broad areas of knowledge―the natural sciences and the social and
human sciences―view each other.
However, judging by the current funding model, it would seem that the DBE and the DHET,
and indeed the general populace of the Republic of South Africa, still perceive science as being
of a significantly higher value and prestige. At a glance, the South African government in the
2015 budget, allocated to the Department of Science and Technology approximately two to
three times millions of Rands compared to what the Department of Arts and Culture was
apportioned (National Treasury, 2015). Maybe valid reasons for this lopsided provisioning
exist, but for the artists, culture or heritage practitioners; especially given the fact that twenty-
two years of what amounts to neglect of the arts had elapsed since the inauguration of the so-
called people-centred government, parity, or at least a decisive move towards such, should
have been established.
Like science, the arts are prevalent in the everyday lives of societies. In recent history, Black
communities seemed to have purposefully utilised the arts mainly for protest (Shava, 1989;
Younge, 1988), and to some degree, self-amusement (Ogude, 1998). Now that the political war
is over, the arts in South Africa are increasingly regarded in entertainment or relegated to the
status of inconsequential pastime activity. For instance, the South African television, radio and
music industries package art, especially local art, largely for entertainment purposes. The value
of arts and culture to people and societies perceived by scholars such as Bille (2013) and
Lindeborg and Lindkvist (2013) is yet appreciated. Arguably, it is assumed that save for the
protest narrative that has already received academic attention, local art is devoid of artistic
merit. The imagery of Black youth jumping around or dancing in programmes such as Jika-
majika on television in South Africa with its overbearing focus on entertainment programming
perpetuates these stereotypes. It is also disheartening to note that even within the art sector
itself, local arts, cultures, and heritage are constantly undermined and perennially
undervalued (Baines, 1998). The South African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO), for
instance, distinguishes between Western classical music, deemed serious and everything else
as light music. The light music category supposedly encompasses pop genres, with indigenous
African music slowly being introduced. Until the most recent announcement by SABC to move
towards 90 percent of the local content, the attitude of authorities such as the Independent
Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) had continued to give credence to the now
exhausted foreign versus local content quotas debates (ICASA, 2000). According to Lebakeng,
Phalane, and Dalindjebo (2006), institutions of higher learning continue to privilege foreign
rituals at the expense of local epistemologies.
317
Whereas a hint on the consideration of the art in certain liturgy instances and education and
training situations, especially within the African Independent Church and the Non-
Governmental Organisation sectors, is evident, the emphasis had almost always derived from
Western conceptions. The Bantu Education, or rather the apartheid legacy on the African child
as eloquently alluded to by scholars such as Murphy (1992), engineered the starvation of the
Black communities of exposure to art tuition. The contrast between South Africa and other
societies of the world, or between the Black and White communities within the country insofar
as art education is concerned, is still existent and should be cause for concern. Schools in Black
communities are dull environments without arts activities, let alone education. Important
institutions are forever brandishing more of the foreign arts as if local art is non-existent. This
may be linked to poor academic performance overall. In sum, arts, culture and heritage
education in Black South Africa has been neglected even though artistic life amongst these
communities, especially in rural areas, is vivid.
Why IAM education matter?

The benefit of arts education is well documented. Equally, the benefit of taking part or
indulging in arts-related activities are in many annals, including university libraries the world
over (Thompson and Moulin, 2005; Gallagher, Lagman and Walsh, 2006; Simmons-Stern,
Budson and Ally, 2010; and DeMarco and Alexander 2012). The sub-discipline of music therapy
is founded on this basis. The utilitarian nature of IAM is also a point adequately belaboured
upon in several scholarly texts (Nzewi, 1999; Mapaya, 2014). In sum, the human and social
sciences disciplines generally acknowledge the role IAM plays in attaining healthier and
humane societies.
Still, some within the natural and management sciences, even though Albert Einstein was
himself a violinist, downplay the value of music. Arguably, this is done out of sheer ignorance.
Worryingly though, schooling systems across the African continent are still taking the arts for
granted. Where efforts of including IAM in the school syllabus are made, processes are often
led by the least qualified people who, for some non-musicological reasons, set the pace for
such inclusion; or frustrate the exercise.
As stated elsewhere in this article, many music educationists are trained in the Western
musical tradition. Unfortunately, for Africa, this tradition shapes how both curriculum planners
and educators perceive music education regardless of context. So, African music, which
arguably calls for a musicological engagement rooted in the experiences of African music
practitioners, is an unwanted distraction in the economy of most schools. Moreover, leaving
the process of mainstreaming IAM in the hands of the natural scientists and traditional music
educators with only the west as their point of reference is bound to undermine the realisation
of meaningful inclusion of indigenous African music epistemologies in music education.
Therefore, IAM is either non-existent or ill-articulated in school curricula on the African
continent. Much as there is a case for a space in the curriculum for the arts and Western
genres of music, there are also compelling reasons why IAM should also be mainstreamed.
The unique benefits locked in IAM could be harnessed for the greater good of societies if its
place within the music curriculum in South Africa and elsewhere in Africa were to be afforded
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African Musicology
the seriousness it deserves. Firstly, the healing properties of IAM, which are arguably different
from those of other musical forms, could add to the arsenal aimed at fostering healthy
societies and social cohesion. In addition to healing owing to the soothing and the therapeutic
effect of other relatively ‘smoother’ types of music attendant to a ‘music therapy’ branch, IAM
could, to the same end, contributes through its rather more angular (rhythmic) propensity that
invariably incorporates dance. For this reason, when one is being inducted into being or cured
of related ailments, o bintšhwa malopo (they are made to indulge in malopo dance [en route
to healing]). Secondly, like most art forms, IAM (should) also enjoy(s) poetic license, making it
amenable to socio-political commentary. Thirdly, IAM ensemble ideologies thrive mainly on
what scholars such as Nketia (1962) call the hocket system. The hocket system actions the
notions of interdependence, solidarity formations and the enthronement of non-judgemental
spirit, fostering self-realisation and expression even within group contexts (Diouf, 2003).
Fourthly, IAM is not necessarily based on the so-called equal-tempered tuning system
(Aucouturier, 2008). As such, it allows for what may be regarded as tonal imperfections. The
Northern Sotho expression that lešaedi ga le hlokege košeng (there is no odd character in any
given musical performance situation) attests to the accommodative spirit of IAM. Lastly, the
greater capacity of IAM to rally other art forms and to acculturate other traditions
meaningfully attests to its greater margins of tolerance. Some Northern Sotho dinaka
(Northern Sotho pipe ensemble) performances have some affinity with the Scottish kilt, for
example. Accordingly, many more learners and individuals, irrespective of factors that may
otherwise disqualify them, can belong to such a musical group and participate in indigenous
music performance.
The socio-political intentions, as shown in different curriculum statements, are unquestionably

well-meaning. It is in the implementation that such policies are frustrated. Amongst these, we
may cite the heavy involvement of or reliance on proponents of the erstwhile Christian
education system who covertly still harbour a deep-seated belief that Africa-sensed curriculum
is bound to be inferior (Soudien, 2007). Added to this is inept role officials who, despite
insufficient experience in arts or arts education, occupy the curriculum planning process.
Themes such as ‘lowering the standards’ are still bandied with alarming frequency (see Crouch
and Vinjevold, 2006). One has to read between the lines in the discourse of bodies such as the
South African Society for Research in Music (SASRIM) and scholarly reviews of the CAPS to get
the intensity of the disdain that IAM has been allocated equal space and weight in the CAPS.
Although Harrop-allin and Kros, in their article The C Major Scale Index of "Back to Basics" In
South African Education (2014), provide a credible evaluation, they still seek for answers. This,
in part, explains the haste with which the concept of multiculturalism, as opposed to Pan-
Africanism (Dastile, 2013), was preferred (Roux, 2000); for in the multicultural paradigm, the
need for a Pan-African curriculum is diffused and in its place OBE, purported to be the panacea
for all the education problems, preferred. This ensures that the South African applecart, as
Jansen (1998) perceives it, is not upset.
Apart from the speed with which the CAPS process was ordered by the politicians, the
centrality of some inept officials, as alluded to earlier, conspires to undermine the quality of
the product. This speaks to the ANC policy of cadre deployment. Even though one would
normally expect late corrections and amendments after the writing process was officially
completed, the final CAPS document features insertions of strange concepts such as ‘free kiba’
319
and ‘Afrophonia’ and, in some cases, the retention of old thinking (DBE, 2011). Certain officials
sought to write themselves into the curriculum by sneaking in unfounded conceptions and
untested content for which only they can be credited. Despite debates and advice to guard
against this tendency, it would seem that the last-minute give-and-take scenario, where the
proponents of the new inventions cajoled the old school into agreeing to their inclusion,
ensued after the fallout of some role-players. It would seem this was possible for as long as
some of the old Western and tried-and-tested approaches were retained. Such is the
complexity of curriculum planning in South Africa!
In CAPS, the concept of learning areas has largely been replaced by subjects. However, what is
clear but worrying is that arts and culture disciplines are still lumped together, even though
educators (teachers in CAPS parlance) are normatively trained in only one arts field. In this
instance, a music teacher, for example, must contend with sourcing materials and then
facilitate learning in visual arts, dance and drama education subject areas. Suffice to say, this
kind of approach should have been ameliorated in the CAPS. Unfortunately, it is instead
retained in the lower grades.
Despite the ill-preparedness of many teachers, especially in Black communities, the idea of
mainstreaming indigenous African art has received a necessary boost in the design of the CAPS
curriculum. For the first time, IAM, for example, is apportioned a third of the space allocated
to the three main music genres; this even though the packaging and delivery of its content, at
least from a classroom point of view, is still in its embryonic stage. But finding experts in
indigenous art education remains elusive since almost all music educators, irrespective of their
backgrounds, are essentially products of a system founded on Western art education.
Understandably, such a system has little relevance in preparing most learners for a career
within the predominantly Black South African context. The unwillingness or delay in setting
instrumental proficiency standards for grading purposes and the reluctance to reconstitute the
music examination board are some of the matters that continue to limit progress in realising
an Africa-sensed school art curriculum.
Conclusion
This chapter sought to advocate for mainstreaming the arts, particularly indigenous African
arts, in the South African school curriculum. To this end, it discussed the reason for curriculum
reviews and the environment under which such occurs. It further argued that how a country
views and deals with the arts and science fields is reflective of its status amongst the nations of
the world. The fact that South Africa is, in most respects, a third world country is reflected in the
manner in which the arts and science disciplines are perceived. Furthermore, the chapter argued
that by excluding the indigenous arts, the country may be missing some of the inherent benefits of
African epistemologies. To buttress this latter point, a brief reflection of how IAM is viewed and its
inclusion into the curriculum was discussed.
Arguably, in an African context such as South Africa, the continued neglect of indigenous art
education in all schools is, for whatever reason, inexcusable. Apart from betraying the political
ideals of the founding fathers of the African nation, such a blindsight deprives the general
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African Musicology
populace of an avenue through which self-assertion and economic emancipation could be
achieved. Admitting such neglect should be the first step in arresting the continuing dissipation
of the country’s cultural fabric and that of the continent. As this chapter has argued, the
premium placed on local science should be reciprocal to the one consigned to the local art,
culture, and heritage. Whereas foreign arts and cultures are somewhat etched in our psyche,
the argument that local arts should be treated with the same kind of seriousness is irrefutable.
Hardly any logic exists for any national education system to prefer science to the arts exclusively; or
for any administration to unashamedly rally resources towards promoting the foreign at the
expense of the local; unless such is done for horrendous and dubious reasons.
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Tshishonga, N., 2014. Cadre Deployment and Its Implications on Service Delivery in South Africa: A
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Speaking of Shamans: San ancestral

narratives and the trance dance ritual
Jean-Marie Dederen
University of Venda
godfrey.dederen@univen.ac.za
&
Jennifer Mokakabye
University of Venda
mokakabjejennifer@yahoo.com
Introduction
David Lewis-Williams is recognised worldwide, by followers and adversaries alike, as the
doyen of rock art studies. He revolutionised the interpretation of the ancient paintings and
engravings of the San when he created an exciting new perspective, the shamanistic model,
several decades ago. He put forward that the prehistoric art of the San displayed the trance
induced visions of healers. Shamanistic healing, he suggested, “constituted the social, ritual
and conceptual contexts in which the art was made” (Dowson and Lewis-Williams, 1994, p. 395).
Of late, Lewis-Williams has added Myth and Meaning. San-Bushman Folklore in Global Context
(2015) to his lengthy list of publications. This monograph, the methodology of which mirrors his
analytical engagement with rock art, offers the reader an original and articulate explanation
of San narrative art. Biesele (1993) and Guenther (1999) concur with Lewis-Williams that the
trance dance – a shamanistic healing ritual – takes centre stage in the process of attributing
meaning to the stories. The pages that follow will refer to his theoretical position as the “myth-
trance parallel or hypothesis”.
It is the purpose of our discussion to demonstrate that interpreting San folklore in terms
of ritual – astute as it may appear to the academic eye – fails to do justice to the indigenous
epistemology in which the stories are grounded. Instead, we believe that San mythology is
best understood with the hunting idiom in which it is expressed. Our alternative perspective
is a work in progress. Yet, we hope that the reflections presented here will contribute, be it
in a modest way, to the ongoing reappraisal of anthropological discourse. This project was
initiated by postmodernists within the discipline back in the 1990s.
San art and shamanism

The San folklore data discussed here have been recorded amongst the Xam, Kung and Nharo
speaking descendants of the hunter-gatherers who once inhabited Southern Africa as far as
the Zambezi. Throughout the Subcontinent, skeletal remains and artefacts of an estimated
50.000 Stone Age sites have been identified as being of San origin. Archaeologists have
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proposed that the Southern Cape was their original heartland. However, because of the ever-
increasing competition with herders and farmers during the past 2000 years, these foragers
eventually migrated into the more arid areas and mountain ranges (Parkington and Dlamini,
2015, pp. 24-5). In the last 300 years, their numbers have been vastly reduced due to colonial
settlement and near cataclysmic forms of acculturation (Skotnes, 1996; Garlake, 1995, p. 8).
Ancestors of the contemporary San are the creators of the exquisite and fascinating paintings,
the meaning of which has been the subject of academic debate for well over a century.
However, by the mid-1970s, the study of rock art had reached an impasse. With its emphasis on
description and statistical analysis, the empiricist tradition had grown into a stale enterprise.
The field was ready for a novel perspective, and Lewis-Williams offered just that.
The Bleek notebooks, an invaluable collection of 19th-century manuscripts documenting

Xam (Southern San) culture and religion, contained exciting data that contributed greatly
to the interpretation of the art (Lewis-Williams and Dowson, 1989, pp. 27-32, 138). After
considering, in addition, the ethnographic fieldwork of anthropologist Lorna Marshall (1976)
and psychologist Richard Katz (1982), Lewis-Williams was confident to propose that the trance
dance, a shamanistic healing ritual amongst the Kalahari San, provided the key to unlock the
meaning of the prehistoric paintings.
The performance of this dance culminated in an out-of-body journey that enabled shamans
to replenish their healing power. On their return from the other-worldly realm, they used
this energy to fight illness. Lewis-Williams and his co-workers have proposed at the Rock Art
Research Institute that the very same concepts of a trans-cosmological journey and healing
potency constituted the subject matter of most of the art.
Other aspects of trance experience in the art were explained with the help of neuropsychology.
Researchers of altered states of consciousness have identified and analysed several universal
symptoms of the bodily experience of trance, such as shivering, back, stomach and headaches;
the sensation, buzzing sounds; flickering vision, etc. This data could be used to account for
certain details of the paintings – like dots, flecks, lines, elongated or supine bodies and winged
humans – that had previously gone unnoticed or unexplained (Lewis-Williams and Dowson,
1989, pp. 32-3, 124-33). As a result, by the early 1990s, the University of the Witwatersrand’s
research team proposed a whole new understanding of rock art shelters as showrooms of
shamanistic activities and visions (Lewis-Williams and Dowson 1989, pp. 179-81).
Intriguingly, Hewitt (2006, p. 223), who pioneered the study of Xam (Southern San) folklore,
found no trace of the shamanistic trance dance in the same Bleek archival data which had
inspired the author of Myth and Meaning. He concluded that the healing tradition of the
Southern San was very different from the trance-centred practices of the Northern San in the
Kalahari. It certainly did not require any dancing. No mention was ever made of elaborate
curing dances by the Xam informants in the Bleek interviews (see also Marshall, 1969, p. 351).
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San myth and shamanism

Ancestral tales never played a substantial role in developing Lewis-Williams’s shamanistic
theory, nor, for that matter, in his rock art interpretation. Myth and Meaning (2015), his most
recent monograph, therefore arrived somewhat as a surprise. The author suggests that the
narrative art of the San will remain unintelligible unless one delves into the fundamentals of
San society, religion and ritual (2015, p. 47).
The meaning of the narratives, it is explained, is contained in key symbols or fundamental

concepts. These hidden, powerful, cosmological references in the text are labelled “nuggets”.
It is claimed that the symbolism generally relates to the trance dance and shamanistic
experience, especially in the trickster stories. Nuggets are simple, single words such as death,
waterhole, kaross etc. The narrator need not articulate their deeper meanings to the native
audience. They are easily missed by outsiders, though (2015, pp. 42-3). We will return to their
use in the analysis of folklore shortly.
San expressive culture features three closely connected domains: visual art, ritual and
folklore. The same tripartite division, Guenther suggests, characterises the belief system of
the Kalahari (or Northern) San, whose folktales are analysed in Tricksters and Trancers (1999;
see also 1989). The book aims to probe the conceptual affinity of the latter two domains. It
is proposed that the trickster figure in the narratives and the healer in a trance mirror each
other. They are also the key protagonists in the religious beliefs and rituals (Guenther, 1999,
p. vii, 4, 6).
Interestingly, the myth-trance parallel, which constitutes the main Thesis of Tricksters and
Trancers, contradicts Guenther’s earlier work (1990, 1994). Then, he suggested that San art
and trance ritual were intimately related (they shared symbolic and narrative themes), but
myth and trance were not. Guenther defined myths rather poetically as “set in their symbolic
key playing their narrative tunes” (1994, p. 257).
The expressive domain of San folklore, he once put plainly, was removed from social reality,
unlike its ritual counterpart, the trance dance. The paintings, on the other hand, he agreed with
Lewis-Williams, depicted unambiguous metaphors of shamanistic experience. Even hunting
scenes and social life events – which contained no obvious references to trance – could be
easily aligned with the shamanistic theory. In contrast, mythology’s nature was “hauntingly
asocial, pre-cultural, almost liminal and surreal”. Indeed, Guenther noted how ancestral
narratives, generally, either disassembled or inverted San cultural practices.
Moreover, the myths seemed devoid of religious importance. He mentions two observations
in support of the latter argument. First, the so-called charter myths (narratives explaining
the sacred origins of important social and political institutions) were absent from the wider
corpus of San folklore. Secondly, the central character of the narratives – the trickster mantis
– more often than not seemed to behave like a ludicrous mischievous prankster rather than a
culture hero (1994, p. 258, 260).
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Guenther further observed that whereas ritual was intensely moral, social and communal,
and the art was concerned with the now and now, the incidents depicted in the stories referred
to an entirely different world. They were set in the mythical time of creation. Art contrasted
with folklore in terms of gender too. While the paintings displayed the public social order
of masculine interests (hunting, trance, game animals), myth depicted nature and the pre-
cultural order which, he thought, was closely associated with women, who were portrayed in
the stories as hybrid were-beasts, song-birds, small mammals, planets and stars (1994, p. 260-
1).
All in all, Guenther, in his initial work, understood San mythology to comprise a separate
ontological domain (1994, pp. 259-60). Myth stood apart from art and ritual. He, therefore,
recommended that any attempt at interpreting the paintings in terms of folklore would be
counter-productive. He, similarly, raised serious doubt about the use of the shamanistic model
in the analysis of myth. He, therefore, criticised Lewis-Williams for defining A Visit to the Lion’s
House as a “coded tale” about shamanistic, trance experience. He concluded that San myth
texts were concerned with “altogether different matters” and a separate universe (1994, p.
267-8).
A decade later, in Tricksters and Trancers, Guenther declares that San folklore mirrors the
ontological domain of shamanistic healing. The centrality of the trickster tales within the
corpus of San folklore, we learn, matches the central importance of the curing dance in the
realm of San ritual (1999, p. 127). More particularly, Guenther proposes that tricksters and
trancers are similar in that they both manifest the embodiment of ambiguity and fluidity.
They both confound basic cosmological or ideological categories, such as the natural and
supernatural, humanity and divinity, humanity and animality. Fluidity is displayed by the
transformation of the trickster, a common feature in the tales. As for the healer in a trance, the
fluid nature of his mode of being is similarly manifested by the transcendence into a different
state of consciousness during the trance dance performance (1999, p. 4).
What is more, the trance dance performance ambiguously combines the individually focused
mental process of the trancer with the collective sense of fellowship and the social curing
of community, which emerge from the dance (1999, p. 182). These two opposing forces are
deemed to be expressive of what Guenther (with the help of Barnard 1986, 1992) defines as a
“foraging ethos”.
The trickster in San folklore embodies a similar kind of ambiguity. He is single and multiple;
human, animal, divine or a blend; never stable, always ready to change; creator and inverter
or destroyer of his creations. His tales mix dreams with reality and the present with the past
(1999, pp. 101-4). The trickster heals and kills; lives with his family, and wanders around lonely;
he is a grown-up and childlike; he is selfish and selfless; foolish and clever; weak and powerful
(1999, pp. 106-7).
The book’s central thesis is that San folklore’s creation, transmission, and performance exhibit
the essential features of the foraging ethos, i.e., the hunting-gathering lifestyle (1999, pp. 132-
3). The diversity and opportunism inform folktales of foraging, and so are trance experiences
and the values and relations of San society in general (1999, p. 135). The affinity of San
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mythology with the mobility, openness, adaptability and unpredictability of foraging life, it is
concluded, is manifested by the endless variations in which San stories occur (1999, p. 236).
Women Like Meat (1993), Biesele’s analytical treatise of a selection of Kalahari San myths,
makes for dense reading, possibly because she tries to reconcile three diverse personal
interests. First, her initial fieldwork and the publications that resulted from these encounters
were shaped primarily by a doctoral project and by her participation in the Kalahari Research
Group, founded by Harvard University professors Lee and DeVore in the 1960s. Second, in terms
of epistemology, participants in this project were guided by Cultural Ecology, a theoretical
orientation that was very popular in post-war North American anthropological circles.
Biesele, not unlike fellow members of the study group, investigated how the life of hunter-
gatherers had adapted over time to their natural and material setting. In Women like Meat,
these ecological and evolutionary interests are manifested repeatedly, both in the description
and interpretation of the data. However, gender interaction constitutes a second analytical
interest underlying the production of her innovative book, as is suggested in its title. Finally,
possibly inspired by a decade of close cooperation with Lewis-Williams, trance healing
provides Biesele with a third investigative angle on folklore.
The relations between men and women in San society can be explained, so proposes Biesele, in
terms of their subsistence activities, particularly the sexual division of labour. The economic
realms of men and women, she notes, are restricted. Then again, both sexes are also known
to collaborate closely. The author interprets the balance of power between the social forces
of opposition and integration as an evolutionary mechanism advancing economic survival
(1993, p. 83).
The antagonism between the sexes in Kung society is mirrored by a tension between the
individual and the group. Again, along with the thinking of cultural ecologists, balancing
personal and communal interests constitutes an adaptive mechanism. Taken all together,
then, sharing, tolerance and avoidance of conflict are identified as key cultural values or
ideals and as evidence for successful cultural adaptation to the natural environment of the
Kung foragers (1993, pp. 43-6; 76; 98). Biesele’s respected opinion that both storytelling and
shamanistic healing (the trance dance) express and maintain these values and, in doing so,
have contributed to the continued existence of the Kalahari hunter-gatherers.
Moreover, storytelling is an important means for the San to make sense of their everyday life,
in which gender is said to play an essential role, which resonates with the meaning of the
economic division of labour. It is declared that, on closer inspection, narrative art displays
the tension between the two sexes in daily life and their cooperation. Phrased differently,
the same balance or “pendulum swing” that characterises the subsistence activities of these
foragers qualifies their gender relations, or at least, so we are told in the ancestral narratives
(1993, pp. 87, 98).
Like Guenther, Biesele concludes from her observation of storytellers and subsequent
interviews that San narratives are forever changing. Personal novelties are added to existing
tales. But, on the other hand, it is equally true that these creative, individual efforts are kept
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in balance by the group (1993, p. 65). To summarise the argument so far: the male-female and
individual-group oppositions structure San socio-economic life and storytelling. In addition,
harmonious and balanced interaction in hunter-gatherer society exemplifies successful
cultural adaptation.
On the issue of the myth-trance parallel, Biesele contends that it is manifested in two ways.
Firstly, the trance dance is said to mark the restoration of health, so subsistence activities
and storytelling resolve gender tension. Indeed, following the trance dance performance,
social harmony is re-established, and the communal values of tolerant concern and solidarity
are restored (1993, pp. 78, 84). Moreover, myth and trance are also similar. However, it is
proposed more daringly in that they are presented in the form of a symbolic drama that
produces a “forward movement towards balance, mediation, resolution or synthesis” (1993,
p. 87). Secondly, Biesele adds confidently, the performance of both trance and myth displays
sharing and the balance between individual aspirations and collective survival. Indeed, the
core values of egalitarianism and communalism require that individual expressions and
experiences of healers and storytellers need acceptance from fellow hunter-gatherer band
members (1993, pp. 66-7; 72-3).
Revisiting the myth-as-trance hypothesis

