CULTURE IN TRANSITION IN SOUTH AFRICA -
LECTURE 3: THE INDIGENOUS SOUTH AFRICAN DWELLING
INTRODUCTION
Historically the rural landscape of Southern Africa has been dominated by ten major architectural groupings, each having its own specific aesthetic markers and recognizable building style. In each case they not only proclaimed the tribal identity or clan loyalty of their builders, but also served as territorial markers in a changing pattern of land usage and control. In at least one case they also became a banner in the struggle for regional political and military primacy between Zulu and Matabele.
Sadly, the forces of urbanization and economic development have done much, over the years, to undermine their aesthetic, but many of their elements have survived through to the present day, even if in a vestigial form. Ironically, much of this architecture was sustained through the Apartheid era not by a wish to comply with the official idea of “ethnic identity”, but rather as a statement of group resistance against a hated oppressor. Since 1994 and the establishment of democratic government in South Africa, most of these “traditional” elements have begun to vanish, partly because official housing programmes have supplanted older dwelling forms, and partly because the political need to maintain these statements of group identity and land ownership have largely been lost.
What follows, therefore, should be read more in a historical context, rather than as a reflection of current rural building practices.
GENDER ROLES IN THE PRODUCTION PROCESS
The creation of a built environment in southern Africa's rural areas is not merely the provision of shelter. It represents an opportunity for the community to collaborate on a project, turning what is outwardly a social occasion into a display of solidarity between the larger group and the individual family unit. This process not only lays stress upon role-playing and the individual's perceived status in society, but it is used to reinforce a sense of self-identity through participation in group activities. Thus all members of the community are considered to have a role to play in the creation of an architecture. This is often predetermined by historical conditions which allocate tasks to various gender and age groups.
In a general sense, many of the heavier tasks such as the erection of walls, the construction of a timber roof frame and the creation of a grass thatch cover are considered to be the work of men. Women will assist with some of this labour, such as the mixing of clay mortar, the preparation of thatch bundles and the manufacture of sun-dried bricks. Children will often assist their mothers in such work, as well as the manufacture of grass ropes and the gathering of materials like cow dung. The plastering of walls, the creation of homestead floor areas and any subsequent light maintenance of the structure however fall directly upon the women as the controllers of household space. This includes any subsequent application of decorative motifs to the walls. The men, on the other hand, will build and maintain those areas connected with cattle folds and male gatherings, these being considered to be "men's" spaces.
THE KHOIKHOI
The Khoikhoi were a diverse and widely dispersed group of migrant pastoralists who, in pre-colonial times, inhabited the southern African region south of the Gariep. Better known by the derogatory colonial term of Hottentot, the Khoikhoi inhabited a variety of physical environments, from the well-watered western and southern Cape, to the sour grasslands of the eastern Cape, to the arid semi-desert scrublands of the Karoo. Despite this seemingly wide range of habitats their dwellings were generally uniform in both shape and construction.
The structure consisted of a number of saplings set into the ground in a circle and bent into a series of interlinked arches widely spaced from each other. The hemisphere thus formed was then covered with reed matting, with an adjustable skirt of animal skins surrounding the bottom of the hut. The structure was dismountable and highly portable on the back of a pack-ox, and was thus highly suited to the migrant nature of their society. The reeds and saplings necessary for their matting could only be found near the watercourses and shallow pans of the southern regions, and it is evident therefore, that their migrations would have included an annual halt near a source of suitable materials. From the mid-eighteenth century the pressures of European settlement in the southern Cape slowly eroded their land holdings and cut off their access to water and natural building resources. By the mid-nineteenth century their mat dwellings, now known to European settlers as maanjieshuise or mat-houses, had all but disappeared, and although a few cases are recorded where attempts were made to replace the mats with industrial cast-offs, the transition was not successful. The demise of the mat dwelling was also assisted, to a large degree by the work of missionaries, and by the 1830s most Khoikhoi living on mission stations were reported to be living in “neat whitewashed little cottages.”
