adminYOU might think it’s a tug-of-war. He pulls the bulging khaki paper towards himself. His client does the same in the opposite direction. “It’s the way we do it esintwini.” That suffices by way of an explanation for the age old practice when medicine is offered to a client. “May all the good luck follow you,” is the best the purveyor of medicines can offer by way of trying to interpret a cultural practice whose meaning is lost in the thick mists of history.
Dr Elliot Ncube is tucked in a corner where he is offering consultation to those coming to him with various ailments. His medicinal concoctions are arrayed on concrete shelves. He is spotting a modern hat together with modern attire that may belie the fact that he is a traditional doctor. I have come to Emkambo in Bulawayo’s oldest township of Makokoba where Dr Ncube has been plying his trade from as far back as 1964 to learn more about the business of traditional doctors. Initially, there were just three of them: himself, a Dr Madida and Dr Ncube both of whom are now late.
Dr Ncube who hails from Mzinyathini in the Umzingwane District underwent spiritual initiation at Gomoza in Lupane in 1961 after which he started dispensing medicines to clients. The Bulawayo Municipality offered him a cubicle which he has used to the present. At the time the other traditional practitioners were operating from near the banks of a spruit that runs past Mckeurtan Primary School to the east of Emkambo. They were using municipal land without paying rentals.
Here at Emkambo where they are operating from they pay US$14 per month and there is US$35 per year which goes towards the renewal of their practicing licences. “Things have changed for the worse here. We are struggling to pay rentals. Our client base has shrunk. The people are either paid very little or are not paid at all,” laments Dr Ncube.
Here the dominant sounds come from the caged cocks, vuvuzelas that blare without let. For the first time in many years Highlanders Football Club has beaten Dynamos Football Club. On Monday the local daily newspaper was cleared off the streets. Vuvuzelas are still celebrating in unique sounds that are complemented by the shrill and ear-piercing sounds from mortars and pestles used to pound raw plants into powder form. Dr Ncube has one behind his shelves which he used when grinding medicinal plants. Omakorokoza, the informal gold miners use the same implements for crushing gold ore
Only a few doctors have stalls inside the massive hall at Emkambo. The majority are arrayed against the perimeter fence. I was keen to find out the ratio between male and female doctors. In matters of spirituality there is gender equity. Dr Ncube thinks there are more female doctors than their male counterparts. Another practitioner I spoke to thought there were equal numbers of males and females. Apparently, it is not all practitioners who are spiritually initiated ukuthwasa. “Some of these were in actual fact assistants, inhlaka to qualified doctors. Over time they gained experience and knowledge and are now dispensing medicines. They did not undergo any spiritual training or initiation,” says Dr Ncube as he puffs benignly at a Kingsgate cigarette.
I was interested in knowing the origins of the numerous medicines that are on sale at Emkambo. Dr Ncube insists that he digs up his own medicines, those that are available in his home area of Emzinyathini. He identifies the following as some of the herbal plants and trees that occur in his home area: ingobamakhosi, umlomomnandi, indabulavalo, ijoyi and ingqanqabulane. He explains why it is important that he digs up his own medicinal plants as far as possible.
For the efficacy of the herbs it is important to dig them in a particular way. For example, some roots or bark must be obtained from the eastern part of the tree. In the case of others some roots must be dug up from the eastern part while others are dug on the western side. What is important here is that it is not the chemical content of a plant that matters. The orientation of roots or bark is equally important. “If you rely on plants that you get from middlemen you run the risk of medicines not producing the expected results. Medicines may just not work,” says Dr Ncube.
The east and west are important considerations in African cosmology. The east is where the sun rises. It is therefore a direction that symbolises rebirth and regeneration or revival of life in general. Healing essentially embraces components of rebirth and regeneration. The sick person must be restored to full life as symbolised by the rising sun. The west symbolises the opposite to life. The setting sun is followed by darkness which is symbolic of death. In fact, if the sun did not rise and darkness continued there would be complete annihilation of life. In African traditional medical practice there are times when magical spells must be countered, their grip on victims must be loosened or destroyed. Their life must, in other words, be brought to an end. That translates to ending their life or having the sun set on them and the spell that they are causing. That is possible if the roots or bark are obtained in a particular direction-the west where the sun sets.
However, it is not always possible to excavate own medicines. There are certain medicines that are found in distant places such as South Africa and Chipinge. There are middlemen who trade in the long-haul medicines. From Chipinge in Manicaland they bring isibhaha, ikhathaza, umtawana and musasirambi. From South Africa they bring isibhaha, ikhathaza and intombikayibhinci. Different places within Zimbabwe are also home to different plants and herbs. For example, from Emaguswini (Lupane and Nkayi) the middlemen bring umahlabekufeni, and umpaluli among several others.
Medicinal plants arrive at Emkambo in different forms such as roots (impande), bark (amaxolo), leaves (amahlamvu), tubers (amajodo) and fruits (abantwana) or seeds (intanga). Animal extracts are equally important.
While I was interviewing Dr Ncube many people approached him inquiring about certain animal extracts. They asked for ululwane the bat and another group of people were looking for uwobo the mongoose. Clients do sometimes seek various ingredients and do the mixing on their own. There are other medicinal formulations that are ready to consume. Indeed, next to Dr Ncube there was a lady who had a mixture of medicines in a large Coca-Cola bottle.
Dr Ncube was quick to point out certain common diseases that people seek medication for: STIs, chest problems, sexual impotence (when the bull goes lazy), and stomach aches. However, for the majority of cases the clients indicate the problem that they are experiencing or their relative is experiencing. A group of three clients came to Dr Ncube and indicated that their relative was experiencing mental problems. “She has lost sense of dress and will go naked.” The conversation was prolonged and at the end Dr Dube was able to offer what he thought was an appropriate medicinal formulation comprising no less than three medicines wrapped in khaki paper. The tug-of-war ensued.
In addition to dispensing medicines the practitioners have diversified to embrace related products. Jikinya traditional dance festival has enhanced the sale of drums, leg rattles, head ostrich pompoms and related dance paraphernalia. Also on sale are clay pots, beads of various colours, ceremonial staffs and wooden plates. Most of the items are used during spiritual initiation.
One practitioner is selling material that is used by Amapostori. There are long thin staffs similar to those used by the apostles of Jesus Christ. An artifact called bakatwa in Shona bears a cross. A guitarist led by a young boy strums his way through the labyrinth of numerous stands. The boy, probably a son, complements his father’s guitar by playing a Pepsi percussion instrument and a gourd rattle.
Online Reporter