History of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park

[Klipspringer]

From the iSIMANGALISO WETLAND PARK: INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT PLAN (2022 – 2031)


EARLY STONE AGE (ESA)
The ESA in southern Africa is difficult to date as there are very few closed sites where the tools occur in
stratified layers. The Early Stone Age begins 1.5 – 2 million years ago and is represented by the Oldowan
tradition. Oldowan refers to the first stone tools that were made by hominid species: Paranthropus robustus
and/or Homo habilis and Homo ergastar. Oldowan tools, named after Oldovai Gorge, Tanzania, consist of basic
cores, such as choppers and unmodified flakes. This is replaced by Acheulian tools that occur from 1.5mya to
250 000 years ago. This period is noted for hand-axes, cleavers, and picks. The late Acheulian has larger and
slightly modified flakes, but this might be the transition to the Middle Stone Age. The ESA covers a long period of
prehistory with few changes in the types of artefacts.

MIDDLE STONE AGE (MSA)
The MSA was a dramatic shift in stone tool technology 200 000– 250 000 years ago. The first MSA flakes
were large and ‘bulky’, but then became more formalised and technologically advanced. Spears points and small
barbs (or segments) and a wider range of tools were made. The MSA included making stone tools using pressure
flaking and the heat treatment of rock before knapping. There is the emergence of engraving on ochre and
eggshell, shell bead necklaces and the use of a wide range of bone implements. Hunting implies working in
groups and new social behaviours' distinct from the ESA. There are four main stages in the MSA of southern
Africa. Unfortunately most of the MSA sites are open sites with no stratigraphic deposits. The MSA is also the
time of several Homo species living in Southern Africa and the eventual emergence of Homo sapiens sapiens
who buried their dead

LATE STONE AGE (LSA)
The LSA begins 30 000 years ago in southern Africa. Homo sapiens sapiens have been the only Homo
species in sub-Saharan Africa for about 150 000 years. LSA people use symbolism in the form of rock art,
geometric designs on various mediums, etc. The most significant change is in the type of tools that are produced
and the wider range of raw materials used. The stone tools tend to be significantly smaller and show a wider
range of specialisation. The tools tend to be made from fine grained volcanic glass, quartz, quartzite and rhyolite.
Most LSA sites are scatters of artefacts on the surface. However, as one heads into the mountainous areas
of Mkuze, shelters in the mountains are present that have stratified deposits.
14 000 years ago the ocean was several kilometres eastwards. People still hunted in larger groups and the
now extinct Pelorovis antiquus (Giant Cape Buffalo) was favoured. The Pleistocene- Holocene transition resulted
in sea levels rising and a loss of land and animal resources. It is during the Holocene that evidence for the first
bow hunting occurs. The beginning of bow and arrow hunting resulted in smaller hunting groups and the division
of labour between men as hunters and females as gatherers.

EARLY IRON AGE (EIA)
1 700 years ago the first African farming communities arrived along the eastern seaboard. These farmers
had a direct environmental and social impact on the landscape and Stone Age sites disappear from the record.
The farmers originated from the Great Lakes in East Africa and arrived with a full agricultural and metallurgical
socio-economy. The people farmed sorghum, millet, legumes and squashes, herded cattle and goats, kept
chickens and dogs, and made iron implements. They stayed in large villages in excess of 100 people and thus
required open areas for the villages.

