Letta Mbuli�s Maru a pula always reminds me of Mapulaneng. The land of summer rains, where birds of music sing up in the sky. Just like in the song the rain sometimes stops to fall and Mapulaneng becomes a terrible place. The lush beautiful vegetation turns into an ugly shade of brown. I remember the droughts of the eighties, where livestock was lost in great numbers and seeds refused to germinate from the soil. What a terrible sight the eights. Otherwise the place is a so beautiful mixing the subtropical and bushveld vegetation that always feeds my eyes to contentment. Having been to many parts of the country I can see why my people choose Mapulaneng as their home.
Mapulaneng of today has four main hamlets: Hazyview, Bushbushridge, Klaserie and Acornhoek. Life is characterized by a fusion of modern (western) living and tribal living. The population of the area is approximately 800000. Unemployment is high and poverty is rife. The tribal chiefs have instituted a land�s claim in 1994 to get back their dispossessed land which hopefully will yield positive results. Baga Mogane have been given some of their ancestral land already.
Mapulaneng is also no longer the preserve of Mapulana, Bakutswe and Mambayi, it�s a cosmopolitan area with Shangaans and Swazis, a very small community of Pedis, Vendas, Chinese and Indians. Although the highest concentration of Mapulana is still in Mapulaneng, communities of Mapulana have spread throughout the country, especially in the North West province and Gauteng. If you need to meet Mapulana outside of Mapulaneng, go to the East Rand Townships of Daveyton, Kahlehong and in the North West areas, Winterveldt , Klipgat and Mabopane. There�s even a places in Mabopane and Klipgat that are called Mapuleneng. I have found that these communities speak the language fluently and uphold the culture and traditions of Mapulana more than those that are found in the real Mapulaneng.
A lot of Mapulana work in Gauteng as migrant workers. The closing of mines in Gauteng has obviously had an adverse effect on livelihoods. There are no major industries in Mapulaneng, with locals being employed mainly by the civil service or on the forestry plantations. Where communities are on the major roads to major tourist destinations small scale trading in traditional art or fruit and vegetables is taking place. I struggled during my many visits to Mapulaneng to get local crafts. The traditional way of living is slowly being eroded and the production of artifacts is also suffering. It will be a pity to find that in future that locals are not able to produce, maselo, meseme, digo and other stuff.
Christianity and ancestral worship are the predominant religions. Islam has recently also started to take root. The revivalist Christian churches seem to dominate the religious sphere. Somebody once said that there is a correlation between the prevalence of revival churches and poverty.
The much publicised border dispute is still simmering, with residents wanting to be incorporated into Mpumalanga province. For all the talk that the desire by people to be nearer to Nelspruit is behind the border dispute. It is clearly not understood that the Nelspruit/White River areas historically speaking belong to Mapulana. The area becomes a hive of activity during election time when all political parties descend to woo voters, using the border dispute as political fodder. This is understandable given the size of the population as no political party wants to lose such a pool of potential voters.
Mapulaneng community radio, in addition to other South African Broadcasting Corporation radios broadcast local, regional and international news. Reception of SABC television stations is poor. In the 70�s and 80�s the old man Thibadiboye, could have been said to be a local broadcoasters. He used to play his radio loud that it covered the whole settlements of Thabakgolo, London, Majembeni, Violetbank and Shatale. Our ears feasted on his collection of mbaganqa and scathamiya . Occasionally he will broadcast a theft, yes, when a person�s stuff was stolen they will go to Thibadiboye and he will broadcast the theft. The thief knowing that the whole area knew of theft ended up returning the stolen goods. The broadcast were successful such that people said Thibadiboye used muti to make people to return the goods. He got the name from his thiba di boye dilo tsa go yetswiwa! (Stop the stolen goods) His real name was Mashego
Recently a water supply scheme was initiated and clearing of alien vegetation started. These two projects have provided some work in the area. It is not known how the development agencies view the area as �RDP houses� have been built amongst a predominantly rural settlement, taking over the already limited grazing land. Some of the RDP houses are standing empty.
