The above pictures show our administration block of our school and the learners

NORTHERN SOTHO : BAPEDI AND THEIR CULTURE:


The Northern Sotho people are mostly found in the Northern  part of South Africa now called Limpopo it is were they originate from.

Norms and values

They are not allowed to wear clothes inside out
After sunset they are not allowed to take salt outside the yard..

Greetings

In the northern Sotho culture when greeting, girls bent their knees to show respect for older men or when giving them food to eat, and they would say “re alotsha” in their language (sepedi) and the men would respond back and say”“re lotshitshe”.

And when members of the village meet on regular basis they  greet each other the ,fist person to see the other says realotsha and the other will respond back and saying “re gona re ralena” and then they talk about the weather or how are the children and the family doing.
Believes

The Northern people believe in ancestors and gods they believe that through ancestors they can talk to gods about their needs.

They also believe that when the time is right young men and woman should go to initiation school as part of their tradition and believes.

They believe that anyone who violates how thing are done concerning culture and their tradition is to be taken away from the village.




Birth

When the is a new born baby a boy / girl of the king the villagers are to go to the royal house (moshate) and give presents and gifts that child and wish him/her a healthy growth.

After few days they would be an announcement from the king’s servants that they would be a ceremonial party to be held where by the villagers would sing.and rejoice for the new born baby with drinks and food available traditionally prepared.

Death

When a person dies they burry him/her after seven days (7) so that they could haveenough time to arrange everything including to tell the friends ,relatives  and all the people who need to know about the death of that particular person and to give them time to be able to attend to the funeral.

The day before the person is going to be buried they cover him/ her with the cow skin then every body get a chance to see that person for the last time which is called (go tlhoboga) and the following day  he/she will be buried in the grave yard.  
 


Food

The Bapedi people eat food like thophi (the maize meal which is made from maize mixed with a fruit called lerotse), morogo wa dikgopana (spinach cooked and given a round shape and left to dry up in the sun) Bogobe ba mabele, samp and maswi (milk), masonja (mophane worms) and they also eat vegetables and fruits like milo, machilo (which are found from trees of the mountain).

Clothes

Ditsiba for man.
Metsheka for woman.
Kings wear clothes made out of wild animal’s skins like tigers and lions to show leadership and that there are from the royal ruling house (moshate) and ordinary people wear clothes made out of domestic animal’s skins like goats, ships and cows.
Presently  people have changed their mode of dressing because of the present trends in fashion

Music

The Northern Sotho people are known for there melodically music called dinaka, this music originated from a man who lived a long time ago who was called Dinaka. According to the Northern Sotho people this man who was called Dinaka loved to dance and sing, and made instruments specially designed for his music. It is said that when dinaka danced and sang his music was so great that villagers used to gather around and listen. When Dinaka died his music was loved that it continued on until this day and was named by his name, which is Dinaka.

Housing

The northern Sotho people live in houses, which are round in shape and called roundavels.

This house was made out of clay mixed with “ boloko” (cow wastes) to strengthen the houses, and nice decorations were made around the houses with lovely brown and black colors.

The roofing of the houses were made from particular grass called loala which was strong and long, and they would pack that grass in bangles and roof the houses.


Customs

The northern Sotho king is not voted for, the son of the recent king will be the king after his father dies or retire.
When it is believed within the villagers that there is a thief or a witch or someone who is causing trouble he she must be reported together with proof to the royal house (moshate). If that person is fond guilty heshe is to be prohibited or be expelled from the village until given date to return, or heshe should pay double what heshe made trouble of or stole incases of thieves .

If that person does not do as heshe is told the penalty after that is to be send away from the village for good.

Marriage

When it comes to marriage the elders used to choose for their young man or woman whom to marry which means that if parents of the gentleman or lady liked someone they would go to that girl’s family and introduce them selves and tell them that they would like their son to marry their daughter. And from then arrangements would be made on how the two people would meet.
And there after the girl’s parents will decide on how much cows or money will be paid for as Bogadi   then there after the two can be together.

If how ever a man dies in a family his younger brother who is not married will then marry the woman who was married by his older brother to support the family and take care of the kids.