Page 100 - Heritage Streets of KwaMashu 2025

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HERITAGE STREETS OF KWA-MASHU
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guineafowl (English) is gifted with protective powers by the gods, and that the guineafowl will protect your village’s chickens against chicken disease. The Zulu name for a guineafowl is impangele, which means the one who is in a hurry. The word impangele comes from the verb phangela (jaha/shesha), which means to wake up hastily in the morning and go to work. The guineafowl is a bird that is symbolic of human effort at survival. There is even a Zulu proverb: “impangele enhle ngeekhala igijima” (a good guineafowl is the one that calls while running). The proverb warns people to avoid danger as soon as it threatens. It is said that when a country loses its fertility, the guineafowls are the first birds to disappear. Zulu queens and Shangane chiefs used to try and breed guineafowls with domestic chickens to create a strong breed of chickens that were as strong as guineafowls and capable of enduring drought. Imangele also appeared in another proverb “igeja liphambe impangele” (the hoe has puzzled the guineafowl).