African Indigenous Performances,Collective Memory,and Identity in Post-apartheid uMlazi Township,South Africa

Abstract

What unfolds when performative cultural production becomes both a conduit for collectively remembering the past and a map for (re)-imagining identity and belonging among residents in a fractured and contested space of a post-apartheid South African township? Drawing on ethnographic observation and semi-structured interviews among residents of uMlazi Township, this paper addresses the above question by exploring the role that African intangible cultural performances play in shaping collective memory and reconfiguring collective identity and belonging among individuals navigating the highly segregated and fraught urban landscape, imbued with socio-spatial historical dynamics. For Zulu performers and uMlazi residents, these practices are not just cultural and artistic expressions; they are palimpsestic and historied practices, imbued with shared memories of apartheid injustices. We argue that the palimpsestic nature of the performances makes them more powerful reservoir for creatively crafting shared experience and forging a sense of collective identity and community within the township. The paper contributes to the broader discourse on intangible heritage in post-apartheid [South] African urban space.

Introduction

The apartheid system in South Africa (1948–1994), through its structural, institutional and epistemic forms of violence, rooted in racial segregation, undoubtedly subjugated and suppressed many Indigenous African cultures and cultural practices. Its continued act of colonial and imperial and domination severely, and often violently, restricted the free expression, celebration and appreciation of these practices, including music, rituals and dance. For the colonialists, particularly in Africa, African cultures were different and less valuable than the Eurocentric/western standards. As noted by Suren Pillay, apartheid education, and of course, other forms of colonial enforcements, ‘answered the problem of colonialism by reinscribing difference in order to produce political subjects who internalized this difference as inferiority’ (Pillay, 2021: 410). Apartheid legislations, such as the Group Areas Act of 1950 and other discriminatory policies, further exacerbated this repression by displacing individuals from their homelands and ancestral spaces (Abel, 2019; Gopalan, 2014; Lemon, 2021; Maharaj, 2024; Mabin, 1992). African residential areas, known as ‘townships’, a term ubiquitous with particular kinds of settlements in the unique South African geographic context, were (and continue to be) severely under-resourced and lack adequate infrastructure (Bond, 1999; Kon and Lackan, 2008; South African Department of Public Works, 1997). Often cramped and densely populated with minimal infrastructure and a decided lack of amenities, these areas, until very recently, were not designed to accommodate creative or artistic expressions, leaving little opportunity to express heritage through valuable indigenous cultural practices to unite the community.

At the height of apartheid socio-spatial engineering, characterised by racial zoning and forced removals, large groups of non-White or Black people were dislocated. Particularly, migrant workers, usually male workers, were compelled to relocate to hostels on the urban peripheries to work in the mines. This process ultimately altered the indigenous and local populations’ relationship with their environment, disrupted the people’s connections with families and ancestral heritage lands and hindered their engagement with cultural practices. Forcefully dislocating people from their places and ancestral lands also disorients identities and undermines community social cohesion, affecting people’s physical, cognitive and affective bonds with their space, their environment and several other forms of neighbourhoods as they move to new and unfamiliar areas (see Dlamini et al., 2020; Harrison, 2020). In this paper, we explore how African performative cultural practices within a post-apartheid South African township not only bring the community together within particular spaces but also shape collective memory and identity and transmit such cultural knowledge across generations.

Contemporary discourse on memory, heritage and identity in South Africa

In South African urban spaces, memorial markers take both tangible and intangible forms. While the former manifests in material forms such as in street names, monuments, sports clubs, buildings, among others, the later pervade through cultural songs, local dance, rituals and many other such performative cultural practices (Marschall, 2009; Bélanger, 2002). As Irwin-Zarecka (2017) critically notes, memory markers – especially material ones – are strategically situated to embody the symbolic and material life, history and collective resources of a place and its people. In the context of South Africa’s post-apartheid reevaluation of previously disadvantaged identities, studies (e.g. Erlank, 2017; Marschall, 2012, 2013, 2019; Noyoo and Sobantu, 2018; Udo et al., 2025) reveal how tangible heritage forms, including public art, actively reconstruct African cultural identity, particularly in spaces where they were previously not allowed. A few examples that come to mind in Durban are the Warwick Triangle, where four large murals of Black informal traders were installed around the Warwick informal market to signify the early ‘hustle economy’ of Black traders (Thieme, 2018). In uMlazi, there are also recent monuments of apartheid liberation heroes, particularly around the Mega City centre, one of, if not the most bustling spot in the township. As memory markers, these monuments are significantly entangled with South Africa’s socio-political, historical, economic and cultural realities (Marschall, 2019).

