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65 Tonga architecture There are four of us in this human trap, what might be termed a sikorokoro. It is a sad euphemism to call it a car. The thing croaks, crackles and judders along. At Dete Cross we turn right towards Tongaland. Wood carvings grace the fringes of the tarred road. Craning giraffes share the shade with bulky hippopotami. As we continue with our descent into the Zambezi Valley, the scorching heat becomes unbearable. We sweat profusely. The absence of some window panes in the car turns out to be a blessing in disguise. As we go down I notice some changes in hut architecture. The manner of roofing is different from the tiered fashion that I am used to. However, it is a hut on legs that catches my eye. This is the ‘ngazi’, as the Tonga people call it. Today I shall take a closer look at it. But only once we are beyond Siachilaba. We find Siachilaba a hive of activity. The business centre is well patronized. Several women sit in rows selling dried fish and bundles of fruit that they say improves the taste of porridge. Baobab fruit is also on sale. This queen of trees grows best in hot and dry areas like this. When our car crackles to a noisy stop, we are invaded by scores of salespeople offering their wares for sale. I disembark to stretch my legs and go into the store. On the verandah men are partaking of a fermented drink. Inside the store the till is ringing continuously. Undoubtedly, there is brisk business here. I buy an issue of Indonnsakusa-Ilanga newspaper to entertain myself in the evening. My companion, who is making her first visit to Tongaland, is curious to see women with their ‘nchelwas’ or ‘ndombondo’, the Tonga traditional smoking pipes. As we walk back to the car, we see two women holding these pipes. My companion gives the women a long, hard searching look. Back in the car I start the engine and off we go at full throttle. We get to an ngazi very close to the road. I kill the engine instantly. My intention is to take a closer look at the structure, with a view to appreciating its architecture. When I get to Binga, I will ask a few questions relating to it. I do not wish to indulge in speculation and wishful thinking, and recreate a culture and history for the Tonga. The Tonga themselves will tell me all they know about the ngazi. My role will be to record their narrations. At Binga the following day, I meet Diamond Munkuli, Jairos Muzezuru Nyathi, Duncan Sinampande and Cephas Mutale. Jairos has his own sad 66 story of how he became Nyathi. He is actually Munkombwe. When his father went to get a national identity card for him at Lupane, during the troubled days of the Gukurahundi, his father was forced into accepting an Ndebele equivalent of the Tonga Munkombwe. His own children, emphatically, will be called Muzezuru, in recognition of some Zezuru people who looked after him for the first seven years of his life. Back to the ngazi. This is a multi-purpose structure built on a high-platform that rests on stilts. Some have no walls, some have walls plastered on the inside only; while others have their walls plastered on both sides. The ngazi for children is usually the one that is plastered on both sides. Their walls are liberally decorated. This is an easy structure to make, it may take just two days to complete one; sometimes it has a verandah, the dalabanze, which is unroofed. This structure, n’anda yamujulu, can be used as a sleeping hut, a grain storage hut and a watchtower in the cornfields. The Valley Tonga, before construction of the Kariba Dam in the late 1950s, used to work flood–plain fields and inland fields. They built the ngazi in which to sleep while watching over their crops. The whole idea behind elevating the hut was to keep away from the marauding animals, especially the hippopotami. The Zambezi Valley is a very hot area, and making a wall-less ngazi, consisting of a roof and a platform, ensured cooler conditions. Unplastered walls, likewise, improved ventilation. Cephas Mutale mentions also that herd boys slept in the ngazi while the sheep and goats were penned below it. While the boys were expected to keep the predatory animals at bay, the platform of the ngazi ensured...

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