POLOKWANE – In honour of the late Musangwe president, Tshilidzi ‘Poison’ Ndevane, boys and men of Tshifudi village and surrounding areas participated in a Musangwe (a bare knuckle traditional fight) tournament recently.
The annual event takes place at Tshifudi cattle dip (Dipeni) where any male from the age of nine battles for pride.
Musangwe is regarded as a game and means to gain status and respect in the community.
Scores of spectators gather around a dusty patch to get a view of their local favourites giving their all in Musangwe, a bare knuckle traditional fight in which members of the Venda people compete.
Though much has changed in South Africa over the past 50 years, Musangwe remains the same.
Boys and men turn out to partake in the violent beatings.
In the olden days, boys’ primary responsibility was to herd cattle and they used to battle every time they took cattle to the dipping area, hence the reason for Musangwe taking place near a dipping area to this day.
Former champion, Pfarelo Zulu Mahadulula who has been a champion for over four years says the late president Ndevane asked him to step down as the champion because, over the past four years, no one was able to beat him.
“He wanted to promote other young kids to be champions. Right now I am acting as the late Ndevane after I have realised that if I don’t act on my behalf we will lose Musangwe. Even though Covid-19 has hurt Musangwe, we are trying by all means to revive the tradition.
“After Covid-19 boys and men show that they still have an appetite for Musangwe,” said Mahadulula.
He said he was very happy after they honoured the late Musangwe president.