Historically there are no records of the Khoikhoi using decoration as part of their domestic architecture, and given the impermanent nature of their dwellings, it is highly unlikely that it would ever have become a feature of their homes.
THE ZULU
The Zulu are a Nguni-speaking group who inhabit the eastern littoral of present-day KwaZulu-Natal. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the “children of heaven”, as their name translates to, were a small clan of some 2000 persons. Through a combination of coincidence and skilful leadership, by 1822 they had emerged as the dominant social, military and political force in their region, and by the 1840s their armies were ranging as far as Botswana to the west, and Zimbabwe to the north. Today the term Zulu is used as a generic noun to describe the political union of some thirty major clans, including the Mthetwa, Buthelezi, Ndwandwe, Mbatha and Zungu. These groups, however, still retain fierce family loyalties, regardless of their wider and adopted “Zulu” identity.
Their dwellings were hemispherical in form, and although the Zulu followed a sedentary pastoralist lifestyle, should the need have arisen, their homes could also be transported over short distances. Structures usually consisted of saplings set into the ground and bent into a series of interlinking arches, closely spaced to each other. This framework was firmly bound together at the cross-over points with grass ropes and leather thongs, and was then thatched over with grass, or a combination of grass thatch and reed matting, held down with a net of grass ropes. The framework was usually given additional support by two central posts, which carried a timber trellis, but this was mostly used to carry the live load of the builders during construction. The average dwelling was about 4m in diameter, but this could vary from a cooking hut some 3m in diameter with no central supports, through to a royal audience chamber, with 16 supports capable of seating over 100 persons. Although the thatch cover was usually taken down to ground level, this was vulnerable to both moisture rot and the ravages of grazing domestic animals. Consequently the lower reaches of the dwelling were usually finished with a coating of clay, applied both internally and externally, and ranging from a few centimeters in height right up to about 90cm above ground level. The entrance, a weak point in the framework, was usually strengthened with grass ropes intricately bound about the opening, while the doorway was closed with a light-weight wicker screen held in place with a cross-bar. The thatch cover was held down by a network of grass ropes, which came together radially at the apex of the roof where they were gathered into a decorative knot, the “isiQongo”. The hearth was located centrally, while a low semi-circular shelf, known as the umsamo, was placed at the rear of the dwelling on axis with the doorway and the hearth. The umsamo was significant, for not only did it serve as a storage space for food and household goods, but it was also a sacred place where the father could reach out spiritually to his ancestors.
Zulu social etiquette dictated that entrance and exit through the doorway should not be made facing backwards. Not only was this considered to be ill mannered, but it was also a portent of bad luck. When one considers the fact that the hemispherical dwelling is seen as a metaphor for the womb, and women essentially control that domestic space, then it becomes clear that the Zulu view each morning as a re-birth, blessed by the sun from the east. Thus to exit backwards is tantamount to a breach-birth, an event which in rural life is likely to prove fatal to the mother as well as the child, and is thus extremely bad luck for both.
Although the hemispherical dwelling of the Zulu was still being commonly built throughout KwaZulu-Natal right up to the 1950s, a growing shortage of suitable building grasses as well as the increasing pressures of semi-urban settlement have ensured its gradual disappearance from the rural landscape. More recently, fires ravaged one of its last surviving strongholds, located in the mountainous Bergville district, and it is believed that the precarious social and ecological balances, which allowed this dwelling to survive, have now been permanently destroyed. Today Zulu domestic architecture is dominated by the cone-on-cylinder dwelling, and although its construction tends to vary as one moves from region to region, its outward aesthetic tends to be fairly uniform.
It is not unexpected that, given the nature of Zulu grass architecture, historically their builders did not develop a wide tradition of domestic decoration. Normally this was limited to the topknot of a hemispherical dwelling, as well as the cross-binding of grass ropes that held down the thatch cover, an arrangement which was equally as functional as it was decorative. In a similar manner the functional grass rope binding about the entrance as well as the cross-bracings used on reed screens could also be perceived to have a decorative intent, although it is not known whether these patterns had any symbolic names attached to them. Instead Zulu crafters appear to have reserved their best work for those artifacts linked to the home: their baskets, their pottery and the polychromatic racks used to stack their grass mats. Few of these craft traditions survive to the present day outside the region’s tourist-driven markets.
