New Kwatu: Why Africa may need a Mars colony afterall.

I did a blog about why Africans need to focus on Africa & not so much on extraterrestrial activities before but it came from a very isolationist view & didn't assume Africa would ever really participate in global activities but the world is overly connected & globalised. Maybe too interconnected & globalised to the extent that you're in truth more connected to someone on another continent than someone in your neighborhood. We may need an extraterrestrial colony simply for more room in a cramped world & continent apart from other threats.

Africa isn't new to extraterrestrial "missions", some African goods have been taken outside this planet. Even though space travel isn't exactly cheap, there are some cheaper spacecraft models we could copy to send a self-sustaining & self-sufficient eco-system to Mars with some of Africa's more resilient plant species. A self-sufficient & self-sustaining ecosystem is easier & quicker than attempting to terraform any part of the Martian planet. Artificial sun, water, soil, temperature regulating mechanisms & artificial gravity by diamagnetism (for manned missions) would all need to be from Earth for this African extraterrestrial ecosystem. An African space colony may not even be for show off purposes but just a matter of our future survival with global warming, asteroids & nuclear war as dangers that could be the extinction of our race. We could do this collective African space mission as a tribute to Mandla Maseko who was set to be the first black African in space & the ambitious Mr. Edward Makuka Nkoloso who was ridiculed for his vision of a Zambian in space.

AFRICAN SPACE TRAVEL

UPDATE:

Alright, maybe Mars is a bad place for an African biosphere for various reasons & Africa may need technology that's far more advanced than we do have now to set up a base on Mars but perhaps a manned African crew or unmanned automated mission could put farms on the moon should the need ever come.

History of the Mpofana by Mthoko M. Mpofana

I'm not very traditional, I'm more straightforward & basic & often disregard cultural nuances so this history of the Mpofana tribe is going to be as direct & concise as possible. Growing up, I grew up knowing that the clan praises or izithakazelo of the Mpofana are "Zulu" & "Ntombela", I never questioned that. What I know now for sure is that there's a lot more that's hidden in history. What I keep seeing being repeated from various sources is that the Mpofana were part of the Amazizi (or AmaTiti) tribe. I now know that in the midlands & perhaps further north, up to the northwestern parts of KZN, they use the greeting "MaZizi okuhlala", perhaps alluding to the fact that the Mpofana as well as other Amazizi tribes were among the original tribes to settle in present-day KZN from 200 AD onwards & the "Dlamini" praise or greeting was used among all Dlamini tribes i. e. the Amahlubi, Amazizi (Mtiti), Hlangwini...

A little about eSayidi ( Port Shepstone )...

Port Shepstone is a small town on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal known by the locals as "eSayidi". In Port Shepstone, attractions include; Port Shepstone Museum, the annual Sardine Rush, a mall, two shopping centres & the beach. Port Shepstone was settled by British, Boers & Norwegian settlers during colonisation. By Port Shepstone is the suburb of Marburg where it's said Emperor Shaka met with Henry Francis Fynn in 1828 after the Zulu's Mpondoland campaign in present-day Eastern Cape. Descendants of Norwegian settlers in KwaZulu-Natal include cricket all-rounder Lance Klusener & South Africa's most successful football coach Gordon Igesund. Despite many groups living in Port Shepstone including those of east African, west African, southern African, Asian, Arab & American descent, it remains a Zulu-speaking town. Famous names to come from this small town called Port Shepstone include: • Naima Kay (Singer...

KZN's first minted, mainstream currency.

If you read some of my blogs, you'll notice that I study history a lot. I was searching for old currencies used in South Africa one day a few years back & discovered something which was called by indigenous people of KZN as "ukhence" or "inkence" . To this day, a colloquial word for money by indigenous people is "inkence". This currency was said to be so popular among indigenous people that it infiltrated popular culture of the time viz. "Wangishaya ngokhence." Officially called Stratchan & co. token coins , it was likely the first mainstream currency used by indigenous people other than cattle, tools, weapons & crops even though it was said to be minted in England. Examples of Strachan & co. token coins & coin denominations. They claim the hole was so indigenous people could wear it with beads but maybe it was also for the practical purpose of saving metal to make the coins. The Str...

What's on Mthoko's mind?

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