Lake Fundudzi
On the day after the Mazwimba Seed and Food Fair on 12 October 2023, there was great excitement about the planned visit to Lake Fundudzi, an important Sacred Natural Site for the Venda people. The visit was led by Vhutshilo Netshiavha from the Tshiavha community, a young man from the royal family who is one of the custodians of the Lake and an enthusiastic farmer. The group included farmers from Bikita, in Zimbabwe, and from Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa, as well as the EarthLore team, government officials and a journalist accompanied by a photographer/filmmaker.
In preparation for our visit, a meeting was held in the morning to give a short history of the lake and share with the visitors the appropriate behaviour required to show respect. Custodian Vhutshilo, together with Vho Marandela and Vho Makwarela, two elders of the Mazwimba Community, and Mashudu Takalani, EarthLore’s Programme Facilitator whose father’s family come from Mazwimba, opened the meeting with a traditional greeting and blessing of good fortune. They invited the spirits of the Lake to be present and offer their guidance. Vhutshilo explained that the elders have been protecting Lake Fundudzi and its ritual for generations. They strictly forbid anyone to take pictures of the ritual. They also do not allow people to take anything from the place, not even one of the many stones that are scattered around the Lake. The only things that visitors are allowed to take are photographs of the beautiful scenery and of each other, one or two bottles of blessed water from the lake, and a wealth of memories.
According to Vhutshilo, the Lake has been used for healing by the local indigenous people, and the area contains a wide variety of plants, reptiles, and other animals, as well as sacred drums used for rituals. Earlier, he had performed a ritual in preparation to inform the ancestors that a group of people would be visiting the Lake. A spiritual communication had been conducted the night before to ensure our journey was without incident. And, so it was!
It was a hot walk to the Lake that lies in the heart of the mountain and the Mutale river that flows into the Lake. When we were in sight of the Lake but before we reached its shores, we performed the ritual that gave us permission to visit the Lake. The Lake has been very full for the past three years and the water was flowing strongly as a result of heavy rains and runoff from the mountains.
People enjoyed swimming in the cooling waters of Funduzi. Some people then walked on beyond where we had been swimming, crossing very rocky terrain to reach one of the streams that flows into the Lake.
All too soon it was time to head back to the parked vehicles to enjoy a tasty lunch of nutritious traditional food, while sitting under shady trees in the indigenous forest that encircles the Lake. A popular dish was the delicious mixture of sugar beans, peanuts and ground macadamia nuts. For liquid refreshment we drank mqombothi made from gently fermenting sorghum.
It was a memorable day that confirmed the importance of a Sacred Natural Site like Lake Fundudzi and of protecting the natural forests covering the surrounding mountains. This was well demonstrated in Tshiavha village where the royal house of the princess is surrounded by a food forest. It creates a learning space that demonstrates how rural farming villages are still protecting the wild forests and the rich biodiverse nature. The village of Tshiavha has managed to retain its character and has not undergone a lot of change, except to improve farming by implementing relevant agroecological practices and principles like not making fields in wetlands. The homesteads where visiting farmers were hosted have productive food gardens and compost heaps thanks to the training of Samson Nkhata, EarthLore’s agroecology trainer.
The visit to Mazwimba and Lake Fundudzi provided inspiration to the traditional leaders from Thononda, Mazwimba, and from Steenbok and Avontuur in Mpumalanga, who were accommodated as guests at the princess’s spacious royal homestead. In Steenbok they are prioritising the revival of rituals and the protection of places sacred to them that have been neglected. They are calling on their traditional leaders and their chiefs to take responsibility for the well-being of the surrounding environment.
At the centre of this focus on Sacred Natural Sites is the tiny finger millet seed. Back in 2015, EarthLore facilitated work in Bikita, Zimbabwe, that revived the connection between finger millet and rituals for Sacred Natural Sites. Similarly in Venda, the recent revival of finger millet is welcomed, not only for being a robust crop that produces a healthy, tasty, versatile small grain, but also for its use in many rituals, particularly those associated with farming. These include preparations for each new planting season, rituals to ask for rain to water the crops and ceremonies to celebrate the harvest. The custodians of Lake Funduzi also use mpambo, a millet drink to perform the thevhula ritual to connect with the ancestors and the spirits of the place. And now finger millet is emerging as important for rituals in Steenbok, a further indication of how extensive the influence of this small grain is.
As 2023 draws to a close and the end of United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Year of the Millets approaches, EarthLore will continue to celebrate the ongoing journey of revival and reconnecting with millet. We look forward to tracking and sharing this journey with you in 2024.
Enjoy a safe and blessed festive season. May the new year that lies ahead bring peace, understanding and greater appreciation for the amazing planet we are blessed to call home.
