Where Gule Wankulu lives on

Obert Sithole
Religion Correspondent
THE Gule Wankulu tradition is very much alive in the mining town of Zvishavane, despite the closure of Shabanie Mine a decade ago.
Brought to Zimbabwe by Malawian and Zambian migrants during the colonial era, Gule Wankulu was a hit in the town where Shabanie Mine used to sponsor cultural festivals. But it seemed to have gone into hibernation following the demise of the company in 2004.
The chair of the Nyau Gule Dancers, who is also the chairperson of the Midlands Traditional Dancers Association, Mr Lazarus Mthombeni, says the tradition is alive and well in Zvishavane.
“. . . the only difference is that we no longer have the sponsorship we used to get from Shabanie Mine.
‘‘The sponsorship made us popular because we participated at public events hosted by the company especially at Nyaradzai Hall in Maglas Compound. Since people are no longer seeing us in public they think zvigure hakuchina. No — we are there,” says Mr Mthombeni.
He dismisses the notion that the gule are pagans.
“We have always had our own secretive festivals far from the public. I also want to dismiss the notion that we don’t worship God, because we go to churches before our cultural dances. It’s only people who don’t take time to understand the diversity of African traditions who pass negative comments about us,” says Mr Mthombeni.
Mr Bakali Amini, a member of the gule in Zvishavane, adds that theirs is a secretive tradition and people should not confuse their disappearance from the public eye as a sign of their demise
“We have our own initiations where we incorporate students after they have completed their O-Levels when they are mature so that they won’t be disturbed from school,” says Bakali.
The Gule Wankulu tradition was very popular in the mining and farming communities from the 1950s up to the 1990s when companies used to sponsor cultural dances as entertainment.