Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
The President of the National Council of Chiefs, Chief Mtshane Khumalo, has called on traditional leaders to be at the forefront of ending social ills that are destroying rural communities, particularly child marriages, teenage pregnancies, drug and substance abuse and rising school dropouts.
Chief Khumalo was speaking at the official closing of the three-day inaugural Tshiṱaudze Heritage Festival at Tshiṱaudze Cultural Village in Mpande, Beitbridge, on Sunday.
He said preserving heritage must also mean fighting what destroys heritage, noting that child marriages, drugs and crime were never part of Zimbabwean culture.
“Our culture never celebrated a child giving birth to a child. Traditionally, Tshivhambo (Venda house for girls) taught girls dignity, self-respect and maturity before marriage, yet today we have children impregnating children and old men abusing our girls in the name of culture, which is not culture but abuse. Every child who drops out of school is a burnt library,” said Chief Khumalo.
He said mutoriro, guka, illicit brews and reckless sexual behaviour were fuelling HIV infections, gender-based violence and crime, making it impossible for a drunken village to hold a traditional court (Khoro in Venda) or for intoxicated youths to respect sacred sites.
The Chiefs Council, he added, was reviving traditional mentorship houses, Thondo (Venda House) for boys and Tshivhambo for girls, as safe spaces for elders to teach life skills, reproductive health and Ubuntu, while using village structures to expose drug peddlers and work with police.
He also commended host Chief Tshiṱaudze for his vision in establishing the cultural village as a living museum and a place where TshiVenda is spoken proudly.
Chief Tshiṱaudze, the festival’s patron, said Beitbridge must not lead the nation in child marriage and teenage pregnancy, describing the statistics for Matabeleland South, with Beitbridge as an epicentre, as a threat to heritage itself.
“We cannot lead as a district in child marriages while we claim to be a well-cultured people. If you see abuse, report to traditional leaders or ZRP because perpetrators, your days are numbered,” said Chief Tshiṱaudze.
He also called for an end to rampant tree cutting by firewood syndicates that are destroying pastures and Mashonza.
Chief said the festival, which featured all schools under his jurisdiction and more than 20 artists, was born out of pain as heritage was under threat from urbanisation and globalisation, and was meant to position Beitbridge as a destination of culture rather than just a border town of trucks.
