RASTAFARIANS MAKE MOUNTAIN THEIR HOME
A SMALL Rastafarian community has found a home on a mountain in Mamelodi West, Pretoria.
The community, consisting of different “tribes” based loosely on the 12 tribes of Judah in the Bible, have been living together since 2006.
The green, red and gold colours of their distinctly Rastafarian clothes and headgear make them easily recognisable and distinguishable.
The mountain-top community of King Haile Selasie Camp – measuring about 400 hectares – live in roughly built houses and tents without electricity or running water.
The land was offered to the community by Chief Moses Mahlangu, confirmed his spokesman Justice Tshabalala.
Community leader Jowi Matlala, known as Papa Dan, said most of their house structures were destroyed by a storm in December, which left some residents homeless.
“The storm blew off rooftops and uprooted trees.
“We feared for the safety of our people, and had to send them down to the nearby township.
“Individuals and families then decided to move back to the township, a move that changed a lot of things.
“There are only a few of us left here. We are now busy with a restoration plan to get this place fixed. The mother of my children also had to go back to the Northern Cape. We are also in the process of bringing water up here.”
The community also has a house on the outskirts of Mamelodi’s D2 Section and Papa Dan said people who wished to know more about his Rastafarian community were still being “welcomed ” there.
“We used to worship at the house before we had this land,” Papa Dan said.
“We also have a site where a community garden has been started so that we can help the people to help themselves. ”
The site’s few remaining structures are known as the lion quarter, sister’s quarter, a kitchen and pantry. The rest of the site is used as a camping area.
Papa Dan said the community meets on the mountain on Saturdays for church services.
But three Fridays ago, the community celebrated “Rub a Dub”, a way of taking the church from the mountain to the people. The Rub a Dub was at Lusaka, a conventional residential area comprising RDP houses, shacks and four-roomed houses.
Lusaka is a 30-minute drive from the mountain.
During the services, men are expected to remove their head gear while women, who are separated from the men, cover their heads.
They chant songs, beat drums – known as the Thunder, Funder and Repeater – and they read the Bible, concentrating on the Book of Psalms, as they smoke dagga, lovingly referred to by the community as the ganja herb. On Friday nights, reggae music is played from 9pm until midnight. The same service runs until sunset on Saturdays.
“We are organised as the Mamelodi house of Rastafarians,” Papa Dan said.
“We have our own elders’ committee. We have a calendar of activities, when people gather. About 1 000 people flock to the area during events.
“Presently, women and children come here on Saturdays during the Sabbath for church services.
“We work like anybody else during the day. But the mountain is our home. We do not have to fight over RDP houses with other people.”