BaKalanga people of Zimbabwe: ‘The keepers of ancestors’

In today’s installation of People & Places, I take a voyage to Matabeleland South Province where we predominantly find the Kalanga people of Zimbabwe. With a population of about one million denizens, the Kalanga people occupy the south-western parts of Zimbabwe.

A significant number of the Kalanga are found in Plumtree whose name is derived from the plum fruit, which was plentiful in the area then.

Established in 1897 and popularly known as Getjenge or kuTitji by the local folks, Plumtree functions as the executive town for Bulilima and Mangwe districts.

The BaKalanga community is also found in Tsholotsho and Matobo districts as well as near the Ramokgwebana Border in Botswana.

History of the Kalanga people

According to research, the Kalanga ethnic group is a Bantu tribe that originated in the north-east African region of Sudan-Egypt and Ethiopia.

In Southern Africa, the Kalanga people occupied parts of western and southern Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique and north-eastern Botswana around AD 100 years.

Intriguingly, the Kalanga established the first city-state in Sub-Saharan Africa, known as the Maphungubgwe City, on the convergence of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers.

Political history reckons that they established the Monomotapa Kingdom, which existed for about 500 years (1000 -1500) but was soon disposed of by the Togwa Kingdom, which was strategically situated at Khami, west of Bulawayo.

The Togwa Kingdom is said to have been established by Madabhale/Madabhani who was a Hhowu (Ndlovu). His self given name was Tjibundule. Tjibundule is understood to have lived with the San people (the oldest inhabitants of Southern Africa).

Kalanga names and totems

Similar to other diverse tribes in Zimbabwe, the Kalangas are largely identifiable by their animal and body part related surnames such as Moyo (alternative Pelo, Mbilu, Nhliziyo, Mthunzi, Nkiwane), Ndlovu (Ndou, Tlou, Zhowu, Hhowu), Sibanda (Shumba, Tjibanda, Tau, Motaung, Sebata), Ngwenya (Mokoena, Ngwena, Kwena), Khupe (Shulo, Hulo, Mvundla) etc.

The Kalanga language

The native language of the Kalanga is TjiKalanga, or simply Kalanga, in western Zimbabwe. In north-eastern Botswana, the dialect is known as Ikalanga. The Kalanga parlances include TjiKalanga, Lilima, Thwamamba, Nambya, Lozwi/Rozwi and Nyayi.

Kalanga socio-economic lifestyle

The Kalanga are pastoralists who rear cattle and grow crops and are also known for mining and trading in gold, copper and iron. Furthermore, locals are known for being fantastic house builders and pottery makers. Women grow vegetables such as beans, wild spinach and pumpkin leaves, black-eyed peas and okra.

Traditional food of the Kalanga

The traditional food of the BaKalanga is varied and organic. Nutritiously, the food they prepare is identical to the Karanga and Nambya people.

They cook dried melons known as nopi/nhopi, a delicacy that is a porridge-like dish made by cutting and boiling pumpkins or shamba/winter squash, adding mealie-meal and mixing with peanut butter, left to simmer and is ready to eat.

Likewise, they cook samoni/mutakura which is a mixture of groundnuts, cowpeas, round nuts and or maize cooked together, best served with tea.

On top of cooked dishes, they feed on wild fruits known as matamba/umkhemeswane (monkey orange tree), baobab tree, uxakuxaku/matohwe(snot apple), etc.

Mythology of the Kalanga People

The common religions are Christianity and Catholicism for the Kalanga people, but they are also animistic. They believe in and worship the High God recognised as Mwali or Mwari.

For example, BaKalanga is famous for rain-making rituals and the rain within Kalanga culture was prayed for, for a better harvest in the mountains.

Sorghum beer was brewed for the ceremony at the Manyangwa shrine submissively known as the Njelele twin shrine, located at Tjehanga Village.

Interesting facts about the Kalanga people

In the Kalanga culture, men used to marry many wives and if the man died, his elder or younger brother would take over his surviving wives.

Famous for their music and dance, there are two distinct dances in Kalanga culture, the Hosana traditional dance, which is strictly performed at the shrine, and the Ndazula dance, performed for weddings and entertainment purposes exclusively.

To date, some tourists from Europe, Botswana and South Africa together with some local politicians visit the Manyangwa shrine for psychic consultation through a third-generation spirit medium, which orates the visitors’ problems and proffers mystical solutions.

BaKalanga’s traditional clothes are normally black and white; the black skirts represent dark clouds with heavy rain and the white T-shirts symbolise rain droplets.

Fascinatingly, from my perspective, I think when epitomising the Kalanga gens, it is “criminal” not to mention Ndolwane Super Sounds, a musical group originally from Bulilima and the late legendary musician and polyglot, Solomon Skuza, who was a proud Kalanga, born in Plumtree (eNtoli) and his music I still listen to.

With his intelligent lyrics inscribed in Kalanga, Ndebele, Shona, Nyanja and English, I acknowledge his musical ingredients’ profoundness had amiable connotations with other local languages that collapsed ethnic variations in Zimbabwe.

*Simbarashe Murima (PhDc) writes in his capacity as an education, tourism and hospitality expert in Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Feedback: [email protected]/0781480742.