Snapshot of Mphanama

Mphanama is a small village 24 km outside Jane Furse, Sekhukhune land in Limpopo province, South Africa. It is the village of Barwa who form part of Bapedi tribe, their totem is lion(Tau) hence they call themselves Batau. The chief of the village is his majesty Kgoshi lobang III Kgaphola. He is the first son of the candle wife(Lebone) Princess Mapuwe and Chief Tserere kgaphola. A candle wife is the only wife among the chief’s wives to bear a future chief according to Batau culture. It’s neighboring villages are Ga-Radingwana, Ga-Mmela, Ga-Maila, Ga-Mmatshatsha, Ga-Mashabela and Ga-Matlala a Legopane. People of this village still practice their culture by conducting rituals before any weeding or cultural activity which is sacred,they do so by slaughtering goats or cattles. Early villagers were subsistence farmers, and grew sorghum, pumpkins and legumes, which were cultivated by women on fields allocated to them when they married. Women hoed and weeded; did pottery and built and decorated huts with mud; made sleeping mats and baskets; ground grain, cooked, brewed, and collected water and wood. While men did some work in fields at peak times; hunted and herded; did woodwork, prepared hides. Initiation. The life of both girls and boys was differentiated by important rituals, such as initiation. Boys called bašemane and later mašoboro, would spend their youth herding cattle at remote outposts with their peers and others from older age-sets. Initiation would also include circumcision at komeng or koma (initiation school) which would be held about once every five years. The first part of the initiation school is Bodika and the second part is Bogwera. The duration of these practices is different and all take place in the mountains. These initiation processes socialised youths into groups or regiments called mephato which would bear the leader's name, and whose members would then be loyal to each other for their lifetimes. These groups or regiments would often spend time together in their life time. Girls attended their own koma and were divided into their own regiments, a process that usually took place two years after the boy's school. Initiation is still practised today, and provides a substantial income to the chiefs who licence it for a fee. Other religions The village has all known denominations, with the majority believing in traditional ancestral worshipping. They consult traditional healers who are able to solve their problems. The second majority belongs to indigenous African faith, which is represented by Apostolic church,St Engenas ZCC(Star and bird version), Lutheran church, Methodist church to mention few. There is a trend which shows that most non-Christians do have some faith in the power of church, and this is evident from many non-Christians visiting the ZCC churches. This shows the influence the ZCC kingdom has had in bringing people closer to church.