The home an its place in culture.

The free movement of people has placed stress on the cultural and traditional tapestries of

communities. The earlier years of the exodus was comprised mainly of men, which meant

that many rural households became matriarch-led, while the men created second, temporary

homes in urban areas. Wives stayed in the rural areas, or at times visited their husbands in

urban areas. As a result, households in rural areas gradually disintegrated as families developed a greater interest in urban living.

It is evident that many black African people are systematically losing that rural connection

which some still refer to as “home”. The fact that parents and grandparents have passed on

and left rural homes without relatives is making it difficult for those black Africans with homes

in urban areas to retain this connection – many say they have created their own homes and

families in an urban area, and the passing of their relatives has given them no reason to return

to their rural homes, or to retain any cultural identity with that place or the land. Although many black African people have never been to the land or rural homes where their parents and grandparents were born, when asked about their cultural identity and clanconnection, they often make reference to that rural land or home. A Morolong would say “Ke morolong wa Thaba Nchu”, “I am of the Morolong of Thaba Nchu”.

In many villages and rural communities, the concept of “home” involves more than a roof over

one’s head. The circumference stretches beyond the house, the yard, the boundaries or the

fence of the homestead; in many cases it includes the kraal which safeguards the livestock. In

some rural communities, the cattle byre has the remains of loved ones buried within it. The

homestead, umuzi in isiZulu, is structured and designed in a manner which considers the home as extending beyond the particular building a married man shares with his wife and children. For example, in rural of KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, it is common to find homesteads with a number of huts surrounded by a fence of wooden poles, with shrubs and bushes forming a circular or rectangular shape around the huts, and a cattle byre at the centre of the homestead. The main house or hut is usually reserved for ugogo, the

mother of the father of the homestead, and the children’s grandmother. The spear of the family, which is used for slaughtering cattle, is usually kept in this hut, which is deemed the best place to communicate with the ancestors, and is often where traditional beer and slaughtered beasts are kept. The other huts are used by the various wives (if the man has more than one wife) and children. The older daughters and sons are allocated their own huts, usually near the entrance to the homestead.

Younger men or sons are expected to protect the homestead, livestock and other possessions. There are many rules, imithetho in isiZulu, governing the behaviour of all who live in the homestead, some of which are specific to gender, age, belief or marital status. For example, it is taboo within some black African communities to throw out water in the yard. In rural KwaZulu-Natal the belief is that such behaviour would result in lightning striking the homestead, whereas in the rural areas of Limpopo, a person who throws out water in the yard or on others’ path would be accused of witchcraft, and making people’s feet swell.

It is a marvel that many black African households are still supported and financed by adults

who used to be children in those households. Many pensioners also receive contributions from caring children and grandchildren now working and living in their own homes. Communities frown upon a black African person who fails to support his or her parents or the upkeep of their home. There is also a common belief that the ancestors and God would not look favourably on someone who has abandoned their parental home. Besides weddings and funerals, cultural and traditional ceremonies tend to take a person back to the village or township where they were born. When good tidings come with success in the city and life in general, these require that certain thanksgiving rituals be conducted to communicate with the ancestors and God. These rituals have to be performed with the blessing of the parents, grandparents and other important family members.

The definitions of “rural” and “urban” communities continue to deprive many products and

brands of opportunities to find homes in South African households. At best, these might

simply be cases of brands sold mainly in “remote” and rural communities being ignored, and

not forming part of companies’ marketing and promotional plans. The myopic definition of

the “urban market”, as referring to communities and markets located nearer to the big cities,

continues to alienate many economically viable communities and markets located in other

parts of the country. Some so-called “rural” communities appear to be more economically active than many poor townships and settlement communities nearer cities. For many rural communities, the only things which make them “rural” are the presence of

livestock, and donkeys and cattle roaming the streets. However, the fact that they have income to spend on reliable and premium brands cannot be disputed.

The irony is that people living in these communities might need more brand-activation programmes, since many marketing campaigns, print and television commercials are still mainly in English. While some older people in rural areas associate life in the cities with progress and economic and social development, others attempt to hold on to their cultural identity and practices. Many looked at fusing their cultural way of life with the dominant Western way of life, as prevalent in the urban areas. As a result, the food they ate and their clothing styles had to change, and do so very rapidly. Under apartheid, one’s clothes would make it obvious to all, including the police, whether one was Zulu, Sotho, Tsonga or from any other black African cultural group. This would immediately create opportunities for being identified as a “newcomer” in the cities, and being stopped, searched, and forced to produce a pass or permit to be allowed in the area.