In their efforts to attribute meaning to San ancestral tales, the three authors under scrutiny
have relied heavily on indigenous cultural data. What is more, far from being imperfect
interpreters, these scholars have carefully considered the vernacular in which the stories have
been phrased. And yet, despite their efforts to make sense of the stories against the backdrop of
indigenous social life, religion and language, they have, we feel strongly, somehow lost track
of the authenticity or the ‘Sanness’ (Lewis-Williams, 2015, p. 44) of the narrative art. Theirs is
not an insider’s view.
As irony has it, the failure to understand San folklore in terms of an inside perspective applies,
especially to Myth and Meaning. The author seems honestly convinced that he has succeeded
in avoiding the ’bias’ of Eurocentric folklore theories. To be sure, Lewis-Williams tries hard not
to impose meaning onto the tales. However, to give the San the last word, he proposes that
the interpretation of their narratives should be based on the cosmological references hidden
within the tales (the so-called nuggets). Nuggets will defend myths against appropriation
by outsiders, so we are told because they provide the analyst with a tool to activate “the
complex web of indigenous meanings in which the stories resonate” (2015, p. 44). We hope
to demonstrate the nuggets of the tales in terms of a native epistemology. In doing so, an
outsider’s view has, in effect, been imposed on the narratives.
The wider theoretical framework in which the nuggets are deployed – the shamanistic model
– is closely aligned with the same positivist paradigm—Thein. Thein which the previous
theoretical orientation of rock art studies (i.e. empiricism) was grounded. In our opinion, any
analysis that is closely modelled on the natural sciences is bound to contradict the animistic
worldview of traditional hunter-gatherers.
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Lewis-Williams likes to perceive his theory as being “interpretive” in nature. Interpretivism is

a designation for several variations of culture theory closely associated with the traditions of
hermeneutics and phenomenology. Some aspects of the shamanistic model are admittedly
reminiscent of the textual analysis that characterises the hermeneutic tradition. However, any
obvious analytical connection with phenomenology is wanting. For example, defining “being
human” primarily in terms of materiality, as Lewis-Williams does (1998, p. 87), goes against the
grain of interpretive thinking. The same applies to his suggestion that the true meaning of San
spirituality can be reduced to neuro-physiological activities within the brain (Lewis-Williams
and Pearce, 2004, p. xxiv).
More alarmingly, followers of the shamanistic model have routinely tried to match some
or another feature of the ethnographic description of the trance dance ritual with a
corresponding visual detail in the paintings. For example, shamans have described their
bodily experience during the healing dance in terms of the sensation of flight. This feature of
trance has been used to elucidate the meaning of images of winged creatures in the paintings.
The perfunctory action of matching ethnographic data with details of the art has been labelled
(and rejected) by Garlake (1995) as the “ethnographic snap”. Incidentally, Garlake has found a
strong ally for his criticism in the person of Anne Solomon, possibly the most ardent opponent
of the shamanistic model. Solomon, an art historian, has advised fellow rock art researchers to
assess the formal features of the art independently of ethnographic evidence, at least in the
initial stage of the analysis (Solomon, 2008).
Sadly, a similar methodological flaw underlies the attempts in Myth and Meaning to interpret
San folklore. The scrutiny of the stories is guided, if not shaped, by ethnographic data from
trance experience. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the key symbols or nuggets that Lewis-
Williams allegedly ‘discovers’ through scrupulous textual analysis are identical to the
checklist of “trance metaphors” that he proposed to explain San rock art (Lewis-Williams and
Dowson, 1989, p. 50 -9). Thus, while we would not wish to deny the importance of ethnographic
data in examining both the paintings and the stories, we are fully in agreement with the critics
of Lewis-Williams that the analyst should avoid using ethnography as the starting point to her
investigative efforts.
Another general dimension of the methodology underlying the study of the tales in Myth
and Meaning warrants our attention, if not a concern. When different variants of a myth are
available, Lewis-Williams routinely decides to select the version provided by storytellers
closely related to a healer or claimed to have practised as shamans themselves. These
particular informants’ comments comprise the basis of his discussion (and the bias he
unwittingly introduces in his explanation of the myths!). Should it surprise us then that the
selected informants support an appreciation of the narratives in terms of the myth-as-trance
hypothesis?
When revisiting the arguments put forward by Biesele in favour of the myth-ritual parallel, it
soon becomes obvious that they reiterate the thinking of Lewis-Williams. One of the underlying
premises of the discussion in Women like Meat echoes the main tenet of Myth and Meaning,
namely that the curing or trance dance constitutes the central religious ritual in San society
and its most important artistic expression (1993, p. 74).
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We reason that most of the supporting arguments for the assumed resemblance between myth
and trance are functionalist in nature. Biesele has interpreted trance dance ritual and the
art of narrating to promote survival and the values these two domains uphold as successful
cultural adaptations to the demanding ecological conditions in the Kalahari. Biesele’s
materialist vision of human culture allies itself with Cultural Ecology (1993, p. 8).
There is another trail of ‘old hat’ functionalist thinking embedded in Women like Meat.
Although the stories are repeatedly said to display the opposition between the sexes (a similar
tension characterises the division of labour), Biesele adds that San cultural behaviour is
guided primarily by balance and conflict resolution. The mediation of the proposed man/
woman cognitive opposition is declared to be the main theme and purpose of the folklore
of the Kalahari San (1993, p. 2). The theoretical notion of culture as an equilibrium seeking
system is reminiscent of the concepts of organic analogy and cultural homeostasis, popular in
the hey-days of functionalism. The same applies to her suggestion that the trance dance ritual
should be understood as a social means of restoring the balance between individual health
and community welfare (1993, pp. 57-8, 85). The weaknesses of functionalist anthropology,
including its connection with the colonial project, need not be explored here. Postmodernism
has exhausted that subject more than two decades ago.
Guenther is probably closer to the truth when he keenly observes that despite the generally
balanced nature of gender relations in simple hunter-gatherer societies, men” hold more than
a fair share” of the decision-making powers. More importantly, since women in many stories
challenge and dominate men, Guenther states, at least some of the myths could have been
intended to symbolically challenge or counter “the male bias inherent in the economic and
political domain of social reality” (1999, p. 248).
Regarding the diversity and fluidity in the format and performance of San folktales, Guenther
proposed that these dimensions of the narrative art betray the foraging mode of subsistence.
We believe there is no need to involve the trance parallel or San subsistence in explaining
that folktales occur in different versions and formats. They are, after all, products of an
oral tradition that crosses cultural boundaries and has been subjected to local adaptation.
Moreover, narratives are modular constructs. They are built and rebuilt, changed and revised
by the narrators who creatively, as bricoleurs, combine segments from different stories, or
modify them if they feel inclined to do so.
As for the alleged fluidity of the trickster, his unpredictable and immoral behaviour could
just as easily be interpreted in terms of the didactic role he fulfils in the stories. We have
suggested elsewhere (Dederen, 2008) that his character depicts stealth, prowess and survival
skills, all of which are expected from men-in-the-making. The trickster is a mantis, a predator,
a hunter: a perfect role model for young male listeners, future hunters, in the audience.
Storytelling, in this respect, prepares the ground for male rites of passage in which similar
didactic goals and values feature. We must also keep in mind that many trickster tales were,
at least partially, meant to entertain the young listeners, hence the jester-like behaviour of
its main protagonist. In other words, there is no need to resort to shamanistic experience or
environmental determinism to account for the inchoateness of the narrative art and its main
actor, the trickster.
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Ambiguity and fluidity, by the way, are not the preserve of the folklore of hunter-gatherers.
They are the order of the day in the crafting of the folktales of non-foraging communities too.
Admittedly, the flexibility of storytelling may have been more pronounced in foraging societies
than amongst settled farmers. Yet, the folktales were very similar. In the final analysis, when
Guenther equates the narrative art with the subsistence ways of foragers, he seems to reiterate
the materialist, environmental determinism that characterises Biesele’s vantage point on
folklore.
To conclude: we propose that the analytical concepts which have been deployed by the three
authors who are being reviewed here (deeper structures, foraging ethos, mental templates,
trance symbols, cultural-ecological adaptations etc.) may very well be nifty intellectual
creations, but they have done little to define, let alone elucidate an indigenous understanding
of forager mythology.
Through the eyes of the hunter

Here, the argument we put forward is that a perspective best approximates an indigenous
understanding of ancestral narratives based on the hunter’s mindset. To interpret the
ancestral myths of the San from an emic or inside vantage point, we need to take cognisance
of the hunting ideology in which they are grounded and the hunting idiom in which they are
framed. Whilst we believe that, on the one hand, the explanation of the stories will gain an
additional layer of meaning when considered through the eyes of the hunter, we propose that
the narratives, in turn, will enhance our understanding of the hunting idiom. Therefore, we
consider the ideas offered in this final section to be a work in progress.
To be clear, two of the scholars who are scrutinised here manifest, at least on occasion, an
awareness of the cosmological importance of the symbolism of the wild and the phenomenon
of human-animal affinity, two major features of the traditional hunter’s worldview. Lewis-
Williams and followers, in contrast, have stayed cautiously clear from explicitly attributing
analytical importance to the realm of hunting. Their scepticism is possibly rooted in their
opposition to the sympathetic hunting magic theory of the previous generations of rock art
researchers.
Biesele, who on the whole has a keen interest in the material, economic and evolutionary
dimensions of hunting, is well aware of the importance of its spiritual underpinnings,
especially in the discussion of the so-called folk concepts of the Kalahari San. The latter is said
to permeate both the trance dance and folklore. So, again, we agree when she singles out the
concept of animal potency as an authentic tool for the analysis of folktales.
She observes that the great antelopes play an important role in individual and communal
attempts to mediate with the forces of nature and transcend human limitations (1993, pp.
60, 89). Hunting and trance, she adds, strongly exhibit indigenous beliefs in animal power.
Folklore is equally permeated by religious concepts and symbols expressive of animal potency
(1993, pp. 91-6). Unfortunately, because of her primary interest in the adaptive value of
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balanced gender relations, Biesele gets lost in translation and unwittingly joins forces with
the (neo-)evolutionary and ecological approaches. The latter two schools of thought have
conventionally dominated archaeological and anthropological studies of forager culture.
They have generally sidelined the spiritual dimension of hunting in favour of its subsistence
role.
Guenther appears to be conscious of the social and spiritual importance of the hunter-prey
bond, especially in the section of Tricksters and Trancers where he introduces the “human-
animal nexus” (1999, p. 70). However, the relevance of this stimulating data is never examined
further, let alone put effectively to use in the analysis of the folktales. Instead, the author’s
attention shifts routinely towards the economic concept of the foraging ethos, which is said
to tie the analysis of trance to folklore. In proposing that the ambiguity and fluidity of myth
and ritual are in unison with the nomadic subsistence mode of hunting-gathering, Guenther
regresses into the same kind of materialist writing that Biesele had allied herself with. This
perspective originated in the 1950s and was boosted by the Hunter conference’s seminal Man
and the impressive monograph (1968). Ironically, Guenther was one of the early critics of this
approach (2007).
The cosmic empathy between humans and animals – which defines much of traditional hunter-
gatherers’ lives – is difficult to grasp from a contemporary perspective. The Enlightenment
and the rise of Positivism have created a worldview in which nature and culture are delineated
as separate, oppositional domains and animals are defined as the “ultimate other”. In
foraging societies, on the other hand, the natural and the cultural are perceived as profoundly
intertwined (see, e.g. James, 1990; Oetelaar, 2014 and Morris, 2000). Only when we study how
traditional hunters live, talk and think about animals (in addition to killing and eating them)
will a worldview rooted in the permeability or holistic essence of human and animal existence
become an intelligible modern science.
We are, obviously, neither the first nor the only researchers to probe the indigenous hunter-
gatherer epistemology. The earliest anthropologists, and evolutionists, must be credited for
defining the essence of ‘primitive religion’ as largely animistic more than a century ago. Alfred
Irving Hallowell (1955, 1960) revived the study of indigenous cosmologies from an animistic
perspective.
What is more, there is admittedly no such thing as a single, universal hunting ideology. We
want to emphasise here that the worldview of foragers is immensely varied, and acculturative
interaction with farmers and pastoralists has ‘contaminated’ the ‘pristine’ foraging lifestyles.
Moreover, unlike any other manifestation of culture, the ways of the hunter have been
subjected to change and adaptation. Nevertheless, informed by our extensive literature review,
we cannot acknowledge that hunters worldwide have displayed remarkable ideological and
behavioural resemblances. The following elementary description of the hunter’s mindset is
derived from Martin’s stellar volume on the encounter between the First Nations and early
traders in Canada (1978). His is a sincere attempt at defining the realm of the hunt within its
spiritual context.
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The hunter merges sympathetically with other living and nonliving beings in a world filled with
a magical force that controls nature and humankind’s destiny in the animistic belief system.
Members of the First Nations call this potency Manitou, the vital force. Ritual constitutes an
attempt to influence or harvest it. Importantly, animals are controlled by their Masters, the
GameKeepers, to inspect their movement and how the hunters have treated them. Abuse,
insult or torture is punished by withholding the prey. It is believed that when an animal is
butchered, its soul returns to its Keeper to report on the particular killers.
The hunters are motivated by a desire for pimadaziwin, the good life granted to them as long as
they pay scrupulous attention to the hunt rules. They must, at all costs, endeavour to maintain
cordial relations with the Keepers of the Game. When a young man joins the rites of passage
into adulthood, he is introduced to the contract or spiritual agreement with the Keepers. He
learns about the correct forms of interaction with the animals. He practices communication
with the spirit world and, for that purpose, is assigned a personal spirit helper. Because the
prey animals are considered intelligent as hunters, hunting magic needs to be performed
occasionally to outsmart them. At times of starvation, the help of a specialist is required. He
performs a ritual known as the medicine hunt. Some of the powerful animals, like the bear,
are the object of extensive ceremonies, the organisation of which is the duty of selected cult
members.
In the indigenous perspective of traditional hunters, subsistence is considered a holy

occupation. It is imbued with religious ideas and symbolism. Hunting often requires
ceremonial preparations such as mediation, dancing, singing and dreaming. The hunter is said
to transform into an animal during the vision quests, which prepare him for the hunt. Animals,
on the other hand, are perceived to be conscious and intelligent fellow members of the same
spiritual kingdom who routinely pay a visit to their human relatives. They are animal persons
who are involved in kinship and social relations with the hunters. Thus, hunting is conceived as
‘ordained killing’.
We contend tentatively that the folklore of the San becomes more meaningful when
interpreted through the eyes of the hunter. On closer inspection, all ancestral narratives
selected by Lewis-Williams, Biesele and Guenther for analysis in terms of the trance ritual were
found, by the authors of this essay, to be firmly set within the matrix of the hunting cosmology.
They transpire the common destiny of humans and animals and the intimate, spiritual bond
between them.
As they are commonly known, the People of the Early Race stories take place in the mythical
time of creation and emphasise the ontological nature and significance of the hunter-prey
affinity. In these narratives, the narrators deploy the hunting idiom to explain the origins of the
natural and social order, the different animal species, celestial phenomena, and important
institutions such as marriage and initiation.
The so-called Eland creation tales – which take up a separate chapter in Myth and Meaning
(Lewis-Williams, 2015, pp. 75-96) – explain the spiritual origins of the hunt. They describe
particular aspects of the contract between hunter and prey and exemplify another basic
concept of the indigenous cosmology, namely the cosmic unity between humans and animals.
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African Musicology
The Trickster stories essentially celebrate the hunter. In addition, their didactic purpose is to
teach courage, stealth and endurance. They form part of the wider processes of enculturation
that mould the personality of the young hunter-in-the-making. Interestingly, similar stories
are present in the folklore of the neighbours of the San, the African farmers (Dederen 2008).
On the other hand, the stories of Khwa, the rain monster, are meant to instruct young women
on the importance of the ritual interdictions related to menstruation. They point out how
transgressions of the taboos can affect the hunt and the hunter. They also manifest how the
meaning of women’s fertility is perceived in terms of the hunt and animal power.
Because they are neither human nor animal, the protagonists of the stories of the Early
Race exemplify rather aptly the common origins of humans and animals. Researchers have
repeatedly defined these creatures as animals who behave like humans. We propose that
the opposite is true. From an indigenous perspective, they are theriomorphs, i.e. ‘animalised’
humans rather than anthropomorphic animals.
A detailed discussion of our explanation of the myths falls outside the scope of this essay.
It will suffice to mention here that the myth-trance parallel has not always improved our
understanding of native folklore. Solomon (1997, 2008) agrees that the primacy of ritual and
the over-emphasis on the analytical importance of altered states of consciousness – which
typify the shamanistic model – obscure the meaning of both the visual and narrative art San.
We conclude from our preliminary review that the shamanistic healing ritual, rather than
being the hub of San social and religious life, merely constitutes one of many forms in which
the hunting idiom is expressed.
References
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Satterthwaite Colloquium on African Religion and Ritual. Satterthwaite. Cumbria.
Barnard, A., 1992. Hunters and Herders of Southern Africa: A Comparative Ethnography of The
Khoisan Peoples. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Biesele, M., 1993. Women Like Meat. The Folklore and Foraging Ideology of The Ju/’Hoan.
Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
Dederen, J. M., 2008. “Redemption, Resistance, Rebellion: The Three “R’s” Of African Folklore”.
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Garlake, P., 1995. The Hunter’s Vision: The Prehistoric Art of Zimbabwe. London: The British
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Guenther, M., 1989. Bushman Folktales: Oral Traditions of The Nharo of Botswana and of the /
Xam of the Cape. Stuttgart: Frank Steiner Verlag.
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Guenther, M., 1994. “The Relationship of Bushman Art to Ritual and Folklore”. In Dowson, T.
A., and Lewis-Williams, D. (eds.). Contested Images. Diversity in Southern African Rock Art
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Guenther, M., 2007. “Current Issues and Future Directions in Hunter-Gatherer Studies”.
Anthropos 102, pp. 371-88.
Guenther, M., 1999. Tricksters and Trancers. Bushman Religion and Society. Bloomington:
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Hewitt, R., 2006. Structure, Meaning and Ritual in The Narratives of The Southern San.
Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
James, W., 1990. “Antelope as Self-Image Amongst the Uduk”. In Willis, R. (ed.), Signifying
Animals.Human Meaning in The Natural World, pp. 106-203. London: Routledge.
Katz, R., 1982. Boiling Energy: Community Healing Amongst the Kalahari San. Cambridge MA:
Harvard University Press.
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Lewis-Williams, J. D., 1998. “Quanto? The Issue Of ‘Many Meanings’ in Southern African San
Rock Art Research”. South African Archaeological Bulletin 53, pp. 86-97.
Lewis-Williams, J. D., 2015. Myth and Meaning. San-Bushman Folklore in Global Context. Cape
Town: University of Cape Town Press.
Lewis-Williams, J. D. and Dowson, T., 1989. Images of Power. Understanding Bushman Rock Art.
Johannesburg: Southern Books.
Lewis-Williams, J. D. and Pearce, D. G., 2004. San Spirituality: Roots, Expressions, and Social
Consequences. Cape Town: Double Storey.
Marshall, L., 1969. “The Medicine Dance Of The!Kung Bushmen”. Africa 39, pp. 347- 81.
Marshall, L., 1976. The! Kung of Nyae Nyae.Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
Martin, C., 1978. Keepers of The Game. Indian-Animal Relationships and The Fur Trade.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Morris, B., 2000. The Power of Animals: An Ethnography. Oxford: Berg.
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Oetelaar, G. A., 2014. “Worldviews and Human-Animal Relations: Critical Perspectives

on Bison-Human Relations Amongst the Euro-Canadians And Blackfoot.” Critique of
Anthropology 34, pp. 94-112.
Parkington, J. and Dlamini, N., 2015. First People. Ancestors of The San. Cape Town: Creda
Communications.
Skotnes, P., 1996. Miscast: Negotiating the Presence of The Bushman. Cape Town: University of
Cape Tone Press.
Solomon, A. C., 1997. “The Myth of Ritual Origins? Ethnography, Mythology and Interpretation
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Plants consumed by BaPedi people as

