Hair Braiding in Zulu

Plastic has replaced grass. It's called 'development'.

 Lu-ka has three meanings in Zulu, if I remember correctly.

l Braid hair

l Make anything from grass like sitting mats and meat mats

l Boys taking animals out to graze at the crack of dawn

Braiding hair is well-known, what isn’t is the importance of grass in rural parts of the world. In Africa, kids make toys from nature, like grass ropes to play jump rope. Slaves took the game to the U.S. and it’s very popular up to this day.

Lu-ka is making household objects from grass like sleeping and sitting mats, amacansi. Girls engaged to be married used to go to relatives to collect gifts (ukucimela), and these mats were top of the list. In urban South Africa, this practice has been replaced by expensive blankets.

Lu-ka: You say the first part as Lulu, the second like U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.

ZULU	ENGLISH
Ba-luka amacansi.	They are making grass mats.
Ngi-luka amavovo.	I’m making strainers to strain isi-Zulu (Zulu beer).
Ngizo-luka kusasa.	I’ll braid my hair tomorrow.
U-Zama u-yazi-luka.	Zama braids her own hair.
U-Thandi uluka umama.	Thandi is braiding mother’s hair.
U-Bongi uluka u-Thembani.	Bongi is braiding Thembani.
Thoko, uyakwazi ukuluka?	Thoko, do you know how to braid?
Yebo, ngiya-kwazi ukuluka.	Yes, I know how to braid hair.
Ngicela ungi-luke.	Could you please braid my hair?
U-Zinhle no Thobile baya-luka-na.	Zinhle and Thobile braid each other’s hair.
Uyaphi? Ngiyoluka.	Where are you going? I’m going to braid my hair.

Exercise: Using your cousins’ and friends’ names, say who is braiding who, for example, Sanaa is braiding Kenya.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang, author of Sweetness, a South African novel.