Environment

Insimu KaNomkhubulwane

Sixoxisane noMama uThangithini Ngcobo onguMaNdlovu ngomkhosi kaNomkhubulwane. Uhlala  esigodini saseMgcweni endaweni yaseNtshangwe. Ukhule endaweni yangakubo omama asebekhulile belima insimu kaNomkhubulwane naye useze waba yingxenye yabo. Ezindaweni eziningi lomkhosi uyahlonishwa, yilapho njalo ngaphambi kokuthi abantu baqale ukulima bahambe baye kolima insimu kaNomkhubulwane. Ngemuva kwalokho bonke abantu bayakwazi ukuqala ukuzilimela emasimini abo. Akubona bonke abantu ababayingxenye yalabo abasuke bezolima … Read more

Imisebenzi yezihlahla zomsenge nomthombothi

Izihlahla zibalulekile emhlabeni nasezimpilweni zabantu bonke ngoba siyaphefumula ngazo, izihlahla zikhipha umoya omusha zona zithathe esiwuphefumulayo omdala. Ngaphandle kwalokho zenza imisebenzi eminingi ukulekela abantu ngezimpilo zansuku zonke lapha sizobheka imisebenzi yezihlahla ezimbili, umsenge nomthombothi. Isihlahla somsenge Isihlahla somsenge sitholakala ezindaweni ezisemakhaya nakhona la eThekwini uma ube nenhlanhla uyakwazi ukusibona. Lesihlahla sibalulekile emlandweni wakwaZulu nakubantu abalimayo … Read more

Imisebenzi ethinta inkomo

Ukulusa ukuhambisa izinkomo edlelweni ziyodla. Idlelo indawo enotshani, ekude nemizi kwenzelwa ukuthi izinkomo zingenzi umonakalo emizini yabantu yingakho ibuqamama nemizi. Isibonelo: Uma ifuna ukuzinwaya imane izihlikihle ngendlu kungenzeka iwe indlu kusuke kugwenywa lokho, inganyathela nengane emagcekeni yingakhoke ziya emadlelweni. Imvamisa kuba nedamu noma ichibi lamanzi ukuze ziphuze uma sezomile. Zibasemadlelweni kuze kubentambama bazibuyise sezizolala, zilala esibayeni. … Read more

Huberta the Hippo

Some time after Huberta the Hippo, a resident of the St Lucia Estuary in Zululand, started her long trek southwards along the coast in 1929, she arrives in Durban where her footprints are spotted on the Beachwood Golf Course, and she takes a walk down West Street. She is herded carefully out of town to the uMngeni … Read more

Growing food in a botanic garden

Martin Clement describes adventures with permaculture at the Durban Botanic Gardens. The  Permaculture Training Garden project isn’t the Durban Botanic Gardens’ first connection with food production. Agricultural crops or ‘economics’, were an important focus during the late 19th Century when the Gardens conducted trials of sugar cane for the fledgling sugar industry in KwaZulu-Natal. The … Read more

Birds and beliefs in Zululand

Intsingizi (Southern Ground-Hornbill) Intsingizi is the bird that is hardly seen flying around and when it is seen, certain beliefs will start flowing in the minds of people. The Zulu communities strongly believe that intsingizi is a bird that has the power to bring down rain. When it appears the people of the community will … Read more