However, even though the non-material, intangible forms of heritage mentioned earlier also significantly shape identity, place, belonging and collective or shared memory, particularly in a historically fraught and arguably segregated post-apartheid South African urban context, documentary and policy priority is mostly given to material forms of memorials – monuments, renamed streets and public art (Erlank, 2017; Marschall, 2019; Noyoo and Sobantu, 2018). Often State-commissioned via the Department of Arts and Culture, these memorials are said to foster social cohesion, integration and solidarity across demographic divides, frequently operating within broader decolonisation projects or reclaiming marginalised identities (Bass and Houghton, 2018; Sihlongonyane, 2020; Sitas and Pieterse, 2013). It is my observation that intangible forms of memorials are often not given significant attention, despite their significant roles as reservoir for creatively crafting shared experiences and forging a sense of place, culture and identity in an evolving, more diverse South African township environments.

Marschall (2019) highlights intangible memory markers – storytelling, beliefs, songs, dances, rituals, customary practices and traditional knowledge systems such as healing, arts and crafts – as potent forms of public memory (see also Marschall, 2013). They are deeply enmeshed with social identity, locally rooted collective memory and belonging (Jacobsen et al., 2013). Such community-based cultural practices are crucial for social cohesion, especially within heterogeneous urban contexts like those in post-apartheid South Africa (Whigham, 2017). While tangible memory forms predominantly assume material embodiment, often institutionalised by city planners or the State, performative cultural practices and narratives – especially those grounded in personal or collective histories – may not be materially inscribed as such, but they still can be spatially located through repeated or consistent performances and structured practices within certain material spaces, and in such a manner that those spaces assume cultural significance. For uMlazi township’s residents, intangible memories, often expressed through Zulu identity performances, often in certain places (whether intended or not intended), significantly contribute to residents’ sense of place, collective memory and identity.

Duxbury et al. (2015) frame intangible heritage as encompassing a community’s qualitative attributes: values, beliefs, language, narratives, memories, rituals, identities and shared sense of place. Similarly, UNESCO (2003) defines it as traditions – such as performing arts – transmitted intergenerationally, expressing collective identity, memory and values (see also Johnson, 2015). In South African townships, intangible performances aligned with Zulu identity (e.g. uMaskandi and Isicathamiya) persist through fragmented, intersecting narratives across urban spaces. As stated earlier, these performances serve as symbolic expressions central to identity formation, challenging prejudice and fostering social cohesion among the diverse ethnic groupings in the township (Nugroho and Hardilla, 2020; Petronela, 2016; Smith and Akagawa, 2009). This is especially critical in South Africa’s racially fractured context, where apartheid had caused ethnic divisions and inflicted enduring structural and epistemic violence on Indigenous African communities, their culture and their identity (Boswell, 2017).

In this paper, we first show how traditional Zulu rituals associated with uMaskandi and Isicathamiya illustrate the ways in which traditional Zulu cultural practices reconfigure shared memory among residents of a highly fractured and segregated urban space. Second, we demonstrate that it is the palimpsestic nature of these performances that shapes or reconfigue a sense of community, belonging and identity within the township. This thinking aligns with Rick Peterson’s description of how bodies, places and objects work together in relation to memory and commemoration (Peterson, 2013). In his work, Social Memory and Ritual Performance, Peterson identifies three factors: ‘remembering a lesson learnt’, ‘managing memories’ and ‘formal performance’, as central characteristics of how social memory works, with performance serving as the core of this process (Peterson, 2013).

Focusing on uMlazi township, the KwaZulu-Natal province’s largest township and South Africa’s fourth largest, according to the 2022 census (Adeagu, 2019; Stats, 2022), the study addresses the limited documentation of intangible African heritage among historically disadvantaged Black communities. Broadly, the study contributes to contemporary discussion on intangible cultural production collective memory and place-based identity. It also illustrates the intersection of people, culture and space.

Methodology and context

This paper is part of a larger Spatial Humanities project, which explores the intersection of space, place and memory in three South African localities: the Black African–dominated township of uMlazi, the Indian-dominated township of Chatsworth and the more multicultural Durban Central space. For this paper, we draw extensively on ethnographic data collected in uMlazi township. We also conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with current and past residents of uMlazi, including artists and lay participants selected for their extensive experiences in the township, both pre- and post-1994. The interview questions focused on participants’ experiences of past and present African intangible cultural performances and practices in uMlazi and how these practices influenced – or continue to influence – community members’ sense of place, identity, belonging and social life in the township. In addition, the GIS map presented in Figure 5 in this paper, which links specific practices to specific spaces, further provides nuanced insight into the resilience of intangible cultural heritage within the socio-political and historical context of uMlazi.