LATE IRON AGE (LIA)
Approximately 1000 years ago a new group of Iron Age farmers arrived in southern Africa. They originated
from the lake areas of East Africa but arrived with a very different social system. Settlements moved to family
households on top of hills. The pottery decorations between the EIA and LIA changed abruptly. Since language
and pottery decorations are linked, this suggests that the new farmers spoke a very different language. These
were the first Nguni-speaking people to enter parts of southern Africa and eventually gave rise to the Zulu, Xhosa,
Ndebele, Swati, Hlubi, Phuthi, Bhaca, Lala, Nhlangwini, Southern Ndebele, and Xitsonga languages of today.
Excavations in the RBM Mining Lease, 40 km south of iSimangaliso, have recorded the entire LIA sequence.
From about 1500AD the eastern seaboard is inhabited by the Xitsonga-speaking people. Their pottery designs,
with the characteristic shell-impressed linear patterns, are found from Richards Bay to Kosi Bay. These people
were recorded as being Tembe-Tsonga in the south and Nyaka-Tsonga north of the Ubombo Mountains by early
Portuguese sailors who traded at Delagoa Bay (Webster 1986). At this time maize was introduced to southern
Africa by these sailors from the mid 1500s. Maize required a new type of grinding stone to deal with the harder
kernel than the sorghum and millet. This led to a design referred to as ‘bird bath’ grinding stones. Tembe-Tsonga
pottery has been dated to c. 1500AD to 1750AD in the Richards Bay area; however the tradition of shellimpressed decorations was still being recorded in the Maputo area up to 1960s. The Portuguese sailors noted the
Kosi Bay fish traps in their journals and that the Tsonga people were traders and middlemen. Webster (1986)
notes that the Tsonga State was in existence from the 1500s to the 1850s. This state was divided into
Portuguese and British territory in a treaty signed in France in 1875, and this became the border between South
Africa and Mozambique.
From the late 18th century there is the arrival of Zulu-speaking people along the southern parts of
iSimangaliso, while Zulu-speaking people were in the Mkuze area already. With the Mfecane (1820AD - 1830AD)
this area was ruled by King Shaka Zulu, and people moved around the landscape as political allegiances
changed. The eastern seaboard was more influenced by Zulu culture and artefacts in the southern half of the
Park. Shell-impressed pottery disappears from the archaeological sites and is replaced by Zulu pottery. It is
during this time that the current communities settled in to the southern part of iSimangaliso, while those in the
north probably have a longer history with the land. These communities are: Sokhulu, Mpukunyoni, Mdletsheni,
Makhasa, Nibela, Mnqobokazi, Jobe, Nsinde, Ngwenya, Mabaso, Mbila, and the Tembe

COLONIAL PERIOD
The killing of King Shaka Zulu (1829 AD) was a turning point for the social landscape in KZN. It is at this
time where European Colonials made an impact within the province. The British begin at Port Natal (Durban)
while the Voortrekkers have already made their way into the province via the Drakensberg passes. Five political
powers were now in play in iSimangaliso: Tembe-Tsonga, Zulu, British, Portuguese and the Boer Republics.
The area north of the Thukela River was still under Zulu rule up to 1879. The First Anglo-Zulu War resulted
in British Forces annexing KwaZulu. Magisterial outposts were placed in strategic areas such as eShowe,
Hluhluwe, St Lucia and Ingwavuma, while Pongola to Vryheid was part of the Boer Republic. There were no
colonial owned farms in this area yet. Sir G, Wolsley divided Zululand into 13 territories, or ‘kinglets’, with kings
favourable to the British, or antagonistic to the Zulu Royal house (Dominy 1994). This resulted in several battles,
especially when King Cetswayo was restored in 1883 and there was another civil war in Zululand. Chief
Somkhele of the Mphukonyoni, supporting King Cetswayo, fought against Zibhebhu kaMaphita, with the help of
John Dunn in August 1883. Chief Somkhele lost the battle and fled to the swamps of Lake St Lucia (Dominy
1994). Another famous battle is the Battle of eTshaneni (5 June 1884) in which King Dinizulu (backed by Boer
Forces) defeated Chief Zibhebhu of the Mandhlakazi Clan in the uMkhuze River Gorge, near Ghost Mountain.
The Natal Parliament declared St. Lucia a game reserve in 1897. In 1898 Rev. Feyling built the Norwegian
Lutheran Mission at Mission Rocks Outpost. This was closed in the 1950s when the area was given to the Dept.
of Forestry. The graves of two missionaries and some of the baking oven still remain.
At the onset of World War II, a Squadron 262 of Royal Air Force Catalina operated from St Lucia, hence the
name Catalina Jetty. They were used for undertaking submarine patrols in the Mozambique Channel. Mt. Tabor
has the remains of a blockhouse. On 25 June 1943 a Catalina crashed on take-off and eight of the nine crew
were killed. By October 1944 the water in the Lake had dropped too low for the Catalinas to operate (Dominy
1994). In 2001, the water levels had dropped again and revealed an Early Iron Age village on the shores of the
Lake. Lake St Lucia has had several droughts over the years.
The Joint Imperial-Colonial Zululand Lands Delimitation Commission was started in 1902, and by 1904
Zululand was separated into areas for “White” and “Black” people. This was the basis for the Native Lands Act of
1913. The more famous forced removal in iSimangaliso is that of the people from Lake Bhangazi between 1956
and 1974. The last person, Lokothwayo Mbuyazi, and his extended family were suddenly and forcibly removed
and literally dumped outside the park (Skelcher 2003).

