1. Bhamgee, the squatter camp from hell

The Ngodwana paper and timber processing mill near the town of Nelspruit, in Mpumalanga Province, was established by the South African Pulp and Paper Industry (SAPPI). When it first started operating, it was (and still is) regarded by many as an ideal employer. As Councillor Linah Masuku, a resident at the nearby informal settlement explained, when men came from all corners of the country to find employment at the mill, they were immediately followed by a similar influx of women, in search of financially viable partners. Ngodwana mill had only male hostels for its workers during that time and no women were allowed in. Most of the women came from the nearby farms, but those from further afield built themselves shacks in the veld, near a little village of a few houses called Bhamgee, which rapidly turned into a squatter camp, and in time it became the squatter camp from hell.

Bhamgee quickly developed into a sexual service station for both Sappi employees and truck drivers delivering timber at the mill. Clr Masuku, who was a member of the original Bhamgee community, described how she saw the village’s transformation, including the first Aids victim of the area years ago, when talking about HIV/AIDS was even more taboo. In our interview she described how a neighbour’s family was entirely swept away by the deadly disease after the husband and father was employed as a driver’s assistant by the company. One of the sex workers, who asked not to be mentioned by name or recorded, said that prostitution has been the only way to survive for her and her siblings; she is the only bread winner and she cannot find work, so that to provide sex in exchange for money or food for herself and her siblings was the only alternative. She said it was too late for her to change now, because without experience or proper education she could not to compete in the labour market. One of her friends who is also a prostitute said the money was no longer good but the demand had increased so the sex workers must maximise their income by sleeping with as many men as they can in one day. She also indicated that some sex workers have families to go home to late at night and their husbands are not aware of their activities. When both were asked about condoms, they replied that the only way they can keep living is to use a condom and they try hard always to use them although some of their customers do not like it. My general observation after our discussion was that most of the customers are those who are travelling, truck drivers and their assistants. When I asked them what would happen if Sappi were to close, their immediate response was “never!” because they would have no alternate source of livelihood. They did not hesitate to tell me that what they knew their health status will not only affect them but also their partners and customers and their families, especially those who refuse condoms. They have seen travellers who used their services disappear in thin air, and learnt that they had passed away at the same time as those sex workers they had had contact with.

The company has since assisted some of the women to form a “peer assistant group” to help improve HIV/Aids awareness in the informal settlement and its residential area. The group has been active but the challenges remains, particularly those of overcoming unemployment and poor levels of education. This already overwhelming situation will be made worse by the greatly increased production contemplated by Sappi in the near future. One timber transport driver who agreed to talk to me over a glass of beer said he occasionally uses the services of sex workers, especially after working longer hours and days without going home, but he insisted that he was a condom user. He told me that he had 11 years of service with a long haul transport firm and that during that time he has seen his colleagues die of unexplained diseases which he believes were sexually related. He even said that he could consider alternative work to stay way from this sexual temptation. He reported that at times he feels sorry for some of the girls and pays them more than they ask, but others often use the money to buy alcohol and not to support their families.

2. Timber plantations and the Graskop community

Firstly I would like to pass my greatest sympathy to the family of Ma- Nyathi whom I interviewed in my first visit in the area; unfortunately I could not get her whole story recorded in full, but one can take note of her words when she said that if her area had not been turned into timber land, she would still be going strong from the riches of the traditional medicines and emantuli (traditional fruits) that were removed to make way for those timber plantations. Her heart was visibly worried about all the changes she had seen so far. She passionately talked of the past as if she was reliving it. She told of the forced removals of her family to make way for eucalyptus and pine trees and how her brothers and husband struggled to make ends meet from the low income that they received working in that industry.

As though she knew that her days were numbered she talked about her visit to her people’s graveyard in the area from where they were removed while she was still young, and about the changes that had been brought by plantations in those areas. The rivers and slopes were now obviously dry and wetlands had disappeared. She was visibly moved to note that her father’s one time garden had turned into shallow gravel after all the top soil and its nutrients were washed away by rain. This obviously has no meaning compared to what the shareholders consider hard-earned profit, but for people like myself and Ma-Nyathi huge questions must be asked on what will happen if this persists in the next 20 years: will our children and grandchildren be able to claim that the fruit they are eating is a real product of the soil’s nutrients?

Her daughter who welcomed me and gave me the sad news of her death told me how her mother had urged her to bury her among her ancestral graves because of the calmness of the forest and the forever bird songs that she heard on her last visit with me. She then told me that her mother, a one time herd girl, once told her that people used to survive without money but with all the fruit borne by our traditional forest. She insisted that her mother had no power to voice her dislike of mono culture but she hoped that I would be able to bring the attention that was needed, especially to both government and large scale mono producers who constantly rape our nutritious soil every day in the name of profit maximisation. May her spirit rest in peace.