This study has limitations. One of the limitations is the relatively small number of participants interviewed, especially given uMlazi’s large population of about 400,000, according to the most recent census (Stats, 2022). While the findings credibly reflect key memories of uMlazi residents – supported by consistency in interview responses – the claims are not intended to be generalisable. The study is exploratory. However, its rich findings enhance scholarship on intangible heritage performances in [South] African township spaces such as uMlazi and offer substantial grounds for further research on the role of intangible cultural heritage in African peri-urban settlements and similar contexts

uMlazi township in context: Social, historical and environmental dimensions

The study is located in uMlazi township in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. uMlazi is the fourth largest township in South Africa, following Soweto, Tembisa and Katlehong (BusinessTech, 2016). Historically, uMlazi, like these other townships, was designated as a black township under apartheid segregation policies, which significantly restricted economic opportunities for its residents. The township remains predominantly populated by black African people and continues to experience high levels of poverty, unemployment and violent crime. The enduring legacy of apartheid segregation and spatial injustice is thus still prominently evident in uMlazi.

The figure above (Figure 1) depicts a Google map of the uMlazi township. It suffices to note that the township administratively falls under the Durban (eThekwini) Metropolitan Municipality. It comprises or is divided into 26 sections or units labelled alphabetically from A to Z, excluding I, O and X, with additional sections designated as AA, BB and CC.

Figure 1.

Google map showing the various sections of uMlazi.

Established during the apartheid era to house primarily male black workers migrating to Durban from various regions across South Africa, uMlazi initially comprised largely informal settlements constructed of tin and wooden shacks. Many of these informal settlements have since been replaced with new housing and infrastructure as part of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) initiated by the African National Congress, ANC-led government under Nelson Mandela in 1994, aimed at addressing the legacies of apartheid-era marginalisation. At its inception, uMlazi featured predominantly hostel-style accommodations (see Figure 2 below), which housed migrant male workers separated from their families in rural areas.

Figure 2.

Showing earlier and current conditions of the Gleblands hostel in uMlazi.

Established as a peri-urban township, uMlazi’s population predominantly traces its ancestral roots to rural areas across South Africa, where the early community was made to migrate during the apartheid-era spatial segregation policies. Initially, as mentioned, uMlazi primarily housed migrant workers, predominantly male, who served as labour reserves for urban centres under apartheid governance. The Glebelands hostel in the township, for instance, housed the male migrants separately from their families, ostensibly to weaken family bonds and communal identities typical of African households.

Currently, uMlazi remains characterised by a mix of informal settlements and newly constructed residential, economic and infrastructural developments in formal settlements settings. Areas such as Mega-Philani Shopping Centre, Kwa-Mnyandu Shopping Centre and uMlazi Mega City Mall have emerged as significant economic hubs within the township. The demographic profile still consists of mainly Black Africans, mostly of the Zulu ethnic group.

African intangible cultural practices in uMlazi

uMaskandi

The uMaskandi local music festival emerged as a widely celebrated African cultural performance that significantly contributes to residents’ collective memory, sense of place and belonging in uMlazi township. Originating from early 20th-century migrant workers who blended traditional isiZulu music with Western instruments like the guitar, uMaskandi has evolved into a major festival. Predominantly held at Tehuis Park in uMlazi, uMaskandi performance draws people from across the township and beyond. The fact that it is repeatedly performed at the Park has further given the space a cultural signficance. This supports scholarly perspectives that argue seemingly ordinary spaces can gain cultural significance through associations with public memories of intangible practices (Marschall, 2019). Participants affirmed that these performances forge physical and symbolic attachments to space and that they such spaces help preserve and transmit collective memory over time. The image below (See Figure 3) shows a uMaskandi performance in uMlazi.

Figure 3.

Maskandi performance in uMlazi, 22 September 2010.

Findings from this exploratory study indicate that uMaskandi holds significant cultural relevance for the people of uMlazi, which is deeply rooted in their Zulu heritage. Moreover, from the shared narratives of the participants in the study, the shared perception indicates a belief that uMaskandi, from the view of the participants, plays a role in fostering some levels of community cohesion within uMlazi. For example, a respondent whose ancestral roots trace back to the Eastern Cape Province but who has resided in uMlazi for five decades and is an indelible part of the uMlazi community emphasised:

The uMaskandi festival reminds me of similar events in the Eastern Cape. We have similar celebrations where we sing about everything that matters to us: the area, the trees, our responsibilities as parents and family, and other social issues.

As previously suggested, uMaskandi is not limited within space, it transcends the spatial bounds of uMlazi and KwaZulu-Natal. The practice represents a broader Nguni-Zulu cultural event celebrated across various locations, notably in large townships such as Tembisa and Soweto in Gauteng Province and others nationwide. Contextualised within uMlazi, the link between these intangible cultural practices reveals how the participants viewed the value and currency of indigenous heritage practices like uMaskandi within the unique uMlazi setting.

