The Wild Coast - & Some Xhosa Traditions

After Qunu, we turned off the N2, and went seaward about 99 km to Cwebe Nature Preserve.  This was a slow, beautiful drive through areas that remain more rural.  The Wild Coast region is largely populated by rural Xhosa and Mpondo, who still practice traditions and customs that are fading in more urban areas.  

It is also known for livestock on the road!   I’m told that this harkens back to a time when all animals were communally owned, so there was no need for fences.  Today, the animals are privately owned (based on the spray-painted markings on their flanks), but there are still very few fences.  You’ll see shepherd boys beside a small herd, but you’ll also see goats, sheep, cattle, ducks, geese, and a random pig on their own, eating beside the road or standing in the middle of it!  Unconcerned with cars, they often do not move, and the traffic simply slows and goes around them.

Most women wear scarves

Jim and I saw many traditional round rondeval homes.  They are rarely seen in PE (except in paintings).  Most here were no longer made of mud and sticks, but rather out of cement and painted various pastels.  About half had thatched roofs; the other half tin.  Most of the housing appeared newer than 15 years old.   Jim surmised that because this was Mandela’s home area, it may have been one of the first benefitted during his presidency.

Face make-up

Traditional long-stemmed pipe

The Xhosa are patriarchal by tradition.  Married Xhosa women, however, have the same right as men to smoke tobacco in pipes.  The pipe’s long stems are designed to prevent ash falling on babies being carried.  

           

Today, while most children, teenagers and men wear typical “western” attire, most women still wear longer skirts, often in colorful calicos, or in white cloth with black horizontal embroideries.  Bags in matching colors with long shoulder straps are popular.  Most women cover their heads with scarves intricately tied.  
Last, they often wear “make-up” which can consist of white or ochre colors on their faces.  When our students had their faces painted, they came back and said, "You won't believe what they used for the make-up.  It was calamine lotion!"  (I thought to myself - that must not be traditional.  But, I bet it was no more than ten minutes later, I picked up a novel I was reading where it talked about young women putting on their calamine make-up!  I just laughed.)