Deemed sacred, Baleni salt is a type of salt that has traditionally been obtained from a swamp formed by a mineral spring of the same name in the Greater Giyani area for about 2000 years by the indigenous Tsonga community. The salt extraction is a sort of spiritual ceremony, and it involves mysterious movements and gestures which are a part of strict, age-old ancestral traditions and rituals that have been handed down through generations.
Although this activity used to be done exclusively by women in the past, in recent times men are also allowed to participate in it. The harvest typically takes place in winter, when the swamp’s water subsides, and women hand-collect the whitish salt crust that forms around the swamp’s edges.
After it has been filtered with river water in a specially designed basin, the salt brine is boiled, and one must make sure that it doesn’t burn in the process. Traditionally, the moist salt is made into cones that are sun-dried before being baked, but nowadays, it is more often stored in plastic containers in the form of loose crystals.
Rich in minerals, the salt is highly-prized for its flavor, and it is believed to possess healing properties, which is why it has also been commonly used in traditional medicine. Aside from its use as table salt and healing salt, the salt also used to represent a valuable trading commodity for the local population.