Another participant stated that uMaskandi reminds them of their Zulu identity and reinvigorates hope and resilience. According to her:

uMaskandi speaks about a lot of things that concern us as Zulu people. It tells us our history, where we come from, and where we are going. You need to know where you come from to know where you are going.

The above statement underscores the pivotal role of historical consciousness and cultural heritage practice in decolonisation (Loyd and Steele, 2022; Turunen, 2019). Within the context of uMlazi, uMaskandi performance symbolises Zulu identity and serves as a medium through which the people’s lived experiences, challenges and aspirations are articulated. The performance also engages directly with contemporary social issues, such as poverty and unemployment, through the persistent legacies of apartheid that continue to afflict many Black South Africans, particularly in historically marginalised townships.

A key informant from uMlazi, reflecting on the role of maskandi, remarked:

uMaskandas [referring to Maskandi performers/artists] are not just performers; they are storytellers. In their singing, they tell stories about our history, about neighbourhoods, about rural areas, about our struggles, and about family issues. uMaskandi brings people together, especially during the annual uMaskandi festival at King Zwelithini Stadium here in Umlazi.

The above view highlights the centrality of uMaskandi performance in evoking and preserving collective memory, linking the historical with the contemporary. The gathering at King Zwelithini Stadium for the annual uMaskandi festival underscores Maskandi’s role in fostering social cohesion and reinforcing a sense of community within uMlazi. Such events can also cultivate a sense of ‘home’ within the peri-urban environment of uMlazi township, bridging the gap between the urban and rural identities of the diverse residents. By bringing people together for a shared cultural practice, which communicates the shared history of the majority of the people, uMaskandi and other similar cultural heritage performances (see Bakker and Műller, 2010; Marschall, 2012) seem to not only reinforce communal bonds but also challenge the spatial and social dislocations imposed by apartheid, making it a significant tool in the ongoing struggle for decolonisation and identity reclamation.

Isicathamiya

Isicathamiya is another notable intangible cultural/heritage practice in uMlazi that can be read as a typical Zulu cultural practice that unites uMlazi residents. Originating in the 1920s and 30s among IsiZulu-speaking Nguni male migrant workers, Isicathamiya is an acapella singing tradition characterised by close harmonies and lyrical expressions communicating personal and communal experiences. Many of these internal migrants worked in coal mines in KwaZulu-Natal during apartheid, where isicathamiya emerged as a means to preserve traditional values amid urbanisation and societal changes.

The term “isicathamiya” derives from the IsiZulu word “cathama,” meaning “to walk like a cat” or “to tread lightly,” reflecting the graceful, synchronised movements and tap dance associated with its performance. During the performance, the groups of individuals slowly move in synchrony, sliding one foot gently across the floor, followed by the other foot in a precise, gliding motion. The footwork is then followed by a harmonious vocal layering, with the lyrics mostly filled with meanings related to cultural survival, resilience, echoes of the hostels and mines, as well as collective identity [or brotherhood] and resistance amid and against injustice, fragmentation, dislocation and loss. Veit Erlmann, in his book, NIGHTSONG: Performance, Power, and Practice in South Africa, has, in detail, noted some of these resistance performances in Johannesburg, Kwamashu and uMlazi during the apartheid years (Erlmann, 1996). Noteworthy is that isicathamiya holds significant cultural and historical resonance, particularly as a form of artistic resistance during apartheid, enabling performers to articulate their experiences of marginalisation and exploitation.

In an earlier article, entitled, ‘the past is far and the future is far’: power and performance among Zulu migrant workers, published in 1992, Erlmann noted the symbolic richness of Isicathamiya, describing it as a performative strategy that empowers migrant workers by creating symbolic spaces and reshaping social interactions beyond immediate realities. He states:

The rich symbolic overlay in this tradition constitutes a performative, empowering strategy. It mediates migrant workers’ ambiguous experience of alienation and powerlessness by framing social interaction in spheres of virtual time, constructing protective spaces, and metaphorically remodelling a social order beyond the given and now (Erlman,1992, 688).

Traditionally grounded in [Southern] African indigenous humanist philosophy of Ubuntu ¹ , emphasising communalism and interconnected personhood (often expressed in the dictum ‘Umuntu, ngumuntu, ngabantu’) ² , Isicathamiya plays a vital role in preserving and promoting cultural heritage and urban Zulu cultural identity. The image below depicts an early Isicathamiya performance at Glebelands Hostel in uMlazi, illustrating its enduring cultural significance and community engagement. Internationally, Isicathamiya gained prominence through collaborations such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s work with Paul Simon on the music album, Graceland (produced in 1986), underscoring its global cultural impact.

