ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hum. Dyn.
Sec. Environment, Politics and Society
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fhumd.2025.1648130
This article is part of the Research TopicTraditional Knowledge and Rural Livelihoods and Practices for Nature Conservation and Environmental SustainabilityView all 4 articles
Zwisima na zwipise ndi fhethu ha zwifho: Traditional hydrological knowledge, conservation and protection of groundwater among the Venda, northern South Africa
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Limpopo, Mankweng, South Africa
- 2University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
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This study seeks to understand how springs, natural outflows of groundwater onto the earth's surface, are perceived in indigenous African worldview. Conducted in northern South Africa among Venda people, it employs ethnographic, historical and oral narratives that highlighted springs as sacred sites protected by myths and legends. Increased urbanisation and land use changes have placed these groundwater sources increasingly under threat. Venda indigenous knowledge transmitted from deep time, perceive water not merely as a consumptive resource, but a cultural entity deeply imbued with spiritual and ceremonial importance. Such knowledge critical in the conservation of groundwater and associated biodiversity.
Keywords: Venda, springs (zwisima/zwipise), Myths, Legends, sacred sites (zwifho), conservation, Biodiversity
Received: 16 Jun 2025; Accepted: 29 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Magoma and Pikirayi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Innocent Pikirayi, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
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