Rastafarian village in Waterval no longer a pipe dream

With thick marijuana smoke billowing from their pipes and noses, and reggae music thumping from large speakers, Rastafarians danced last Saturday night away in Waterval, Mpumalanga.

With their secluded settlement included in the plan for the Ndebele cultural village currently in the pipeline, the Rastafarians, some coming as far as Cape Town and Jamaica, had everything to celebrate.

For more than three decades, the community of Rastafarians have occupied the piece of land on the banks of the Elands River, sustained by fish, abundant fruit trees, vegetables as well as income generated through their artworks, clothes, bags, shoes and various other handmade items.

Their marijuana plantation provides enough to smoke, to meditate on and to treat ailments – but their lifestyle had in the past put them on a collision course with the police, whom they say regularly raided the settlement to burn down their marijuana crops and arrest them.

This seems a thing of the past now, since the landmark Constitutional Court ruling legalising marijuana. There is also the recognition of Ndzundza royal household, one of the two main Ndebele tribes in the area, about 200km, northeast of Pretoria.

The current Ndzundza king, Sipho Mahlangu, used the annual commemoration of his great-grandfather, King Senzangakhona, to announce plans to establish a cultural village to exploit the area’s tourism potential for job creation and economic development.

He took officials from the provincial department of arts, culture and recreation and other royal dignitaries on a tour to the Rastafarian village and said the community had been living on the periphery of society, stigmatised and their dignity trampled on for far too long just because they smoked marijuana.

His spokesperson and son, Sipho Mahlangu Jnr, said since the Rastafarians lived in harmony with nature, they produced artwork and other creations and had their own settlement, and were key to local tourism.

He said the royal relationship with the Rastafarians dated back to early 1980s when the latter first requested permission to occupy the land, which he said they have used productively ever since.

The community protects the environment, with flocks of various birds living in the settlement’s trees.

“They are the perfect people to work with for this project, their heritage and this areas’ tourism potential will unlock job opportunities for local people,” Mahlangu said.

“This is where everybody who needs space to work will be accommodated.”

–siphom@citizen.co.za

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