A number of urban families who still have homes in the rural areas make enormous efforts to retain their culture and identity. This cultural and spiritual yearning for life in the rural areas results in families visiting their rural homes during weekends and holidays. Some of the elderly retire in the rural areas, while others see no life for themselves in rural areas or have

no rural home, and therefore remain in the cities and urban areas. It is common practice for

families in urban areas to send their young children to a rural area to be “educated” about what it means to belong to a given cultural group.

A home is the most important possession in a family’s hierarchy of acquisitions, in both rural

and urban households. However, the availability of income does not always determine the

size of one’s house. In many communities there is a tendency to start by building a foundation for the envisaged size of the house. The rooms are then added on as and when resources become available. It is the practice in many communities for members to contribute an empty

It is part of the responsibility society places on heads of households to provide shelter for their families. It can take a family up to five years to complete their house and furnish it, but these achievements add to the family’s sense of pride and ownership.

One of the most edifying parts of my “pilgrimage” came about during my three-night stay with a family of six in Pienaar (Msogwaba), near Nelspruit. It was interesting to note how the family chose to purchase a refrigerator and two chest freezers, and yet live in a home without carpeting or tiled floors. The family lives in a brick house, with a tiled roof. The house has three bedrooms and a small kitchen with an electric stove. They also have a TV and VCR. The family told me that it had taken them four years to build this home.

People look for an enabling environment to assist them in building their own homes. This

includes financial and other institutional support that is in tune with the cultural make-up of

the communities concerned. Herein also lies an opportunity for cultural expression, in which various cultures can bring varying forms and designs to housing. Building skills, even with no formal training, have matured in these communities. Houses are successfully built on steep hills and in rocky areas, without access to advanced tools and technology.

The building of Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) homes in rural areas at

the expense of traditional huts is changing the landscape in a way that will eventually erode an important part of our cultural heritage. Traditional huts have, over the years, become part of our tourist sites, and it will be a sad part of South Africa’s infrastructural development if

tourist routes are marked by RDP houses instead. These square-shaped, two- or four-roomed

houses have come to resemble army barracks and refugee camps.

There are startling indications that households living in traditional dwellings are on the decrease. Statistics South Africa classifies dwellings into four categories (formal, informal, traditional and other), finding that the proportion of households living in traditional dwellings decreased from 18.2 per cent in 1996 to 11.7 per cent in 2007. In addition, 70.5 per cent of households lived in formal dwellings and 14.5 per cent in informal dwellings in 2007 (Statistics South Africa, 2007: 46). Shacks mainly arise in areas to which people have relocated in order to access jobs. Accordingly, it is rare to find inhabited shacks in rural areas. Lack of security of tenure in informal settlements (and consequently no sense of permanence) leads people to build shacks close to their workplaces. Shacks make it easier and cheaper for people to move around and build elsewhere if they get evicted. In contrast, shacks are used in rural areas to store grain, and to keep livestock and other assets. “Home” for many shack dwellers is somewhere in the rural areas or outside the cities.

For some families, assets such as appliances and furniture purchased in the cities will eventually be transported “home” to the rural areas.

I was privileged to have lived in Emzinoni, in Bethal, where I made friends with a gentleman who originally came from Maputo in 1972. He married a local Ndebele lady, and they have a 21-year-old daughter. He informed me that he married the lady to ensure that he could easily settle in the community. When I looked into his eyes I could sense that it is only love that made him marry the lady who is now his wife. The gentleman owns and runs a very popular hair salon. He mentioned that the local people are not comfortable with foreigners settling and starting business in the community. He also said that he wishes his surname were Mahlangu, Skhosana or Masilela.

One of the most intricate housing developments in the townships is the mushrooming of low-cost housing and shack settlements next to affluent housing. In some townships upmarket or middle-income houses are erected in predominantly low-income communities. As low-income households improve their earning capabilities, they mostly renovate and extend the existing house instead of relocating to more affluent neighbourhoods. The spirit of community is one reason why people stay in sprawling communities when they can afford to relocate to the former white suburbs, which are seen as “cold” or insular. Black African people are not used to living next door to neighbours they never visit or talk to.