Figure 4 above depicts the bodily posture of Isicathamiya performers in the Glebeland hostel in uMlazi. As as seen in the picture and as respondents in this study indicated, Isicathamiya’s lyrics reflect diverse, often contradictory, expressions of the Zulu ethnic pride. According to the participant,

Isicathamiya is about Zulu identity. And it makes me proud to be a Zulu person. Isicathamiya does not just end here [referring to uMlazi township]; it is now played all over the world. Have you heard of Ladysmith Black Mambazo? [referring to the Ladysmith acapella-styled singing group]. Here in uMlazi, it is not just for Zulus; people from other tribes resonate with it [referring to isicathamiya].

Figure 4.

Zulu migrant workers performing Isicathamiya at Glebeland Hostel, uMlazi, September 1984.

The statement highlights the role of isicathamiya in fostering cultural pride, ethnic identity and communal solidarity. While isicathamiya is not exclusive to uMlazi, its roots in Zulu culture demonstrate how its performance in predominantly Zulu spaces can unite diverse groups under a shared collective identity. This suggests that isicathamiya is more than a musical tradition; it is a significant tool for reinforcing social cohesion and cultural continuity within Zulu-dominated communities. Such a significant role of isicathamiya aligns with the philosophy of Ubuntu.

In addition, isicathamiya, especially its lyrics, addresses class and racial consciousness and the political ideologies shaping the settlement history and identities of uMlazi residents. Cultural performances reveal the dynamic, resilient nature of traditions in uMlazi, where rural customs merge into a blended urban culture. It becomes a space where urbanity and rurality intersect, offering people from varied backgrounds a sense of unity and belonging. In post-apartheid South Africa, a nation still characterised by a complex configuration of linguistic, kinship, historical, material and ideological possibilities, and where most populations, particularly the Black Africans, have had to navigate antagonistic boundary conditions such as urban/rural, traditional/modern and African/European divides, intangible expressions of culture instil a renewed and revalued sense of identity, Africanity and belonging.

In uMlazi in particular, a township noted for its persistent poverty, high level of violence, intolerance and crime, and where memories and remnants of apartheid-era injustice continue to shape residents’ perceptions, these cultural productions instil hope and promote positive values. Participants during the study repeatedly stressed the positive role of intangible cultural practices, asserting that collective remembrance through performance fosters tolerance and may deter youth crime.

Interviews also revealed that uMlazi elders and other stakeholders of these cultural values were intentional in their approach. They would often organise gatherings of youths to educate them about history, culture and moral values, aiming to preserve Zulu identity. One respondent recalled events led by Mrs. Cele at the uMlazi train station in the 1990s, lamenting their decline today. She and others attributed this partly to social media and the Internet, which they believed encouraged ‘more Westernised’ attitudes and reduced youth interest in cultural practices. As Grant (2010) notes, this reflects the gradual erosion of cultural practices over time, threatening intangible heritage. Still, African traditions such as uMaskandi, isicathamiya and related rituals and performances continue to thrive despite such challenges

Specifically, Isicathamiya has not only thrived but also evolved. It has thrived from being a male (migrant male) performance to being a gender-inclusive culture. The comment from a participant below reflects this transformation:

Isicathamiya used to be a male-only performance, but now women can also participate. It means women can also do what men can do. As a woman, that makes me proud, too, because if you look at the history of South Africa, women also played a significant (sic) role during apartheid.

The evolution of isicathamiya from a traditionally male-dominated, vigorous practice to a more gender-inclusive and nuanced form underscores the dynamic nature of culture, including intangible cultural practices. Historically, isicathamiya is seen as a precursor to the earlier genre Mbube (Zulu for ‘lion’), marked by loud, authoritative and overtly masculine tones (Wassel, 2009). However, contemporary Isicathamiya has undergone notable transformation, aligning more closely with its original meaning, ‘walking like a cat.’ This modern version is characterised by a softer, lighter and more gentle tone. Gunner (2014) conceptualises it as a ‘site of soft masculinity,’ situating the practice within its historical and current contexts. Gunner further argues this shift reflects emerging creativity and new visions of modernity (Gunner, 2014, p.1).

This transformation is especially significant in post-apartheid South Africa, where it intersects with evolving ideas of masculinity. The shift towards ‘soft masculinity’ in Isicathamiya aligns with broader trends in masculinity studies (see Coles, 2008; Reeser and Gottzén, 2018; Waling, 2019), which trace a move from hegemonic masculinity to alternatives like healthy and inclusive masculinities. This is particularly relevant in the Zulu context, where hegemonic masculinity – traced to King Shaka Zulu’s era – and still currently reveal itself through gender-based violence, mainly in informal settlements (See Udo, 2020) – has long been dominant (Carton and Morrell, 2012). The shift in Isicathamiya also underscores the role of intangible cultural practices in reshaping Zulu society towards what Meintjes (2004: 1) calls a ‘responsible manhood.’

