Do Rain Dances Actually Work?With the ongoing drought devastating large tracts of land in South Africa and people lining up for hours to get just 50 litres of water for an entire family that needs to last as long as possible, thoughts are turning to ancient traditions, including rain dances, witchdoctors and the like.

Rain dances, known by various names, including mukwerera among the Shona of Zimbabwe, kilumi among the Akamba of Kenya, and legobathele among the Lovedu of South Africa, have long been dismissed as primitive superstition, but it seems that there may actually be something to them according to Greg Pearce in his book When the Rivers Run Dry.

According to Pearce, when the air is super-saturated with moisture on a cool, still night, even small movements such as sound waves, can be sufficient to condense the moisture in the air enough to produce raindrops. When dance is combined with the music, more air is displaced, and this pushes the water vapour molecules together, condensing them and creating rain.

According to Sputnik Ratau, a spokesman for the Department of Water Affairs, “Water will definitely be at a premium over the next few months,” and “we will be in an even more dire situation in terms of available water” the closer we get to the end of the dry season.

[Source: MGAfrica]

Africa is the world’s second driest continent after Australia, so droughts are not rare on this continent, so water troubles are not unique South Africa, but this level of drought has not been seen in over three decades.

Fourteen African countries are already experiencing water stress, and it is predicted that another 11 countries will join them by 2025, by which time around 50% of Africa’s projected population of 1.45 billion people will be facing water stress or water scarcity.

Rainmaking and similar rituals and myths have been a major part of traditional African life since time immemorial and with the current problems with the agricultural cycle and dire lack of drinking water across the country, maybe it is time for South Africans to do a song and dance which can deliver raindrops from the gods.

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