Offering beer to visitors: expressions of African hospitality

THE first panel on a wall at Amagugu International Heritage Centre carries the mural of a goat and its kid ( izinyane). School pupils visiting the Centre gather in front of the images executed by Bheki Ntshali. The goat is always the launch pad, with the question about proverbs that relate to goats. A lot of cultural knowledge, language issues, taboos and a lot more ensue, much to the delight of both the students and their teachers.

Almost always the proverb that is mentioned first is one that relates to the horns of a goat. “Isisu somhambi kasinganani singangophonjwana lwembuzi.” The stomach of a visitor is as small as the horn of a goat. This is an important aspect Ndebele social philosophy. It captures the crucial idea of African hospitality. People are being encouraged to extend hospitality, in the form of food to their visitors. The people are being alerted to the fact that extending such hospitality will not deplete their food reserves, after all, a visitor consumes but a little food.

Asking for another proverb almost always leads to one which is a justification of the first. “Unyawo kalulampumulo.” Literally, a foot has no rest. It is time to bring out the two meanings of the word, impumulo. It means rest and nose. Pupils have to choose which impumulo is being referred to in this particular case. It happens to be the one referring to rest. One day you, the host, will travel and get to where your current visitor lives. He will want to reciprocate your action. If you extended hospitality he will be inclined to do the same. Two other proverbs immediately pop up. “Ikhotha eyikhothayo.” A cow leaks the one that is leaking it. The next one is, “Izandla ziyagezana.” Literally, hands wash each other.

This is by way of introducing African hospitality. This is one universal social characteristic of Africans and is rooted in their social philosophy hammered out on the anvil of lived experiences. Hospitality is expressed in various ways. One is to put up a visitor at your place. Food provision is another way of expressing African hospitality. Beer is yet another. In days gone by beer brewing and consumption took place in virtually all homesteads. Most adults partook of the beverage.

Beer was regarded as food and found its way into language expression. To say “udla amabele” was reference to beer drinking. This was in recognition of the fact that beer was brewed from sorghum grain. At Njelele TjiKalanga ritual songs were sung which too referred to “dla mapfunde” in reference to drinking beer. When rains fell, sorghum ( mapfunde), were grown from whose grain beer was brewed. I remember the time when two friends began beer drinking for the first time at Senga Beer Garden and got very drunk. One said to the other, “Corn is refusing you.” This was the language of two bosom friends who were introducing themselves to adults’ food. It was a literal translation from, “waliwa ngamabele.” This brings fond memories of these two college colleagues Dickel Nkobi and Benson Sibanda both of whom are late now. May their dear souls rest in eternal peace.

It was not just visitors who were offered beer. The beverage was used during work parties ( amalima). Beer, amahewu and food are some of the items that were provided to men and women who gathered to assit a neighbour in undertaking some work such as weeding, harvesting, fencing and threshing, among other chores that demanded a large group of people who participated in collective work. A single fingernail cannot crush a louse, says a Shona proverb. When beer was brewed in large quantities a proverb was resorted to. “Bungangamanzi okuphala izikhumba.” This is to say beer is as plentiful as water that is used in the scraping of skins as part of a process of leather tanning ( ukutshuka izikhumba).

Ceremonies were not complete when there was no beer provided. National ceremonies such as inxwala, umthontiso, ukuchinsa and umkhehlo had a lot of beer brewed for consumption on the day or days. Beer brewing was the preserve of women. This was to be expected in the African context where food cultivation and preparation in general were domains of women. Where ritual beer was required, elderly women beyond menopause undertook the exercise. Girls who had not reached puberty were equally qualified to brew ritual beer. Both categories of women were considered ritually clean.

The same applied to local ceremonies involving a limited catchment. Wedding ceremonies were graced by a lot of beer and food. While consuming beer, men and women drank in separate groups. Men sat in a circle and passed a single calabash, iqhaga or imbenge. Beer unlocked people’s mouths, transforming some of them into eloquently loud chatter boxes. Some people had the responsibility of replenishing beer ( ukubuthunga), from big beer pots ( imbiza).

Alternatively beer was brought in gourd calabashes. Gourd calabashes were brought to the drinkers. One of them would then say, “Akuphakamise wethu.” The person who brought the beer was expected to taste the beer in full view of all, ukukhupha ubuthakathi. This was a measure to ensure beer was not laced with poison. The man at the head of the circle would duly lift the gourd, shake the contents, ukuyakaza, and plug his mouth — ukuxhuma. A lot of language expressions derived from beer drinking: mothu, umthamo, behla ngomphimbo, isihahadolo, hibibiliza, qhilika, ingwebu, inhlama, umhelo, ukwenya, khudumezela, hluza, diyazela, isiphungo, insipho etc. Usually, the male head of family had a small amount left for him which he consumed later, or the following day, using a clay vessel called umancitshana, because of its small size and that the man consumed the contents alone.

During umbuyiso, when the spirit of a deceased person was brought back to look after its progeny, there was a stage when beer was placed in a big basket, isitsha and the people, dancing around the basket, took turns to kneel down and, using a gourd cup ( inkezo), took a sip from the large container. That was done till the beer was nearly finished whereupon the basket was inverted on the ground in front of the hut which had since had its roof ( uphahla), destroyed. Beer was food and a ritual facilitator. It linked the living with their dearly departed in the spiritual realm: the basis of African Spirituality.

It is important to appreciate that beer brewing has slowly been evolving over centuries. Berries of trees such as ubhuzu and umpumpulwane were mixed with water and allowed to ferment. The berries contained sugar which was then reduced to alcohol. The favourite, then and today, was the brew from marula fruits. The drink was called umkumbi. Animals including elephants partook of the drink and were observed showing signs of inebriation. The Babirwa who inhabited areas with palm trees ( imilala), extracted sap from stems and allowed it to ferment and was consumed with glee.

Perhaps the highest form was distillation which produced “Babirwa gin” which is still being produced in Gwanda South and Bobirwa in Botswana, though not legalised. It’s called ithothotho in IsiNdebele because of the falling drops of alcohol which condense within the Babirwa condenser (Liebig’s condenser) which makes use of water to condense alcohol vapour into liquid form.

In South Africa there is a Marula Arts Festival which is held at the time, end of February, to coincide with the ripening of marula ( morola) fruits ( amaganu) when umkumbi/mokombi is brewed and consumed.