THE CAPE NGUNI
The Cape Nguni inhabit the eastern littoral of southern Africa, stretching from southern KwaZulu through to the sour grasslands of the Eastern and southern Cape. Strictly speaking this is not a homogenous grouping, but consists of a number of clans and tribes, including the Bhaca, the Mpondo, the Mpondomise, the Xesibe, the Hlubi, the Bomvana, the Ngqika, the Xhosa, and the Gcaleka. Although over the years, they have maintained a separate social identity, today they are collectively, if incorrectly, referred to as the Xhosa. The tribal make-up of their region was further complicated after 1822 when a number of other clans, including the Mfengu, the Qwabe, the Thembu, the Griqua, and the Sotho began to settle in the area. It is consequently very difficult to arrive at a prototypical historical model of residential architecture for this region.
The basic form of domestic architecture used by the Cape Nguni was a hemispherical dome dwelling, which was very similar in its outward appearance to the Zulu dwelling. The inner structure however, differed greatly from the Zulu example. It consisted of a series of timber posts about the height of a person, placed in open order in a circle about 4m in diameter. They were then interlinked horizontally with a series of smaller saplings interwoven to produce the effect of a large basket. The roof structure consisted of a series of saplings spanning at cross-angle from one side of the basket-frame to the other to create a large flattened hemisphere which was usually given additional support by one, two, or even four central posts. The whole was then thatched over externally with a grass cover held down by a network of ropes, while the interior basket surface was covered over with clay and plastered with a mixture of clay and cow-dung. These dwellings had neither the textures nor the building refinements used in Zulu architecture, probably because local builders did not have the same variety of grasses available to them. Regional variations included the use of the same basic structure but covered over with clay, ranging in height from a low wall through to a complete clay dome. By the turn of the twentieth century a more uniform aesthetic had begun to emerge, and while the same basic timber framework was still being used, the drum was now plastered over with clay both internally and externally to a height of 150-180cm high, while the hemispherical roof was thatched, giving it the appearance of a squat mushroom. By the 1920s the light roof structure was being replaced with a more substantial conical timber framework, while the quality of the thatch cover had also begun to change. Whitewash was beginning to be used internally as well as for decoration on external wall surfaces, usually around doorways and underneath the roof eaves. These changes, which began to appear in the 1860s, were probably the result of European missionary work, as well as the influence of trade schools, a number of which had begun to be established in the region in the 1860s in an effort to stabilize it politically, and to bring its citizens into the local white economy.
It would appear that, initially, wall decoration among the Cape Nguni was limited to interior wall surfaces, and included the use of smeared clay and seeds embedded in the clay surface. However, once whitewash began to be used in the 1870s, probably as the result of missionary proselytizing, a range of external wall decorations began to appear. By the 1920s most decoration began to follow a set pattern, which involved a whitewashed panel on either side of the doorway, running into a broad white band below the eaves. When window openings began to be introduced in the 1950s, the whitewash band was extended to the window surrounds giving the dwelling the appearance of a white-face. Further decoration of a personal nature could then be etched out in the whitewash, allowing the darker clay below to show through. Initially the use of whitewash was associated with the spread of Christianity among the Cape Nguni, but by the 1970s it had become incorporated into a larger political identity for the region. Since the mid-1980s industrial paints of a more durable nature have become available on the rural market, giving the rural builder a greater choice of pigments. Significantly one of the most popular colours used today is a light turquoise-blue, more commonly associated with a local religious movement.
THE SWAZI
The Swazi are a Nguni-speaking group who inhabit the southern area of Mpumalanga and Swaziland, from the Crocodile in the north to the Pongola in the south, and from the Lebombo mountains in the east through to the south-central highveld in the west. They are constituted of two major clans: the Simelane, who were the original inhabitants of Swaziland; and the Dlamini-Nkosi, who only migrated into Swaziland at a later date, but are now considered to be the senior, and hence politically dominant family.
