Luvuyo Kakaza joins a Rastafarian community for their annual Order of the House of Nyabinghi celebration
It was a moonlit night in the Rastafarian village known as the House of Grasmere on the edge of a sprawling squatter camp south-west of Johannesburg.
African drums beat out a mystic rhythm and the wafting cirrus of ganja (marijuana) fumes penetrated a ramshackle tent where Rastafarians gathered.
Last Saturday was the 107th anniversary of the Order of the House of Nyabinghi, a worldwide annual Rastafarian celebration. By midnight the crowd of Rastafarians had gathered around the fire to offer a “holy sacrament”.
A picture of Haile Selassie, the former Ethiopian emperor, gazed down on the tabernacle where offerings of ganja, fresh fruit and vegetables were on display. The emperor’s original name was Ras Tafari, and Rastafarians believe he was the living god descended from the line of King David.
Nyabinghi is the most important meeting of the Rastafarians and is celebrated worldwide. All Rastas belong to the House of the Order of Nyabinghi. They are the keepers of the faith.
The faithful gathered on the 107th anniversary to praise Jah (God), and also to draw up a set of demands for the development of their village that will be submitted to the metropolitan council.
According to one of the elders of the Rastas, Papa Levi, the squatter camp was set up 15 years ago and there has not been any development since. The camp has no running water, toilets or electricity.
Although the Rastafarians only founded their new home in the area two years ago, they are in the forefront of campaigning for development.
On their arrival, the Rastafarian community of 100 families beautified the fields with tiny gardens, lending a splash of colour to the dreary shanty town. Their gardens are filled with tomatoes, cabbages, spinach … and dagga.
They’ve discovered a stream of water that springs from a nearby mountain. They filtered the stream and it now serves hundreds of families in the area. “We’ve done our best to keep this water clean and always tell people to boil it before use,” says Papa Levi. The water is also used to irrigate their gardens.
Since many Rastas do not believe in modern ways of living, Papa Levi says, they prefer to be farmers. “The Babylon [Western world] came with money and people fight over it. That’s why we have too many heists. We, the children of Jah, do not believe in money. We live from the ground.”
Many of them make a living from selling fruit and vegetables grown in their gardens. They also provide ganja to a local traditional healer, who uses it to treat asthma and witchcraft-related sicknesses.
On the night of the Nyabinghi celebration, many Rastas came with their harvests as offerings to Jah. The air was thick with smoke from the “holy herb” and the drums kept up a haunting beat. One tune continued for hours without a break before another was started and continued throughout the evening until the drummer was exhausted and replaced.
“Women are not allowed to beat the drum or to start the fire. They are regarded as queens,” says Ras Ike, a drummer. He admits a woman’s role in Rasta life is restricted, but says Rastafarian women have no problem with such rules.
Women are usually segregated from the men, particularly when they are menstruating, which Rastas regard to be an unclean state. They are childbearers, cooks and honoured servants. They wear no make-up or perfume.
“Their dress must be modest, as dictated by the book of Deuteronomy 22:5,” says Ras Ike, quoting verbatim: “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment.”
“We are the subservients of Jah and according to his laws we have to honour our men as they honour us,” says Mante, the wife of Ras Ike. He says Jah will punish all lesbians and gays beause they are against Jah’s creation.
Like all cultures, Rastafarianism is a conflicting package of faith and rules. Many outsiders ridicule their belief that the late Ethiopian emperor was the Messiah who came to earth to reunite Africans. But Rastafarians are not worried about converts as long as people hear their message, which is more concerned with worldly ideals such as peace, justice and freedom.
They believe Rastafarianism is not a religion but a way of life and that the Order of the House of Nyabinghi stems from East Africa. For them it refers to a religio-political cult that resisted colonial domination from the last decade of the 19th century to about 1928.
“Rastas participated in the armed struggle for liberation,” says Ras Ike, a former African People’s Liberation Army (Apla) soldier. “I was a Rasta by birth. I left Apla because Jah says that we, Jah’s children, should not kill.”
Other Rastas were Umkhonto weSizwe guerrillas but withdrew when the government went into negotiations. Ras Ike says the negotiations were a good move but Rastas were disappointed because they feel former president Nelson Mandela compromised for the Babylon democracy.
“We don’t want demoncracy,” he says putting an emphasis on the syllables “demon”. “Babylon is according to demons. This country needs theocracy, a rule by the law of Moses.”
They are also disappointed that their campaigning for the legalisation of ganja and recognition of the religion has not been addressed by the Constitutional Assembly. In 1996 the Burning Spear Movement in Cape Town made a submission to the Constitutional Assembly but their petition was bedevilled by the conservatism of Cape magistrates and the absence of expert witnesses on Rastafarianism in South Africa.
“We don’t necessarily isolate ourselves from the community but are forced to stay in isolation as we want to lead a purified lifestyle,” explaines Ras Ike.
However, the Rastafarian community at Grasmere gets along well with their neighbours. “Rastas are peaceful people,” says Martha Ntloako, a neighbour. “We live peacefully together and our children play with theirs. We usually go to their gatherings but do not understand their faith. They speak English which we don’t understand.”