foods: a case study of the Capricorn
district, Limpopo province, South Africa
Sebua Semenya
Tribute
The Editor and the writing team have learnt with regret the passing on of Dr Sebua Silas
Semenya, a renowned IKS specialist on Indigenous Medicine (notably avoid the term
Traditional Medicine, TM). This chapter is posthumously included in this book without
changes. We decided to honour him by keeping his text with its body and soul unchanged to
remember him eternally. Accordingly, we take full responsibility for all the errors that may be
encountered in reading the text.
Introduction
Approximately 1.2 billion rural people in the world do not have adequate food to meet
their daily requirements, and a further 2 billion people are deficient in one or more
essential micro-nutrients (Williams and Haq, 2003). Most of these people reside in African
countries (Labadarios et al., 2011, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United
Nations, 2013), and various studies support this. For instance, findings from a national
household food security survey conducted in Uganda revealed that 52% of families are food
insecure (Bahiigwa, 1999). Likewise, Tevera et al. (2012) found that 210,000 Swati people
(nationwide) living in Swaziland were short of foods. The situation is of no difference in
Zimbabwe, where 62.6% of households, especially in rural areas, were classified as extremely
poor in 2014 (ZIMSTAT, 2013; World Food Programme, 2014). In Mozambique, data from the
national consumption expenditure surveys indicated that about 55% of the population live
below the national poverty line. The population below this line is 41 in Ethiopia, wherein above
31 million people are undernourished (Food and Agricultural Organisation, 2010). Malawi is
also not food self-sufficient. According to the National Statistics Office of Malawi, poverty
is persistent, with a national poverty headcount of 52% in 2004/5 (Jorlén, 2009). D’Haese et
al. (2013) showed that food insecurity is a persistent challenge in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, wherein 70% of the population lacks access to adequate food. South African Human
Sciences Research Council (2004) has shown that food insecurity in South Africa is not an
exceptional, short-term event but is rather a continuous threat for more than a third of the
population. According to Bonti-Ankomah (2001), 39% of the South African population is
vulnerable to food insecurity, and this insecurity affects one in five households, many of which
are located in rural communities. Indeed, a survey done by Statistics South Africa reported
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Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Cultural Studies
that over 20% of rural households have inadequate or severely inadequate food access.
Generally, South Africa and Africa’s threats to food security result from multiple factors that
collectively place food systems under stress. These encompass climatological, ecological,
socio-economic and political factors, exceptionally high population growth rates, as well as
disease epidemics (Bonti-Ankomah, 2001).
To alleviate hunger and meet their daily nutritional requirements, supplement staple
foods or fill food gaps, most Africans residing in the rural areas rely heavily on food
plants (Jacobs, 2002). This is highlighted in various ethnobotanical surveys executed in
Senegal (Becker, 1983), Nigeria (Okafor et al. 1996), Malawi (Longwe, 1995; Babu, 2000),
Zimbabwe (Zinyama et al. 1990; Shava, 2005; Maroyi, 2011), Botswana (Legwaila et al., 2011),
Ethiopia (Lulekal et al., 2011) and Zambia (Mingochi and Luchen, 1997), amongst others. South
Africa is no exception, and studies by Shackleton et al. (1998), Van Wyk and Gericke (2003),
Shackleton (2003), Modi et al. (2006), Dovie (2006), Vorster (2007), Maanda and Bhat (2010),
Van Wyk (2011), De Beer and Van Wyk (2011), Majova (2011), Ntuli et al. (2012), and Rampedi
and Olivier (2013), have emphasised the significance of food plants in terms of the diet and
nutrition of indigenous peoples of various cultures. Interestingly, laboratory studies such
as (Laferriere et al., 1991) demonstrate that edible plants are nutritionally rich with certain
micronutrients and can supplement nutritional requirements, especially vitamins and trace
minerals. However, little is known about the food plants consumed by the Bapedi people of
the Limpopo province, South Africa. Bapedi is, increasingly, one of the major ethnic groups in
South Africa and constitutes over 53% of the entire population in this province.
It is well-known and generally accepted that indigenous people’s knowledge of the edible
plants is an important entry point for further research on and development of these plants,
especially those naturally distributed in the wilderness (Balemie and Kebebew, 2006). Also,
documentation of such knowledge is important for developing food plants to meet people’s
nutritional needs and protect IK pertinent to these plants. Consequently, the current study
sought to investigate and record edible plant species consumed by Bapedi people residing in
the Capricorn district of the Limpopo province.
Material and methods
Study area
The current study was conducted in the villages located in the Capricorn district of the Limpopo
province, which is one of the poorest provinces in the country. This district is found in the
centre of the Limpopo province and shares its borders with Mopani (east), Sekhukhune (south),
Vhembe (north) and Waterberg (west) districts. Furthermore, it covers a total area of 21.705
km². Climatically, the Capricorn district is classified as semi-arid, with an annual rainfall of
478mm (Tshilambilu, 2011) and mean annual evaporation of 1800 mm (Capricorn District
Municipality, 2011). Generally, the socio-economic status of the rural BaPedi population
residing in the studied area is very poor. For instance, about 28.5% of people live below the
poverty line and depend heavily on government social grants for survival. Due to this low
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socio-economic standing, most people rely on natural resources and agriculture for direct
subsistence use or income generation.
Sampling and data collection

Reconnaissance households and associated participants were selected randomly from the
studied area based on a stratified cluster sampling in January 2010 to request the traditional
leaders to conduct this study within their jurisdictions, identify community members, and ask
them to participate in this study. The purpose of this study was explained to these members
using the local dialect of Sepedi. Subsequently, those who agreed to participate in the survey
were asked to sign a consent form before data collection.
Data on edible plants were collected using semi-structured questionnaires (during face-to-
face interviews) and direct observation during household visits from March to December 2010.
Participants (n=50) signed a consent form. These questionnaires were designed to gather
data on the socio-demographic profile of participants and their reason for consuming plants,
vernacular name of food plants, edible part/s and their state of use, mode of consumption and
source of plants. Household visit and interview session with participants was complemented
by field expeditions (in the wild and home-gardens) with each participant for observations
on the morphological habit of the recorded species and specimens’ collections. A participant
initially identified the species via vernacular name or pointed to the live plant species where
the vernacular name is unknown. The taxonomic identification of this species took place at the
University of Limpopo’ Herbarium.
Data analysis
Collected data were stored in Microsoft Excel 2007 programme and were later analysed
for descriptive statistical patterns. Descriptive statistics, such as percentages, were used to
determine the proportions of botanical families and species names, growth habit, plant part
(s) used and state of food plant use (e.i. dry or fresh), amongst other information.
Results and discussion
Socio-economic characteristics of the participants

The majority of respondents (n=38, 76%) in this study were females, and males constituted
just 24% (n=12). A larger proportion (n=29, 76.3%) of females headed the households as
either a single or divorced parent, the rest (n=9, 23.6%) were married to the household
heads. All questioned males were married and headed their households. Previous
studies such as Mahlangu’s (2014) highlighting the use of plants as food in the Capricorn
district also reported the dominance of females. However, in a study conducted by Mosina
and Maroyi (2016) in the same district, males outdid females. Overall, the supremacy of
females compared to their male counterparts in the present study reflects the general
gender composition of the Capricorn district (Capricorn District Municipality: 2016/17-
340
2021), attributed to the high survival rate of females and mortality amongst males.
Regarding age distribution, a higher proportion (n=31, 62%) of interviewees were between
40 and 50 years old, and nearly one-third (n=14, 28%) were aged 50-60. The remainder of the
participants (n=5, 10%) were categorised under the 20-30-year age group. In addition, an
analysis of age per gender was also conducted. Accordingly, all males fell in the age bracket
of 50-60 years, and females were scattered across the remaining age brackets. Educationally,
an overwhelming (n=28, 56%) majority of participants have no education, 28% (n=14) acquired
primary education, 12% (n=6) completed secondary schooling, and just 4% (n=2) graduated
at a tertiary institution (University or college). Overall, the lower literacy rate amongst
participants, especially when considering their age, might be because the government of
South Africa has only recently funded both primary and higher education. Therefore, most
participants might have come from low-income families who cannot afford their education.
Analysis of participants’ occupation showed that most (70%, n=36) were part-time employees,
and only 28% (n=14) were employed full-time. A larger proportion of part-time workers were
females 83.3%, n=30), and the highest share of permanently employed participants were
males (64%, n=9). Generally, most of the interviewees in this study were household heads with
part-time jobs which increases the likelihood of food insecurity within their families. Hence
it is not surprising that all the participants in this study consume the food plants. Overall, the
interviewee consumes food plants for various reasons. However, their common rationale
for eating these plants was to fill food gaps, supplement staple foods, and high nutrition.
Additional reasons stated by participants for eating plants included refreshment (n=32, 64%),
medicinal values (n=28, 56%), family tradition (n=20, 40%), and because they are healthy and
delicious (n=16, 32%).
Diversity of edible plants
The documented plant species used by Bapedi people as food, their vernacular names, parts
used and utilisation purposes, frequency of use and source of plants are depicted in Table 1.
Overall, 94 plant species from 84 genera belonging to 51 botanical families have been recorded
as being used as food by questioned participants in the Capricorn district of Limpopo province,
South Africa. The greater number of plants recorded in the study area indicates participants’
greater consumption and familiarity with edible plant species. Among the reported families,
Anacardiaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Poaceae (n=6, each) and Apocynaceae (n=4) had the greatest
food plants. Mosina and Maroyi (2016) focused on edible plants of urban domestic gardens in
the Capricorn district and reported the supremacy of Anacardiaceae and Poaceae. Most of the
afore-said botanical families, notably Apocynaceae (Ahmad and Pieron, 2016), Cucurbitaceae,
Poaceae and Anacardiaceae, are consistently noted and presented with a higher number of
edible species in various ethnobotanical studies conducted in other countries of the world.
However, our finding is contrary to some studies focusing on the documentation of food
plants in South Africa (Bvenur and Afolayan, 2014) and other African countries (Ibrahim et
al., 2012), as far as salient botanical families are concerned. Generally, the supremacy of
Anacardiaceae, Apocynaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Poaceae and Apocynaceae in this study might
be attributed to the wider local distribution of their species coupled with intensive utilisation
and preferences by the communities. In addition, it shows that these families are well-known
341
by all communities. The rest of the botanical families in the present survey had less than
three food plants. Although these families were less represented regarding the diversity of
edible plant species, a considerable proportion of them was consumed by a higher number of
participants (table 1), which emphasises the significance of such families as food sources.
Food plants categories and literature comparison

Generally, the documented food plants were categorised into eight groups: atchar, beverage,
flourant or spice, fruit, jam, leafy vegetable, porridge, and snack. Amongst these plants,
70.2% (n=66) were mentioned by participants as having one use, and the remainder (29.7%,
n=28) were multi-used or appeared in different wild food categories. At least two and more
respondents reported using a particular species for a similar purpose, which, to some extent,
validated the information collected in the present study. The most important food plant
categories recorded were fruits (n=45), indicating that the questioned people or studied area
have more edible fruit-bearing plants. Beverage and leafy vegetables (n=19, for each) was also
the big food category, followed by a snack (n=16). Flourant or spice (n=14), porridge (n=5), jam
(n=2) and atchar (n=1), respectively formed the least category. Fruits also formed the largest
category of food plants in a study conducted by Mosina and Maroyi (2016) in urban areas of
the Capricorn district. A comparable finding was noted in a survey executed amidst the Zulu
people of Kwa-Zulu Natal Province, South Africa (Nemudzudzanyi et al., 2010). The higher
consumption of fruits in the current study might be due to their greater availability and the
important role they play in supporting the livelihoods of the surveyed community. Overall, the
categories of food plants documented in this study indicate that eatable plants are of great
importance to Bapedi people and can avert food insecurity amongst the rural community.
Fruit
Species consumed as fruits in this present study include:
• Annona senegalensis,
• Berchemia discolour,
• Carica papaya,
• Carissa bispinosa,
• Carissa edulis,
• Carissa macrocarpa,
• Citrullus lanatus,
• Citrus limon,
• Citrus sinensis,
• Dovyalis caffra,
• Englerophytum magalismontanum,
• Eriobotrya japonica,
• Euclea Divinorum,
• Ficus carica,
342
• Ficus thonningii,
• Flueggea virosa,
• Grewia Flava,
• Grewia flavescens,
• Harpephyllum caffrum,
• Lannea edulis,
• Lantana rugose,
• Lycopersicon esculentum,
• Mangifera indica,
• Melia azedarach,
• Mimusops zeyheri,
• Morus alba,
• Opuntia ficus-indica,
• Pappea capensis,
• Parinari curatellifolia,
• Passiflora edulis,
• Prunus persica,
• Psidium guajava,
• Punica granatum,
• Rhoicissus tomentosa,
• Rhus lancea, Rubus rigidus,
• Sclerocarya birrea,
• Strychnos spinose,
• Syzygium cordatum,
• Tabernaemontana elegans,
• Vangueria infausta,
• Vitis vinifera,
• Ximenia Americana,
• Ximenia caffra and
• Ziziphus mucronata.
Consumption of these fruits is common in South Africa. For instance, C. papaya, C. lanatus, M.

indica, O. ficus-indica and S. birrea were previously recorded by Mosina and Maroyi (2016).
Vhavenḓa people in the far northern part of the Limpopo province also eat A. senegalensis,
B. discolour, C. bispinosa, C. edulis, C. limon and S. cordatum fruits (Mabogo, 1990). Finding
from the current study regarding the eating of D. caffra, H. caffrum, L. rugosa, P. capensis, and
R. tomentosa fruits is in line with Shava (2005) report amidst the Xhosa people of the Eastern
343
Cape Province, South Africa. Comparably to the questioned BaPedi people, fruits from M.
indica, P. guajava and V. infausta are also enjoyed by the Zulu people (Nemudzudzanyi et
al., 2010). Tsonga people inhabiting the Mopani district of the Limpopo province also eat E.
Divinorum and M. zeyheri fruits (Liengme, 1991). Widespread consumption of the afore-listed
species by diverse South African cultures shows that they form an integral part of many pupils’
diet in the country. However, with particular reference to the current survey, such taxa do
not only contribute to the surveyed households’ diet. Still, they are also a vital source of cash
income via local trades. For instance, C. lanatus, E. magalismontanum, G. Flava, G. flavescens,
O. ficus-indica, P. persica, P. guajava, P. granatum, S. Spinosa, X. America and X. caffra fruits
are harvested by interviewees during their available seasons and sold straight from the
households or at the local markets.
Beverage
The diversity of plants constituting beverages category included Adansonia digitata, Aloe
arborescens, Artemisia Afra, Athrixia phylicoides, Cannabis sativa, Carica papaya, Catha
transvaalensis, Citrus Limon, Cymbopogon nardus, Englerophytum magalismontanum,
Lippia javanica, Monsonia Angustifolia, Myrothamnus flabellifolius, Sclerocarya birrea,
Sorghum bicolor, Ximenia Americana, Ximenia caffra, Zea mays and Ziziphus mucronata.
With the exclusion of S. birrea and S. bicolor (alcoholic traditional beers), A. digitata,
C. Limon, E. magalismontanum, X. Americana and X. caffra (traditional soft beverage),
which were consumed for the mentioned purposes, the rest of the species were enjoyed by
participants as beverage teas. It should be stated that S. birrea was also used traditionally to
manufacture sweet, creamy non-alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverages from S. bicolor is
very common in South Africa and African countries like Rwanda and Côte d’Ivoire. However,
in Uganda (Muyanga et al., 2003) and Benin (Michodjèhoun-Mestres et al., 2005), this
species is popular in non-alcoholic beverage production, perhaps attributed to ethnic
preferences. The use of S. birrea to make both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages cannot
be overemphasised in South Africa (Rampedi, 2010) and other African countries (Gadaga et
al., 1999; Dube et al., 2012) and this might be attributed to species wider distribution in Africa
as a continent. According to the participants in this study, S. birrea beverage has a long
history of consumption in their community. It has an important role in traditional community
ceremonies as an alcoholic and non-alcoholic refreshing drink, suggesting that it is safe for
consumption. Other sweet non-alcoholic beverages recorded in this study were A. digitata, C.
Limon, E. magalismontanum, X. Americana and X. caffra. With the exclusion of C. Limon, the rest
of these drinks were stated by participants as containing high percentages of sugar, therefore
adding to the diet’s energy content. Most plants such as A. phylicoides, C. transvaalensis, C.
nardus, L. javanica, M. Angustifolia, and Z. mucronata exploited as beverage teas in the current
study were previously reported amongst the Venda, Tsonga and North-Sotho speaking people
of the Limpopo province (Rampedi, 2010). Findings from this survey, therefore, echoes the
significance of these plants as beverage teas. It should be stated that interviewees mentioned
all the above-referred beverage teas species as also being used for medicine. Thus their
consumption serves as both refreshing and therapeutic drinks.
344
Leafy vegetable
This category encompasses Amaranthus caudatus, Amaranthus hybridus, Beta vulgaris,
Asparagus suaveolens, Citrullus lanatus, Cleome gynandra, Cucumis Africanus, Cucurbita
pepo, Hypoestes aristata, Ipomoea Obscura, Lagenaria siceraria, Lycopersicon esculentum,
Momordica balsamina, Momordica charantia, Moringa oleifera, Solanum nigrum, Vigna
radiata, Urtica dioica and Vigna unguiculata. In addition, some of these species are also
consumed as leafy vegetables in other areas of South Africa and elsewhere in Africa. For
example, Cucurbita pepo, I. Obscura, M. balsamina, M. charantia, S. nigrum, U. dioica and
V. unguiculate are also eaten by Vhavenḓa people of the Limpopo province (Maanda and
Bhat, 2010). Similarly, the latter species and B. Vulgaris is enjoyed by Batswana People of
North West Province, South Africa (van der Hoeven et al., 2010). In addition, Amaranthus
hybrids and C. gynandra are highly appreciated leafy vegetables in Shurugwi District,
Zimbabwe (Maroyi, 2016). According to the participants in the present study, leaves from
the afore-said species comprise an important component of almost their everyday meals.
Therefore, they are harvested in larger quantities during seasonal availability. Subsequently,
sun-dried and preserved them for consumption throughout the year. Generally, such species
are prepared by participants as the main relish/ or part of relish, which accompany porridge
made from Z. mays, consumed daily in most surveyed households. Thus, it is acceptable to note
that the plant species documented in this study as leafy vegetables form an important part of
the participants’ meal. Still, they are also central to their survival.
Snack
Acacia Senegal, Citrullus lanatus, Cucurbita pepo, Eragrostis chloroplast, Ipomoea batatas,
Ipomoea crassipe, Kirkia wilmsii, Lagenaria siceraria, Saccharum officinarum, Sclerocarya
birrea, Sclerochiton ilicifolius, Sorghum bicolor, Vigna radiata, Vigna subterranean,
Vigna unguicula and Zea mays constituted the snack category in this study. The chewing
of A. Senegal gum as a snack by interviewees in the present survey is also highlighted in the
literature (Verbeken et al., 2003). These interviewees generally chewed the gum for pleasure,
but some stated that it contains a unique sweet-sour taste. Hence it is appreciated as a snack.
Similarly to a finding of this study, dried-fried seeds of C. lanatus are highly favoured and
eaten as a snack by Nigerian people (Uruakpa et al., 2004). Likewise, in Cameroon, roasted
C. pepo seeds with or without shells are also salted and enjoyed as a snack (Grubben and
Ngwerume, 2004).
Furthermore, the consumption of S. birrea kernels as a traditional snack by rural communities

in the Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa (Shackleton et al., 2002), concur
with the finding of this study. Generally, in the current study, kernels from S. birrea and the
seeds gathered from C. lanatus and C. pepo were regarded by interviewed BaPedi people as
unusual treats such as peanuts. However, most participants warned that these seeds should
be finely masticated during consumption to avoid constipation. Therefore, consumption of
such seeds by smaller children was highly discouraged unless they are in a pounded state,
which can be easily sucked via a tongue. Several Nigerian ethnic groups also snack on S.
officinarum (Williams et al., 2016), mainly by chewing its stem pulp to extract juice, as noted
in the current study. A similar practice was reported in rural areas of South Africa but for S.
345
bicolor. However, in the present study, participants stated the outer layer of the stem is
removed before chewing the inner pulp to avoid mouth cuts or injuries that the sharpness
of this layer might trigger. Van Wyk (2011) also found that seeds of V. subterranean and V.
unguiculate are commonly consumed as snacks and represent an important source of stable
foods. With the exclusion of S. bicolor all the species mentioned above are eaten as snacks all
year round. This might be since fresh S. bicolor stem is only available during a specific season
of the year, coupled with participants lacking knowledge about its preservation techniques
compared to the rest of the species. Participants sometimes take an edible part from some of
the species mentioned above to work or their children and grandchildren to school as a recess
snack.
Flourant or spice
Only 14 species, namely Allium dregeanum, Artemisia Afra, Cannabis sativa, Capsicum
frutescens, Citrus limon, Lavandula angustifolia, Mentha longifolia, Ocimum basilicum,
Rosmarinus officinalis, Sclerocarya birrea, Siphonochilus aethiopicus, Tulbaghia violacea,
Vigna subterranea and Warburgia salutaris were valued as flourant or spices in this study.
Most of these species have a peppery or aromatic taste. Hence they are appreciated by
questioned participants as spices. Furthermore, they are also well-known amongst other South
African cultures as culinary spices for vegetables and meat. For instance, the Xhosa people
in the Nkonkobe Municipality (Amathole district of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa)
also use A. dregeanum, A. afra, C. frutescens, M. longifolia and T. violacea as spices (Asowata-
ayodele, 2015). According to participants in the present study, the afore-said documented
species are added during the cooking or preparation of meat and vegetables almost daily
as piquant or spices. For instance, they are chopped into small pieces or pounded cooked
together with meat or leafy vegetables, especially those perceived by participants as having
a bitter taste, such as C. gynandra and M. charantia. In addition to being used for flavouring
and spicing, all the plants mentioned above are also used as medicines. They heal and manage
various human ailments, suggesting that they are imperative for their nutritional properties
and curative properties. Therefore, the species documented as being used for both spice and
flourant in this study provide very important sources of food and medicine for the interviewees.
Porridge, atchar and jam/preserve

Edible parts of Ipomoea batatas, Kirkia wilmsii, Moringa oleifera were pounded as instant
porridge, whilst Sorghum bicolor and Zea mays were appreciated as porridge. Consumption of
K. wilmsii as soft porridge is reported in this study for the first time, thus adding to the knowledge
of the edible plants’ database within the country and elsewhere. Limited consumption of K.
wilmsii to the interviewees (Bapedi people) might be attributed to the fact that the species
is only distributed to geographical areas occupied by Bapedi in the Limpopo province and
South Africa at large. Not surprisingly, the rest of the species, namely I. batatas (Dlamini, 2014;
Mofokeng, 2015; Abioye and Aka, 2015), were used or consumed similarly to the current
participants’ study by other cultures in South Africa and other African countries. This finding
was expected given that all these species are domesticated and form a crucial component
of staple food for many rural households in the Limpopo province and Africa. In the present
346
study, the referred species are mainly dried and preserved for consumption throughout the
year. Therefore they remain an important food constituent in the diet of surveyed households.
Morus alba and Ficus thonningii, and Mangifera indica were used to manufacture jam
(preserves) and atchar. These were the least consumed food categories in this survey, probably
because participants lack knowledge regarding their products or not always desired basic
food. The traditional use of ripe fruits of M. alba (Uprety et al., 2016) to manufacture jam was
previously reported in the literature. Similarly to the interviewed Bapedi people in the current
study, Indians also use M. indica unripe fruit to make jam (Elevitch and Wilkinson, 2000).
Common IK about the techniques of manufacturing jam and atchar from these species amidst
these cultures and participants in the present study can explain the observed resemblances
regarding the species utilisation.
Source of plants and habits