Barring a few minor differences the domestic architecture of the Swazi is closely akin to that of their southern neighbours, the Zulu. The Swazi homestead was seldom demarcated by an external perimeter fence, and private spaces attached to the dwelling of each wife were shielded by a reed screen. Upon his death, the family patriarch was buried at the gate of his cattle byre and, following a period of mourning and purification, the homestead was removed to a new site nearby. Unlike most other Nguni groups, the location of dwellings of individual wives in a polygamous household were not necessarily subject to a rigid ordering according to rank. This, however, did not have a visible impact upon the outward ordering of the settlement itself. The Swazi also built royal capitals, but these were identical to those of any established polygynist, even if they were planned on a larger scale.
THE TSONGA
The Tsonga are an Nguni-speaking group who inhabit the eastern regions of Limpopo Province and eastern Mpumalanga, as well as parts of neighbouring Mocambique and Zimbabwe. Their name was derived from Manukuza, better known as Soshangana, a general in Shaka’s army who, together with a group of followers, broke away from the nascent Zulu kingdom in 1819 and migrated north into Mocambique. There they used their newly-acquired tactics in Zulu warfare to conquer various local groups and unite them under the leadership of Soshangana. Initially their settlement was confined to parts of Mocambique, but after 1850 a number emigrated over the Lebombo Mountains, settling in Mpumalanga and Limpopo Province, including the area now known as the Kruger National Park. Their number was augmented in 1894 when, in the aftermath of a popular uprising against Portuguese rule, many Tsonga were prompted to join their kinfolk over the Lebombo.
Because many of these refugees were settled on lands under Venda control, they tacitly accepted Venda suzerainty, and over the past seven generations they have undergone a measure of cultural interaction with their Venda neighbours. This includes participation in Venda initiation rites, intermarriage, and the adoption of a number of aspects of Venda material culture. Despite this, Tsonga architecture, most particularly their settlement patterns, have remained relatively true to their Nguni roots.
The Tsonga domestic unit is very similar in form to that built by their Venda and Pedi neighbours. It consists of a conical roof supported at its perimeter by a series of timber posts. A load-bearing drum wall is built inside the circle of posts creating a shallow verandah some 90-120cm in depth. The drum was originally built with mopane timber posts set in close order and plastered over with a layer of clay, but since the 1920s, when restrictions were placed upon the wholesale felling of indigenous timber, the Tsonga have gradually moved over to a fired brick technology introduced by Swiss missionaries during the early 1900s. Unlike their neighbours, the Tsonga dwelling has wide and relatively low eaves, which keeps the inner drum cool, and provides its residents with a well-shaded outdoor working space. Tsonga construction can span relatively long distances, and it was not unusual for larger roof frames to be supported by an additional circle of timber posts inside the first.
The construction of the Tsonga dwelling was also subject to some unique features. The conical roof structure was built in an inverted position, with its apex point resting on the ground, and was only manhandled into place in its upright position once it had been completed. The grass thatch, which was then fixed onto the framework, was placed seed-end down, not in bundles, as is the practice elsewhere in the country, but as part of a continuous “skirt” which was wound from the bottom up. The apex was marked by a wooden finial, which was then finished off with a series of grass bundles tightly wound about the crown. Both these detail appear to originate from their Venda neighbours. By the 1970s, the practice of building the conical roof frame in an inverted position appears to have fallen into disuse, and no examples of this could be found during the course of field work during the 1980s.
Today few, if any, examples of extended polygamous family units remain. It is true that many smaller homesteads have developed an outward aesthetic very similar to that of their Venda neighbours, mostly through the use of low walls to define domestic space, but the location of individual Tsonga dwellings in the homestead structure has remained typically Nguni. This could be construed to be a deliberate attempt on the part of the Tsonga to create confusing messages of cultural identity, giving the casual viewer the impression of an overt political assimilation and compliance which, however, hides a deeper message of cultural resistance.