In the early 1990s, the choice of neighbourhood was a function of the status people believed

they were part of, or the lifestyle people thought they ought to live. It became common for black African people to speak of the affluent area in which they lived. In Johannesburg,

addresses in Sandton, Kelvin, Parktown, Bramley, Illovo and Houghton featured. In Cape Town, Bloubergstrand, Camps Bay, Bishopscourt, Constantia, Rondebosch and Bantry Bay represented advancement for black Africans. Similarly, areas such as Westville, Umhlanga Rocks, Morningside, Ballito, Zimbali, La Lucia and Durban North were associated with success and achievement in KwaZulu-Natal. 

The decision where to live is also greatly influenced by comfort and proximity. The tendency

would be to choose a new home near the home in which one grew up, but this is obviously

not an option for those who travel hundreds of kilometres in search of work or a new life. In

this case, a neighbourhood of people who originate from one’s place of birth would usually be

preferable; at least, one should not have too far to travel to see friends and family.

Many families who to moved to formerly white suburbs since 1994 wish to return to their

previous homes in the townships. Unfortunately, these homes have been sold to other

families who elected to stay in the townships, and as a result, it is becoming very difficult to

buy a house in upmarket areas of Soweto and other townships, and the available houses are

sometimes priced at three times their selling price. Many who moved to the suburbs and can

still afford to stay in upmarket areas of the townships, simply hang onto their homes in the

suburbs.

Homes in urban and rural communities have undergone structural and architectural transformation, perhaps as fast as people, communities and society are transformed. Houses come in different sizes and shapes. Sadly, the dome-shaped or hemispherical thatched

houses and huts of yesteryear, on the plains and hillocks of the Eastern Cape, are no more.

While some villages have tried to keep their cone-shaped, thatched roofs, corrugated

iron and clay tile roofs have taken over. The round shape of the body of the huts or houses

are all that remain during the architectural transformation of local housing. This trend, which

is evident in all provinces, arose because many black African people were confronted by

colonialists who occupied their lands and established Western ways and building materials.

For black Africans, access to land to collect traditional materials to build houses was limited

and in some places impossible.

While the shape of the traditional hut or rondawel is a reminder of the beauty and serenity

of rural and traditional life, modern brick and mortar structures are increasingly dominant in

rural areas. Many rural households view the modern structures as more durable and as signs of progress, but the connection with the hut is often retained either in building new houses in the shape of a hut, or designing them to include a section shaped like a hut.

Wall decorations play an important role in reinforcing a unique regional identity for rural

communities. Perhaps, in response, groups such as the Mfengu were urged to begin

whitewashing their walls by the white missionaries on whose stations they settled as landless

refugees (Frescura, 2001). Nevertheless, the patterns or decorations painted on the walls of

rural houses appear to be among the only cultural signifiers some rural communities have been able to hold onto. These decorations have been mutually influenced and therefore might look similar. For a trained eye, however, it is possible to distinguish between Venda, Tsonga, Ndebele and Xhosa patterns. For example, BMW South Africa were so impressed by the decorative murals of the isiNdebele-speaking people that they commissioned one of the women artists to paint one of their flagship models, which was used for marketing and promotional purposes. Patterns and decorations are not made purely for art’s sake, but usually carry some deeper traditional and cultural significance, such as important community or household messages relating to fertility, the births of children and their rites of passage, social identity and political and societal expression, etc. In 1975 Julian Beinard noted a connection between wall art and black political protest during the course of his research in the Western Native Townships.

People tend to purchase houses which represent an ideal home, even if they cannot afford to

fully furnish it. Thus, one cannot assume that the owner of a house with a garage has a car, or

intends to purchase one. Such garages are usually rented to a neighbour to shelter his car, or as accommodation, or for storage. These garages can also be used as a spaza shop or hair salon, workshop or mini factory. Households make choices about the things they need most in their homes. Some owner-built homes boast upmarket roof tiles, yet have no ceiling or carpeting, plastering or floor tiles. Instead, these homes might boast display units, state-of-the-art television sets, premium brand appliances and hi-fi systems. What motivates households to purchase appliances before the floors have tiles and the ceiling has proper covering is not always obvious, but motives would differ from one household to another.

It is becoming impossible to define an area or community where people live purely on the

basis of language or cultural practices. Nowadays, integrated communities offer new ways of

interaction and living for residents who might speak different languages and be accustomed to different behaviours. Cultural intermarriages bring together different cultures, languages and behaviours. As a result, a new way of life is emerging in such communities, with their people constantly searching for a common understanding and adoption of acceptable morals and desired value systems.