3. The effect of timber plantations on Elandsvalley

The Elandsvalley is one of the areas overly cultivated with eucalyptus and pine trees. Elandshoek, a product of the government parastatal, SAFCOL, stands unproductive, with members of the community living there who immigrated to that area because of a sawmill that previously existed there. Mr Simon Mabuza, who was one the few original residents of that area, told me that the mill brought both sad and good times. His immediate question was whether I was there to help build the mill back or to help create a portion of land that the community could use to plant vegetables, to help push back poverty. He described how his uncles and his elder brother worked for the mill before him, and had all been excited for being part of the mill. They knew no other job except working for the mill as had been other members of the community. According to Mr Mabuza the mill changed their traditional way of living into financial dependency. When the mill was later closed the community was left wondering what to do as it was difficult for the new generation to go back to the traditional ways of cultivation to feed their families. He lamented that the mill only eventually brought poverty and nothing else.

Mr Fish Zulu, also a resident, said the only time people get jobs from the timber industry is as de-barkers and chain saw operators, while the rest of the work went to Sappi workers who are paid a lot of money. They would be happy to be more than de-barkers and to have the opportunity to add value to that product. Mrs Gertrude Manana said, if one could recount the number of herbalists that were found in that valley before Safcol took over most of the land , she believed many people would still be alive today. Sad but true, as Elandsvalley is now one of the beaming prostitutes’ first stops. The previously abandoned hotel at Montrose Falls some km away was now nothing but a sexual station created as a result of the many sub-contractors who took up small jobs in the timber industry within the valley and later left people unemployed after harvesting, and with no source of income or means to provide for their families. The concentration of the sex workers within the area is also as a result of competition in the Ngodwana area further along the Elands river. Elands valley is the nearest attraction area for truck drivers.

One cannot help also noticing traces of streams that previously came down the mountain and fed the lands. Despite the presence of the Department of Water Affairs in that area the people of that valley are still waiting to be given a promised workshop on nature preservation, the importance of indigenous forestry and how to avoid wild fires. A traditional healer in this area, Mr Buzeni Mabuza, said that most medicinal plants have been destroyed by fire while most surfaces are covered by pine trees and nothing else grows there.

4. Berlin and Hermansburg are super timber plantations areas

For almost five years I worked with communities from this general area but I had never been to Hermansburg via Berlin, with its beautiful waterfalls, and Kaapsehoop. I had thought that area was a rural farming one, with particularly citrus and livestock, but I was shocked to notice nothing but pine and eucalyptus trees everywhere. The only time we met up with people, they were behind trucks either going to deliver or to collect timber. The Kaapsehoop area had no natural or birds sounds, only the sound of chainsaws echoed.

My visit was in the direction of Hermansburg, in an area known as Edlovini. The name is believed to have been of that of an elephant which was killed as a result of a fight between the Swazi chief Matsafeni Mdluli and his son Mtimu who killed the elephant but planted a tree in its honour. The carefully tended tree is now on the farm owned by a white farmer, who allowed us in after Mtimu`s grandson Mr Terry Mdluli has arranged for us to visit it. The area, which has a  mixed mode of farming, was carefully protected.

My visit was made to determine what I had been told by Mr Mdluli junior: that his great-grandfather fought against mono culture and the cultivation of large plantations because he believed it exhausted the soil and that it would ultimately lead to poor production. Mr. Mduli   indicated that this story has been known by generations, including every farmer who stayed in that area. Because of this, it is untouched, and people there have always respected his father, who was a traditional forester. Mr Isaac Mdluli said he remembered how his father defeated the elephant but even more how he had mourned its death, and he had taken no part in the feast that day.

5. The effects of plantations in Swaziland

i) Background

Swaziland , the Kingdom of the Swazi nation , has been known as one of the few countries in the Southern Africa where traditional culture has been preserved. Over the past centuries, the Swazi people have been identified with strong cultural mores and activities, but while this way of life is still evident, one could not help but observe a serious shift away from this culture. One major factor is that nothing is being done to preserve natural forests, to which many cultural activities are linked.

