[The Conversation Africa] The Mbhashe area of South Africa's Eastern Cape province is a landscape of hills, fields and river valleys leading to the Indian Ocean. All along the ridges are the homesteads of the Xhosa people who have lived here since before colonial times. In years gone by, all these homes would have been round buildings ("rondavels") plastered with mud and thatched with local grasses. Today, many are built with bricks and cement and roofed with zinc. Some houses are rectangular, with decorative pillars, verandas and