Intangible cultural performances and space

In this section, we attempt to shed light on the significance and implications of linking material or cognitive memory to distinct landscapes. Paul Connerton’s theorisation of place memory is particularly important in this regard. In his work How Modernity Forgets, Paul Connerton distinguishes between two types of place memory. The first type is tied to toponyms, where place-names function as mnemonics that encode mythical events, ancestral actions, biographies, social activities and historical narratives. Drawing on examples from the Aborigines’ in Australia as well as the Wamirans, the Fois and the Kakulis in Papua New Guinea, Connerton (2009) argues that memorials in the form of place-names inscribe memory into the landscape. In doing so, they collapse temporal distinctions and link identity, rights and history to specific sites. Here, memory through place-names entails spatial fixity.

The second type of place memory is embedded in bodily practices and spatial movement, as seen in pilgrimage sites in Medieval Europe and Asia. In such cases, memory is carried through ceremonial action: crossing thresholds, moving through villages, houses, streets or squares enacts processes of separation, transition and incorporation. Connerton stresses that it is this territorial passage, the movement from one place to another, that provides the framework for understanding how societies remember and ritualise transitions. As Connerton puts it: Repeatedly we find this movement from one place to another evoking the concept of the threshold as the specific zone in which a crucial transition is effected; to cross the threshold is to unite oneself with a new world. Not as any place, only as this particular, unsubstitutable place, can the threshold provide the unequivocal support for a rite of passage (Connerton, 2009: 14).

To further buttress Connerton’s points, it is clear that in his two instances, he associates memorials with material spaces. In the first, memory is fixed within space. In the second, memorials of rites of passage, including pilgrimages, are temporal in nature, unfixed within space. Yet it is still difficult to comprehend such temporal passages without linking them to significant spaces; they can only be understood through people’s sense of place. This differs somewhat from the way we construct the relationship between space and memory in our case.

In our study, what we argue is that when intangible cultural practices consistently occur within specific physical spaces, they become somewhat intricately intertwined with those spaces, even though they are not fixed within them. We shall illustrate this further later in the following section. For now, it is vital to state that in uMlazi, spaces such as Tehuis Park, King Zwelithini Stadium and Glebelands hostels have become significant spaces for the uMaskandi festival and Isicathamiya performances. In many instances, interviewees, when asked if they can ascribe their significant cultural practices to physical spaces, many of them point out significant places as represented in the map below.

The map above illustrates the spatial distribution of intangible cultural performances in uMlazi, highlighting areas where these practices converge. Significant clusters of public memory spaces in uMlazi are predominantly situated in the central and eastern parts of the township. The uMlazi Mega City is located on this axis. While this area is a booming economic hub for uMlazi, several cultural events also occur around these areas, further testifying to the peri-urbanity features of uMlazi township.

Isicathamiya and uMaskandi performances in uMlazi are primarily centred around the Glebelands hostel. Initially constructed to house migrant workers, predominantly men, near Durban’s CBD, Glebelands has evolved over the years following the post-1994 transformations. Erlmann’s comprehensive study characterises Glebelands not merely as residential but as a site of collective memory, a comprehensive social system (Erlmann, 1992: 688). As a space historically accommodating diverse South African ethnolinguistic groups, including the Zulu, Xhosa and Pedi linguistic groups, among others, Glebelands epitomises a semblance of unity through the collective remembrance and preservation of intangible heritage.

Other significant cultural heritage practices such as Miss/Mrs uMlazi Heritage, ungoma cultural festival and uMlazi Jazz festival, among others, were also prominent in specific spaces. Besides the famous heritage practices broadly discussed here, including Isicathamiya and uMaskandi, which were the most mentioned by residents as constituting significant memories of the past due to their relevant lyrics, we also identified other so-called ‘smaller’ (in scale) intangible cultural heritage practices within uMlazi, situated in specific spaces as depicted in the map in Figure 5. We make the point that all these practices significantly contribute to a sense of place and belonging among residents in uMlazi.

Figure 5.

Spaces of Intangible African Cultural Performances in uMlazi Township.

The performative mode of production of the intangible cultural practices, by their nature and essence, are more dynamic, evolving and mobile. Their identification with particular spaces further illustrates this dynamism and shows how certain spaces function to bring unity through these practices. uMaskandi, for example, fuses different cultural contributions that are flexible enough to incorporate new content and new types of performers (gender diversity) and transcend definite material space. The performances are embodied, and the words evoke history that are strong enough to strengthen cognitive remembrance. The main strength of these practices lies in their capacity to move and change without losing coherence as a mechanism of identity formation. As such, their ‘locatedness’ within spaces (Connerton, 1989), as we map in Figure 5, is not the determining factor of the remembrance.

