Indaba

An indaba (pronounced in-da-bah) is an important conference held by the izinDuna (principal men) of the Zulu or Xhosa peoples of South Africa. (Such meetings are also practiced by the Swazi, who refer to them using the close cognate indzaba.) Indabas may include only the izinDuna of a particular community, or they may be held with representatives of other communities.

The term comes from a Zulu language word meaning "business" or "matter".

The term has found widespread use throughout Southern Africa and often simply means gathering or meeting. It is also used in the Scouting movement. The World Scout Indaba was a gathering of Scout leaders.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, used the expression when he announced, in April 2008, a move away from plenary meetings voting on formal resolutions for bishops attending the 2008 Lambeth Conference. He introduced "middle sized groups for discussion of larger issues", saying:

"We have given these the African name of indaba groups, groups where in traditional African culture, people get together to sort out the problems that affect them all, where everyone has a voice and where there is an attempt to find a common mind or a common story that everyone is able to tell when they go away from it. This is how we approached it. This is what we heard. This is where we arrived as we prayed and thought and talked together."

A number of 'indabas' take place annually in South Africa; these include the design, tourism, tax, mining and "baba" indabas.

The Design Indaba is an annual cultural conference held in Cape Town in late February or early March. It has also been referred to as the 'Conference on Creativity'. Design Indaba was established in 1995 and runs alongside a design expo of South African design, a film festival and a series of other workshops, parties and functions, organised by Design Indaba. Design Indaba is the largest event of its kind, and in 2013 contributed R326-million to the country's GDP. The attendance of Design Indaba 2012 (including the conference, expo and subsidiary events) was over 50 000.

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