Regarding the harvest locations, most (n=44) of the species were obtained from the wild, and
37 were domesticated in the home gardens or house yards (Table 1). Twelve (n=12) food plants,
namely A. digitata, A. afra, C. Sativa, C. bispinosa, K. wilmsii, L. javanica, M. zeyheri, O. ficus-
indica, S. birrea, T. violacea, V. infausta and W. salutaris, were semi-cultivated (i.e. present in
both wild and cultivated forms), and one species, S. aethiopicus were obtained from a home
garden, wild and market. (Comparably to the current study results, Ntuli et al. (2012) also found
that most eatable plants in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, are sourced from the wild.
A similar finding was reported by researchers in Ethiopia (Teklehaymanot and Giday, 2010),
Uganda (Acipa et al., 2013), Costa Rica (D’Ambrosio and Puri, 2016) and Bangladesh (Azam et
al., 2014). However, Cruz-Garcia and Price (2011) found that most food plants were obtained in
the home gardens. The high reliance on the wild for food plants in the present study is possible
because most participants want to harvest larger quantities. Lack of land for cultivation and
water for irrigation, skills or knowledge regarding the propagation of most food plant species
might have partly contributed to the higher reliance on natural habitats for harvesting this
species. It should be stated that the collection of edible plants in the wilderness was normally
done daily (during edible plant availability seasons) when collecting crucial ecosystems such
as firewood. However, participants who are involved in trading organise species excursions
for collection. Generally, most domesticated species in this study were exotic, easily adapted
to various geographical areas, and can easily grow fast without more human input (Semenya
and Potgieter, 2010). Hence, they are predominantly cultivated or domesticated in the present
study.
The growth forms of the food plant species included herb (n=42, of which 11.9% (n=5) were
climbers), trees (n=38) and shrubs (n=14). This finding is in partial agreement with previous
studies focusing on food plants. For instance, trees followed by herbs were a dominant habit in
Costa Rica (D’Ambrosio and Puri, 2016). In a study conducted amidst the tribal communities of
Thakhte-Sulaiman Hills, North-West Pakistan herbs, shrubs, trees, and climbers respectively
were the dominant habit (Ahmad and Pieron, 2016). Shrubs, followed by trees and herbs, made
up the highest proportion of the edible habit in Ethiopia (Lulekal et al., 2011). A similar finding
was reported in the Southern Western Ghats of India (Sasi and Rajendran, 2012). However,
Jain et al. (2011) also conducted a study in India, but all food plants consumed by the locals
347
are herbaceous in the northeast of this country. This is probably because their study focused
on vegetation that grows on a perennial wetland, mainly dominated by herbaceous growth
forms. In the present study, the reported growth forms might be linked to the dominant food
they produce and exploit locally.
Plant parts used, state of use and mode of consumptions

Fruits (n=50), followed by leaves (n=33) and seeds (n=11), were the major plant parts consumed
in the present study. Other organs such as bulb and tuber (n=3, for each), stem and roots (n=2,
for each), stem (n=2), bark and gum (n=1) were less frequently exploited. Ten species were
harvested for more than one part. Fruits and leaves also formed the important food sources
in a study executed by Mosina and Maroyi (2016). A similar finding was reported in Gweta
Village, central Botswana (Badimo et al., 2015), Ethiopia (Lulekal et al., 2011) and North-
West Pakistan (Ahmad and Pieron, 2016). However, Azam et al. (2014), who worked with the
indigenous people of Bangladesh, found that leaves and stems, respectively, were the most
eaten parts of plants. This variation might be attributed to the difference in the culture amidst
this community and Bapedi people as far as food preference and preparation are concerned.
Generally, wide harvesting of fruits and leaves compared to the underground parts (bulb,
tuber and roots), which are fundamental for the survival of harvested food plants, negatively
influences the survival and continuity of these plants. Therefore, it does not affect the
sustainable exploitation of plants as foods.
This study reveals that, in general, most of the edible plant parts are processed in their fresh
state (n=95), and those that were processed in dried form were 45. Before processing, these
parts were washed by participants with water to remove particles and other unwanted
substances. Similarly to the present study’s finding, Balemie and Kebebew (2006) found
that most (85%) of the edible plant parts in Derashe and Kucha Districts, South Ethiopia, are
processed in their fresh state. Contrary to the outcome of this study, researchers in South
Africa (Shava, 2005), other African countries (Legwaila et al., 2011) and elsewhere (Kang et
al., 2016) reported the consumption of most edible plant parts in their dry form. The practice
of drying edible food plants by participants in the current study was to preserve them for later
use (e.i. during winter). Generally, the primary technique of drying and preserving these part/s
was by exposing them to the sun or spreading them in shadow in the open air. Most participants
reported the latter method as taking long and often resulting in moulds on the eatable plant
parts. Thus most of them prefer drying in the sun. It should be stated that the consumption
of the freshest plant parts in this study is attributed to the supremacy of fruits which were
generally eaten raw whilst still fresh.
Fruits were either eaten raw when they were ripe or cooked/boiled. With the exclusion of C.
frutescens, C. pepo, L. siceraria and L. esculentum fruits served as vegetables, hence boiled/
cooked prior consumption, all the fruits in this study were raw. Lycopersicon esculentum was
also eaten raw when ripe. Similarly, in addition to being consumed raw, C. papaya fruits were
brewed as well. The following edible parts from A. Senegal (gum), S. officinarum and S. bicolor
(stem) were chewed in their raw state when they were ripe.
348
With regards to leaves, except for A. arborescent, A. afra, A. phylicoides, C. transvaalensis, C.

Limon, C. nardus, C. nardu, L. javanica, M. Angustifolia and M. flabellifolius leaves, which were
brewed and enjoyed as healthy tea by infusing them with hot, the rest of the edible leaves
noted in this study were cooked/boiled prior consumption. Warburgia salutaris was the only
species harvested for bark, cooked together with leafy vegetables as a spice.
Species such as S. ilicifolius (root), I. batatas and I. crassipes (tuber), which were exploited
for their underground edible parts, were consumed in their raw state. However, I. batatas
tuber was also boiled and eaten. Other species such as B. albitrunca (root), A. dregeanum, B.
Vulgaris and S. aethiopicus (bulb), which were harvested for their subterranean parts, were
also boiled/cooked before consumption. The three-former species was boiled together with
leafy vegetables and meat as a spice. Those harvested by participants from V. subterranean,
V. radiata, V. unguiculate, S. bicolor, and Z. mays were boiled/cooked among the edible seeds.
However, some participants also fermented S. bicolor and Z. mays seeds to make traditional
beers. The rest of the eatable seeds collected from A. digitata (raw), M. oleifera (raw), Cucurbita
pepo (roasted) and C. lanatus (roasted) were consumed in the mentioned states.
Inventory of selected food plants

The frequency of consumption can indicate how important the food plants are in household
food security (Musinguzi, 2006). In the present study, the most frequently consumed species
in the surveyed households were A. hybridus, A. phylicoides, C. gynandra, C. pepo, C. Sativa,
G. flavescens, I. batatas, L. siceraria, M. indica, O. ficus-indica, S. birrea and Z. mays. These
species can, therefore, be assumed to be important for the local population. As depicted
in Table 2, each of the referred species contains various numbers and amounts of nutrients,
which can be attributed to the applications of fertiliser and genetic differences between
these species (Olivier et al., 2012). Generally, the extensive consumption of the species as
mentioned above by participants in this study fulfils their diet and has various health benefits.
For instance, vitamin A, B1 and B2 in species such as A. hybridus, I. batatas, L. siceraria, S. birrea
and Z. mays is good for skin, hair, heart, brain, and proper digestion (Akubugwo et al., 2007).
In addition to this, riboflavin (vitamin B2) helps release energy from foods and is essential for
healthy eyes.
Similarly, adequate dietary calcium and phosphorus extant in most of the afore-said
twelve food plants are critical for the growth and maintenance of bones, teeth and
muscles (Dosunmu, 1997). Moreover, calcium plays a role in mediating the constriction and
relaxation of blood vessels, nerve impulse transmission, muscle contraction, and the secretion
of hormones like insulin (Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine, 1997). Moreover,
protein is an important component of the human diet needed for the constant replacement
of worn-out tissues (Obahiagbon and Erhabor, 2010). Therefore, widespread consumption
of A. hybridus, C. gynandra, C. pepo, G. flavescens, I. batatas, L. siceraria, M. indica, O. ficus-
indica, S. birrea and Z. mays by interviewees in the present study can be helpful in this regard.
Moreover, adequate intake of all these species can lower the serum cholesterol level, risk of
coronary heart disease, hypertension, constipation, diabetes, colon and breast cancer due to
dietary fibre. Overall, the most frequently consumed food plants in the present study contain
an appreciable number of nutrients and mineral elements. Therefore they could be good,
349
rich and cheap sources of healthy nutrients that will assist the poorest people/households to
obtain the essential nutrients required for healthy living.
Conclusion
The present study showed that Bapedi people residing in the Capricorn district of the Limpopo
province have extensive knowledge of edible plants and depend on them to meet their
food and nutritional needs. However, to comprehensively document this knowledge and
comprehend the role of food plants amidst the Bapedi ethnic group, there is a need to conduct
surveys in other districts such as Sekhukhune and Waterberg that are mainly inhabited by this
culture. Furthermore, the current study also demonstrated that the most commonly consumed
food plants could contribute significantly to participants’ health and dietary requirements.
This is because they contain a considerable number of nutrients established as essential for
human health. It is, therefore, crucial that the nutritional properties and importance of food
plants, including their consumption, be encouraged and promoted. Furthermore, extensive
consumption of fruits and leaves as foods by interviewees can be considered sustainable as it
does not destroy the harvested species.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to all the BaPedi people residing in the Capricorn districts of the
Limpopo province (South Africa), who kindly agreed to participate in this study and shared
their valuable knowledge pertinent to the exploitation of plants as foods.
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The elucidation of marriage: A case of

Vhavenḓa indigenous culture
Rendani Tshifhumulo
University of Venda
rendani.tshifhumulo2@univen.ac.za
&
Elelwani Ramaite-Mafadza
University of Venda
Tribute
The Editor and writing team has learnt with regret the passing on of Elelwani Ramaite-
Mafadza, a much-loved retired member of the Music Department and manager of the Univen
art gallery. She was a community builder par excellence. This chapter is posthumously
included in this book with the assistance of the co-author. By keeping this chapter with its body
and soul unchanged, we hope to eternally remember her. May her soul rest in eternal peace!
Introduction
Every society views marriage differently, and they define it on their terms. For generations,
what procedures constitute marriage and its pillars have evolved and will continue to alter
cultures. This is because, for example, the concept of love and commitment are not pillars that
defined Vhavenḓa marriage previously but were adopted from Western lifestyles. A marriage
within Vhavenḓa was never a union between two people but a union between families. This
influenced decisions that married people would take in their lifetime, including whether
to divorce or not. In this chapter, we specifically look at the different types of Vhavenḓa
marriages. In traditional rural African societies, marriages were arranged. Parents usually
indulged in the selection of marriage partners for their children. This practise was most
common for daughters. These marriages were arranged without the consent of the children.
However, in contemporary African societies, this has been altered to the extent that some
countries have adopted policies that strive to advocate for the consent of both parties that are
to be married, as was the case of the Tanzania Marriage Act of 1971, and the Ivory Coast Civil
Code of 1964 (Therborn, 2006).
Defining marriage
According to Sinclair and Heaton (1996), the South African common law defines marriage as
the legally recognised voluntary union for life in common of one man and one woman, to the
exclusion of all others, while it lasts. Because of the diversity of religions and cultures, marriage
353
exists in several different forms. A man in South Africa may have more than one spouse, but
a woman may only have one spouse. The fundamental basis of marriage was defined as “a
personal association between a man and a woman, and a biological relationship for mating
and reproduction” (Wimalesana, 2016). Historically, the legal definition of marriage derived
from the Roman-Dutch law was limited to monogamous marriages between opposite-sex
couples. Although marriage has undergone several modifications and changes as a social,
legal and religious institution, its basic realities remain the same (Wimalesana, 2016). As a
result, the law also recognises polygynous marriages conducted under the African customary
law since 1998. In 2006, South Africa became the fifth country to allow same-sex marriage
(Wolmarans, 2006). Noted is the transition as there are now proposals of polyandry in South
Africa, which may also put women in the position to marry more than one man. Wimalesana
(2016, p. 166) elaborates that,
The permanent, indissoluble, sacramental orthodox union strikingly

differs from the free, easily served, and often not even officially registered
marriages of, for example, a modern Russian. Yet, both marriages have
certain underlying elements in common. In both instances, the couple
seeks to make their union stable. They assume the freedom and privilege of
a sexual relationship and normally have as their aim to establish a family.
Biologically, the object of marriage is not to legalise a sexual union but
rather to ensure the species’ survival and race. From this point of view,
marriage is not merely a sexual relationship but a parental association. It
is the union of a male and a female for the production and care of offspring,
and reproduction is, therefore, another fundamental object, or purpose of
marriage, that is, the main object of the institution of marriage has always
been to provide for posterity and the continuance of humanity.
Phaswana (2000, p. 204) argues that although Christianity is now a dominant religion, the
African traditional value system dictates patterns of relationships. Amongst Vhavenḓa,
marriage has always been regarded as a very important event in the life of a man and a woman.
Traditional marriage in Vhavenḓa indigenous culture involves negotiating and presenting
bride price, commonly known as lumalo in Tshivenda indigenous culture. The lumalo may
be cattle or money to the family of the bride. The concept ‘marriage’ denotes an action, a
contract, formality or ceremony, through which a conjugal union is formed (Neyland, 2017). It
can also be defined as an institution where interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and
sexual, are acknowledged in various ways, depending on the culture or demography (Melville,
1988). Knox (2014, p. 3) concurs that marriage is a legal contract entered by couples with the
state in which they reside, and it regulates their economic and sexual relationship (Knox,
2014). By implication, it is a system that binds a man and a woman together for procreation,
companionship, and care, which are both physical and emotional. The birth, care, and
socialisation of offspring occur within the family (Knox, 2014).
Amongst the various reasons considered for marriages to be consummated are legal, social,
emotional, economic, spiritual and religious purposes (Knox 2014, p. 5). Different cultures and
different religions claim a different history of marriage. One of the most frequent customs
associated with marriage was capturing a woman by their prospective husband, usually
354
from a tribe other than to which they belonged (Melville, 1988). The symbolic seizure of wives
continues in many places in South Africa (Melville, 1988). In a nutshell, Vhavenḓa, like other
cultural groups, regards marriage as important but not in individual terms as marriage unites
families, not only couples. In the next section, we look at the formalisation of marriage from
diversified groups.
The importance of family

The legal institution of marriage, its rules and ramifications have changed over time, and how
it is conducted. Nowadays people marry someone they love, they postpone having children and
even limit the number of their children. In Tshivenda culture, it is believed that polygamous
marriages and having many children fortify and strengthen families (Mutshotsho, 2015;
Netshireme, 2015). Nevertheless, the concept of marriage among Vhavenḓa has not changed
much through the ages. It is still regarded as a bond between two people and two families and
their clans, involving responsibilities and legalities, along with commitment and challenges
(Mutshotsho, 2015; Netshireme, 2015). Marriage enables families to create alliances and
secures suitable in-laws for furthering economic and political ends, and as such, marriages
were carefully planned and negotiated (Coontz, 2005). Therefore, marriage is believed to
strengthen family bonds and also unite the families of the bride and the bridegroom.
Lamanna, Riedamnn and Stewart (2015, p. 26), on the other hand, define a family as any
sexually expressive, parent-child, or other kinship relationship in which people related by
ancestry, marriage or adoption and economic, or otherwise practical unit, care for children
or dependents, are committed to the group, with a commitment to maintaining that group
over time. The above definition helps us to understand the importance of the family following
the Vhavenḓa people. For example, marriage is important within the Vhavenḓa people for
producing children, caring for family members, economic reasons and protection.
Mutsotsho (2015) defines it as a marital union where the groom and the bride are selected by
the third party rather than by the prospective partners themselves (Mutshotsho, 2015). Parents
are influential players, and the prospective partners might have no opinion and knowledge of
their future husband or wife. Political considerations also gave birth to this form of marriage.
Thus, kings, presidents and political figures can be accorded the right to marry by their
political influence to maintain a certain relationship between nations or royal leadership
(Sprecher et al., 1995).
Vhavenḓa family structure

Traditionally, Vhavenḓa lived in strong kinship family structures. In these settings, one does
not exist as an individual, as one finds the meaning of life cooperatively within a community
(Netshirembe, 2014; Mutshotsho, 2014). By implication, each person owes their existence to
other people, their contemporaries, and past generations. The saying ‘‘muthu ndi muthu nga
355
vhathu’’ in Tshivenda means ‘‘you are because I am’’. This means that a human being’s existence
and well-being are dependent on the existence and well-being of other human beings. The
implication of this saying is that man stands in a network of social relations. Traditional
Vhavenḓa lives in patrilocal extended families. Such families include grandparents, sons and
their wives, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren. Traditionally, two or more brothers and other
family members established families in one compound, joining several households into one
large family. In other words, individualism was not part and parcel of the Vhavenḓa family
structure. These types are referred to as extended families, but today these types face extension
as they are replaced by modern nuclear families, especially for the working-class people. The
most important aspect that defines the union of Vhavenḓa in marriage is the bride price. We
will look at the process of marriage as defined by the bride price in the coming section.
Bride-Price
According to ancient Hebrew law, the man could serve his intended bride’s father for a period
to be presented with a wife (Blaine, 2015). In other parts of the world, like India, a dowry is
presented in exchange for a wife. In addition, the bride’s family is presented with a bride
price or gifts by the groom’s family (Lemos, 2018). Sometimes, the union is accompanied by a
ceremony, most commonly in the form of a feast (Blaine, 2015).
A man who has gone through the circumcision process and has accumulated enough wealth,
or cattle, a man who can provide for his family and present his prospective family-in-law with
bride price is deemed ready for marriage. Mutshotsho (2015) explains that there are situations
where the man’s parents are too old, have married off all their daughters, do not have daughters
or grandchildren, and require someone to take care of them. In such a situation, they would
decide to marry a wife for or on behalf of their son. The parents will raise the bride-wealth on
his behalf if he is not capable of doing so himself. The bride price was paid in the form of cattle
depending on what the family may require, and the payment was a token of appreciation to the
family who is giving away their daughter, whom they raised from childhood.
Purpose of marriage in Tshivenda culture

Hereunder follows a discussion of the different purposes of marriage in Tshivenda indigenous
culture.
Procreation and sustenance of the family

Among Vhavenḓa, one of the most important roles expected of a married woman and man
is bearing children (Mutshotsho, 2015). Thus, when a man marries a woman, the main aim is
to increase the number of clan members and ensure its continuation so that when he dies,
his name will not die with him (Netshirembe, 2015). This is corroborated by Dzumbani (2015)
argues that through his seed, a man ensures the continued existence of his family, from one
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generation to another, which will be a connection with his ancestors. Moreover, according
to the Tshivenda tradition (Mutshotsho, 2015), the ancestral spirits are appeased when many
grandchildren and great-grandchildren will seasonally make sacrifices or offerings after
their father died.
Social status and wealth

A traditional Muvenda man used to have as many children as possible since they believed that
this enhanced their status socially and economically, and otherwise. A man with many children
occupies a special social status in the Tshivenda indigenous culture. He is highly respected for
having many children. Vhavenḓa believes that female children will bring more wealth for the
man’s family when they get married. In the case of male children, Vhavenḓa believes that male
children will take care and add to the already existing wealth of the family when they grow old.
Extension of the family bonds

Rambau (2015) asserts that marriage among Vhavenḓa is not regarded as a bond between
two people but an alliance between two families, namely the groom’s family and the bride’s
family, inclusive of their extended families and their clans. Rambau (2015) further propounds
that marriage among Vhavenḓa is a union based on their common interest in the marriage
itself, its continuation, and in the off-springs of the union, who, of course, will be kin of both kin-
groups. By implication, each marriage creates a new social relationship between the husband
and the wife and their relatives. The fact that a male child has married a girl from another
family means that a new family bond has been created with the family of the male child’s wife.
Intervention to facilitate procreation

According to the Tshivenda indigenous culture, for people to have children, they are supposed
to be married, as the culture prohibits sexual activity before marriage. Similarly, other African
communities regard procreation as the essence of marriage, and a childless marriage is not
cherished (Rambau, 2015). Hence, among Vhavenḓa, the family elders would seek the services
of the indigenous family doctor to ensure that both the newly married bride and husband
can procreate. If the wife fails to conceive, the husband’s family will seek the services of an
indigenous healer to ensure that she conceives (Netshirembe, 2015). Suppose the intervention
through appealing to ancestors and/or medicinal herbs fail, and the wife does not conceive.
In that case, her unmarried younger sister will be married into the family to perpetuate the
family line on behalf of her sister, who cannot bear children (Netshirembe, 2015; Mutshotsho,
2015). This type of arrangement, which results in the marriage of a younger sister to an elder
sister’s husband to facilitate procreation on her behalf, is referred to as sororate marriage.
This marriage and other marital arrangements will be discussed in later sections of this paper.
The idea of bearing children in the Tshivenda culture does not include bearing children through
artificial insemination, through which one can acquire sperm from a donor (Mutshotsho,
2015). This is because knowledge about the Western ways of procreation is still foreign to the
Tshivenda indigenous culture (Mutshotsho, 2013). But within the Tshivenda culture, ‘sperm
donation’ was practised naturally if a man could not bear children. However, this was dealt
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with in a way that was restricted to a close relative within the family, who would understand
his role as a sperm donor and not a child’s biological father to be given birth by his relative’s
wife (Netshirembe, 2013). Furthermore, the sperm donor was expected to keep the information
a secret. Therefore, the man who cannot bear children was not expected to know that the child
or children are not biologically his. Thus, the sperm donor would not be expected to make any
claims towards the children.
Furthermore, traditionally Vhavenḓa men preferred to have as many children as possible

since they believed that this enhanced their status. Thus, when a man married a woman, the
main aim was to increase the members of his clan and ensure its continuation so that when
he dies, his name will not die with him. Mutshotsho (2015) argues that according to tradition,
the ancestral spirits rejoice if a man bears many children, which results in many grandchildren
and great-grandchildren, who will seasonally make sacrifices or offerings from their land
after their father had died (Netshirembe, 2015).
Virginity in Tshivenda indigenous culture

