Beaded Ballpoint Pens ( contemporary beadwork)

The social structure is patriarchal and the females have a very limited status within the community. The Ndebele women producing beadwork for MOPANI CRAFTS work individually from their homes in rural KwaNdebele, and in doing so are able to care for their children and retain their traditional lifestyles at the same time.

The women of the Ndzundza clan (known as the Southern Ndebele) are the practitioners of the remarkable mural painting, exquisite bead work for which the Ndebele are renowned.

The Ndebele share the same Nguni roots as the Zulu, but split from the original tribe in the sixteenth century as a result of rivalry over chieftainships. Displaced and dispersed several times, through tribal fights and later, the opportunistic interests of the apartheid government, the Ndebele people were finally settled in a remote and bare place that became known as KwaNdebele the place of the Ndebele.

Beadwork is one of the oldest and most elemental of the decorative arts, and in terms of colour and design, there are few other crafts that compare with the beadwork of the Ndebele women.

The Ndebele are one of the smallest tribes in South Africa, and the women are one of the most colourful and distinctive in their dress and adornment. The beadwork worn during the different life stages indicates the individuals status within the community at any given time.

MOPANI CRAFTS specialise in both traditional and contemporary Ndebele Beadwork. All our beadworkers are rural Ndebele women who live mostly in remote areas where there are very few job opportunities. The commercial outlet that MOPANI CRAFTS creates has enabled more than 70 Ndebele women from very poor economic circumstances to earn an independent income.

Beaded Ballpoint Pens