However, their persistent performance within certain material spaces not only give significances to those spaces but further embed the events and the story behind them in the memory and enable the passing of the practices across generations. This also corresponds to Sabine Marschall’s (2013) characterisation of tangible heritage (like public art) as capable of ‘holding and preserving memories’ (p. 82), specific locations or spaces in uMlazi, initially (seemingly) lacking cultural significance, can acquire prominence and meaning as public spaces due to the collective remembrance of intangible cultural heritage practices.

Another implication of linking collective remembrance of cultural heritage practices to space is the development of physical and symbolic attachments to these spaces. In the South African evolving urban spaces, where urbanisation creates social alienation and erodes peoples’ rootedness within spaces, African intangible cultural production serves as a valuable currency that reinforces closeness and community, instilling in the residents a sense of place, identity and communal relationships. As will be further substantiated later in the next section, it offers an avenue where rurality meets urbanity, culture meets modernity, and thus, incorporating diversity of the population in a contested, fractured and fragmented South African post-apartheid peri-urban context like uMlazi.

Intangible cultural practices, sense of place and place identity

Related to the above discussion on the intersection of intangible cultural practices and space, this section further shows the interconnection between space, place, people and culture, and how this nexus creates a sense of place identity. Environmental and social psychologist Harold Proshansky (see Proshansky et al., 1983; Proshansky, 1978) initially used the term ‘place identity’ to describe how people identify with their physical environment through cognitive and everyday experiences, including both conscious and unconscious feelings, values, goals and behavioural tendencies within the environment. For Proshansky (1978), these attributes mediate people’s sense of attachment to place, give meaning and life purpose and determine how they define their relationship with and belonging to the place and people therein (see Dixon and Durheim, 2000, for further discussion on place identity).

Economic and physical geographers have used ‘place’ to mean space, a built area or a geographical location. In contrast, human geographers and planners describe a ‘sense of place’ as how people identify with a space or location by giving meanings to it through daily experiences and affective commitment (Altman and Low, 1992; Dixon and Durrheim, 2000; Ellemers et al., 1999). Here, ‘place’ signifies emotions, feelings, experiences, values and other non-material attributes of a person’s connection with the physical environment. Identifying with a place and building relationships can result from shared language, cultural symbolism and mutual practices. In South Africa, place identity links to apartheid-era space-based racial segregation policies (Dlamini et al., 2020). People identify with spaces, cultural symbolism and practices resonant with their history.

In uMlazi, collective remembering through dance, music and indigenous cultural heritage plays a crucial role in shaping residents’ social identities within the township. This is shown in how residents describe living, coexisting and conducting daily activities within the space, and how these practices unite people of diverse ethnicities, particularly around the shared history and remembrance of apartheid segregation – significantly portrayed in song lyrics – as well as the emotional attachment and feelings associated with performing these songs within the historically significant township space and among people of shared history. This view is reflected in the narrative of a participant, a street trader clothing vendor who migrated from and still has roots in the Eastern Cape but now lives in uMlazi. When asked about intangible cultural practices in uMlazi, he stated

I am from a rural area in the Eastern Cape Province. My roots are still in Eastern Cape, but I have lived here [referring to uMlazi] for many years. I do not feel out of place, despite that this is a Zulu land. The majority of people here are Zulus, but events like the Maskandi festival have brought people together. Apart from uMaskandi, when there are other cultural celebrations, I get invitation from my neighbours and friends, and I love to take part in them. During those events you can’t really tell who is from where. For me, I do not feel that I am in a strange culture.

Besides communicating how intangible cultural practices inspire community amid diversity, this view also reveals how intangible cultural practices evoke a sense of place in people. The rich scholarly concept of ‘sense of place’ (Buttimer, 2015; Kyle and Chick, 2007; Massey, 2012; Najafi and Shariff, 2011) also describes how people associate feelings, emotions and experiences with specific locations. In a migratory or diasporic context, Agnew (2005) elucidates how a former space of marginalisation can transform into an embodied experience, where exiles, strangers and displaced individuals experience a renewed sense of presence, belonging and identity.

The participant further reflected on the dynamics and diversity in uMlazi, stating as follows:

uMlazi is nice for me because it is not rural, and it is not also urban. You get everything you want. You have a feel of a rural area and also a feel of an urban area. And you can easily buy anything you want. For me, if I go home, I am only going to visit. Umlazi is now a second home to me.

