PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has started the tour and launch of the Bulawayo Heritage Corridor. He started at the Inxwala Grounds where his tour guide for the day is renowned historian Pathisa Nyathi. The grounds are located between the city centre and Northend suburb and usually host the Lunar Park.
The site has survived since 1893 when the Ndebele State was destroyed by white colonists and King Lobengula abandoned his capital KoBulawayo. The Ndebele referred to the ceremony as Inxwala, a word which means something taboo.
The one aspect that was taboo, was the song that was sung on the day of the Main Inxwala. After its singing, it was erased from the people’s mouths, only to be sung the following year at the same time. Only the King presided over the ceremony and nobody else.
The ceremony symbolised the tasting of the first fruits. It was a cultural and spiritual ceremony about cleansing, renewal and above all it centred on the Kingship.
The President is launching the Bulawayo Heritage Corridor which starts at the Inxwala Grounds and moves to the Hanging Tree (between Connaught and Masotsha Ndlovu Avenue), Dr Joshua Nkomo’s Statue in the city centre, St Mary’s Basilica (Roman Catholic Church in the city centre), Joshua Nkomo Museum and the Natural History Museum.