Page 4 - Heritage Streets of KwaMashu 2025

HERITAGE STREETS OF KWA-MASHU
IS IT A JUNGLE OUT THERE?
Foreword by Nomusa Dube-Ncube to the HERITAGE STREETS OF KWAMASHU
IT takes a rare kind of bravery to rewrite history, not by erasing the past, but by illuminating the untold, often overlooked truths that shape who we are. In Heritage Streets of KwaMashu, Edmund Mhlongo has done just that. He has summoned the audacity to trace our history with the tenderness of someone who has lived it, who has walked the very streets he now immortalises through image and word.
His lens is honest, rooted, and fiercely proud. I commend Mhlongo for crafting this bold, visual narrative of a township that lives not only in his heart, but in mine too.
I myself am a classic of “Made in KwaMashu, moulded for the world.” It is where I drew my first breath, and it continues to shape the rhythm of my thinking and leadership. KwaMashu is not just a place, it is a pulse, a heartbeat of heritage, struggle, resilience, and creativity. It has birthed countless influential South Africans who carry its legacy forward with pride.
KwaMashu’s streets tell more than directions, they tell stories. They reflect the Zulu people’s deep admiration and symbolic relationship with animals, each name a metaphor for strength, danger, grace, or cunning. Some call the township Esinqawunqawini—a name that evokes the mythical, terrifying ‘werehyena’, perhaps a reference to the brutal realities of township life, seen as a jungle by both outsiders and natives. Yet within that wilderness lies sweetness too. Others affectionately refer to it as Esimobeni, nodding to its sugarcane roots, hinting at a hidden softness in the sweet chaos.
You cannot speak about KwaMashu’s geography without acknowledging its obsession with animals, most clearly etched in its neighbourhoods like Ezilwaneni (place of animals), a zone encircled by roads named Undlondlo (an aged mamba), Bhejane (black rhino), Umkhombe (white rhino), and Nyala (antelope). These are not just names. They are symbols of character, memory, pride, and protection. They speak of an identity deeply connected to land and lore. In this sense, the streets of KwaMashu are more than thoroughfares, but are the veins
carrying the lifeblood of the community. They instil a sense of presence, of continuity, of heritage. They are where the past and future meet.
KwaMashu has been vilified in mainstream narratives, branded with hardship, crime, or struggle. But this book reminds us: no amount of such narrative can erase its brilliance. Like a phoenix, it has risen from the ashes, again and again. It is today a hive of economic growth, infrastructure innovation, and educational achievement. It has proven to be not just a survivor, but a trendsetter, a transformer. Its streets are both shield and sword, a declaration of belonging and a challenge to any who underestimate it.
As we honour the legacy captured in this beautiful book, I also issue a challenge to the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and its entity; the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Geographic Name Change Committee: play your part. We must actively preserve and dignify our spaces. Renaming streets, villages, monuments, and infrastructure is not about nostalgia, it is about giving meaning back to the people. It is about rooting our future in the authenticity of our past.
Let Heritage Streets of KwaMashu serve as a call to action, an invitation to reclaim, rename, and remember.
Ambassador Dr Nomusa Dube-Ncube Former Premier of KwaZulu-Natal Proudly Made in KwaMashu