The Journey Kwantu

So this is part 2 of the topic of how the township destroyed African spirituality. It’s a conversation that I have been having with Bongisa Msuthu and Lerato Motshabi who are practitioners and academics within the architecture space.  In the previous episode we explored the historical context of African architecture and how it informed how people structured their lives from a cultural and spiritual perspective. In this episode we now delve deep into the origins of township architecture. How it came about. The intention behind it and how the world it created shaped our cultural and spiritual identity. Let’s get into it. 

How did the physical structure of the township affect how black people navigated spirituality? Did it help to cultivate a better understanding of our connection to God or did it enforce a detrimental mindset?

I think spiritual burnout has led many people to make drastic decisions or to misinterpret their experiences. Some people left church because of spiritual burnout. Some people cut their beads, burnt their cloths and called ancestors demons because of spiritual burnout. In some cases the severity can lead to something that resembles a mental illness. […]

The vast majority of us will eventually find ourselves in some form of a crossroads in our spiritual journey. When we get to this point the decisions that we are faced with can sometimes make us doubt everything that we hold as not only true but also important about our beliefs. Can you think of a time in your life when you got to this point? I spoke to Gogo Moyo about how she dealt with the paradigm shifts that she faced in her journey as a Healer, a Gobela as well as one of the most prominent public figures within the spirituality space.