Page 58 - Heritage Streets of KwaMashu 2025

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HERITAGE STREETS OF KWA-MASHU
that can be easily forgotten. Water is precious across cultures. The value we place on water can be seen in the way that it is worshipped and celebrated across cultures and geographies. For as long as humans have walked the earth, water has been a source of life and death, and it is perhaps no surprise that so many cultures have developed rituals and traditions that reflect this dual nature of water. While the spiritual value of water might not be easily quantifiable, it should be respected.
Water spirits are associated with positive aspects of change, the continued presence of water signifies the continued life of creation.
“Water symbolized by the universal virgin mother became the primal substance of being” (Mathole Motshega).
Section C and River Street Names:
For centuries humans and rivers have been, and are still in some places, living in harmony.
Africa’s great rivers have nourished some of the world’s most significant civilizations. They have shaped the rhythm of life for untold generations of riparian (banks/shores - things that exist alongside a river) peoples, linking cultures across political borders.
“Before you go into the river, you must throw silver coins into the river and pray”.
‘When you go to the river, you need to light up by throwing in silver coins. ... sometimes you light candles. This opens your path. You are basically praying to the water spirits - our grandmothers and grandfathers.’
Cultural rituals related to rivers and other bodies of water are practiced in many parts of the world. Considering rivers as sacred bodies is, however, not unique to African culture. For example, the river Ganga (otherwise known as the Ganges River) occupies a unique position in the cultural ethos of India.
In the Zionist practice, water plays a crucial role in the expulsion of evil and illness, that is, to remove isinyama, the dark cloud that envelopes a person and attracts bad luck and attacks by witches.
Water is life. There are a range of practices that are performed by cultural and religious communities, such as initiation and baptism ceremonies, that involve the use of water from sources such as rivers, streams, dams, and springs.
Sometimes people go to the river to pray and get baptized with the belief that the problems that they have will go away.
River snake: Mama Wamanzi/ MaMlambo/Mama Watu:
the river snake:
‘I have heard people say that in the Vaal River there is a snake, especially since it is a river that does not dry up. If you have amadlozi [ancestral calling], if you go into the river for rafting or fishing, the snake might take you and if your family cries saying that you have drowned, the snake will not release you.’ (unknown local resident)
According to another respondent (local), it is not often that people see the water snake:
‘There are certain people who can see it. You cannot just see it face-to-face. If you see it, that may be the end of you. The snake has specific places where it passes. It has its time to show and its place where it lives; the evidence is in how the water is. You can see that something was happening there because the water looks like it was stirred.’
In addition to the water snake, believed to be a living creature, there is also a belief amongst African people that the flow of the river itself is ‘alive’ and as such has healing properties. Water animism is based on the belief that natural objects (such as river water, lakes, and springs) are alive and possess souls.
Culturally, Africans know and believe that there is life in the flowing river. African people have faith that when a person has been dipped in the water, the pain will leave them - the life in the water will take it up. Flowing water is regarded as the purest water, and thus, flowing water is considered suitable for holy and healing practices.
‘In terms of traditional healing, sometimes a person can get a vision of the river, meaning that they need to be trained in the river for them to become a traditional healer.’
‘When they are taken to the river by someone with the knowledge, they go into the portion of the river according to what they have been shown in the dream or vision. When you are a traditional healer trained in the river, you can go into the river with them and can even spend up to thirty minutes in the river, underwater.’
A woman at Amatigulu said that whose granny trained in the river to become an isangoma:
‘She woke up one day and disappeared. After a few days, through dreams, the family then knew that she was in the river. In those dreams, the family was also informed about the kind of cow to bring for her to be released. They had to do what they were told so that the granny could not remain in the river forever.’
African traditional healers also collect water from the rivers and streams because they are believed to possess healing powers from the spirits residing in them.
‘Water is life. We live through the water. Life is there [in the river]. You can go anywhere ... without water, you will not live.’ ‘Rivers are an indicator of how healthy our country is. The bottom line is our rivers are in jeopardy because of pollution.’
Maybe in the future, the rivers will only remain in the street names of Kwa-Mashu as a reminder as we experience adverse climatechallengesandlessandlessrespectfornaturecontinues(myemphasis).