Mermaids in Zimbabwe

Africa has many interesting stories and legends, especially Zimbabwe. The Zambezi River and the Victoria Falls are such big features in Zimbabwe, it is no surprise that water gods and spirits feature heavily in Zimbabwean folklore. Let’s have a look at some of their water elementals. Water spirits appear in many cultures and mythologies around the world. However, only one country has both the Zambezi River and the Victoria Falls. Zimbabwe is a mystical country that rewards all visitors with a glimpse of magic. You only need to look beneath the surface of the water. Although sightings of mermaids have been reported in some districts around Zimbabwe, they have never been substantiated.

According to media reports in February 2012, work on two reservoirs near Gokwe and Mutare stopped when workers refused to continue, saying mermaids were hounding them from the sites. Numerous other incidents have also been reported, but not investigated. Currently, villagers in Gokwe believe there are mermaids at Gwehava Dam. Fishermen have reported mysterious occurrences at the dam in recent years. They claim to hear voices from mermaids, chasing them away if they catch many fish for resale. One morning in June 2000, villagers in Mhondoro woke up to the news that two men had drowned in a local dam, mashambanzou, in the early morning when elephants drink and wash themselves. What was really shocking wasn’t the drowning, after all it happens often enough, especially during the rainy season. What shook the villagers was the fact that the two men drowned while trying to chase or catch a mermaid. The word “mhondoro” has a dual usage: when you put the stress on the syllable “ndo”, it refers to one of the most important myths of Shona metaphysics, that of a supra national spirit whose symbol is a maneless lion. In the mythology, when a departed royal or hunter dies, before they find a suitable receptacle or spirit medium, they might find refuge in a maneless lion. Pane nechivanhu (The place was sacred),” said the headman of the area, who is in his 70s. He finds the area mysterious that even during the day, he avoids walking near the dam. Some of the flat, lichen-eaten rock surfaces are inscribed with images by the San, the former inhabitants of the area. Whenever I am near the dam, I am always seized with the thought that, more than anywhere else in this expanse of land, it is at Chengevana that the equilibrium between human and landscape will forever be tilted in favour of the land.

My research on Shona beliefs and myths related to mermaids has indicated interesting facts about the possible origins of mermaids. The Shona refer to mermaids and maermen as njuzu. Shona myths indicate that the Shona have their own ideas concerning the origins of mermaids and mermen. However, it is difficult to tell the exact origin of njuzu from the Shona perspective as the Shona have different versions about the origin of njuzu.