Virginity was held in high esteem. If a girl came to marriage as a virgin, the lumalo (i.e.
bride-wealth) which her suitor’s family presented to her family would have to be increased
(Netshirembe, 2015). Among some clans, for instance, the bride’s mother might also be
presented with a cow as a tribute to her for the successful upbringing of the young woman
(Netshiremba, 2015). In such a case, her virginity would be a matter of public knowledge and
would earn her special respect from her in-laws and the community. According to Netshirembe
(2015), the situation was different in the olden days because girls did not lose their virginity
before marriage. They would be broken by their husbands only. Netshirembe (2015) asserts
that nowadays when girls get married, they would have lost their virginity since they would
have engaged in sexual relationships with several men.
Types of marriages
Marriage for economic reasons

Mutshotsho (2015) clarifies that a Muvenda man used to marry a wife to procreate, have
as many children as possible, and accrue enormous wealth. This used to be possible when
wealth came from the vast land tracks, ploughed, and large livestock numbers that they would
have amassed (Netshirembe, 2015). The more children they had, the more wealth they would
accumulate. Hence they believed that Vhana ndi lupfumo lwa munna wa Muvenda, loosely
translated, children are a Muvenda man’s wealth (Mutshotsho, 2015). Moreover, more wealth
was accumulated through the bride-wealth, in cattle, when daughters were married off.
Therefore, some affluent men would marry more wives to have more children, preferably more
girls than boys, to accumulate more cattle from the bride-wealth. These children would also
help plough the fields and take care of the family livestock (Mutshotsho, 2015; Netshirembe,
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2015). This implied that the more extra hands the family had, the more wealth the family
accumulated.
Furthermore, after harvesting the fields, the wives would use the surplus grains to brew the
African beer, mahafhe. The beer was used to celebrate the harvest and entertain members
of the extended family and people in the neighbourhood. This would further enhance his
community’s social position and prestige (Netshirembe, 2015). Moreover, a man whose wives
brewed beer to entertain his relatives and community members would be recognised as a kind
and generous man. Therefore, Vhavenḓa believed that the ancestors would shower him and
his wives with more blessings and more wealth (Netshirembe, 2015).
It is important to note that during the apartheid era, Vhavenḓa families were not only forcibly
removed from their fertile land but were also allocated very tiny sites, only sufficient for
building small houses, in an arid land. Therefore, they can no longer have large families, as
they cannot accommodate them. Thus, the argument here is that land played a role in the
extinction of extended family systems.
Arranged marriages
According to O’Brien (2008, p. 40), an arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the
bride and groom are selected by a third party, rather than by each other, which, in most cases,
are their parents. O’Brien (2008) adds that marriage is considered a tool to form a community
of interest between different families. In arranged marriages, the leader of a big family
could decide the marriage of the whole family. The decision is mainly based on the whole
family’s interest, not on love between the two persons involved. Ling (2010) suggests that the
relationship is often decided when the couples are still very young in arranged marriages.
In some cases, the children’s future wives or husbands are decided even before they are born.
Sprecher et al. (1995) interviewed 1,667 Americans, Russians, and Japanese and found that
about 75 percent of respondents were willing to marry without love. Arranged marriages have
been normalised, especially in most African and Indian societies.
Vhavenḓa cultures as well-practised arranged marriages previously as it still stands in few

rural communities. The clan has always played an important role in choosing and accepting
a marriage partner, on behalf of the prospective newly-weds, precisely because according
to Tshivenda culture, as in other African cultures, marriage is not only about joining two
individuals but also of two families and clans (Mutshotsho, 2015). According to Mutshotsho
(2015) and Netshirembe (2015), the participation of both clans in the marriage process enables
the groom’s and the bride’s clans to be involved in conflict resolution when conflict arises.
In many societies within Vhavenḓa marriage links, not just nuclear families but larger social
formations as well. Men form alliances through the exchange of women, and the social
organisations regulate these alliances through lumalo negotiations, marriage procedures,
rituals, and rules. In some cases, two men from different groups, or clans, would exchange
sisters for brides (Netshirembe, 2015). Other forms involved an adult man marrying another
man’s young or infant daughter, and sexual relations would be deferred for many years until
the betrothed girl reaches maturity or marriageable age. Still, the two men, their families and
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clans, would have formed a strong bond (Mutshotsho, 2015). Netshirembe (2015) disclosed that
marriages are often arranged by the families through matchmakers or go-between services
and commence with marital rituals and celebration.
According to Knox and Shacht (2005), the term ‘arranged marriage’ is usually used to describe
a marriage that involves the parents in selecting marriage partners for their children, with or
without the help of a matchmaker. In an arranged marriage, the marital partners are chosen
by parents, community elders, matchmakers, or religious leaders, to guide young people
through the process of finding the right person to marry. Arranged marriages worldwide
encompass various procedures, cultural customs, length of courtship, and practical and
spiritual reasons for matching the partners (Knox and Shacht, 2005). Generally, the success
of arranged marriages is based on certain considerations other than pre-existing mutual
attraction. Traditionally arranged marriages became less common in the twentieth century,
with most young people in most cultures selecting their spouse, with or without parental
approval. However, with the increasing prevalence of divorce among couples who marry for
love, advocates of arranged marriage argue that its values where the expectation of love is
weak initially but ideally grows over time, makes for a stronger and more lasting marital bond.
Sororate and levirate marriages

The custom of marrying a widow to her late husband’s brother is known as Levirate marriage
and was common among the ancient Hebrews. In sororate marriages, a widower marries
his deceased or barren wife’s sister. The levirate and the sororate occur in societies where
marriage aims to create an alliance between groups. The deceased spouse’s group must
provide a new spouse to the widow or widower, thereby preserving the alliance (Mutshotsho,
2015).
Sororate marriage (U bebela vhana mukomana)

Sororate marriage is known as Ubebela vhana mukomana in Tshivenda indigenous culture.
This kind of marriage would be arranged if a married woman could not bear children for
her husband (Netshirembe, 2015). Since childlessness is not appreciated among Vhavenḓa,
arrangements would be made that a substitute wife is married instead of divorcing the
childless woman. In this case, the family of the childless wife would arrange that one of
their daughters becomes her sister’s substitute (Netshirembe, 2015). These sentiments are
corroborated by Mutshotsho (2015), who says that the substitute would be picked from among
the woman’s younger female siblings or daughters of her paternal uncle (father’s younger or
elder brother). Mutshotsho (2015) asserts that similar arrangements were made if a married
woman died. One of her unmarried sisters would become her substitute, take care of her
children, or bear children if her sister died childless (Mutshotsho, 2015). These arrangements
ensured that the children were cared for by a blood relative, namely, their aunt, instead of a
total stranger (Mutshotsho, 2015).
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Levirate marriage/Widow inheritance

The term Levirate comes from the Latin ‘levir’, which means a husband’s brother (Ogolla,
2014). Levirate inheritance could also be regarded as the practice through which the family
distributes their deceased son’s property, even if he was already married, before his death
(Mulaudzi, 2007). Levirate marriage is a type of marriage in which the brother of a deceased
man is obliged to marry his brother’s widow, and the widow is obliged to marry her deceased
husband’s brother (Ogolla, 2014). Ogolla (2014) explains that societies have practised levirate
marriage with a strong clan structure, in which exogamous marriage (between people from
outside one’s clan) was forbidden. The practice is similar to widow inheritance, where, for
example, the deceased husband’s kin dictate whom the widow may marry.
According to Tshivenda culture, the husband’s family chooses a new husband for the widow.
Her new husband may be her deceased husband’s brother, who then inherits the widow,
her children and money and or property that the deceased bequeaths (Mulaudzi, 2007).
Netshirembe (2015) asserts that the practice of widow inheritance is intended to protect the
widow, the children, the deceased’s property, more especially the family name. Mutshotsho
(2015) concurs that Vhavenḓa practised widow inheritance to protect the family name.
According to Baloyi (2015, p. 484),
African people respected marriage to an extent of trying to protect it at all

costs. One of the protective measures was the introduction of levirate, in
which the deceased’s brother was expected to marry the widow. Similarly,
a man who lost his wife would marry her sister to replace her; the Tsonga
people term a new wife, married to take the place of a deceased wife, xipfula-
yindlu. Levirate marriage is practised in African communities, although
currently, economic and legal factors exert an influence on the situation.
The practise of widow inheritance differs from one region to another. In a paper presented in a
conference in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, Maluleke (2012) elucidates that,
If a man dies, his widow is asked to choose who will take care of her from
the brothers or close relatives of the deceased. She is provided with sticks
representing these brothers and relatives to select from and whoever is
represented by the stick she chooses is the one to care for her. There are
evidently elements of freedom here because the brothers and relatives of
the deceased can be so many that the widow must be allowed to select the
people to be represented by the sticks.
Judaism, the religion of the Hebrews/Israelites, allowed levirate marriages. According to

Westreich (2014), the levirate marriage is referred to in Deuteronomy 25 vs 5-10, which states
that,
If brothers live together and one of them dies, the dead man’s wife must not
marry a stranger outside the family. Instead, her husband’s brother must
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come to her and exercising his Levirate, make her his wife to get a son for the
deceased and Israel.
Westreich (2014) further explains that the Jerusalem Bible (1966) stipulates that the Levirate
arrangement made sure that there was an heir for the deceased man. Therefore, the family
name was perpetuated. Thus, there was stability as far as the family property was concerned.
Polygamous marriage
Polygamy is the practice of having more than one wife or husband at a given time. The
term polygamy is often used as a synonym for polygyny and polyandry. The Recognition of
Customary Marriages Act (120 of 1998) (RCMA) introduced fundamental changes to the legal
position of customary marriage in South African law. The RCMA stipulates that a customary
marriage is recognised as a valid marriage for all purposes of South African law. It is evident
that in South Africa, different people from different backgrounds and cultures, including
Vhavenḓa, practise polygamy. Through cultural practices, beliefs, and individual’s choices,
people decide to commit to a polygamous lifestyle. Polygamy is the practice of marrying
multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife, sociologists refer to this as
polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is called polyandry.
Polygamy refers to simultaneous multiple marriage unions for one person, such as polyandry,
a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands simultaneously (Yamani,
2008; Gumani and Sodi, 2009). Among Vhavenḓa, this marriage is not practised.
In this study, polygamy refers to the marriage of a man to more than one wife, and this is the
most common form of polygamy practised by the Vhavenḓa people, also known as polygyny.
Polygamy is also practised in various countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa (Al-Sharfin,
2015). In South Africa, while polygamy is prohibited under civil law, it is accepted under
customary law. Netshirembe (2015) explained that polygamy was a preserve for affluent
people and royal leadership. This view is echoed by Netshirembe (2015), who is further
corroborated by Makaudze (2015), who conducted research among the Shona and argues that
because of the social and economic challenges associated with polygamy, not every man in
traditional Shona society was an ideal candidate for this type of marriage.
Factors that influence polygamy

According to Baloyi (2013), one reason men practice polygamy is if the wife cannot bear
children or fails to bear male children. Mutshotsho (2015) maintains that some men may,
instead of divorcing their wife, marry another wife to save their first wife from facing the
rejection experienced by divorced women and its detrimental effects on the women’s self-
esteem, as well as to ensure that they have children, born by their co-wives, who will take care
of them at old-age. Netshirembe (2015) and Mutshotsho (2015) concur that polygamy was
sometimes practised to uplift a Muvenda man, both economically and socially. Vhavenḓa
people consider several factors as of importance for a man to enter into a polygamous
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marriage. Vho-Tshinakaho, 1 one of the participants who contributed to this study, stated that
many wives increased the husband’s labour force in all respects, including cultivating his land,
harvesting large amounts of grain and other produce, and ensuring that his livestock thrives.
She confirmed that she and the other four co-wives and their children ploughed vast fields and
produced large grains. Therefore, this ensured that they always had surplus grains with which
they brewed beer to entertain their husbands, members of his clan, friends, neighbours, and
community members. Against this background, their husband earned a great deal of respect,
even from the royal leadership of their village. Nyamutshagole2 and Munzhedzi3 concurred
with Tshinakaho and added that women in polygamous marriages develop strong bonds and
‘have each other’s backs’ against abuse by their in-laws and other clan members.
Vho-Tshinakaho further added that their husbands in polygamous relationships do not

divorce women who cannot bear children. It is acceptable for their younger sisters to marry
into their families and bear children on their behalf. According to Tshivenda culture, siring
many children lifts a man’s status and increases his wealth, as this ensures that he will always
have a huge workforce and the fact that when his daughters get married, their bride-wealth
increases his coffers (Mutshotsho, 2015). Polygamy also ensures that a man’s descendants
fulfil his obligations to his lineage and ancestors after he is deceased (Netshirembe, 2015).
Marriages of royal leadership

In Vhavenḓa royal settings, the royal leader marries several wives, and not all of them qualify
to bear him as an heir to his throne. The wife who bears a son, who will be an heir to the throne,
should be mufumakadzi wa dzekiso, who is from a selected royal family (Mutshotsho, 2015).
Mufumakadzi wa dzekiso is a woman married to the royal leader with the bride-wealth
(lumalo), which was presented for his sister’s marriage (Netshirembe, 2015). The woman is
from a specific royal house. Therefore, in this specific situation, the woman he marries is
treated with the highest respect, compared to his other wives, if he is already in a polygamous
marriage. By implication, the highest status is afforded mufumakadzi wa dzekiso, who may
not necessarily be the first wife. If the royal leader passes on, her son becomes his heir, who
inherits his status and wealth (Mutshotsho, 2015). A royal leader may have several wives, but if
none of them is mufumakadzi wa dzekiso, they do not qualify to bear an heir, even if they were
of royal blood (Mutshotsho, 2015). Mufumakadzi wa dzekiso is regarded as a present from Vho-
makhadzi, the royal leader’s sister (Mutshotsho, 2015).
In royal leadership, a prospective heir to the throne is supposed to be of parents who are
closely related by blood. Therefore, the royal leader’s mufumakadzi wa dzekiso may be his
cross-cousin, who may be the daughter of his uncle or aunt (makhadzi), that is, father’s sister
(Mutshotsho, 2015). Furthermore, among the ruling royal leader’s wives, some of them may be
his half-sisters, daughters of his father’s minor wives (Mutshotsho, 2015). These arrangements
and relations are a well-kept arranged secret, known only by Vho-makhadzi (royal aunts and
royal sisters), and very few in the inner circles of the royal family who arrange such marriages.
1 Not her real name - she wants to remain anonymous.
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According to Mutshotsho (2015), it is important to note that royal leaders inter-marry among
themselves, not only because they want to ensure that their heirs have strong royal blood, are
of noble descent and powerful, but also because they believe that people of royal descent,
who are raised in the royal court, learn and acquire tenets and principles of how to conduct
themselves appropriately, one of them being not divulging secrets of the royal house,
musanda, while commoners are said to be ignorant of the rules of the Thondo, the royal court
(Netshirembe, 2015).
Marriage of a woman to another woman/

U malela musadzi muta
This is when a woman is married to another woman when there is no one within a family/ kraal
to carry and continue with a family name in the form of procreating and raising offsprings.
Matshilane and Segoane (2004, p. 7) affirm that ‘u malela musadzi muta’ is also referred to as ‘go
nyalelwa lapa’ in Sesotho sa Lebowa, “emanates from peculiar circumstances which make it a
special kind of marriage and therefore require specific appreciation. This marriage is used as
an intervention to save or revive a family name facing extinction.” In its ‘untainted’ customary
law, ‘u malela musadzi muta’ is resorted to where there is no one within a family/kraal to carry
and continue with a family name in the form of procreating and raising offsprings (ibid). ‘U
malela musadzi muta’ can thus be defined as a traditional form of marriage in which a woman
is married into a family (muta/house/kraal) to revive and continue with the family name of her
newly acquired in-laws (ibid). In Tshivenda culture, the practice of ‘u malela musadzi muta’
also occurs when a wealthy woman wishes to increase her household (Netshirembe, 2015).
These women, who may be indigenous healers, Vho-maine, or Vho-makhadzi, senior aunt to
the royal leader, or his sister, usually have large livestock numbers, namely, cattle, goats, and
financial wealth. With such a wealth, they can afford to present their prospective in-laws with
bride-wealth, lumalo, required for this purpose (Netshirembe, 2015). When a family has been
identified and is agreeable to this proposal, the process of lumalo (bride-price) negotiation is
undertaken like the way it is done for a man wishing to marry a woman (Netshirembe, 2015).
Lumalo (bride-wealth), which was usually set at eight to fifteen cattle, and ten goats, depending
on the outcomes of the negotiations, would be presented (Netshirembe, 2015). The betrothed
woman in this marriage would usually be required to bear children for her husband, who is
the woman who married her. This marriage is not consummated in the same way as in same-
sex marriages, which have become legal in democratic South Africa. The two women do not
engage in sexual relations. But arrangements are made that a man who will sire the betrothed
woman’s children is determined by ‘her husband’, and he may be her ‘husband’s husband, her
‘husband’s brother, or any male relative who may be found to be appropriate for the purpose
(Netshirembe, 2015). If the man who sires this woman’s children is not her husband’s husband,
his identity is concealed. Moreover, the children he bears with this woman are not regarded as
his, but ‘their father’ is the woman who married their mother or husband (Netshirembe, 2015).
Stayt (1978) echoes these sentiments as he states that,
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In the Vhavenḓa culture, it has been a practice that a woman who is able, with
means, may marry several wives for herself. The practise was not common to
the poor. Women who can marry are those in position of authority as petty
chiefs or traditional healers, who, through wealth accumulation, are able
to afford lobola. The woman may give the wives to her husband for sexual
intercourse, but it can be done through her permission alone. In some cases,
they are given other men for childbearing purposes, but these men as well
cannot have any legal claim over the women as they did not pay the bridal
price for them.
Bekker and Buchner-Eveleigh (2014) corroborate Stayt (1978), Matshilane and Segoane
(2004), Netshirembe (2015) and Mutshotsho (2015) by giving an account of such a marriage
process among Vhavenḓa people by stating that;
A Venda wife may, with her own property, furnish lobola for and marry a
woman who is regarded as her wife, but whose children are sired by a select
male consort; this consort is usually her own son or if she has none of suitable
age and status, her brother or other near relative of her father and mother,
chosen as far as possible in order of seniority.
Bekker and Buchner-Eveleigh (2014) further expand that according to African custom, if
a married woman is infertile, or dies young, or without having giving birth to children, the
husband’s family has a right to approach the woman’s family and ask that they be given a
substitute or seed raiser. Bekker and Buchner-Eveleigh (2014) elucidate that the substitute
could be an unmarried sister or another female relative of the infertile or deceased woman,
who must bear children for the house of the infertile or deceased wife.
Matshilane and Segoane (2004) expound that if the woman already has children, in most cases,
women married for the house have children, her children automatically assume the surname
of their newly acquired family. This is to ensure that these children continue and pursue the
heritage of their newly acquired family. Therefore, the woman and her children become the
direct descendants of their acquired family and clan (Matshilane and Segoane, 2004).
It is important to note that ‘u malela musadzi muta’ is a form of marriage resorted to if there
is no one within a family or kraal to continue the family name, in the form of procreating and
bearing offspring. Bekker and Buchner-Eveleigh (2014) further explain that reasons that may
result in the absence of a biological family member to carry the family name are the death of
the family head survived by the wife only, death of the family head survived his wife and having
married daughters only, a childless woman with no brothers or sisters, or a purely childless or
barren woman.
Exchange of daughters or sisters (U dzetshelana)

In the Tshivenda indigenous culture, the exchange of daughters or sisters is known as ‘u
dzetshelana’. Among Vhavenḓa, this practice often takes place when affluent families prefer
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to have marital relationships with families that are also affluent. Thus, to ensure that their
daughters do not marry into ‘lowly’ families, marriages are arranged long before their children
reach marriageable age (Mutshotsho, 2015). These families exchange daughters to strengthen
their friendship, ‘u khwathisa vhushaka’ (strengthening of the relationship) (Naledzani, 2015).
When the families agreed that their children would be compatible with each other, they
would engage in lumalo negotiations and all the necessary processes and formalities about
Tshivenda. This indigenous culture governs marriage’s formalisation (Mutshotsho, 2015).
Cross cousin marriage/U bikela makhadzi

Among Vhavenḓa, some clans’ marriages are arranged between cross-cousins. In this case,
the family of two siblings, a sister and a brother arrange that their children get married to
each other (Mutshotsho, 2015). Netshirembe (2015) explains that the brother’s son marries
the man’s sister’s daughter, and this arrangement is regarded as ‘u bikela makhadzi’. By
implication, the woman is married into that family to help her aunt with house chores.
The purpose of this arrangement is to ensure that blood ties between the two families are
strengthened. This results in the practice known as ‘u khwathisa vhushaka’, which strengthens
the bloodline (Netshirembe, 2015). Mutshotsho (2015) asserts that Vhatavhatsindi, who
occupied the eastern side of the area formerly known as Venda, especially those who lived in
Thengwe, was practised, referred to this marriage as ‘Tshiṅombe iya, tshiṅombe vhuya’. This
implies that lumalo cattle are presented to the in-laws, who in this case are the family of the
prospective bride’s aunt. Thus, the same lumalo in the form of cattle is taken back to the family
they came from, that is, the reciprocation of the presentation of lumalo.
Infant betrothal marriage (u ta tshikunwe)

In Tshivenda indigenous culture, such marriage is known as ‘u t tshikunwe’. This type of
marriage can also be arranged by parents or families of newly born babies (Netshirembe,
2015). Knox and Shacht (2005) concur that parents of a newly born daughter may arrange a
future marriage with parents of a newly born or older son to strengthen their relationships.
Mutshotsho (2015) echoes these sentiments and adds that the children are betrothed to each
other and will only know when they reach an acceptable marriageable age that their marriage
has already been arranged. Mutshotsho (2015) further elaborates that often the two betrothed
would have never even interacted or met each other before. Therefore, they would not have
known that they would be husband and wife until the formalities render them a married
couple when they are both of acceptable marriageable age, which differs from clan to clan.
This practice is referred to as u ta tshikuṅwe (Netshirembe, 2015). According to Mutshotsho
(2015), many people who have been married in this way do grow to love and cherish their
spouses only after the marriage.
Betrothal marriages are sometimes arranged when the father of an unborn child, whom he
expects to be a girl, fails to settle a debt of cattle he had borrowed. Thus, the agreement would
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be to settle the debt. The newly born girl would have to marry into the man’s family against
whom her father has debt when she reaches marriageable age. These arrangements were
made on an unborn girl-child or to a little girl-child, who may still be breastfeeding when this
agreement is made (Mutshotsho, 2015).
Unification of Vhavenḓa marriages

