Bonani Africa 2002 photographers

Vaal Technikon Students

This body of work portrays the harsh life lived among the beautiful hills in the Nongoma and Ubumbo regions of rural Kwazulu Natal.

Thirteen years ago Thinus Mathee and the first-year photography students of the Vaal Triangle Technikon set out on their first trip to this area. It became a yearly event, documenting the life of the communities in these areas. Issues that are covered include education, agriculture, health and living conditions. It is now a departmental project where all staff and students join to document this area.

Most people in this region live in traditional Zulu huts and subsist on the crops that they plat every year, the few cattle they own and the vegetable gardens with which the local government assists them. Local chiefs still maintain the rule under the authority of the King. They meet every Tuesday to discuss local problems and issues that concern the community. The biggest problem is that of unemployment for the young men and women from these communities. Some have high aspirations but cannot afford the cost of higher education. The jobs they aspire to, do not exist in these remote rural areas and as a result most families survive on the government pensions of the elderly.

The harsh conditions in which these people survive are hidden behind the hills and valleys, out of site of the thousands of European and American tourists that flock to the game lodges and reserves to experience 'Africa'. This on-going departmental project documents a part of our heritage, which must be preserved for future generations.

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