[Lisbeth]

Do you have a link, please?

[Klipspringer]

https://isimangaliso.com/all-downloads/ ... ent-plans/

The draft management plan is up for comments.

But it is poor in details more a general blah blah. Some interesting insights on the management of the MPAs though.

[Richprins]

Klippies!

[Lisbeth]

[Lisbeth]

The rich heritage found in iSimangaliso Wetland Park is undoubtedly one of the
reasons why it keeps attracting thousands of visitors across the globe. iSimangaliso
stretches from Maphelane near St Lucia right up to Kosi Bay in the Mozambique
boarder. It is the second largest protected area in South Africa. In December 1999 it
was listed as South Africa’s World Heritage site in recognition of its unique global
values, the beauty and biological wealth. It became the first site in South Africa to be
recognised as a World Heritage Site. This status was accorded by the United Nations
Environment Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). This fragile combination
of natural beauty and social diversity has elevated the iSimangaliso Wetland Park to
the status of an icon in the history of environmental struggle in South Africa as former
President Nelson Mandela himself during his speech marking the historic 2002
reintroduction of elephants to the Eastern Shores of the Lake St Lucia said that, “The
Wetland Park must be the only place on the globe where the world’s oldest land
mammal (the Rhinoceros) and the world’s biggest terrestrial mammal (the Elephant)
share an ecosystem with the world’s oldest Fish (the Coelacanth) and the world’s
biggest marine mammal (the Whale).”‍

iSimangaliso has a long history and was previously known as the Greater St. Lucia.
The name iSimangaliso is derived from the Zulu proverb which says, if you have seen
miracles, you have seen what uJeqe saw in the land of the Thonga (Ubone isimanga
esabonwa uJeqe kwelama Thonga). Jeqe was the Zulu King Shaka’s royal aide who
kept the King’s secrets and is customarily buried with the king. To avoid burial with the
king when King Shaka died, uJeqe fled into far Northern Zululand the area where the
Thonga people lived. On his return after the King was buried, he said that he ‘saw
wonders and miracles in the flat land and lakes of the Thonga land’. He was referring
to the natural beauty he saw when he was traveling in the land now known as
iSimangaliso Wetland Park.‍

iSimangaliso has inter-linking ecosystems (the only significant major swamp forests
left in South Africa), 3 major lake systems including Kosi Bay, Lake St Lucia and Lake
Sibaya, 5 species of Turtles, 36 species of Snakes, 526 Bird species, all 5 of South‍ Africa’s surviving mangrove tree species, 700-year-old Fish traps, commented on for
the natural and cultural beauty by early Portuguese explorers, and 5 cultural groups:
Zulu, Swazi, Shangaan, Thonga and Gonda speakers. iSimangaliso Wetland Park
Authority is indeed a place where miracles and wonders never ends.

iSimangaliso has good relationship with 12 Traditional Councils from uMkhanyakude
District Municipality. uMkhanyakude is known as the poverty node over years,
iSimangaliso therefore has seen a need to expand community upliftment programmes
given the challenges faced by communities living in and adjacent to the park tackling
the issues of high unemployment, poverty alleviation and inequality. Rural enterprise
programme has been launched to empower small businesses and entrepreneurs
within uMkhanyakude District. To date the programme has evolved and assisted 430
enterprises with business skills development, capacity building and grant financing.
There are over 7 active alien plants remover contractors that were appointed from the
local communities with each contractor employing not less than 12 employees as
beneficiaries. It is believed that education is the key to success, a ladder has been laid
for 200 Groen Sebenza Interns and 130 environmental monitors who are currently on
the ground.‍

Statement issued by iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority
Media enquires
MLO: Mr Bheki Manzini
Call/Whatsap:060 533 2082
Email: bhekimanzini@isimangaliso.com‍