On my recent visit with Oupa Ngobe, our entry into the Swazi kingdom was marked by the sight of what I have come to associate with a traditional way of life: cattle and goats being herded by young men and elderly women. The traditional way of banking by Africans is through buying cattle with any savings. A man is deemed to be wealthy according to the number of cattle he has, as well as the number of hectares he is able to farm. The green hills and healthy looking maize planted in widely scattered family plots tell you that the Swazi people are natural farmers.

ii) Commercial tree plantations in Swaziland undermine cultural preservation

Our entrance in Swaziland through Matsamo gate gave me an impression that we were in for traditional and cultural feast, I changed my opinion when we passed Piggs Peak. The signs saying “Mondi forest”dominated this part of Swaziland’s roads and whole mountains and valleys had no other life except for pine and eucalyptus plantations. This prompted me to ask the lady to whom we gave a ride from Matsamo gate, and who was now serving as our unofficial guide, about the levels of HIV/AIDS. She unhesitatingly said that it was well known that the levels of the epidemic were high but she stressed that she was not sure of the effect that truck drivers were having on its extent.

Our discussion sparked off an interest in medicinal plants and the belief in traditional medicine versus western medication. Our guide confirmed that there is a strong belief in medicinal plants; she explained that  people collected these from “linhlaze”, a local word for the indigenous forestry areas, which are diminishing rapidly. From Piggs Peak to Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland, there is nothing much to see except for commercial plantations and you can scacely believe that you are still in the Swazi countryside. It would seem that`timber is Swaziland’s “economical core”. And while our guide could not confirm the contribution of truck drivers to the level of HIV/Aids, she stressed strongly that levels of poverty were at the heart of the problem. She also indicated that the Swazi poeple have little belief inn condoms, hence the high birth rate and HIV/Aids levels.

Our second day was to be the most interesting, as we continued our adventure to the area of Manzini, the major town near Mbabane. Our quest was to visit an area where the people are still in touch with their cultural roots, and to have a word with a traditional healer or herbalist and few other elderly people. Our trip that day ended up attending a traditional ceremony known as “icwala” , which is presided over by King Mswati. We had earier met with Mr Dlamini, a Swazi warrior who was on his way to the ceremony and who recommended that we attend the ceremony if we wanted to understand the kingdom`s way of life.

It was most interesting to listen to the king as he addressed his subjects. Earlier, we had discussions with a few members of the royal family, including the Senior Prince and the King’s advisor after we had been introduced by Mr Stewart Tsela from the Swazi Broadcasting Information Service. Our discussion was limited, and I came to sense that the on-going political situation kept back open speech concerning the role of plantations.
 
iii) The Swaziland economy and plantations
“Sugar is Swaziland`s own gold”, Mphatsi Masuku, a young man in his early twenties, repeatedly told us, “it is as precious as South African gold”.  Thousands of hectares of land are under sugar cane as well as tree plantations. Yet this plantation economy has not contributed to economic development, and the levels of poverty are still high. Some rural areas still have no running water let alone electricity. Both industries also help to undermine the country’s economy through the transmission of HIV/Aids transmission, as truck drivers, most of whom are polygamists, transport the products to neighbouring countries. Yet I was struck by Mphatsi’s observation that his country could draw tourists from all over the world to come and observe Africa`s culture in action. At the back of my mind I realised that Swaziland`s own gold could be its own culture if it were well marketed.  The king himself also acknowledged this in his address, when he said that people from all over the world travelled to Swaziland, attracted by its culture. Tourism is an under-used resource - by the time people from that country realise this fully and, there might be less or even none to explore. Most of its attractions are its indigenous forests, streams and grassy mountain slopes that are still visible in some parts of the country: a good example is the Umphophonyane stream near the Umphophonyane Lodge, which is run on traditional lines and which has proved to be a top international tourist attraction.

The is every possibility that Swaziland could develop into one of the naturally and economical viable countries, if there was a change in its way of thinking, beyond sugar and timber plantations, to its comparative advantage in tourism.

iv) Forced removals at Piggs Peak to make way for timber plantations

Mr Dlamini, our interesting tour guide and Swazi warrior, frail looking with sickness clearly visible in his face, took us on the longest journey deep in the rural village of Hoho district to meet the person he claims rescued him from being bed-ridden. On our way we prompted him to keep telling us the names of streams, rivers, mountains and villages. To our interest he showed us a little village called Ekuhlaleni (“a place where people stay”) and told us that all those people were moved there from Piggs Peak to make way for timber plantations on the King’s orders. This area and the one adjacent to it is a medicinal and traditional forest garden where people must officially re-plant any medicinal plant they harvest, but this order is not enforced by law.

Our arrival at the sangoma`s home was late and we postponed our discussions for the following day. The next day Oupa Ngobe had a chat with the muti man on his ways of traditional assistance and his encounter with other traditional healers. He told us of the difficulties faced by traditional healers from the shortages of medicinal plants and stiff competition from hawkers harvesting then in large quantities to sell in the streets of South Africa, particularly in Nelspruit, Pretoria and Johannesburg. He told us that the most endangered plant, which is particularly harvested by muti sellers, is one called “zifo zonke” (which means “all diseases”) that is used in every medicine and for all ills.