It seems probable that the origins of Tsonga wall decoration lie in the basic geometric patterns and leafy designs of the Venda. However, unlike their neighbours, who have retained their original earth hues moderated only by the occasional touch of red or blue, Tsonga women have begun to use a wide range of commercial colours. As a result they have also begun to broaden their range of subject matter, including stylized flowers and intricate geometric patterns It is true that their wall art has yet to achieve the richness and sophistication of the Ndebele, but this art form appears to be little older than one generation and, in vernacular terms, is still in its infancy. What is already notable is its use of electric pinks, blues and greens, which some observers have linked to the recent incorporation of multi-coloured shawls into the dress code of local women. These scarves, which are of Indian origin and began to be imported into the area by a local trader during the 1960s, have now become broadly identified with the Tsonga, and local women make extensive use of them as an indicator of marital and economic status. Consequently it could be argued that the use of such colours in architecture represents a nascent movement towards the creation of a separate Tsonga identity. More recently, also, Tsonga wall art has begun to include stylized images of everyday objects, most particularly watch faces. The significance of this is probably linked to the building of new rural clinics in the region, and the growth of a women’s “health” movement. In many instances the clinics have become the focus of local women’s groups, who meet on the appointed days and engage in social activities while awaiting the arrival of the District Nurse. The image of a watch is used to reinforce the teachings of the paramedics, that prescribed medicines need to be taken on a regular basis and that the course needs to be completed in full. This has become particularly important in patients suffering from tuberculosis.
THE SOUTH NDEBELE
The South Ndebele are a Nguni-speaking group who migrated from northern KwaZulu into the northern highveld some 400 years ago. Their name was derived from the Tswana word tebele, meaning to plunder, and is shared with at least three other groups in southern Africa. They are comprised of two main clans, the Manala and the Ndzundza. Originally they settled in the Wonderboompoort area, north of present-day Pretoria, but following attacks from the Matabele in 1825, they withdrew to an area north of Middelburg and Grobblersdal where they established their capital, Nomashaxelo. In the 1840s they again found themselves under attack, this time from the Swazi, and consequently entered into an alliance with their northern neighbours, the Pedi. In 1882, following a leadership struggle among the Pedi, the Ndzundza found themselves drawn into a war with the Government of the ZAR and, after a siege lasting some nine months, they were eventually starved and dynamited into submission. As a result their lands were declared forfeit to the Transvaal Republic who subdivided them into farms for white settlement. The surviving members of the tribe were broken up and allocated to the farmers as indentured labourers, a condition of virtual slavery.
It is probable that, until the 1840s, Ndebele architecture was very similar in both form and construction to that found in northern KwaZulu, and there is strong archaeological evidence to suggest that they originally built thatched hemispherical dwellings and circular, Nguni-type homesteads set about a central byre. However, increasing interaction with the Pedi probably induced them to adopt many of the domestic structures, settlement forms and even wall decorations of their more powerful neighbours. It is possible that this was a conscious decision taken for political reasons, as the Pedi were never defeated by the Transvaal Dutch, and had managed to steadfastly retain control of their lands in the face of a strong white settler presence. This is an important point, for there are strong indications that the polychromatic decorations which subsequently began to appear on Ndebele architecture during the 1950s, are also the result of their reaction to white alienation of their ancestral lands.
The Ndebele dwelling was built in the form of a central drum, some six to eight metres in diameter, surmounted by a conical thatched roof. The front of the unit was faced by a narrow enclosed verandah about 150cm wide, which ran from about 3 o’clock to 9 o’clock on the floor plan. This was used as a storage area as well as a sleeping space for young children, while the inner circular space was used as a sleeping area for the parents. At the back of the dwelling, on axis with the doorway, was the umsamo, a residual feature left over from the Ndebele ‘s earlier forms of domestic architecture. Among the Nguni of KwaZulu the umsamo consists of a semi-circular raised shelf located at the back of the dwelling, which functions primarily as a storage space for food and household utensils, but is also reputed to be the home of the family’s ancestral spirits, or shades, and thus also serves a spiritual space for the men.
