The Sacredness of Thaba Sione: Protecting the Spirit of a Living Landscape
By Kgomotso Phillips
Researcher, Freedom Park Heritage Site, Salvokop, Pretoria
Across the North West Province lies a mountain whose presence commands both awe and
reverence — Thaba Sione, a landscape where nature, spirituality, and memory converge. To
the people of Sione village, this mountain is not simply a geological formation; it is a living
testament to the sacred interconnectedness between humanity and the natural world.
A Landscape Beyond Religion
In Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS), sacredness is not a religious abstraction. It is a lived
experience — a way of seeing and being in harmony with all life forms. The sacred, in this
worldview, unites the cosmos and the human spirit. It is the pulse that binds the community
to its land, the river, the medicinal plants, the ancestors, and the unseen forces that shape
existence.
As Indigenous philosopher Babamkhulu Jabulani Khumalo once said, “Sacredness refers to
the active presence of the spirits. One does not assign sacredness to a place; one recognises
that which is already there.” This profound assertion challenges modern conservation
paradigms that often separate humanity from nature, treating sacred sites as scientific
specimens rather than living entities.
The Spirit of Thaba Sione
Thaba Sione — officially declared an open-air museum by the former Bophuthatswana
government in 1986 — is one of the nine sacred landscapes permanently exhibited at
Freedom Park’s //hapo Interpretive Centre. Yet beyond its museum status, Thaba Sione
remains a thriving cultural and spiritual centre.
The mountain is adorned with more than 400 ancient rock engravings, depicting a diverse
array of animals — buffalo, giraffe, elephant, zebra, crocodile, and others — that once roamed
freely across these lands. These engravings are not mere artistic expressions; they are
historical narratives, cultural memory carved in stone. They embody a people’s relationship
with their environment, a relationship guided by respect, reciprocity, and reverence.
Thaba Sione is also a place of healing. The landscape is abundant with medicinal plants
used for generations to treat ailments ranging from menstrual pain to skin diseases and
spiritual cleansing. The mountain’s ecology is not just biodiversity — it is biocultural heritage,
where knowledge and nature coexist as one.
Sediba sa Jakobo – The Fountain of Life
At the heart of this sacred mountain lies Sediba sa Jakobo, a natural spring said to hold
rainwater for months after each downpour. For the local community, it is a “fountain of life” —
a sacred well whose waters are believed to bring healing and renewal. Pilgrims visit from near
and far to draw from its spiritual and physical nourishment.
Another powerful symbol within this landscape is a naturally formed rock shaped like a
chair, used during traditional weddings. Couples sit upon it to receive ancestral blessings.
Those who wed there are believed to enjoy enduring unions — separated only by death.
These rituals and beliefs are not relics of the past; they remain living traditions that connect
the present community to their forebears and the land that sustains them.
The Threats to the Sacred
Yet, the sanctity of Thaba Sione has not been spared from harm. In recent years,
unauthorised foreign researchers have removed engraved stones from the site — acts of
theft that not only rob the community of its heritage but desecrate the sacred relationship
between people and place. Equally worrying is the over-harvesting of medicinal plants by
traditional healers, a practice that has strained the ecosystem.
The North West Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Traditional Affairs has since fenced
the area to protect it, a move welcomed by the community. However, protection must not
mean exclusion. Conservation policies imposed without community participation risk
alienating the very custodians whose knowledge has preserved these landscapes for
centuries.
Rethinking “Conservation”
Modern conservation models often view sacredness through Western scientific lenses —
seeking to categorise, regulate, and control. But as scholars like Salmon (2000) remind us,
Indigenous cultures understand their mutual roles and responsibilities to their surroundings
because they are directly related to everything in their environment. Sacred landscapes like
Thaba Sione challenge us to see conservation not as management, but as relationship —
one that demands humility, collaboration, and deep listening.
A Call for Partnership and Respect
Recognising sacred landscapes should therefore go beyond restricting access to natural
resources. It requires honouring the wisdom of Indigenous custodians — their languages,
rituals, and ecological knowledge systems that have long sustained these environments.
Government institutions, conservationists, and spiritual communities must co-create policies
that reflect both science and spirit. The preservation of Thaba Sione is not only a matter of
protecting heritage; it is a moral imperative to respect the sacred, to acknowledge that not all
value can be measured, fenced, or catalogued.
Conclusion
Thaba Sione embodies what it means for a place to be truly sacred — it is a living archive of
ecological wisdom, cultural resilience, and spiritual vitality. Its engraved rocks speak, its
waters heal, and its air carries the prayers of generations.
