Ndawana, South Africa

The Village

The village of Ndawana, South Africa

Edzimkulu’s work is in Ndawana, a remote rural village in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Population is estimated to be 3,900.

When Executive Directors Chris and Jim Newton were planning the organization, they were sent a letter written by Zanele Mkhwanazi and published in a local paper. It described the situation in Ndawana and the dire needs of the community. This is how Edzimkulu came to work with the people of Ndawana.

Zanele’s letter spoke of a community devastated by AIDS, struggling with widespread poverty and 80% unemployment, and:

• no electricity, residential running water or telephone
• virtually no healthcare except for a mobile clinic that came at most once a month
• inaccessible social services due to cost of transportation and, for many, lack of vital documents (e.g. IDs (analogous to Social Insurance/Security Number), birth certificates, death certificates, etc.)
• estimated HIV prevalence of 50%
• estimated 200-300 AIDS orphans with some child-headed households
• extreme stigma of HIV/AIDS
• inaccessible HIV treatment because of cost of transportation
• anywhere from 8 to 12 deaths each week, most often due to AIDS
• a very low standard of education with near-0% pass rate of the governmental exams
• poor school attendance due to cost of fees and uniforms

The village spans a distance of roughly 5 km, end to end, through a beautiful valley, and integrates three different African cultures: Zulu, Xhosa and Sesotho. The most commonly spoken language is Zulu. About 20% of the residents speak at least enough English to make communication possible.

Until recently (2006), Ndawana was geographically located in the Eastern Cape province which made access to vital services even more difficult because of proximity to the Eastern Cape municipality (compared to that of KwaZulu-Natal). Most people do not drive or own vehicles and, instead, rely on private-run taxi buses to travel outside of the village. The cost is prohibitive for many.

Scarce employment opportunities in the village include driving taxi buses, manual construction of new homes and buildings, tuck shops (i.e. convenience stores), and teaching at one of the schools or preschools. Because of lack of employment, many leave home to work in major centres and farms, both nearby and far away, some seeing their families only once or twice each year.

Amidst such challenge, the people of Ndawana are wise and usually joyful.

The Region

The closest centre to Ndawana is the town of Underberg, roughly 50km away and also in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Underberg is also home to Edzimkulu’s headquarters, which is situated on roughly four acres of land along the Umzimkulu river. We travel to Ndawana most weekdays and on some weekends.

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

KwaZulu-Natal is pinpointed as the nucleus of AIDS in South Africa. The closest hospital, St. Apollinaris, is 100 km away. Travel time (roughly two hours each way), long queues and understaffed services often require that patients find accommodations for at least one night which, with the cost of transportation, makes the hospital inaccessible to most people who try to access it using their own means. Hospital access is made possible through transportation provided by Edzimkulu.

Underberg and Ndawana are located in the Southern Drakensberg region of the province. This is a region of extreme beauty and devastating poverty; of generous, resilient people and crippling disease. The Southern Drakensberg is a World Heritage Site.

KwaZulu-Natal, also home to the city of Durban, is aptly called South Africa’s garden province. With sweeping savannah in the east, the magnificent Drakensberg Mountains in the west, and fabulous beaches along its subtropical coastline, it is one of the country’s most popular holiday destinations.

With some 9.4 million people living on 92,100 sq. km of land, KwaZulu-Natal has the largest population of any province in the country. Remnants of British colonialism, and Zulu, Indian and Afrikaans traditions make for an interesting cultural mix in the province. KwaZulu-Natal has a relatively poorly-skilled labor force, and almost 23 per cent of adults in the province have received no schooling.

South Africa

South Africa

South Africa is most well known for the enduring and eventually victorious struggle of the black people, led by Nelson Mandela, against the white-run apartheid government. The policy of consistent racial separation was introduced in 1910 through a group of laws that further curtailed the rights of the black majority. The “Mines and Works Act” of 1911, for example, limited black workers exclusively to menial work and so guaranteed the availability of cheap labour and secured the better positions for white workers. The “Native Land Act” of 1913 set aside 7.3 per cent of South African territory as reservations for black people and barred them from buying land outside these areas.

Marriage or any love relationship between members of different racial groups was forbidden, and in all public institutions and offices, in public transport and on public toilets, racial segregation was introduced. More detrimental because of long-term consequences was the education system, the so-called Bantu education, which tried to keep the black children at a very low standard.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela, after being imprisoned for 27 years, led his people to victory and in April of that year, the first democratic elections were held in South Africa. Nelson Mandela was inaugurated on the 10th of May 1994 as the first black African President of the New South Africa.

Since 1994, South Africa has faced the challenge of change. Many consider it miraculous that bloodshed was avoided following the overturn of the apartheid government. Instead of revenge, instruments of peace and reconciliation were put into place (i.e. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission), and people worked towards a South Africa for all its people. Sadly, though, a great divide remains between the rich and poor, and a largely under-skilled majority still struggles to live above the poverty line. The AIDS pandemic only further propagates poverty.

Cultural Heritage

The Drakensberg region ranks as one of the most important archaeological areas in South Africa, and possibly the world. Archaeological sites from the Early, Middle and Late Stone Ages, and the Late Iron Age are present. The first evidence of human occupation in the region dates from the Middle Stone Age, 20,000 years ago. The San people (Bushmen) inhabited the area from the Late Stone Age, from about 8,000 years ago, until the late 1800s. The San were hunter-gatherers and often lived in caves and rock shelters, many of them adorned with rock paintings.

The settlement of Iron Age farmers in the foothill areas east of the main escarpment may possibly date from the 1200s, or earlier. These people brought cattle and sheep into the region. The people living in the area to the north were known as the Zizi and to the south, the Tholo. From 1816, under the leadership of Shaka, the rise of Zulu military power in Zululand far to the north-east brought an end to peace in the region, as successive waves of refugees displaced by the Zulu army (impis) settled towards the Drakensberg, in turn attacking those already there.

The white settlers (Voortrekkers) arrived in 1837. Many turned to sheep farming and hunted game animals. This brought them into conflict with the San, who also hunted over these areas. The Natal colonial authorities organized pursuit of the San raiders, who were killed or taken prisoner. By 1871, the last of the Lesotho San hunter-gatherers were destroyed.

Climate

Snow in Ndawana

Winter in the Drakensberg offers a distinct dry season. In summer, there is often an inversion resulting in an influx of humid air from the Indian Ocean by south-easterly winds. Precipitation is often in the form of thunderstorms.

The mean annual temperature of the Drakensberg is about 16C, but varies significantly, both seasonally and between day and night. The highest temperatures (up to 35C) occur during summer, while the lowest temperatures (down to about -20C) occur during winter nights on the summit plateau. Frost is common in winter, but the local topography exerts a control on its distribution and intensity. Ndawana typically receives snow two or three times each winter.

The Drakensberg is one of the best-watered, least drought-prone areas of Southern Africa. Annual precipitation varies from 1,000 to 1,800 mm at the escarpment. Precipitation in the summer months (November to March) accounts for 70% of the annual total, while the winter months account for less than 10% of the annual precipitation.