June 22, 2010

Bulldozers Move in on South African Sacred Site

Posted by: Amberly Polidor

As tourists flock to South Africa this month for the World Cup tournament, a tribe in the north of the country is urgently struggling to save a sacred site from being destroyed by tourism development.

On April 19, bulldozers moved in on Phiphidi Waterfall, one of the sacred sites of South Africa’s vhaVenda people, breaking ground on a project to build a tourist-chalet complex. The move was the latest blow in the Ramunangi clan’s years-long struggle to assert their role as traditional custodians of Phiphidi and protect their sacred site from development.

For years visitors, lured by government tourism marketing, have been literally trashing the site — trampling vegetation and leaving litter in even the most sacred areas — while the Ramunangi have been denied full access to perform certain rituals. In addition, a road-building project recently destroyed one of Phiphidi’s most holy areas, a rock above the falls.

The current development scheme was undertaken without the legally required consultations. After members of the community notified the developer that it was building on a sacred site, activity temporarily ceased. However, work resumed on May 31. The site is now locked, and the required notice board about the nature of the development, the implementing agency and the name of the developer is absent. According to one Ramunangi elder who visited the site June 8, the damage to this sacred place is already serious.

Phiphidi is part of a network of sacred sites that are central to the traditional belief system of the vhaVenda people. These sites are the home of ancestral spirits, which protect the people, ensure health and well being, and bring rain. The Ramunangi regard themselves not as owners of Phiphidi but as its stewards, with a duty to protect the site and perform rituals there for the whole of Venda. The waterfall, river and surrounding forest are part of a savannah biome in a region known as a biodiversity hotspot.

What You Can Do

The Gaia Foundation is collecting statements of support to aid the effort to obtain a court injunction. Go to their website to sign on to their statement or submit one of your own.

For background on this story, read our Phiphidi Waterfall sacred site report.

A view of the sacred Phiphidi Falls. Photo courtesy of Roger Chennells.

Members of the Ramunangi clan survey litter left by tourists on the grounds of Phiphidi Waterfall, a sacred site for the clan. Photo courtesy of Mphatheleni Makaulule.

A Ramunangi elder points to the site of construction that destroyed LanwaDzongolo, a sacred rock above the Phiphidi Waterfall. Photo courtesy of Mphatheleni Makaulule.

A closeup view of road construction that has destroyed part of the Ramunangi sacred site. Photo courtesy of Roger Chennells.

A view above the Phiphidi Waterfall. Photo courtesy of Mphatheleni Makaulule.