During the transition from the Nguni thatched dome to a Pedi cone-on-cylinder dwelling, the original functions of the umsamo were lost, and although its name remains, it no longer functions as a household storage space. Instead it was converted by the Ndebele into a formal seat built in clay against the back wall. This change in function was further emphasized by a move of the hearth off its central position and to the rear of the dwelling, closer to the umsamo.
The dwelling was accessed through a walled front courtyard, which was used by the women of the household for a variety of social and household functions. Additional units, usually a cooking hut and sleeping quarters for the children were located off a rear courtyard, which was accessed via a side passage.
The practice of decorating their walls by Ndebele women probably originated with their Pedi neighbours whose monochromatic “union jack” pattern survives among the Ndebele to the present day. The practice of applying polychromatic designs to the outside wall surfaces, on the other hand, dates from the late 1940s and early 1950 and may be seen to fulfill a number of social functions. Primarily it is a manifestation of women’s rights and fertility within the group. However, its practice also coincided with the rise to political power of white Afrikaners, and the imposition of overtly oppressive racist legislation upon the Black people of South Africa. Given its chronology, it can be assumed therefore that Ndebele wall decoration also has a political text, serving to reinforce its group identity and laying claim to ancestral lands stolen from them less than three generations before. Ndebele decoration usually consists of polychromatic, highly stylized images of urban life, including Victorian homes, street lamp posts, garden fences, motor vehicles, trains, petrol pumps and jet airplanes. These are normally reduced to basic geometric forms outlined in heavy black lines on a whitewashed background and filled in with primary colours.
THE BASOTHO
During the 1820s military conflicts on the eastern littoral of southern Africa spilt over onto the highveld, displacing countless people and bringing widespread hardship and famine to the region. The Mfecane, or Difacane, as this period is known, had a profound effect upon the demographic map of southern Africa, and in the confusion that followed, a number of new regional alliances and political groupings emerged. One such was the Southern Sotho, or baSotho as they are more commonly known, an amalgam of Sotho, Tswana and Nguni-speaking groups who fled to the mountains of Lesotho during the 1820s to seek refuge from events of the Mfecane. By the 1830s these scattered clans had been brought together under the capable leadership of Moshweshwe, King of the BaSotho, and despite suffering repeated attacks from Zulu, Matabele, Dutch and British armies, they remained undefeated, and by the 1860s Basutoland had emerged as a sovereign nation in its own right. In 1833 Moshweshwe invited missionaries of the Paris Missionary Society to settle amongst his people. Unlike many other missionary groups, the PMS followed a conservative and sensible policy of evangelization, which mixed Christian preaching, a protestant work ethos, and a practical education. As a result their work was to have a wide influence upon the architecture of the region.
Early BaSotho domestic architecture was dominated by the use of the hemispherical and pointed dome dwelling. Unlike its Zulu counterpart, its internal framework consisted of a series of saplings placed in a circle some 4m in diameter, and brought to a central apex. The structure was then stabilized by a series of horizontal hoops, and finished with an external layer of thatch.
Although this dwelling form was once common on the grass-rich plains on either side of the Caledon River, once BaSotho settlement began to retreat into the mountains, it underwent a number of modifications. For one, a low stone wall was added to the outside perimeter of the sapling framework, and before thatching was completed, the gap was filled with dried vegetation. The final layer of thatching was then taken over the gap to create a small eave, thus giving the dwelling the outward aspect of a conical roof on a drum wall. The doorway was also extended forward into a snout-like tunnel to provide the interior with a measure of shelter from cold winter winds. Given the fact that the region is subject to periodic droughts, heavy winter snowfalls and bitterly cold winds, there is no doubt that the extended doorway and the central pointed apex were regional adaptations made to the basic structure to meet local needs. From the 1880s onwards the conical dome structure began to be replaced by sturdy cone-on-cylinder dwellings, built in dressed stone or rubble. This was probably the direct outcome of vocational training in building construction, masonry and carpentry provided by the missionary school at Morija.