The statement above emphasises the dynamic nature of uMlazi and the important role of intangible cultural practices in fostering unity among its diverse groups. As a peri-urban area, uMlazi is characterised by a blend of urban and rural elements. In the context of the South African post-apartheid government’s efforts to promote development in historically disadvantaged, predominantly Black townships (Donaldson and Du Plessis, 2013), uMlazi has been attracting a more diverse population. In this evolving landscape, intangible cultural performances are crucial in preserving rural cultural values while embracing urban characteristics. Thus, African cultural performances in uMlazi are a unifying force, providing a sense of place to people from diverse backgrounds.

Furthermore, Pillai (2013) states that uncovering, excavating and celebrating intangible (and tangible) cultural assets can foster cultural diversity and, thereby, arguably, greater social cohesion within a community. In urban spaces like uMlazi, mapping rich intangible cultural practices can help dismantle physical and social boundaries, creating an environment fostering articulated moments of social interactions and understandings (Massey, 2012). Particularly significant in this study is the role of Isicathamiya performance in fostering interaction among residents of diverse backgrounds residing in uMlazi, marked by emotive vocal expressions that resonate with the people’s heritage and memory of the past, particularly within the complex history-imbued uMlazi township space.

The study emphasises that when memories are grounded within specific spaces, it underscores the profound interconnectedness of individuals with their environments, challenging the distinction between their psychological and physical experiences. The interrogation and mapping of memory spaces serve to embed these memories within particular landscapes, transforming intangible heritage into tangible expressions of history and personal experiences, thereby cultivating a profound ‘sense of place’ (Buttimer, 2015; Massey, 2012; Najafi and Shariff, 2011), a sentiment of home, belonging and ownership. Connecting collective remembrance of African intangible cultural practices to particular spaces contributes to the longevity of such memory.

Conclusion

The transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa has resulted in re-evaluating historical political events at specific locales, altering the narrative and significance of these events and potentially reshaping embodied memory and intangible cultural heritage performances. The preservation and enactment of African intangible cultural practices serve as mechanisms to reclaim and safeguard cultural memory from colonial dominance. This paper explores the production of memory and expression of identity and belonging through African intangible cultural practices in uMlazi in the context of the socio-political and historical evolution of African townships in South Africa.

It is vital to note that my primarily focusing on the two prominent practices, uMaskandi and Isicathamiya is not to downplay the equally significant role of other less prominent practices, those mapped in Figure 5. For instance, besides the major cultural practices mentioned above, participants in this study also emphasised the transmission of meaningful practices such as dance, song and rituals as invaluable cultural expressions inherited from earlier generations through other family-related traditional rituals. According to them, these rituals, such as uMemulo ³ , ‘unite families and friends’, particularly ‘when the donning of traditional attire and wielding spears connects us to our ancestors, instilling a sense of pride’. It plays a vital role in strengthening communal bonds, reinforces inclusivity and fosters collective identity among families and the broader community.

Equally, uMaskandi and Isicathamiya, alongside other cultural performances (see Figure 5), are, for many residents, catalysts for fostering a shared community. Memories of historical events are not solely retained in psycho-mental faculties; rather, intangible cultural heritage performances function as repositories and conveyors of knowledge through embodied memory, encompassing movement, gesture, language, dance and song (McKerrell and Kerstin, 2019: 22). This speaks to the deep (and complex) value of how African cultural practices contribute to a sense of place and belonging among township residents.

When these events are repeatedly or consistently practised within specified spaces, they imbue those associated spaces with significance or transform the so-called mere locations into culturally significant ‘anchored saces’ for the community. This finding enhances our understanding of how African intangible cultural practices contribute to decolonising spaces and the establishing ‘new’ culturally significant landscapes. Again, even though by their very nature, these traditional ceremonies, rituals and cultural performances are mobile, since they are embodied within the symbolic expressions of the performers, ‘anchored spaces’ further act as tools to strengthen intergenerational awareness and social remembering of these practices within the community. By their very nature, intangible cultural productions are not static or fiexed within space; yet through their repeated performance in specific spaces, they come to give those spaces cultural significance while still maintaining their transpatial and transtemporal attributes.

The study proposes that uMlazi residents can uphold African philosophical belief of Ubuntu by celebrating unique African/Zulu/uMlazi intangible cultural heritage performances, particularly, those that evoke collective memory. Still, our rich findings also suggest fertile grounds for further ethnographic work to explore whether and to what extent such performance acts enhance social cohesion by bringing together diverse African linguistic or ethnic groups in communal celebrations. Further studies can also be done on the intersection of anchored spaces and intangible cultural practices in other [South] African urban contexts, particularly concerning how such anchored spaces reinforce collective remembering and identity.