Ntjanini is a small village set in a valley in the south of
Eswatini
Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
in the
Shiselweni District. The village is situated 120 km from
Manzini and 145 km from
Mbabane
Mbabane (; ss, ÉMbábáne, ) is a city in Eswatini (previously called Swaziland), and is one of the two capitals (along with Lobamba), serving as the executive capital.
With an estimated population of 94,874 (2010), it is located on the Mbaba ...
. The closest town to Ntjanini is
Nhlangano
Meeting place
, settlement_type = Town
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = District
, subdivision_name1 = Shiselweni
, coordinates =
, coordinate_region = SZ
, coordinate_type ...
(60 km), which is the administrative town for the Shiselweni District.
It names among the oldest settlements in Eswatini, Ntjanini is a settlement on Swazi National Land (SNL) managed under the chieftaincy of Maweni, Mpini and kaLiba (Lusitini). The main chiefdom of the area is kaMhawu, meaning the place of Mhawu who was the first chief to settle in this place with his people in the early 1880s; after the kaLiba (Lusitini) people moved to Kwa-Zulu. The name Ntjanini is derived from the Ntjanini River which runs through the village and between the surrounding mountains. Although Ntjanini River is small, it is given because it never runs dry. The siSwati word Ntjanini means “when does it dry out?”.
Population and Culture
Ntjanini is part of Ngudzeni Nkhundla which comprises about 500 households, with 1200 school going children and 200 preschoolers. The inhabitants of Ntjanini comprise 57 households. The language spoken is siSwati and the younger inhabitants learn
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
as a second language in school. The population largely consists of the elderly and school going children as a significant portion of the youth migrate to the cities as well as to the neighbouring
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
to seek employment. The
working class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
of Ntjanini works and lives in the cities; mostly Mbabane (the capital), Manzini and Matsapha
Development of Ntjanini
Development in Ntjanini was a result of one man Reverend Jonathan L Shongwe who was converted to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
by a missionary based at Franson Christian Bible College. At the time of his conversion, he was the subject of Chief Bhokweni Mamba (Inkhosi yaka-Mamba) the chief of the Mamba clan, usually referred to as King of the Mamba clan. Chief Bhokweni chased Jonathan away from his chiefdom because he did not trust him as
his wives attended church services at Rev. Jonathan’s church. The chief suspected that Jonathan would fall in love with his wives. As a result, Jonathan sought refuge from Chief Mhawu who welcomed him and commissioned his wives and daughters in law to provide Reverend Jonathan with thatch grass for the church building that also served as a school. The missionaries assisted the community in the development of the school to provide primary education. The school is now considered a
government school
State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...
. It has advanced from a primary school to a high school providing education up to I
GCSE
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
level (Form 5).
The school with a student population of 1200 also services nearby communities including ka-Mamba chiefdom, ka-Lusitini community, Mpini community, Nyatsini chiefdom and other communities under Ngudzeni Inkhundla Centre. Successful students proceed to study in the
University of Swaziland and other colleges; while others proceed to study in South African colleges and universities. It is the graduates of the community that have participated in further developments of the area. In addition to the school, the community has a clinic providing primary
health care
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
not only to Ntjanini but also to surrounding communities. The first church in Ntjanini was built in (1935); over time this building deteriorated and has since been replaced with a newer and larger church building that was built by the community.
The involvement of the
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...
of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
has also had a positive role in contributing to community development. The first
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...
volunteers came to Ntjanini in 1969.
They worked as teachers and have since been involved in community projects such as vegetable gardening and social clubs to help young boys and girls engage positively, particularly in the fight against the
HIV/AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...
pandemic faced by the country. Other not-for-profit organisations such as
World Vision International have also recently become much involved in the development of Ntjanini under the Ngudzeni Area Development Programmes.
Development in Ntjanini has also been marked by a transition from the traditional mud and
grass huts to modern brick and
mortar buildings as well as an increased availability of electricity and mobile connectivity. Even though such structures can still be seen in the community, the transition has been remarkable, the church building is a representation of this transition.
Mountains and Rivers of Ntjanini
Ntjanini is surrounded by 2 mountain ranges,
Ngudzeni and Madladlamela, that reaches it pinnacle at Luqolweni mountain. Two rivers run through the valley as a
water source for the people of Ntjanini. The larger one is Ntjanini and the smaller one is Ndololwane, a stream which also runs throughout the year without drying out. A notable
rock formation
A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock formation'' can also refer to specific sediment ...
called Sandlana (meaning small hand) shows the traveler that they have arrived at Ntjanini area
Economy
As with most communities on SNL in Swaziland, Ntjanini is a farming community with the majority of the inhabitants living on subsistence farming practices. SNL is one of the land tenure systems in Swaziland whereby land is managed under Chiefdoms and residents do pay for use of the land. The second tenure system is Title Deed Land where the owner purchases the land and is given a title deed as proof of ownership.
Maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
is planted by all families as this forms the staple food in Swaziland. Many families keep
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
and
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
s that graze on the mountains surrounding Ntjanini. A colliery is located in
Maloma
Maloma is a town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word " ...
18 km away from Ntjanini school. Those working in the cities provide much needed farm inputs in the form of seeds, fertilisers and monies for tractor hire services to those living in the village since there is very little income generated by the farming activities in the area
References
*http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2048858.html
{{Coord missing, Eswatini
Populated places in Shiselweni Region