Traditionally BaSotho wall decoration was marked by its use of flower and leaf shapes, usually reduced to a series of basic geometric patterns. These were then picked out on the wall surface either in different coloured clays, or scratched out in sgraffito on the clay, or in pebbles and gravel embedded into the clay wall.
During the 1950s a new type of dwelling began to emerge among the BaSotho, consisting of a rectangular plan roofed over either with a ridged thatch roof or, more commonly, with a sloping corrugated iron roof. Known locally as a bafokona, or a four-cornered home, it developed primarily on the white-owned farmlands of the Free State where, before 1994, BaSotho farmers were employed as peasant labourers. The method of its construction was obviously influenced by both white farmers, as well as the availability to rural families of industrial building materials and polychromatic paints. As a result these homes began to be decorated in a variety of colours and designs which, though clearly derived from historical forms, also displayed a new freedom of expression. Their basic pattern of decoration was subject to some simple guidelines: The parapet wall at the top and the splash-board at the bottom were expressed as long, horizontal bands; the two corners on either side of the façade were rendered as vertical elements; and broad surrounds were created about both the door and the two windows on the façade, which were often allowed to run into the parapet band above. The parapet was usually decorated as a separate element, and its top profile was sculpted in order to create small pediments and half-pediments over the doorway and the corners respectively. Within this basic framework the BaSotho artist could exercise considerable choice as to colour, graphic pattern and texture. Despite the richness of design displayed on their facade, the side and back walls of such dwellings were usually rendered in simple, and probably more traditional, sgaffiti patterns.
THE TSWANA
The term “Tswana” is a generic noun used to describe collectively a number of Tswana-speaking clans, including the Rolong, the Tlhaping, the Ngwaketse and the Ngwato. They inhabited the area covered by present-day Botswana, as well as the region of South Africa known as the North-West Province.
Their domestic architecture was typified by the construction of circular dwellings surrounded by sweeping verandahs although, at one time, temporary conical beehive structures were also built. In more recent times the circular dwelling has undergone a transition to the square or rectangular plan, usually with a verandah running the length of the front façade.
The circular plan verandah dwelling consisted of a series of timber posts placed at equal distances in a circle ranging in diameter from five to ten, or even twelve, meters. Because of the presence of wood-eating termites in the region, local builders were forced to take certain precautions in the construction process. Often timber posts were left for a few weeks alongside a termite nest, and only used once they had been reduced to an inedible hardwood core. Alternatively the post holes were first filled with cinders or, more recently, with old sump oil. Timber beams were then taken from post to post creating a ring beam at approximately head-height. Next a series of timber rafters were taken from the ring beam to a central post, and the structure was secured together by means of concentric sapling rings, which also served as purlins to carry the thatch cover. In the case of an exceptionally large structure, a second concentric ring of posts could also be placed internally for additional support. After the roof was finished with a thatch cover, a drum wall was built in clay to enclose the internal space. However care was taken to ensure that the wall did not reach up to roof level, to prevent the spread of termite infestation into the roof structure. The Tswana are the only group in southern Africa known to have developed the brick independent of immigrant white influence. Known locally as the polwane, it consisted of a hand-moulded brickette of sun-dried clay, which was then laid in a mortar made from a clay and cow dung mix.
The Tswana are probably the first indigenous group known to have used wall decoration in their domestic architecture, and as early as 1812 Burchell recorded that a Rolong woman had used white clay to depict animal figures on her dwelling. More recently, however, Tswana decoration has been greatly simplified, using flowing circular and wavy lines to divide wall surfaces into areas of differing clay colours.
THE PEDI
The North Sotho, or Pedi, as they are more commonly known, is a group of Sotho-speaking clans who inhabit the central area of the northern highveld, largely in Limpopo Province and Mpumalanga. Historically their domestic architecture was typified by the construction of circular dwellings surrounded by a sweeping verandah. Although these were built until comparatively recent times, since the 1960s the Pedi have made the transition to the square and rectangular-plan dwelling, usually fronted by a deep verandah. During the course of field research during the 1980s, few circular dwellings with a perimeter verandah were recorded.