Masindi (2015) explained that among Vhavenḓa, the ancestors (vho-makhulukuku) play a
pivotal role in strengthening marriages. Masindi (2015) asserts that after having informed the
ancestors of a new member that has joined the family through marriage, the indigenous family
doctor, Vhomaine, administers the rituals through which the married couple are united in
marriage. Thus, the marriage is strengthened to ensure that the couple stays married despite
all kinds of challenges they may experience and ensure that they are blessed by the family and
clan’s ancestors (Netshirembe, 2015). Thus, the wife is introduced to the ancestral spirits of the
husband since she is a new member of the family (Netshirembe, 2015). During the marriage
unification process, the newly married couple’s urine and blood are mixed with medicinal
herbs (Netshirembe, 2015). The concoction is then applied to the incisions made on their bodies
(i.e., knees, hips, abdomen, the back and front of the neck of the married couple) (Mutshotsho,
2015). After applying the concoction on the incisions, the couple is expected to drink another
concoction prepared by the medicine man. Finally, the two are pronounced husband and wife,
and from that time onwards, it was acceptable for them to be intimate (Netshirembe, 2015).
Conclusion
The transformation of societies in the sub-continent from rural to urban settings has
immensely contributed to triggering changes in family structures. This has triggered the
distortion of cultural / traditional norms and values that characterised Vhavenḓa rural
communities in the region. As a result, African families are increasingly faced with the
challenge and pressure emanating from the competition prevailing between traditional and
modern family values. Hence, contemporary family patterns in the region are increasingly
subjected to transformation and adaptation to changing times. The purpose of this study was
to describe and document in appraisal what was meant by family structure and how it was
diversified within Vhavenḓa culture.
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Analysis of African indigenous parenting

practices from social work and
Afrocentricity perspective: which lessons
to draw?
Mmaphuti Mamaleka
University of Venda
Mmaphuti.Mamaleka@univen.ac.za
Introduction
The chapter focuses on indigenous parenting practices as used by Black African families
in the past. The chapter is based on research conducted in the researcher’s PhD study. The
indigenous parenting practices are discussed with specific reference to Afrocentricity as a
conceptual framework from a social work perspective. This reflection aims to draw lessons,
and advocates use by all working with children, including parents. Black African families
had cultural and traditional belief systems (values, norms and practices) in the parenting
system. There is a huge generational behaviour gap between the children born in the 1990s
downwards and those from 2000 up to date. The same goes for parenting in those years. The
children are currently presenting socially unacceptable behaviours such as disrespect,
substance abuse, teenage pregnancy and other unwanted behaviours, which were uncommon
in the past. Parenting is one of the foundations and developmental stages to cultivate
children’s personality, character, behaviour and conduct. In trying to transform, South African
black families were coerced to adapt to colonialism, urbanisation and globalisation, which
greatly influenced their indigenous parenting practices (White Paper on Families in South
Africa, 2012). As evidenced by Arowolo (2010), colonisers imposed foreign rules and cultures
over Black Africans’ indigenous traditional values and beliefs in all spheres of their lives. This
led Black African parents to outgrow their African cultural heritage and become westernised,
displaying disparity with parents with whom they cannot relate. The scaffolding of indigenous
parenting practices faded as they were absorbed in the Western practices. The question to be
asked is, where did African Black parents go wrong in parenting their children?
The Afrocentricity and Social Work in parenting children.
Afrocentricity and parenting

The aspects mentioned above complement each other in parenting the child. Afrocentricity
is regarded as a perspective that the Africans use to see their history through their eyes,
not through Europe’s or the Western world’s. It is a theory that advocates for social change
embedded in traditional African beliefs, interest, values, and perspectives. Afrocentricity
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ensures that traditional Black African families’ parental practices must be explored in an
African context. The focus of Afrocentricity is to put Africans at the centre of their culture to
be liberated from the oppression of western practices. The author used Afrocentricity in the
chapter because it promotes the voice of Africans and liberates them from practising what
they know, believe, and understand without oppression or being undermined by other people.
Most importantly, as Asante (2007, p. 42) rightfully puts it, “Africans should not be the object of
the narration of their experiences, rather, they should be the subject of their events, experiences,
traditions, and habits, as they experienced and know their practices”. The four Afrocentricity’s
goals that emphasise the centrality of African people are: to expose and actively resist “White
racial domination”, transforming African Americans towards their cultural centre, converting
African American to an ideology of values, spirituals and ritual, analysing different disciplines
from an Afrocentric perspective and providing a culturally appropriate method of analysis for
African Americans (Asante, 2005 p1-33). Mazama (2003) describes Afrocentricity as the way
or means of refurbishing the humanity and self-awareness of the Africans. All these promote
African cultural and traditional sensitivity which is appropriate in parenting children.
Social work and parenting

The social work profession deals with challenges faced by families, groups and communities
to improve their quality of life. Social work also promotes the cultural practices of different
people in their application. Though social workers share universal values, it should be noted
that different local conditions dictate which social work discourse is needed. As Thabede
(2008) stated, social workers need to be sensitive to the African perspective and philosophies
when dealing with African clients. That informs how Africans relate to their issues, including
the challenges that life presents to them, African people. It is important to analyse certain
social work services from the African perspective. This could help understand the kind of
interventions to use, looking at the content and context of people. It can be highlighted that as
much as social work is the same across the world, interventions should be suitable to the needs
of people in context (fit for the purpose). The social work profession applies various values,
principles, and ethics congruent to the Afrocentric approach (Mungai, 2015). Social work
values and principles, amongst others, include the right to self-determination, the uniqueness
of cultural practices, human rights, social change and social justice, Ubuntu, and many more
to alleviate human suffering.
It is evidenced that most parents depend on their socialisation for parenting their children.
This includes an intuitive sense of right and wrong, based on their own belief, experience and
cultural practices (Hamner and Turner, 2001). They pass the practices to their children and
generation to come (Santrock, 2006). However, using the Afrocentricity approach in social
work provides an alternative means through which human problems can be understood and
addressed based on the African perspective. Hence, Kanu (2007) advocates for revisiting the
past to assess what was used to build a strong and resilient future because the past, present,
and future interconnect. This adage statement implies that Africans should consider their
past experiences and build on them for future generations. According to the author, these life
events were made to teach children’s ways of life.
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Hence, Afrocentricity advocates that the Africans should revisit their past and continue
performing their important and relevant rituals, festivals, and spiritualties which does not
infringe other people’s rights. These will communicate directly to what the parents know and
understand, unlike practising models or approaches far fetched or not applicable to their
present location. Social work services and the Afrocentric paradigm assist one to understand,
solve, and prevent problems confronted by several races (Schiele, 2000). The author contends
that sometimes, it is difficult to implement interventions suitable in Western culture to African
culture. The application might be difficult to adapt or use. Therefore it is ideal for applying the
interventions that are fit for the purpose. The one size fits all approach is not always applicable
to all challenges. Some of life’s challenges are best understood by its people, and the affected
people also know ways of dealing with them. It should be acknowledged that societies and
people have a dynamic way of handling their problems based on their experiences and history.
There is disparity for social change regarding parenting children and how it will protect them
from adversity and harms of society. Yes, there are parenting practices and styles that social
workers use in skilling and training parents, but the majority of them are informed by western
practices, which is a concern for a Black African child. As the author indicates, the Eurocentric
knowledge base makes Africans’ cultural values insufficiently used as a theoretical base to
formulate new human service practices and problem-solving methods. The question posed
is what informs the interventions for African people if the interventions are designed outside
the Africans’ periphery and their lived experiences? This is the gap that needs to be filled by
reflecting on indigenous parenting practices used. Mungai (2015) argues that for African
people to cope with modern challenges and problems, they should seek strength in the
foundations of their indigenous cultures.
Reflections, analysis and lessons learnt from indigenous

parenting practices in parenting children
Hangartner-Everts (2013) defines indigenous child-rearing practices as the activities and ways
that emanate from cultural patterns that define what constitutes the accepted, preferable
practices or norms of an ethnic or racial group. Thus, the indigenous parenting practices
emanate from parents’ upbringing or cultural practices. South African constitution Act
no.108 of 1996 stipulates that everyone has the right to practice his or her own culture, which
Afrocentricity advocates. However, five hundred years since, Africans have been off the rails
of their cultural and social traditions and mostly live the European lifestyle, including their
cultures, which now dominate social work interventions and the way children are parented
(Asante, 1992). The Black African children’s socially unacceptable behaviour can also be
addressed or approached using ways and means or practices that Black African families
understand and use. However, Emmanuel, Akinyemi, and Nimotalai (2012) acknowledge that
the social change, structural shift and culture of poverty has contributed to the reduced use of
traditional parenting practice.
This Afrocentricity goal emphasises the African culture to be at the centre. This could be
achieved only if the Africans could transform their minds, behaviour and actions to reflect the
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African culture (Asante, 2003). From the author’s point of view, this goal can only be achieved if
the Black African families have the same mindset and are collectively aware of their identity.
Their collective consciousness will be undisputable because they will all have similar ways of
doing things, such as promoting their indigenous ways of parenting children from their African
perspective. The following are some of the indigenous parenting practices that worked well in
parenting:
Cultural and ritual practices

African people are more popular with their cultural practices, and they used such to parent
their children. Traditionally, Black African people have developed various rites (puberty rite
and initiation), cultural celebration, rituals, and festivals for various significant life events.
These practices instil positive relationships and socialisation amongst people. They also
served as a medium of cultural education, intergenerational communication, reconnection
and preservation of cultural heritage that positively improve the people’s quality of life.
However, it was evidenced by Owusu-Frempong (2005) that these cultural practices were
used to address dysfunctional youth behaviour. The traditional practices were used to
instil discipline, keeping high moral standards and patience in children. The practice was
supporting the proverb that says, ‘prevention is better than cure'. For example, if the child
did not go through traditional initiation, that child was not recognised in the community. The
child was not given any responsibility or regarded as immature or less significant (Seshai,
2017). It was believed that initiation school is where children learn acceptable behaviour,
responsibility and gain maturity. In this kind of practice, the children were taught all life skills
to portray good characters that their families and societies aspire to.
However, the practice is controversial today as some people do it for business purposes, which
dilutes its main purpose. In addition, Mbiti (2013) raised a concern that some societies that do
not practice traditional initiation expose children to develop their way of adulthood, whereby
some experiment with drugs, alcohol and other dangerous activities.
The interconnectedness of all things and beings and collectivity

The interconnectedness of human beings means a united group of people living in harmony
with their environment, which helps them become one with reality (Graham, 2000). This is
proven by communal parenting, whereby the community, the extended families and the
traditional leaders’ join efforts in parenting children. The extended families reinforce various
aspects of positive discipline in collaboration with the children’s parents. Thus, Emmanuel
et al. (2012) indicate that the extended family systems teach children their roots, social and
moral norms and protect their customs and traditions (heritage preservation). Hence, the
children’s behavioural problems were not much compared to children staying with their
nuclear families (Simons, Chen, Simons, Brody and Cutrona, 2006). In this communal parenting
practice, the child was regarded as the child of the entire community. Hence, every male or
female adult serves as role models for children and is responsible for parenting whether or not
they are biologically linked or related.
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In the past, if a child were misbehaving, the parent nearby would reprimand the child, unlike
today, where one can be arrested or shamed for reprimanding the child. Society was concerned
about its morals, values and customs and would not let the children do as they pleased or
claim that only their parents could discipline them. In that way, the children grew up knowing
respect and avoiding inappropriate behaviour. The community was in accord for its benefit.
In collectivism, the main aim was to develop and preserve the group, unlike in Eurocentric
culture, where individualism is emphasised. People who see themselves as connected or as
a collective are also likely to care for other individuals because they perceive them as part
of their collective self. The saying: “injury to one is an injury to all” was commonly used in
parenting in the past, as collectively, they have one vision of building morally upright children.
Currently, everyone minds their own business. Through cultural practices, people share the
tasks and how to perform them in collective mode.
Interpersonal relationships
The relationships can be collective or based on exchange. Exchange relationships are based
on mutual expectation. In contrast, collective relationships are not based on expectations,
such as family members, friends, and many others (Clark & Mills in Belgrave & Allison, 2010).
Interpersonal relationships are essential because they teach and guide children to live,
think, and behave. The interpersonal relationships promote the principles of Ubuntu which
is lacking in people of this era. Ubuntu refers to being human or humanity, including caring
for everything, including people and the environment (Shutte, 2001). Ubuntu advocates a
profound sense of interdependence whereby true human potential can be comprehended only
in partnership with others. Manda (2009) affirms that Ubuntu is an African way of promoting
social cohesion and positive human interaction in daily living. Traditionally, a child that
showed Ubuntu was regarded to be mature and responsible. Looking at the children’s current
behaviour, they lack the values and principles of Ubuntu because they hurt their parents and
other people without caring how they feel.
So, killing one another, gangsterism, and other socially unacceptable behaviours were
alleviated in the past by upholding Ubuntu principles. In the past, parents exposed and
taught their children the value of interpersonal relationships, so less socially unacceptable
behaviour was observed. They understood the meaning of not hurting each other, respecting,
and having a heart for other people. Therefore, children must know and understand the
principle of Ubuntu. These core values of Ubuntu are essential to children’s behaviour, as
lack of compassion makes them destroy other people’s property (crime or criminal activities).
They fight against each other in gang fights because of a lack of forgiveness and many other
socially unacceptable behaviours. It can then be concluded that interpersonal relationships
are essential because they teach and guide children to live, think, and behave.
Responsibility
Responsibility stems from the belief that human beings have the ability, capability,
potential, and strengths to do well. De La Porte and Mailula (2006) define responsibility as
the accountability of one’s own choices and actions. Taking responsibility means not making
excuses, not blaming others or circumstances for one’s failures. However, responsibility should
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be a spontaneous human quality that is freely portrayed for enhancing the living of everyone
(Schiele, 2000). To be human includes respect, kindness, compassion, which are components of
interpersonal relationship.
Therefore, indigenous parenting taught the children responsibility, respect and assisting
people, loyalty, encouraged hard work, protection and security. Children’s challenging
behaviour often ignores these values of responsibilities. The children commit crimes
without accepting accountability. They fall pregnant at an early age without considering the
responsibility of being a parent. They are involved in drugs and other risky behaviour without
considering the consequences.
Family structure
Mackay (2005) explains that, over the past two decades or so, literature was developed that
shows the impact of family structure and family change on child well being and upbringing.
Traditionally, every person has a role to play in the family, from the father to the child. The
family was structured so that everyone knows his or her roles and positions in the family. In the
family, men were regarded as the head of the family and assigned to provide and protect their
families (Pan-African Network, 2014). In other words, fathers were disciplinarians, icons of
moral strength, role models, and direction for children, which is the opposite in the current era.
There is too much gender-based violence which the majority of the perpetrators are fathers or
men. Men are no longer seen as protectors but as monsters to their family and society.
On the other hand, women were caring for the children, household chores and economic
productivity. The transformation and modernisation dispel this family structuring. Women
are involved in the labour market, and childminders assume the parenting role in their
families. It must be emphasised that the involvement of more mothers in the modern labour
force deprives the children and the whole family of the daily love and care necessary for
proper child-rearing and development.
Folkloric systems
The other form of indigenous parenting practice was folkloric systems. Folkloric systems
include folktales, proverbs, riddles, storytelling, poems, folk dance, folk food and many more.
This infers that folkloric systems depend or are practises based on how people believe and
value things, which ultimately becomes their part of daily living. Accordingly, African folkloric
systems could be regarded as African heritage, loaded with invaluable teaching. The main
aim of using folkloric systems was to teach children morals, values, warn, instruct, correct,
and encourage good behaviour to become responsible people in society (Quan-Baffour, 2011).
Unfortunately, these good practices were invaded by modernisation and changed Black
African family structures. Instead of children listening to the stories and riddles, their time is
replaced by watching television, using gadgets and the computer. It is not wrong to engage in
such activities, but they slowly erase this cultural practice in most African families.
Children learn through television, not through the folkloric systems. Proverbs as a folkloric
practice were used to picture the reality, for example, the northern Sotho proverb that says,
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“sebone thola boreledi teng ga yona go a baba.” The loose translation says, do look at the
smoothness of the fruit (thola). Its insides are bitter. The fruit is very smooth and delicious,
but it isn’t very pleasant if you eat it. So, what the traditional people did was show children a
reality, but comparing what they want to say in proverbs with what is real, for the children to
have a clear understanding. Chegini (2014) validates that sayings are part of people’s daily
lives, developed from their simple knowledge or ideas. Those ideas are informed by their past
experiences and are orally communicated to the future generation. That is the reason why
Chiku and Banda (2010) underscore that proverbs are like seeds, and they only become alive
when they are sown.
Child discipline
Discipline through corporal punishment, for example, spanking, was commonly used in the
past. According to Papalia, Wendkos-Olds and Duskin-Feldman (2006), discipline refers to
how a parent instructs a child to follow a particular code of conduct based on society’s norms
and practice. This implies that parents discipline children to follow their expectations and
guidelines. Discipline aims to prevent future behavioural problems that children could
display. Smenyak (2012) alludes that child discipline involves rewarding and punishing to
motivate self-control and promote the desired behaviour as contrasting to unacceptable ones.
Discipline is about correcting behaviour, not intending to punish a child, like what happens
currently. In the past, mostly in Black African families, the common method of discipline was
spanking. As put by Austin (2012), in the 70s and 80s, parents used corporal punishment such as
a cane, an unbreakable bamboo stick, a belt, a slipper, or anything similar to ensure that the
child feels pain yet ensuring that they don’t break the skin or injure the child. Such discipline
brought much order in African families, and no child was eager to receive or experience such
punishments.
However, in the past, parents used creativity in disciplining children, although now it is a crime
to spank a child in South Africa. In the past, that was not a problem in Black African families.
Parents believe that discipline makes children behave properly, and it was a normal part of
growing up. It is acknowledged by Austin (2012) that corporal punishment is less administered
today as compared to the 70s and 80s, especially in families inclined to Western practices.
Taboo and impurity (It is forbidden)

In the past, parents used taboo to raise children. Other related terms for taboo are impurity
or ‘it is forbidden’, or ‘to avoid’ or ‘do not’, which in Northern Sotho is called Di a ila. Seshai
(2017) elucidates taboo as something that was designated as sacred or prohibited, which was
established in the past by the forefathers. Taboo was a form of social and religious custom
that put restrictions on certain things, including acts, behaviour and tendencies. Taboos
were developed based on the geographical location, culture, resources, heritage, prevailing
circumstances, and challenges people faced. Hence, they can be changed or wiped away
depending on the circumstances and the area. ‘It is forbidden’ was a strategy used to prohibit
certain behaviour in children. Therefore, children learn about taboos from their parents and
grandparents as they engage with them in daily activities and learn what they should do
and why and what they should not do and why. The commonly used taboos were disrespect,
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especially to elderly people, adulterous behaviour, incest, stealing, being quarrelsome, and
children consuming beer. There was a belief that disobedience to some of the issues mentioned
will negatively impact the person and, to some extent, the close relatives or the community at
large.
Therefore, children were taught not to engage in such behaviour because it will affect their
life, socially and physically. Taboos were not just restrictions but had some benefits to the
users. It is spelt out by Seshai (2017) that there are various functions that taboos perform, such
as a prohibition against certain actions in social life such as: keeping peace and harmony in
the community, served as moral guidance to children, assisted in the upbringing of children,
provided rules for marriage, to avoid sickness or famine considered to be a curse from
ancestors or spirits, to preserve the life and well-being of people, to control, to enlighten
people that an improper behaviour would have disastrous consequences, they were an
expression of a general set of rules commonly understood by all human beings, they were used
to convey moral values, especially to children, and could be described as “ teaching aids”. It
can be concluded that taboos were used as an indigenous parenting practice and have got
teaching, warning, and protection elements. Hence children in the past were less likely to get
in trouble because their behaviour was regulated through ‘it is forbidden’.
Family rules
Every organisation, society or family has got some rules in place to maintain control and
order. Traditionally, parents had family rules to govern their homes, including child-rearing.
Paediatric child health alludes that rules are established for children to learn cooperatively to
live with others, teach them to extricate right from wrong, and protect from harm. Family rules
help create structure in the family on how family members should behave. Family rules may
be specific to a situation, such as time to play, eat, do house chores, and many others. The child
raised in a family with rules can know and understand their expectations from the parents and
other people living with them. Family rules help children to understand their expectations in
terms of their behaviours. The parents in the past put rules on their children, and they obeyed
them. For example, children knew that they should be home before sunset. Contrary to that,
disciplinary measures would be applied.
Conclusion
The chapter focused on Afrocentricity, social work and indigenous parenting practices.
Indigenous parenting practices are favoured by the people who used them in the past.
Irrespective of how the parenting practices were perceived, it was observed to be good
and yield positive results in rearing the children. It could be concluded that some of the
indigenous parenting practices were favoured but required some modification to suit current
circumstances, without losing their meaning, for example, the use of traditional initiation
schools. The practices taught children a good way of life. However, the way they are conducted
devalues its core tenets and mission. Social workers, as well as all parties involved or working
with children, namely; Child and Youth Care Workers should incorporate indigenous parenting
377
practices in their parenting programmes, such as family preservation parenting skills,

life skills, and many more. Parents and caregivers should be educated and trained on the
importance of using various parenting methods, including indigenous parenting practices
by social workers. Social work prevention programmes, such as campaigns and training,
should incorporate indigenous parenting practices for public knowledge. They should also
make information available (pamphlets) accessible and usable to the parents and entire
communities. Social work interventions with family and children’s challenges should also
incorporate indigenous parenting practices guidelines. Afrocentricity is ideal for dealing with
African social phenomena, as it advocates for social change and African beliefs and practices.
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Revitalising indigenous knowledge:

The Culture of the African people
Glory Mmasetsana Lekganyane
University of Venda
glory.lekganyane@univen.ac.za
Introduction
This chapter argues for the use of indigenous knowledge and culture, revitalisation and
reconstruction of indigenous knowledge, particularly strengthening indigenous knowledge
in communities, social work and education in schools and institutions of higher learning, and
the importance of libraries in schools reserving indigenous information. It is still a challenge
to properly define the concept ‘indigenous people’ because of the broad scope it covers.
However, most authors use it to refer to a minority of first peoples in their lands. Shisha (2005)
compares Africa to a salad dish of indigenous people who originally were colonised but have
a common culture or ancestry. It is difficult to characterise and define indigenous people due
to the diversity of their subcultural groups. However, all originally colonised societies with
custom or ancestral roots in the society are regarded as indigenous even though they are
marginalised. Now a question arises as to who is capturing who? My departing point here is
that people were colonised during the apartheid era, but now that we live in the democratic
era, one may ask a question, who is fooling who? Based on that, there is a need to revitalise
indigenous languages. Revitalisation simply refers to the process of making something
develop, grow or become successful again. This simply refers to a situation where learning and
culture are revived for the sake of change and better developmental progress.
Cultural theory and indigenous holistic theory

Cultural theory and indigenous holistic theory form the foundation of this chapter. Integrated
assessment approaches consider the interactions between natural and social systems.
Thompson and Swartz (1990) combine ecological and anthropological insights. Thompson
et al. (1990) argued that their cultural theory is multipurpose. A cultural theory, like other
approaches, has been applied to cope with the subjective inherent to analyse long-term
global change. Parallel to Indigenous holistic theory is ecology, which includes the whole,
relational and cyclical issues. The experiences of indigenous people can be understood
within a holistic framework. In other words, the experiences of Indigenous people can be
contextualised and framed within a social, historical, economic and political framework. The
holistic framework forms the foundation to understand harmony, balanced nature, and living
a good life. Imbalance is usually created by presenting issues or problems. Such problems are
usually identified by people, communities and families who need change towards balance
and peace. Colonising mechanisms and agents such as child welfare, residential schools,
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land dispossessions, social development traps, Bantu education and others have led to a
familial and personal imbalance in many spheres of functioning (Duran and Duran, 1995;
Nabigan, 2006; La Rogue, 1991; Graveline, 2004’; Hart, 2002). In other words, colonialism
internationalisation has contributed to lateral oppression and violence. My argument here
centres on the fact that once there is an imbalance in people’s lives, development in all spheres
tends to be affected.
Preserving and reclaiming culture

