Nkananelo wa maakelo, mahlayiseelo ni mitirho ya tindlu ta ndhavuko ta vaTsonga = (An investigation of building maintenance and functions of vaTsonga traditional houses)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyse the building, use and caring of traditional Tsonga houses. Data was collected by means of interviews. An interview is an instrument of collecting information by asking the participants questions. The participants of this study were male and female Tsonga elders. The research area of this study is Ndhambi, Mageva, Maphata and Makhuva villages, which are found in the Mopani District of Limpopo Province. This study attempts to answer the following questions:  How were traditional Tsonga houses built?  What were traditional Tsonga houses used for?  How were traditional Tsonga houses cared and repaired?  Why are the causes of gradual disappearance of Tsonga culture?

The findings of this study revealed that men and women were responsible for building traditional houses and they were assisted by their female and male children. The type of houses built was rondavels without windows and they used poles, grass, stones, water and soil for building the houses. They decorated the walls of the traditional houses with clay and black and red soil mixed with dung. Traditional houses were taken care of and repaired by men and women assisted by their children using equipments such as poles, reeds, grass and soil which were collected in the veld. They used the houses for sleeping, cooking, girls initiation and worshipping of their forefathers. Lastly, The Tsonga nation is no more building the traditional houses because they have been influenced by foreign cultures to abandon their own culture.

KEY CONCEPTS Houses, traditional, role, building, care of, decoration, men, women, boys, girls.