The Ramunangi of northern South Africa — traditional custodians of Phiphidi Waterfall, a small cascade that is central to the clan’s relationship with ancestral spirits — have been engaged for decades in a struggle to protect their sacred site from tourism and infrastructure development.

Subjugated during the country’s apartheid era to the power of larger, government-backed tribes, this small clan was helpless to stop Phiphidi from becoming a popular tourist spot, with visitors freely roaming the site, leaving litter, trampling vegetation, playing loud music and, the Ramunangi say, disturbing the spirits. A rock above the waterfall — one of the site’s most holy areas — was recently destroyed as part of a road-building project, and for years, the Ramunangi have been denied full access to the site to perform their rituals and custodial duties. The clan is now turning to legal measures to restore full access to Phiphidi and receive official recognition as its custodians.

Tshavhungwe Nemarudi, a custodian elder, said in 2008, “It is no longer possible to respect the sacred site as it should be respected. Members of our clan have become sick. The Earth is sick. We know that this is because we have not been able to conduct our rituals properly in the last years. What we request is simply that our sacred site should be allowed to remain a place of pure, untouched nature.”

Read the report to learn more about the Ramunangi and Phiphidi Waterfall, and what you can do to help.