The word ‘preserve’ refers to maintaining something in its existing or original state, and
‘reclaiming’ refers to recovering or retrieving something lost. Preservation simply refers to the
process of bringing something under control, dominance. In other words, preservation refers
to an act or results or the process of preserving something, particularly the activity of keeping
something alive, valuable, intact or free from decay or damage (Oxford Dictionary of English,
2010; Merriam Webster Dictionary, 1828). Culture can be reclaimed and preserved by fostering
technological and developmental progress (Wiredu, 1980). African indigenous knowledge has
recently received attention. A question arises as to why such practices, customs and beliefs
were abandoned as they are reconsidered without embarrassment. The preservation and
revitalisation of indigenous knowledge can only be sustained if only the positive dimensions
of the African culture are considered and regarded as valuable in the modern sphere.
We need to consider what we preserve, revitalise and re-evaluate. It is quite disturbing that
denigration of the African culture is also done to those internal to Africa. We always blame
Western people. What about the African people exposed to Western civilisation through
education and socialisation as they sometimes forget their indigenous knowledge without
considering the positive value of the system? Although Western practices and the apartheid
systems have caused painful moments, the African people abandoned many cultural practices
and skills that would make societies rich. One cannot abandon his culture based on the
diffusion of culture. Yet, it is true and important to learn the culture of the people to be skilled,
communicative, and survive simultaneously, but this does not justify that people should
neglect their unique culture. The decline of cultural tradition and lifestyle changes have been
contributed to or caused by rapid modernisation. If you learn your language and historical
profile, you tend to enhance and respect your identity and origin. The creation of the present
and future cultural issues is based on such traditions (Nagaoka, 2014)
Indigenous knowledge (IK) is a unique system (Kaniki and Mphahlele, 2000) to a society or
culture. It is considered innovative, dynamic and very practical. Libraries can deliver effective
services (Steve in Abioye and Oluwaniyi, 2017) through information resource provision.
IK has become significant to those who rely on survival, agriculture, and modern industry
(Odeku, 2014). Indigenous people would utilise social instruments such as cutlasses and
hoes for farming to clear the bush for rotational farming and fallow the bush before modern
civilisation (South West Nigeria). A series of crops such as wheat, beans, sorghum, maise, peas,
mango and orange fruits were cultivated. Adedipe, Okuneye and Ayinde (2004) also validated
that when they posit that resource farmers on a small scale have valid reasons to stick to
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their local information and farming practices, modern technologies can only be sustainable
and successful if IK is considered. Previously, my parents would plough the field to cultivate
maise, traditional peanuts, morogo such as monawa, mphodi, maraka, mafodi literally known
as pumpkins, dinawa (beans), dithlodi (peas), magapu a Sesotho (watermelons), mabelethoro
(sorghum), dintsho (also known as dinyoba), dinyebu and many others. Parents would grind
mealies and sorghum, utilising “lwala”, literally referring to a manmade traditional stone
currently replaced by grinding machinery. Every Sunday, we would eat a traditional fresh
chicken, not a refrigerated one. For us, it was an interesting physical exercise to catch a chicken
for slaughter. The oil extracted from the chicken was used as a traditional medicine for curing
the ear. We would also eat megwapa, literally referring to biltongs.
We were also engaged in extramural activities such as kgatedi, tsheretshere, kgati, bokoti,
moruba, ‘mantlapulele pula ya Medupi’, and other socialisation activities for African children.
The current generation spend a lot of their time watching TV, communicating through
WhatsApp, Instagram and U-Tube; cell phones; Gmail, Skype; MS text messages, etc. These
activities are advanced, although they do not always stimulate the mind of the African child.
The traditional food and games were meant to stimulate our minds and live a healthy lifestyle.
Our parents would also devote their time to narrating important stories to us in the evening to
build our future.
The tree below resembles a traditional way of living, which was considered healthy during the
olden days:
Figure : A’’ Marula’’ tree adapted from

sabisabi.com
A traditional way of life, a better way to reclaim the culture

The tree above consists of three layers: the first layer of the tree (upper part) consists of
traditional foods like “Marula’’that form part of the traditional foundation of an African
person. The second layer of the tree (middle part) consists of the cultural life of stories, poems,
and proverbs, making an African child who he or she is currently. The third layer (bottom part)
consists of education from a multifaceted perspective, including economic, political, religious,
cultural, and traditional and Western knowledge. The tree denotes the fact that African foods
are valuable. Without them, there is no healthy economic lifestyle, culture, proper education,
nor development.
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Decolonising the mind through IK

Decolonisation is regarded as withdrawing from a captive situation and becoming
independent, as outlined in Oxford Dictionary (2010). Indigenisation and culture are regarded
as a localising process, which is easily achieved through participation from the grassroots
level instead of imposing Western models and theories considered foreign to cultural practices
(Osei Hwedie and Rankopo, 2012, p. 233). African languages are important to decolonise the
African renaissance and the African mind (Asmara Language Conference Organisers, 2000,
p. 3). Colonising the African mind should move parallel with decolonising the politics and
countries’ economies (Asmara Language Conference Organisers, 2000, p. 1). Applying local
languages in dealing with significant (Wa Mberia, 2004) societal issues is paramount as the
people usually develop pride in using their languages. Languages are usually considered
when they are used for important business in society. My understanding of this matter is that
respecting your language goes hand in hand with respecting yourself. If you respect yourself,
you develop confidence and self-esteem. As referred to by Wa Thiong’o’ (1986), decolonising
the mind can happen if languages are used for significant societal issues. The effects of
colonialism have played a negative role in lowering the self-esteem of the colonised people
and have contributed to most people losing trust in themselves and being faithless in their
capacity to be innovative. In several indigenous communities, Western culture has been
historically imposed through imperialism and colonisation.
Reconstruction and deconstruction of IK

Reconstruction is another technique to read texts with a notion of consequences and self-
consciousness. Deconstruction of school curricula needs the rupturing of hegemonic
structures of Western knowledge of definition (Outlaw, 1987). Since the era of democracy in
South Africa, little has been achieved to move away from Eurocentric definitions of official
knowledge school pedagogy. However, indigenous school curricula were formed by some
African governments. Oral tradition, African proverbs and speech lay the foundation of who
we are today. Memorising the language that you do not know has delayed the African child’s
voice. In the olden days, one would be forced to recite an English and Afrikaans poem of 16-18
verses without being told about the meaning of such poems. I remember at primary level, the
African teacher who taught us about the sound of animals. We would memorise the fact that:
“‘n kat miauu; n perd runnik; n bobbejaan skreeu; n bul brul’’
The painful part of this story is that we did not know what we were talking about then, as there
were no objects to associate with the issues we learnt. It was only at the high school level that
we could make sense of what we were taught. However, we already knew about the sounds
of animals in our mother tongue language when we were still young. It was quite disturbing
that we were taught about issues that we knew, but it was taught in another language that was
regarded as different. Based on this story, one can assume that lack of relevant resources at
the primary level can silence the voice of the African child. The primary level is the foundation
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of the child’s life. The matter also reminds me of corporal punishment that we had received at
the primary level, particularly when we were punished for the mere fact of failing to recite a
recitation that had fifteen Afrikaans verses. Such practices were killing the mind of the African
Child, as we would not have an idea of what we were reciting. My late mother (Hunadi Maotole
Sarah Lekganyane); my late father (Masenko Lephene Phineas Lekganyane), and my late aunt
(Marumo Mamphokeng Sarah Lekganyane) would always say:
“Rutang bana ditaola, le seye le tsona legodimong’’
Literally referring to the fact that the elders should familiarise children with many cultural
issues before they depart on earth. Based on this matter, I acknowledge the role they have
played. Because of them, I am still proud to practice many cultural matters like idioms,
rendering traditional family poems, narrating stories, and writing family trees based on family
originality. In turn, I also expect the current young generation to take the baton from me and
relay it to the coming generation to preserve IK.
Colonisation and globalisation of IK

Colonisation derives from colonialism, which is regarded as the practice of acquiring
partial or full political control over another land or country, particularly taking control
over the indigenous people of an area (Oxford Dictionary, 2010). The advent of colonisation
led to “scientific knowledge” that denigrates IKs as unscientific for social development and
education. Nsibambi (2001) refers to globalisation as unvalued free, oneself determining and
guilt full process and international socio-politico-economic, cultural infiltration progress
facilitated by Western government’s policies, international agencies, and many civil society
organisations. Globalisation is associated with Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) as a bio
colonialism form. It is regarded as a continuation of oppressive power relations, historically
rooted in and informed interactions of indigenous cultures and Western cultures (Whitt, 2009).
Globalisation continues to destroy African IKS due to the Euro-American values that circulate
through the world rapidly. However, the United Nations has made declarations that support
decolonising IKs and the hegemonic Eurocentric epistemologies in indigenous communities
globally (United Nations, 2007).
Indigenous languages, education and cultural knowledge,

schools and higher education curriculum
Language is the key foundation of culture. Retaining one’s language helps to preserve culture.
Language has beliefs, concepts and ways of understanding that encompass indigenous
worldviews. You lose your language; you lose the foundation of your culture, as it usually
happens with indigenous people. This is why language is highlighted in the postmodernists
discourse and why there is a reaction to homogenising the consequences of universalisation.
385
Culture is a process of distinguishing aspects that are culture worthy of being preserved
from those that need to be abandoned, particularly when focusing on social, economic, and
political changes (Dean, 2001). Cultural knowledge and indigenous languages are identified
as deriving from families or a group of people linked to specific countries or places. Cultures
and languages are passed on from one generation to another, connecting past life with
contemporary life. Communication and ideas are expressed in systematic ways (Andrews,
2016). Owners of languages serve as a platform through which programmes for indigenous
languages and cultures should be developed. Older persons in society serve as a rock or a
foundation through which such programmes can be established. Strong learning and teaching
of cultures and IK can be achieved through the participation and leadership of older persons.
Every minute, the indigenous language disappears. The loss of languages tends to damage
the effects of imperialism and globalisation. It is estimated that towards the end of the 21st
century, 5.500 of the present 6.000 languages currently spoken will be extinct, like Ancient
Greek and Latin (Sardar and Davies, 2002). The matter now rests in the hands of Africans to
make a change in the life of an African child.
The curriculum of colonialism constitutes the oppressive voice, which encompasses power,
status, privilege, and control in terms of racial differences (Shizha, 2005). The ultimate
objective of colonial education was for the British to impose educational colonialism
(Macaulay, 1994, p. 430) in India to develop a class of persons, a class of interpreters, Indian
in colours and blood but English in knowledge. Kallaway (1984) echoes the same sentiment
about South African Bantu Education during the apartheid era when he said that there was
no place for the native person in the European community beyond other forms of labour. The
native person was not allowed to be capacitated as it stood in the European community, where
he could not be absorbed. Indigenous education in Africa would focus on histories and local
languages (Oxford University Press, 2019).
I do not remember a situation where I was taught about African history at the Primary and High
school level when I was a pupil. I had learnt a lot about Western history, including people like
Bismarck, Roosevelt, Van Riebeeck and his ‘Dromedaris’ ship, Hitler and many others. People
like Kgosi Sekhukhune, Kgosi Mokgubi Mogalatjane Mphahlele, Kgosi Mankopodi Thulare and
many others were not in our syllabus even though they had left their legacy. What does this
mean to an African child? Failure to know African history simply means failure to know your
origin. African people were denied the latitude or privilege to enjoy their status as historical
beings (Hume, Hegel and Outlaw, 1987). Wa Thiong’o (1986) posits that the domination and
cultural imperialism has taken away Africa’s tool of self-determination. Learning is regarded
(Giroux, 1996) as ‘’ the mechanical memorisation of the profile of a concept ‘’ that separated
local knowledge owners from their cultural and social identity. Based on that, one would
argue that the system applied non-IK to silence the voice of the African student.
Africans (Rodney, 1982) who were educated were the most alienated on the continent. They
were receiving corporal punishment in the classroom and thereby succumbed to the White
capitalist system. Thus, Africans were de-Africanised and separated from their socio-cultural
environment and practice due to colonialism. They would live a sustainable life copied from
outside after they have been given salaries.
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Western Societies’ (Lander, 2000; Chavunduka, 1995) knowledge that has been introduced in
Africa way back lacks an understanding of the approach and holistic nature of non-Western
ways of knowledge. Higher education in Africa has not relevantly attended to African Societies’
concerns and needs, despite the resources allocated to boost South Africa and higher education
as evidenced in the South African National Treasury (2012). About 6% of the national budget is
allocated to Training and Higher Education. Educational structures derived from colonialism
are still based on Western values that differ from indigenous African Societies. The integration
of African cultural values is still marginalised in all levels of the education system. Many
academics and research activities (Houtondji, 1995; 2002) are still done in colonial language,
particularly English, which tends to undermine the development and research based on IK
(McCarthy, 2004; Moodie, 2003). Natural resources are still exploited economically due to
research activities in higher learning institutions. Knowledge and wisdom slowly deteriorate
and cease to exist if people do not consider their importance (Battiste, 2002).
Indigenous languages and cultural competence

Cultural competence is a modernist idea that is “consistent with the belief that knowledge
brings control and effectiveness and that this is an ideal to be achieved or else” (Dean, 2001,
p.624). Culture is not homogenous or internally consistent. It consists of several cultures
because it did not exist alone or in isolation historically. International Social Work and
indigenous literature assist us in analysing cultural competence and looking at the notion
that one can become competent in different cultures. Indigenous social world works of
literature show how difficult it is to understand a person’s culture from the outside. A person’s
identity is usually linked to his culture. Human beings are embedded in their culture, practices,
rituals and ways of doing things. It is argued that people should shift their focus on cultural
differences and look at different paths to understand their culture better to be more sensitive
to the cultures of others. The development of cultural competence is usually driven by working
across diverse cultures and transactional learning.
Indigenous eco-social work and ecological, social work

Social Work knowledge (Gray, 2013) usually derives from the culture of the people, reflecting
their local behaviours and practices. Such knowledge usually assists Social Workers to
interpret people’s problems within a cultural frame of reference to resolve their problems.
Ecological social work takes an anthropocentric stance as it focuses on the social environment
from human interests. The eco-social world deals with an ecological awareness of our
relationship with nature by noting the importance of sustaining and protecting the natural
environment in the interests of everyone. The social work profession is connected to IK
through its principles, values and ethics. The Social work principle obliged Social Workers to
adhere to acceptance when dealing with the client system and community system in the social
environment. A question arises as to what Social workers accept and recognise. They accept
the spirit and ecology with inclusive context and diversity and share the knowledge, values,
387
norms and beliefs like indigenous and traditional approaches.
Parallel to the notion of diversity is a cross-cultural practice in Social work. This deals with
a body of cultural knowledge, skills and values as well as layers of understanding, which is
usually uncovered by Social work (Devore and Schlesinger, 1995, pp. 904-905; Clark, 2000;
Lum, 1999; Weaver, 1998, 1999 in Coates, Gray and Hetherington, 2006). In other words, Social
workers and social work as a profession would never serve the client and community systems
in their best interest if they do not familiarise themselves with the cultures of the people.
Parallel to this discourse, we have the macro system, microsystem, mezzo system, exosystem
and chronosystem, which enable the client system and the community system to interact with
social workers in the social environment. The interaction takes place through a professional
relationship utilising different cultural languages and practice. Social workers connect with
the client system, group system and community system through indigenous approaches to
understand them at a grassroots level.
Library’s roles in collection and preservation of IK

Okore (2009) had contributed a lot in preserving the local culture in digital and paper form and
exchanging information. The library, academics and professionals still have a lot to uncover
or discover (Nakata and Langton, 2005) if they want to meet the knowledge and needs of
indigenous people to manage IK appropriately. For instance:
Policies should be created to guide material that needs to be selected;
• Loss of worn materials should be replaced.

• Unwanted materials should be removed.
• There should be planning for new materials.
There should be cooperation in decision-making in library consortia or with other libraries.
Human beings can access and express knowledge and show creativity in expanding their
intellectual capacity using library resources. Libraries can assist in collecting, disseminating,
and preserving IK; publicise the value, contribution, and importance of IK to indigenous and
non-indigenous people. Libraries play a unique role in protecting indigenous traditional
knowledge and local community information to resolve contemporary issues and utilise such
knowledge to plan and implement projects (IFLA, 2008). We always expand our knowledge
by reading as well as visiting libraries. Therefore, libraries need to capture IK for the people,
particularly the young generation, to retain their culture.
Conclusion
The use of IK is important to strengthen the mind and the culture of the African child. One
should be proud of his or her original culture, as we are what we are because of our cultural
388
background. In learning, teaching and practice, local languages in communities are

paramount to strengthen the connection amongst the community system, the client system,
and between theory and practice. Africans need to groom themselves regarding their realities
and be free from unnecessary foreign influence. Africans should be proud of their origin and
invest a lot in development and indigenous research to familiarise the young generations
with their origin. However, the use of certain Western knowledge is still important to deal with
cultural competence.
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Exploring indigenous knowledge

system and western knowledge system
worldviews to foster and advance
knowledge in the 21st Century
Steward Lee Kugara,
Vhonani Olive Netshandama,
Tsetselani Decide Mdhluli,
Tshimangadzo Justice Makhanikhe,
&
Pfarelo Matshidze,
Pfarelo.Matshidze@univen.ac
Introduction
This study is a philosophical examination of the IKS and western knowledge system (WKS)
as worldviews that can be adapted to shift the human development trajectory of Africa to a
higher plane. Every researcher has an understanding of what constitutes truth and knowledge.
Worldviews guide one’s thinking, beliefs and assumptions about society and how one views the
world. IKS is one worldview that has helped preserve the natural environment, peace, order,
and integrity of African societal structures. Through a literature review, the article probes
whether this is a cohesive ideology practised by indigenous people considering the genocidal
behaviour of the many thousands of tribes in Africa. On the other hand, the colonial powers
have used brutal policies and devious methods to subjugate the African people to acquire
full control over their lands and resources, thereby demystifying the IKS worldview. This
article quests to clarify IKS and WKS worldviews in this heated debate to foster and advance
knowledge in general.
This article probes through a rigorous review of existing literature to assess whether there is
merely one binding worldview to construe the world happenings. This probing is ignited by
the definitions ascribed to IKS and WKS. Firstly, their nature and how they relate as ways or
methods of acquiring knowledge. Secondly, how they are acquired and the efficacy of their
storage. Lastly, their levels of acceptability, worthiness and efficiency as worldviews.
WKS has gained credence and authority in explaining the world happenings, not necessarily
because it is hinged on the canons of empirical proof, but rather because of its transparency
and logical process of data construction, documentation and reporting. On the other hand, the
article argues that IKS has not gained similar status in contributing to world understanding
because it has been shrouded in mystery, given the limitations of exploring it scientifically for
documentation. However,’the fallacy of science is its inability to provide scientific explanations
to issues of a metaphysical nature and present alternative convincing explanations outside
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the canonical frameworks of scientific inquiry’ (Mawere, 2010). Consequently, because

these worldviews use different methodologies, it rivals them (Onwu and Mosimege, 2004).
Along these lines, WKS cannot be the main legitimate perspective to clarify the worldviews.
Therefore, there is a need to explore how the two worldviews can be integrated to foster and
advance knowledge in the 21st Century.
Background
Like the theory of knowledge, epistemology is a universal phenomenon. To add, from the African
perspective, African epistemology probes into the origins, nature, scope and boundaries
of human knowledge. Furthermore, Jacques (2001) stipulates that the epistemology of the
African people is based on three realms; the human realm, the spiritual realm and the natural
realms. This belief is subscribed to by African traditional metaphysicians and indigenous
epistemologists. Moreover, scientists constantly looked down on this belief on the ground of
scientism, even though to most Africans, it is a belief system that is epistemologically plausible.
Furthermore, numerous versions of IKS exist in Africa, but almost all of them primarily stress
the nexus between the empirical world and the cosmos. Also, Mawere (2010) notes that:
African epistemologies are adhesive vice grips that link the cosmological
world with the spirit mediums, rainmakers and rural dwellers social
relations and bind them together by setting the ground rules in
cultural practices and customs observance in their communities
(Mawere, 2010, p. 58).
Thus, it is now clear that these realms’ nexus inspires people to know many things in Africa;
morals, values, and beliefs, amongst other things (Comaroff, 1993). These can still be employed
for the very reasons despite being ‘zombified and demonised’ by science and labelled as
superstitious. The researchers’ submission that IKS is still relevant and stays multifunctional
depending on the demands and needs of each society.
Bakari (1997) notes that it is regrettable that the scope of the definition of what makes up
knowledge about the reality of indigenous epistemology has been described in the WKS. He
further notes that for any person to put down an assertion to knowledge, such an assertion
ought to be true and accepted with justifications. But, unfortunately, the scope of the definition
of what constitutes knowledge about reality has not been culturally defined to include the
African perspective. In that regard, the European conception should not be concrete when
defining the African systems. Still, the African epistemology must be construed through
traditional customs and practices, which in themselves emphasise the close connections
between the empirical world and the cosmos.
In line with the above, Nzewi and Nzewi (2007) wrote about the preservation of IKS as African
epistemology and said;
Contemporary Africans must strive to rescue, resuscitate and advance

our original intellectual legacy on the onslaught of externally
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manipulated forces of mental and cultural dissociation now