There are coffee plantations in Casteel village and vegetable farms in Dingledale (Tshotshotsho). Due to the small plots that people live in, farming is mostly subsistence. That has not detracted people from planting sub-tropical plants like mangoes, litchies, pawpaws etc in their backyards. There are agricultural officer whose job is to help the communities to improve their farming methods. The shortage of land makes the effect (if any) of the agricultural officers to be less visible. Subsistence farming for staple foods is losing favour with the younger generation as it is not seen as generating any income.
The area has a teacher training college (Mapulaneng Teachers Training College), a vocational training college (Mapulaneng Technical College), three hospitals (Mapulaneng, Tintswalo and Matikwane) and a telematic university campus, offering University of Pretoria courses. Wits University has a rural research facility in the Acornhoek area.
The month of July is the most ideal time to visit Mapulaneng, as the weather is mild and there are no rains. It�s also the month when initiates graduate from the mountain. Festivities to welcome them back are at every village. A visitor will be able to see the colourful decorations of female initiates and the gentlemanly look of the male initiates. The females are dressed in colouful handkerchiefs and lace with adornments of maseka, botlhale and mandiyane. The males are dressed in a suit and hat. They both carry a colourful flag known as sefoka. It is not known why unlike other initiates in other tribes, male initiates came to wear a suit. Food and song permeate the air. Women ululating and blowing whistles, while their men folk sing mokgobo.
The December and April holidays are also the best time to visit the place. During the holidays migrant workers return home to be with their families. A sense of plenty clearly becomes visible, as there are more cars and even more men in the streets for men become a rarity during other times of year. Furlong faces of women turn into smiles, especially those whose husbands, boyfriends, brothers or children have come back home for the holidays. Kids get new clothes and get to taste sweets and other delicacies that are not available to them during any other time of the year. Not only do maghaisa bring with them food and liquor from Gauteng, they frequent the local stores to buy and settle credit that has been run up in their absence. The Grocery, liquor and hardware stores record the highest sales. The locals get to see new fashions that get paraded by maghaisa as they move around from village to village as if they are showing off. It is even the time to catch up on new tsotsitaal phrases that they have brought with them. Some will be regaling with stories of the high life they have had in Jozi. Those in the know will tell you that they hardly went out of their hostel rooms, afraid of venturing out to explore Jo�burg. The fun filled stories and high life generally being the figment of their imagination.
A small piece of land has been allocated to the Bushbuckridge Nature Reserve. The nature reserve has only a few antelopes. The Bushbuck from which the town takes its name is not kept in stock. The park has failed to bring the much-needed tourist to pass or stay in the town. The only reputable accommodation places are in Hazyview, on the private game farms bordering the Kruger Park and in Klaserie. A fabulous and torturous hiking trail bordering Bushbuckridge and Graskop offers the ability to breathe the clean subtropical air and walk in the wild like our ancestors used to do. The hamlets mentioned above are dirty and the road infrastructure terrible. This has driven away the passing traffic to the nearest tourist destinations.
Do you recognize some of these names which are in the limelight? They are Mapulana or are from Mapulaneng.
Ms Penny Lebyane � A radio personality
Mr. Zeth Malele � Business and IT personality
Mr. Elmon Malele � One of the organisers of the Defiance campaign of the ANC
Mr Phillip Ananius Chiloane- Victim of a letterbomb sent by Apartheid's agents
David Nyathi � Soccer player
Ruel Khoza - Businessman
Vusi Dibakwane � Actor, playwright
Mr. Grant Shakwane � Businessman and former radio personality
Mr. Louis Shakwane � Businessman and soccer personality
Prof. Sevid Mashego � Academic
Ms Vinolia Mashego � A TV personality
Bibliography
A preliminary survery of Bantu tribes of South Africa Van Warmelo NJ 1935 Government Printer
Batau Ba a Tsitlana MM Makgaleng 1973 JL Van Schaik Pretoria
Setlogo sa Batau EM Ramaila 1939 Northern Sotho Depot Pretoria
Seriti sa Thabantsho EM Ramaila Bona Press Johannesburg
The Eastern Sotho D Ziervogel Edition JL Van Schaik Pretoria
