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Sangoma

The air conditioning in the departure hall of the Windhoek airport was nothing to write home about. And it was sizzling. There wasn’t even a proper bar – just a Coca Cola fridge against one wall, stocked with lukewarm beer. I sat in the smokers’ section, slurping at a Windhoek Lager and drawing on a cigarette.

Duty-free at any international airport is just a gimmick. Everything is more expensive, in my opinion, and it’s all part of a devious plot to con the tourists out of the last of their currency. Windhoek didn’t have much on offer, however. Except for the ubiquitous perfume and liquor, there was a lone novelties stand, attempting to peddle African souvenirs. Now, if there’s one thing I have learned during my travels, it is to distinguish between the real thing and a fake article, destined for the tourist market. En route to the beer, I recognised the mass-produced goods of Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe – nothing uniquely Namibian. The shop assistant was a Vambo woman, neatly clad in khaki. But there were no interested buyers.

My flight back to the Republic was still a half-hour away and I fetched myself another lukewarm beer. Among the usual crap on display, I had noticed a few exceptional items – small clay passport masks from Gabon and the Cameroon in West Africa. The little masks fit in the palm of your hand and in the old days served to identify the bearer when people moved from one area to another.

African art has its own particular attraction. Some like it, others don’t, but to distinguish a fake from the real thing you need a little knowledge. Not all ethnic groups concentrate on creative art, but certain items remain distinctive. In Zimbabwe the Shona make the most beautiful soapstone sculptures. Fertility dolls are typical of Kenya. The Maconde statues, depicting an entire community and made from a single piece of wood, are endemic to Tanzania. The bronze castings from Mali are remarkable, as are the colourful figurines from the Côte d’Ivoire. Coin-studded masks usually come from Nigeria, just as heads carved out of hard ebony are typically Zambian. Handwoven, brightly coloured fabrics from Burkina Faso compete with mud-painted cloths from the Korogo in the Ivory Coast and batik from Zimbabwe.

“Are you a sangoma?” the lady at the stall asked, noticing my collection of copper and leather bracelets.

It was a loaded question – especially if I chose to answer truthfully.

The blacks in suburban Pretoria had adopted me as their sangoma. I – who shopped at the supermarket in bare feet and kikoi, who dropped off a crate of beer at the garage at Christmas time and walked in the Irene koppies in the afternoons for exercise, with my walking stick and backpack, passing illegal shebeens on my way. “Induku” they called me – “kierie”, or “walking stick”.

I usually protested: “No, but . . .” For I knew this was a domain better avoided by the uninformed. But the displaced person needs a sympathetic ear and I began to listen. The problems were always the same:

“My husband is cheating on me.”

“I can’t survive on my wages.”

“I’m going to court tomorrow.”

“I’ve got a pain just here . . .”

“I’m looking for a job.”

My “consultation room” was furnished with Malawian chairs, carved from a single piece of wood, and numerous statues and masks from all over Africa. During “consultations” a big fire blazed at our feet, underneath a Karoo thorn that had been specially planted in suburbia. Advice was meted out carefully – the logical Western kind. Not once did I resort to traditional cult practices. I was never more than the listener and the induna, who offered advice based on his own experience. But it must have worked, because there was never a lack of callers.

“I don’t throw dolos and I don’t dance, but what’s the matter?” I once again ventured into the unknown.

“I’m looking for a job. I only help out here at the stall. Please help me,” said the woman.

I gave her a Western reply: “If you sell a lot of things and make a lot of money for the owner, he will think: ‘Perhaps I should keep this girl.’”

“But no one buys anything! I have been here all day. People just walk past and get on their planes.”

The announcement came: “Passengers on flight 832 to Johannesburg are requested to go on board.” I got up, relieved, and laid a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll see,” I said as I left.

I settled into my seat, fastened my seatbelt and got ready for the two-hour flight. Suddenly there was another announcement: “One of our in-flight attendants has been taken ill. We are waiting for a replacement from Windhoek. The flight has been delayed for an hour. Passengers may return to the departure hall to stretch their legs.”

I was the first one out. The woman at the stall looked at me, surprised, as I passed her on my way to the smokers’ section. “We’ve been delayed,” I answered her unspoken question.

“Surely a sangoma can make the plane fly?”

I smiled and shook my head. The little passport masks caught my eye again and I bought one. That was the signal for the rest of the passengers to descend on the kiosk. And every time she put a gift into a paper bag, her eyes found mine, as I sat sipping at a lukewarm beer. And she gave me a broad smile.