The mountains encircling the tiny African Kingdom of Swaziland include one that resembles a basking crocodile. At its summit is the world's most ancient iron ore mine, and at its foot is the remote village of Ngwenya - “crocodile” in the Siswati language – where Swazi craftsmen and women have been breathing life into enchanting glass interpretations of Africa’s animals and birds for more than two decades.

Since its rebirth in 1987, Ngwenya Glass, Swaziland’s only glassblowing factory, has been both an inspiring business and employment success story and an environmentalist's dream. Seventy people work for the company, which makes tableware, drinking glasses, vases, jugs and the ornamental animals, as well as custom items for prestigious hotels around the world.

All products are completely hand made from recycled glass, mostly soft drink bottles that are gathered from all over Swaziland by local people and by schools. Swazis are paid per kilo for clean glass, while local schools gain building materials and sponsorship of soccer teams in exchange for organizing neighbourhood cleanups.

In 1989, Ngwenya Glass launched the Kingdom of Swaziland's most successful wildlife conservation fund, the Ngwenya Rhino and Elephant Fund, by donating a percentage of profits from its worldwide sales. The fund supports the Mkhaya Game Reserve, a refuge for endangered species in the Swaziland low veld.

Glassblowing originally began in Ngwenya in 1979 as a Swedish Aid project. The Swedes imported the machinery and equipment, built the original factory, and trained Swazi's in the art of glassblowing. Two of the most talented were sent to Sweden to the Kosta Boda glassworks to learn from leading artisans. In 1981 the Swedes handed over the factory to Swaziland Small Enterprise Development Corporation and until 1985, when the factory ceased production for financial reasons, it was entirely Swazi-run.

When the factory closed and the supply of glass animals dried up, a South African family that had collected Swazi Glass elephants came to visit Ngwenya to find out why. Despite a lack of knowledge about glassblowing, marine engineer Chas Prettejohn, together with his wife Cathy (an insurance broker) and his parents, Alix, a former librarian, and Richard, a farmer, ended up buying the defunct, and at that time unique in Africa, factory in 1987.

Two months after they took over in June 1987, production began again with four former employees, including master glassblower and former production manager Sibusiso Mhlanga who had trained in Sweden under Jan-Erik Ritzman, one of the world’s greatest glass blowers. After the factory closed in 1985, he kept busy as a backyard motor mechanic and occasionally showed prospective buyers around the factory. However, all the visitors until the Prettejohns said the plant was not viable and would never function successfully.

Together, Sibusiso and the Prettejohn family became a formidable team. He trained the entire workforce, including blowers, grinders and packers, and has continued to advance his own artistry. In 1999, Ritzman invited Sibusio to be his assistant in teaching advanced glassblowing at the Pilchuck Glass School in the USA. In February 2005, visiting Dutch glass designer Peter Bremers introduced Sibusio and his team of James Magagula, Sifiso Nkambule and Isaac Mamba to the “Graal” method of glassblowing.

Bremers also inspired a February 2006 workshop on the versatility of glass which brought together internationally-known master glassblowers and regional designers from throughout southern Africa and as far away as London. Workshop costs were covered by auctioning off 22 pieces made during the workshop as well as four made during the closing dinner, held around the furnace on the factory floor, to the 114 guests. A second workshop was held in 2007.

Thus the Prettejohn's crazy dream has become a reality and today, the elegant but funky tableware, and quaint little glass animals and birds that are synonymous with Ngwenya Glass, have found their way into up market stores, homes and businesses around the globe. Ngwenya, which uses only 100% recycled glass, is proof that business success and commitment to protecting the environment can indeed be a winning combination!

This story was prepared from articles on the Ngwenya Glass website; contact them at Email. The company’s products are marketed online through Pure Swazi, a website that also features a collection of outstanding hand made art and craft works made by other Swaziland companies, including Gone Rural, Swazi Candles, Quazi Designs, and Tintsaba Crafts. You can find a variety of fascinating stories about Swaziland in a 1999 Washington Post supplement.

 


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