The Pedi circular plan verandah dwelling consisted of a series of timber posts placed about 150cm apart in a circle ranging in size from five to eight meters. Timber beams were then taken from post to post creating a ring beam at about head height. Next a series of timber rafters was carried from the ring beam to a central post, and the structure was secured together by means of concentric sapling rings, which also served as purlins to carry the thatch cover. After the roof was completed, the central post was generally removed, and an inner drum was built in clay to enclose the inner space. The deep verandah often served as a domestic work-space, and its floor surface was shaped to provide storage areas for grain cobs and pumpkins. Large earthenware storage pots containing water, beer and grain were also sunken into the verandah floor at the sides and the rear of the dwelling. The main dwelling was usually surrounded by a system of interlinking courtyards, similar in purpose to the bilobial homestead of the Tswana.
The Pedi decorated their domestic space by dividing their dwelling and courtyard walls into a series of rectangular panels, which were then marked with geometrical designs resembling the double cross of the British Union Jack. These were rendered in either hand-smeared clays of differing colours, or in sgraffiti patterns.
THE VENDA
The Venda are a group who inhabit the region on either side of the Limpopo River, including southern Zimbabwe and the northern borders of South Africa’s Limpopo Province. Culturally they are considered by anthropologists to be closely associated with the Shona of Zimbabwe. Historically their domestic architecture has consisted primarily of circular dwellings surrounded by deep verandahs, but in more recent times the verandah has been replaced by a set of wide eaves.
Although their circular dwellings were very similar in form to those built by their Tswana, Pedi and Tsonga neighbours, they differed substantially in their method of construction. Before the 1920s, when restrictions began to be placed in the region upon the indiscriminate cutting of indigenous trees, their building was timber intensive. The conical roof, consisting of an almost solid body of mopane wood was taken radially to a central apex marked by a finial, supported temporarily by a central post. The roof was raised upon a solid drum of mopane posts placed in close order in a circle some 4-6 metres in diameter. Additional support to the roof was given at the eaves, where a series of evenly spaced timber columns carried a timber ring-beam which, in its turn, carried the roof structure. The inner drum was also strengthened against torque by a series of sapling hoops placed internally and externally at roof, head and waist height. The whole structure was then plastered, both internally and externally, with a clay and cow dung mix, while a thatch cover was applied over the roof. Unlike other parts of the country where the grass is applied in bundles “seed-end up”, the Venda separate their grass into small bundles and bind the into a continuous loose “skirt” which is wound onto the roof frame from the bottom up. The underside of the roof frame was often also plastered and painted in a series of concentric decorative patterns, also known as “the eye of the lion”. The back of the verandah was often enclosed and used either for storage or as additional sleeping quarters.
Today a shortage of natural wood has curtailed the construction of such timber-intensive structures, and although sun-dried clay bricks have now replaced the timber drum, and the use of indigenous timbers in the roof frame has been heavily rationalized, the verandah dwelling remains the predominant domestic form in the region.
Venda wall decoration is based primarily upon stylized natural forms, especially flowers and leaves. However a measure of geometrical decoration has also been recorded, including zigzag, convex, wavy and blocked lines. More recent additions include the symbols of hearts, clubs spades and diamonds commonly found on playing cards. The symbolic significance of such designs could not be discovered, but it was noted that although clubs, diamonds and spades were used in equal proportions, there was an almost total absence of heart-shapes. Some homesteads in central Venda have also developed a tradition of wall sculpture, where the courtyards are marked by a series of sculpted pilasters, often resembling faces, dwellings and military figures.
POSTSCRIPT
This was the third of four lectures on the subject of Culture in Transition in South Africa, delivered to the Faculty of Architecture and Society, Campus Leonardo, at the Politecnico of Milano, Italy, on 22 May 2007, and was entitled La Casa Indigena Sudafricana. It has been reproduced here in both Italian and English for the benefit of Italian-speaking students who attended the course. I am grateful to Prof Santa Nipoti, of Bologna who, not only did the bulk of this translation, but also put forward a number of positive suggestions aimed at making these ideas more comprehensible to an Italian audience.