Destiny is in the sands for proud Pondos

First published by Roving Reporters

The boy’s finger shakes as he points out the Southern Cross — his version of my North Star. But the jolts from the rutted dirt road disrupt the astronomy lesson more than they affect his cousin, asleep next to us on a pile of sleeping bags.

We were bouncing along on the back of a bakkie (pick-up truck), on our way to the home where we would be spending the night, on South Africa’s Wild Coast.

Before he nodded off, the younger of the cousins had been admiring the myriad colours scattered across the horizon at sunset. The stars that followed were among the most stunning I have seen.

I was reminded how elegant the stars can be in New Jersey after spending time in New York City, but the difference between the night sky on the Wild Coast and its nearest metropolis are not comparable.

My visit to the Wild Coast was prompted by plans by a group of ocean adventurers who are setting out to swim a 22 kilometre stretch of the pristine coastline earmarked for heavy minerals mining by the Australian outfit, Mineral Resource Commodities (MRC).

Taking place between April 26 and May 2, The Wild Swim intends to raise R250,000 for eco-tourism in the area and marine conservation initiatives within the Pondoland marine protected area.

The swimmers will be put up in home stays during the challenge, with some of the funds raised being used to upgrade them. Currently none has electricity, running water or flushing loos.

Malombo Dlamini was the first to greet me at one of the home stays – a few rectangular buildings with corrugated iron roofs, a rondavel and a long drop with a remarkable view of the surrounding scenery.

He appeared mystified by my fixation with the stars, but my companion, Margie Pretorius, chairperson of Sustaining the Wild Coast (SWC), explained that I was not used to it.

It was also the first time I had seen the purple variety of sweet potatoes we had brought with us on the bakkie.

The bulbs were for Dlamini, a small-scale farmer, who receives agricultural guidance from the SWC.

The next morning Dlamini took us past fenced-in patches of sweet potatoes and compost to a plot with a view of the ocean and surrounding rolling hills. It was here that Dlamini planned to plant the bulbs. He showed us the fields he hoped to clear, explaining he wanted to use pigs – nature’s plough — to remove debris and brush and make the soil usable for cultivation.

But before the pigs could do their work, he would need the community’s approval. He was anxious not to ask for too big a plot, because he shared the land with neighbours.

Like almost all of Pondoland, which includes the northern Wild Coast, land is communally owned. It’s a traditional system of tenure that brings complexities and obligations unfamiliar to city folk or owners of private land.

Dlamini’s home is an area between the Mzamba and Mtentu rivers where MRC is seeking the right to mine for titanium and other minerals.

The prospect of mining has drawn opposition from some in the community, although others see it as a source of income, jobs in a place where steady paid work is scarce.

I had met Dlamini before – a few days before our night at his homestead. He was at a meeting of locals who are against the Xolobeni Mineral Sands Project. They had gathered in a small building near a pre-school to plan their next move. Also at the meeting was Sinegugu Zukulu, a local legend.

He would later take me and a dozen Michaelhouse school boys on a three-day hike from the Mkambati Nature Reserve reserve to the Wild Coast Sun, an apartheid-era, casino resort on the coast’s northern extremity.

Zukulu grew up in the Baleni village of Amadiba and knows the Wild Coast like the back of his hand.

Knowing the boys were keen for an exciting challenge, he led them to one of his favourite spots: a cliff about 50 feet above a lovely river – perfect for jumping into the rushing water that flowed over several pristine waterfalls before streaming into the Indian Ocean.

Zukulu has done the jump many times since he was a boy, but now he had reached an age (which he was reluctant to disclose) where his body might regret the leap.

The writer, Luke Riley, flanked by guides Mthandeni Dlamini (left) and Lonwabo Dlamini. The Dlamini cousins are a new generation of Pondo who recognise they have a responsibility for their land.