rampaging Africa… will obliterate our original intellect and love of life
(Nzewi and Nzewi, 2007, p. 4).
It has also been argued that the providence of science in explaining African epistemology of
metaphysics owes itself to its internal logic, perceived objectivity and power of prediction that
may not immediately apply to African IKSs such as avenging spirits. Mawere (2010, pp. 209-21)
notes that the belief in IKS, such as avenging spirits, is internalised on orientation. In other
words, it invokes some internally coherent claims about an explanation of the functioning of
cosmology to which scientific investigation is less privileged to infer from or draw on. Thus,
the functioning of IKS defies recourse to scientific explanation or prediction to sufficiently
substantiate their existence and, more importantly, practical relevance.
The above preceding analysis tends to address a burning question that has been ignored
for long, whether different forms of knowledge cannot be developed outside the terms and
scope defined by science? To answer this question intelligently, the authors submit that this
question cannot be adequately addressed without challenging the monopoly of science as
the predominant way of adjudicating, governing, assessing, communicating and transmitting
knowledge. Considering the previous analysis, one major question the authors attempted to
address is whether there can be a shift from the conventional scientific inquiry towards the
unorthodox processes of searching for other forms of knowing? Nevertheless, such a challenge
and inquiry are not meant to disregard the scientific but complement it to foster and advance
knowledge in the 21st Century. This article reviews some of the related literature to try to
achieve this mammoth task.
Literature review
Unlike traditional knowledge, IK is recognised as a dynamic, holistic system of explicit and
implicit information, behaviours and practices, norms and values, language and worldview.
IKS has been developed collectively by groups of people living in fixed areas for long periods,
millennia. Such knowledge systems have enabled, and continue to enable, diverse indigenous
peoples throughout the world to adapt to and survive change. Recent research has also
examined long-established groups, many of which have mixed with native populations with
developed knowledge systems to manage their local resources successfully. Such groups are
called neo-traditional. Both neo-traditional knowledge systems and IKS are situated in time
and space. This situatedness, the interconnected development of community (natural and
social) and knowledge in time and space – provides non-individual frameworks for learning
and increases resilience by providing individuals with a sense of connectedness.
Until recently, IKS was perceived primarily through the lens of western thought. In the 1300s,
when this paradigm emerged in renaissance Europe, IK began to be referred to as superstition,
witchcraft or folk belief. Fifteenth-century explorers, colonists and missionaries, the first to
contact indigenous groups outside Europe, defined the knowledge of those they encountered
as it befitted them: riches to be exploited, as heretical beliefs to eradicate, or valuable insights
394
that facilitated life in new and different environments. As natural selection and evolution
theories were embraced, IK began to be regarded as primitive, whilst western knowledge
was regarded as evolved or civilised. These classifications were corroborated by classical
economic theory. This means that indigenous people’s lives were considered barbaric,
backwards, that needed to be changed or improved by the colonialists. These understandings
led to the destruction of indigenous people’s culture and let the western or colonialists’
cultures dominate it. This is how the western ways of knowing became a dominant knowledge
system over indigenous ways of knowing.
Together, science and economic theory justified the commodification of knowledge;

knowledge from the western perspective began to be regarded as an individually created
product that could be owned, bought and sold. At the time of discovery, conquest and
colonisation, western scientists collected, studied and compared the beliefs, folk tales,
traditions and artefacts of various traditional cultures. This all happened whilst western
museums, books and magazines displayed the exotic customs, art and artefacts of indigenous
peoples to the interested public without consulting or sharing the benefits with the knowledge
holders or custodians of these cultures (Ronald, 2004). Sklair (2001) suggests a widely-held
misconception that globalisation and localisation are mutually exclusive and contradictory
processes. Interestingly, he admits that global forces certainly change local cultures but
argues that changing does not necessarily mean that they destroy them, though sometimes
they do (Currie 2003, p. 17). By implication, he seems to be admitting that western and other
cultures do have some negative impacts on the preservation of indigenous cultures and that
sometimes these cultures do undermine indigenous cultures.
Babirye (2007) critically examined South Africa’s process of cultural transformation

through quizzing the IKSs’ policy framework. In this Thesis, the researcher advocated that
the government should prioritise cultural initiatives for effective social transformation in
communities. More so, she submitted that the South African government should also address
social imbalances and infringements and not merely put their trust and commitment on
political and economic ills. In regards to this transformation, Babirye (2007) assessed the
degree to which the social and cultural significance was being trailed and the effectiveness
of constitutional and legislative reform measures to meet the established policy framework
of IKSs. In the study, the researcher observed that the ineffective development mechanism
to combat diverse aspects of violence is largely due to a lack of critical elements of the IKS
worldview.
Interpretivism
For this study, the authors chose to conceptualise the study within the interpretivist paradigm.
The interpretive paradigm is also called the phenomenological approach. For interpretivists,
the world is too complex to be reduced to observable laws, and generalisability is a less
important issue than understanding the real conditions behind the reality (O’Donnell, Lutfey,
Marceau, and McKinlay, 2007). The main goal of the interpretivist is to understand the meaning
of the social situation from the point of view of those who live it.
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The researcher (the inquirer) must interpret the phenomenon, understand the process of
meaning construction and reveal what meanings are embodied in people’s actions (Schwandt,
2012).
The pivotal tenet of this paradigm is that research can never be objectively observed from the
outside. Rather it must be observed from inside through the direct experience of the people.
Furthermore, uniform causal links established in the study of natural science cannot be made
in the classroom world, where teachers and learners construct meaning. Therefore, the role
of the scientist in the interpretivist paradigm is to - understand, explain, and demystify social
reality through the eyes of different participants (Shalowitz and Miller, 2008). The search for
clarity in communicating research results to study participants. Journal of Medical Ethics, 34(9),
pp. e17-e17. et al., 2011, p. 19). Interpretivism thus focuses on exploring the complexity of social
phenomena to gain understanding. The purpose of research in interpretivism is to understand
and interpret everyday happenings (events), experiences and social structures, and the values
people attach to these phenomena (Tashakkori, Johnson, and Teddlie, 2010, pp. 56-57).
Discussions
In indigenous philosophies, the tangible and the spiritual are not detached, ‘they co-exist side
by side and their activities are informed by this coexistence, complementing and enriching
rather than competing and contradicting’. Worthy of mentioning, the worldview of IK has
often been interpreted and connected to Western philosophy with the ‘primitive, the wild, the
natural’ (Semali and Kinchelo, 1999, p. 3). Contrary to that, the IK worldview is rich in effective
assembling society labour in agricultural activities for many households. The western
philosophical perspective that knowledge ‘must be verifiable in a science laboratory for it
to be regarded as knowledge’ misses the gap as if it fails to explain IK’s metaphysical science
(Ntuli, 2002, p. 54). To add, the prejudiced colonial idea that IK is a matter of trials and errors
whilst science is characterised by experimentation is tantamount to fallacy and an issue of
semantics. Though it is correct to a limited degree, the western conclusions lack other essential
aspects because its methodologists and methods of assessing IKS are disproportionately
situated outside of the indigenous worldview.
The idea that the IKS worldview and the Western worldview exist and are distinctive is
supported by several authors, such as Van der Walt (1997), Torrey (1972), Kamalu (1990) and
Gyekye (1995). According to Torrey (1972), individuals do not see things similarly. The way
they see things depends on their cultural beliefs, ideals, values, conceptions of time, and the
notion of cause and effect that are all culturally learnt. As such, the world is differently defined
in different places and by different groups of people. The findings of the study indicate that
IKS and WKS worldviews are different. The IKS worldview is deeply embedded in the holistic
approach. The holistic approach focuses on the mental, physical and spiritual of living
organisms. The study shows that IKS does not ignore the supernatural side of reality like the
western does. IKS is concerned with the spiritual world and the forces that play a role in it.
IKS regard supernatural causes as the explanation for everything. Western thought is mainly
intellectual, devoid of emotional content. Below are some themes explored to foster IKS and
WKS worldviews to advance knowledge in the 21st Century.
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Belief system: Palpable evidence versus metaphysical

Belief systems (taboos, belief in traditional doctors and witchcraft, and others) were
indispensable in indigenous communities. They were the codes of governance and helped
immensely in forecasting and preserving the natural environment, peace, order, and African
societal structures’ integrity. For instance, some taboos were meant to cast fear in people,
especially children, through empty threats. More so, some of them were taboos that were
genuine in themselves and did not have two parts, that is, ‘surface meaning’ and the true part.
Despite these positive roles that the indigenous beliefs play within societies, they are sidelined
in so ‘modern societies’. The complexity of establishing the existence of these belief systems is
predicated by hegemonic Western scientism’s preoccupation with empiricism and evidence
(through laboratory experiments) that render indigenous African beliefs and value systems
inexplicable through the standards of expert scientists.
Belief in the supernatural (for instance, witchcraft and the work of traditional doctors) is
legally considered unreasonable. Seidman (1965) argues that scores of the beliefs in the
supernatural are argued to emanate from spectral evidence. Spectral evidence consists of
the testimony of visions, word of knowledge, supernatural visitations, and the appearance
of the spiritual being in dreams or other testimony about a vision that identifies the accused
as a witch (Diwan, 2004). Spectral evidence is disregarded in law courts (herein categorised
as WKS) as inherently unreliable because it is entirely intangible and metaphysical. The
legal eye maintains that belief in the supernatural contradicts the systematic, scientific and
technological developments in society which are pivotal foundations and basic principles.
However, the IKS worldview argues that it is unfair to dismiss belief in the supernatural
because science and technology have fallen short to explain the natural conundrums and
phenomena peculiar to Africa.
In addition, other schools of thought feel that IKSs are being examined and mercilessly judged
out of context. Agrawal (1995) further argues that the distinction between IKS and WKS
assumes that knowledge is fixed in time, space and content. In contrast, knowledge creation is
a fluid process that evolves in terms of political, institutional, cultural, and economic changes.
Minnaar (2003) adds that the distinction can create hierarchies of knowledge, thereby placing
the so-called WKS in a dominant position and the IKS in a subordinated position. Throughout
history, IKS were often labelled and dismissed as archaic and ‘primitive’ whilst the WKS took
precedence. This has been because IKS has been birthed through traditions developed in
‘experiments’ and confirmed to be flexible to acclimatise with time and change (Pries, 2001).
According to Nyamnjoh (2004), precedence has been set that the WKS are the plumb-line
against which all knowledge systems have to be assessed – a miscarriage of justice. In this
fashion, Stanley (2001, p. 139) also concurs that the WKS remain the approved benchmark for
determining the validity of all other types of epistemologies. Consequently, WKS persist in
being leading, whilst the IKS stagger in the outskirts.
Mawere (2014, 90) argues that the Wests’ challenge acknowledges that there are other forms
of knowledge and that all forms of knowledge are equal. On the contrary, Mawere points
out that the challenge is for Africa to recognise that she has a lot to offer from her cultures
and belief systems. Nevertheless, in numerous indigenous communities, the supernatural
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learning methods are marginalised and phasing out quickly because of many factors. As such,
these supernatural ways of knowing need to be reinstated as ‘ethnoscience that promotes
human values while moving at pace with modernity. There are still discrepancies and gaps in
knowledge due to conventional misconceptions and errors of analysis on the subject. Proper
participation and collaboration from the two world views have been shunned. Hence, the issue
remains a problem.
Socio-economic relations: individualism versus communalism

The indigenous worldview asserts that old knowledge and technology integrates the wisdom
extracted through epochs of experimentation and trial and error (Jacques, 2001, p. 6). On the
other hand, western worldview, knowledge and wisdom are synthesised through laboratory
experimentations that are concise and precise. Moreover, unlike western knowledge, IK
‘is often not well documented in the modern sense, but tacit knowledge is transmitted to
generations orally, through practice and gradually perfected by tradition’ (Ocholla and
Onyancha, 2005). The socio-economic dynamics of the western worldview and indigenous
worldview are assessed under the following themes:
Individualism and collectivism

Western worldview has been defined to mean individualism when it addresses socio-economic
relations. Generally stated, individualism entails ‘personal freedom and achievement’.
Therefore, this individualist culture confers social status to individual achievements like
fundamental findings, innovations, prodigious artistic work, philanthropic accomplishments,
and outstanding endeavours. Hobbes and other western philosophers saw human beings as
engaged in a war over resources, making lives solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. This
view of the individual who is fearful and working alone, in competition with others, dominates
the western philosophical tradition. In western thought, society is seen as an aggregated self-
interested individual who competes with others over limited resources, creating fear and
insecurity.
One critique that commented on a YouTube on a video that also depicted the above said;
Commentator 1:
Ha Ha! Funny how Westerners are generalised and stereotyped. This analysis
is hilarious in the way it fetishises and romanticises “indigenous cultures”
as if they all shared the same worldviews. And using Hobbes of all people to
represent the western worldview! It’s like they’re not even trying. So trivial.
On the other hand, the indigenous worldview is hailed for promoting collectivism.
Collectivism, in contrast to individualism, underscores the embeddedness of individuality in a
group. In other words, it heartens traditionalism and disheartens individuals from rebellious
demeanours and standing out. In the indigenous worldview, individuals are part of a kinship-
based community and as part of nature in balance with the whole. Prosperity and resources
are abundant and shared equally for the development of a society and not an individual. In
398
other words, there is sharing, collaboration and stewardship over environmental resources.
Throughout history, indigenous peoples are identified by their unique ways of observing and
connecting to the environment, universe, and others.
Furthermore, their traditional education institutions, which did not emphasise competition,
were carefully made around observations of natural processes. Educational basis centred on
love, helping each other and building a safe and respectable society. Ubuntu (humanness) was
the chief cornerstone of indigenous communities as they all had a sense of belonging and lived
harmoniously with their neighbours and communities.
The above analysis was contended by some YouTube commentators who submitted the
following views:
Commentator 2:
We need to be careful not to romanticise indigenous people and their world

views. Not all indigenous cultures have the best views on things. Some
indigenous cultures could really use a dose of modern scientific thinking
in their cultures. Allowing certain indigenous cultures to be left alone with
their beliefs would mean the Aztec and Mayans would still be sacrificing
people. Why do many African cultures practice female genital mutilation
(FGM) and view some children as witches and then mistreat them? Because
of their indigenous world views, that’s why. So let’s not get caught up in
thinking everything non-western is holy and righteous, and everything
western is bad. It’s a matter of people borrowing the most useful and
productive views from each side and eliminating the more harmful views of
each side.
Commentator 3:
Considering the genocidal behaviour of the many thousands of tribes that

came over from Mongolia .... this comparison is a complete joke. Nice try
in making yourselves look better than others ... that is such a great trait ......
disgusting.
In addition to the above comments, Platteau (2000) submits an African culture that
contradicts collectivism within indigenous philosophies. His unveiling of the indigenous
worldview denotes that productive individuals are perceived with the utmost suspicion and
are persuaded into benefit-sharing of their hard-earned resources with the poor and lazy
community members. In cases of defaulting to this call, collective castigations were always
on their head. ‘Social banishment, character assassination and severe violence’ was evitable
to those who resisted forced cooperation. For instance, evil disgruntled lazy community
members devised devious accusations, like witchcraft accusations, to punish the so-called
‘greedy and stingy’ members. Concealed behind this barbaric and horrendous violence was
the fear that community cohesion will be undermined. Also, such stern measures were taken
as a vanguard to restrict successful and hardworking individuals from relocating to another
village to redistribute any surplus food or production. Comola and Fafchamps (2010) and
399
Jakiela and Ozier (2011) noted that in African villages, people who have amassed some wealth
were at war crying to conceal it and would go to extremes to ‘pay to keep their savings hidden
from others in their community.
Economy
Like it has been noted above, individualism yields and rewards social status to individuals who
stand out. Conversely, individualistic culture makes collective action problematic because
individuals trail interests at the expense of internalising collective interests. Dominant
Western market economy, like its worldview, is driven by an assumption of scarce resources,
intensive centralised production and individuals with insatiable appetites. By this standard,
the market economy works like this; 40% of earth resources is owned by 1% of the population.
Usually, in these amusing contexts, the western philosophical worldview inclines to favour
the scientific and ‘undermine the potential contribution of IK in complementing efforts by
science’.
An indigenous market economy like its worldview is dependent on decentralised production,

extensive use of resources, promoting resource management, abundance, kinship, a belief
in having enough, encouraging sharing and cooperation. In that regard, inward kinship and
reciprocal obligation ensure everyone’s needs are met fairly and equitably. An individual on
YouTube gave the following view with regards to the above similar assessment;
Commentator 4:
Very good analysis. I think people don’t realise how serious a problem this is.
I got a chance to meet some indigenous communities who visited our school
once, and I was amazed by how happy they are as a people. They do not have
access to education or modern technology, but they enjoyed the essence of
their culture and valued their identity as a community and their kin. They
have a totally different worldview as ours. At times like that, will you realise
that life is a lot simpler and easier and that what nature has given us is
enough to keep us going and make us happy?
The wider importance of indigenous economy philosophy to ‘self-definition, socialisation and

reproduction of community relationships is largely underpinned’. The indigenous worldview
notes that rural communities provide support and social interaction amongst themselves in
their indigenous market economy. For instance, the people work together in the chief’s fields
to secure food for the community. As such, there is a high component of reciprocity amongst
the community members. Unlike the western worldview, where harvesting is meant to take
all, indigenous philosophies say that some residues should be left behind for sustainability.
One should always have an open eye that the IK worldview is neither static nor ancient and
thus must not be characterised as a “historical artefact far removed from contemporary life”.
Therefore, IK should not be relegated to a distant millennium because it is in the present tense
since it is ‘ever-evolving, acculturating other pieces of knowledge and technologies’.
400
Interaction with nature

It is indisputable that cultures from a global perspective have developed multiple views
of nature and its relationship with human beings throughout human history. Many of which
originated from traditional beliefs that indigenous communities use to comprehend and
construe their biophysical environment (Laccarino, 2003). Indigenous communities’ ways
of managing their relationship with the environment form an essential part of their cultural
identity and social integrity. It is important to note that indigenous communities’ knowledge
about their environment exemplifies a wealth of wisdom and experience of nature gained
over many eras from direct and indirect observations and often transmitted orally from one
generation to another.
According to Article 8 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, we as human beings

should, by all means, seek to “…respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and
practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant
for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity….” (United Nations, 1992).
It is worthy to note that recently, indigenous knowledge systems have been revived as
models for promoting a healthy interaction with, and use of, the environment and as a rich
source to new perspectives about the relationship between humans and nature. Thus, the
international community is now starting to slowly recognise the importance of indigenous
knowledge systems to preserve and protect the biodiversity that seeks to achieve sustainable
development (Gadgil et al., 1993).
Berkes (1993) indicated that indigenous communities have relied on the environment for their
existence and independence for millions of years. This necessitated them to develop ways to
manage and use the available resources to conserve for future use. Indigenous communities
developed these ways of managing resources mainly because they are more interested in
preserving their social, cultural, and environmental stability and integrity than maximising
production. As a result, ‘exploitation’ of nature, if any, becomes minimal. Indigenous
communities believe that their way of life is based on a strong sense of interconnection and
interdependence amongst themselves and with the environment.
In addition, indigenous knowledge systems have, over time, through long-term empirical
observations adapted to local conditions, developed a concept of the environment that
underscores the interdependent character of humans and nature. Through this knowledge,
indigenous people continue to ensure productive use and control of the environment and
adapt to continuous environmental changes. Within this context, the IKS on the relationship
between humans and the environment should provide the world’s population with the primary
means to fulfil their basic needs. Moreover, IKS should also form the basis for pronouncements
and approaches in many practical aspects, including but not limited to interpretation of
meteorological phenomena, medical treatment, water management, production of clothing,
navigation, agriculture and husbandry, hunting and fishing, and biological classification
systems (Nakashima and Roué, 2002).
Many people globally think that modern knowledge/western knowledge can provide the best
answers to the important issues of life. However, when one starts to take a more culturally
401
comparative approach to knowledge, this assumption becomes questionable. If we pick out

certain aspects of all societies, we’ll see the value of viewing issues differently. This suggests
that there is a lot that one can learn by studying IK. Harrison (2010) put it well when he said:
“What hubris allows us, wrapped comfortably in our cyber-world, to think that we have nothing
to learn from people who a generation ago were hunter-gatherers? What they know – which
we’ve forgotten or never knew – may someday save us.”
Harrison is trying to point out that indigenous knowledge systems can teach the West and
western knowledge how to treat and look after the environment. As such, both forms of
knowledge are complementary and should be treated and viewed as such.
Conclusion
This article has argued that science and IK should not be viewed as ‘lasting mutual enemies,
but as complements - distinct and separate knowledge forms - that can benefit from each
other and help us advance the frontiers of understanding.’ IKS is one worldview that is helped
in preserving the natural environment, peace, order and the integrity of African societal
structures through its collectivism. On the other hand, the western worldview has also played a
pivotal role in enlightening humanity to the scientific and haste production. Thus, despite the
two worldviews being at loggerhead, their collaboration in the 21st Century can bring fruitful
results.
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African Epistemology

in the 21st Century

The human and social sciences perspectives

© 2021 University of Venda

journals, reviewed books, presenting papers in conferences, and contributing chapters in

Prof. Mokgale A Makgopa

The portrayal of positive politeness and requests in isiXhosa literature 07

HISTORY, POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

Two histories, one organisation: the case of Zion Christian Church 73

INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS AND CULTURAL STUDIES

The portrayal of positive politeness and

Politeness theory and speech acts

‘Can you pass the salt?’

Analysis of politeness in requests in isiXhosa

(2) [Cela] [ayithumele kuwe imali yomsesane].

‘Ask him to send you money to buy the ring’

(3) Wabhalela ekhaya ke uMthunzini, [ecela unina] [ukuba

‘Mthunzini wrote a letter home, asking his mother to

(4) Nceda [thatha loo moto yakho] [ugqithe phaya

‘Please take that car of yours and go via Nconyiwe and

(5) [UMlandeli wamnqanda uNokhwezi] [ukuba angabi

‘Mlandeli stopped Nokhwezi from continuing to talk in that

Giving (or asking for) reasons

(6) [Khanishiyeke nje apha kancinci,] [ndikhe ndikrobe kulaa

‘You are going to sleep there before I arrive. Upon arrival,

The reason is inside the noun phrase in the following example:

(8) Yasuka yaba [yingxaki le] ngoku, [kwafuneka oomfundisi

‘This has become a problem now. The reverend and others

(9) [Akukho nto igqiba] [bayekwe abafana bashiyane

‘There’s nothing more than leaving the young men to

(10) [UGcinizibele wancokola kwada kwahlwa], [ebuza iindaba

‘Gcinizibele talked until late, asking news about the country

(11) [Uze ungasiphoxi] [uze ube yile nto uyiyo].

(12) Nokuba siphume nini na isigwebo [uza kuzichucha zonke

‘No matter when the judgement comes out, he is going to

(13) [Ndicela niqhube] [ukwenzela ukuba ndingagwetywa

‘I ask you to proceed so that I don’t get sentenced without

(14) [Bhuti Mphuthumi] [kutheni,] Mashiyi?

‘Brother Mphuthumi, what happened, Mashiyi?’

(15) [Mama uFulela] [khawuncede undazise into eyenzekileyo

‘Mrs Fulela, just informed me about what happened on

(16) [Sincede kaloku] [Tata].

‘Help us, father.’

(17) Indawo yokuqala [manene] [masingaboyiki].

‘In the first place, gentlemen, let us not be afraid of them’

(18) Khawutsho [mfondini], [yintoni? Kuhleni].

‘Just tell, man, what is it? What happened?’

(19) Khawutsho [nyana] [unjani?]

‘Please, my son, tell me, how is she?’

(20) [Hayi nyhani!] [masiye kuzonelisa kuqala].

‘No! Let us first go and satisfy ourselves.’

(21) Kunjalo nje Macebo [ungaze uphinde uzokundijikeleza

Including both speaker and hearer in the activity

(22) Masahlukane nento yokucinga ukuba indoda inelungelo

‘Let us stop a thought that a man has a right to do as he

(23) Khanisixelele igama lalo mfana.

‘Please tell us the name of this young man.’

(24) Khawukhuphe kaloku sibone.

‘Take them out so that we see.’

(25) [Kufuneka uphande] [kude kuvele nobungekaziphandi].

‘You must investigate so much that even the ones you

(26) Sewusiza nalowo ukudlulayo.

‘Please bring along also the one who surpasses you.’

Findings and conclusion

African Epistemology Human & Social Sciences - Book

African Epistemology Human & Social Sciences - Book