The Njelele Shrine is a cave which is of significant spiritual importance in Zimbabwe; pilgrims visit it annually for ritual purposes prior to the beginning of the rain season.
[1] The shrine is inside a cave that is located in the Matobo Hills (which is a world heritage center[2]) in the Khomola communal area approximately 100 kilometres south of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city.
[4] Njelele is mainly known as the rain-making shrine however, it is visited for other purposes such as asking for forgiveness after society's wrongdoings, asking for cures for human and domesticated animals diseases.
[5][1] An assortment of skulls and horns of big game, iron hoes, clay pots containing water, cloth and beads, piles of tobacco, hatchets, and spears are kept in one of the caves at Njelele.
[5] The secret behind the respect accorded places like Njelele lies in the fact that Bantu people believed that spirits resided in caves, mountains, forests, hollow trees, and many other secluded environments.
Based on the Rozvi oral tradition, Njelele originated in about "the 14th century when the Mbire ethnic group migrated from around Lake Tanganyika southwards and eventually settled at Great Zimbabwe, a proto Shona settlement occupied between 1250-1450 AD.
Oral tradition recalls that Lobengula kept some of the Mwari (Mwali) cult spirit mediums at his Bulawayo settlement so as to seek counsel from them during crises .
A different version of the oral tradition states that the shrine was founded in the Matobo (Matovha) hills when the Great Zimbabwe experienced a religious squabble.
During this dispute a breakaway group of traditional priests deserted Great Zimbabwe and established the Mwari (Mwali) cult in Matobo(Matovha).
[1][3][7] The Njelele Shrine is currently overseen by Solifa Ncube (popularly known as Khulu Thobela (Thovhela) which means Grandpa Thobela/Thovhela) a traditional priest who is recognized by the community.
The fight for custodianship and priesthood resulted in the flight of Ngcathu Ncube who relocated to Silawa which is 50 kilometers away from Njelele after her home was gutted by a bolt of lightning.
Sitwanyana was then evicted by the Zimbabwe’s Liberation War Veterans Association (ZLWVA) who accused him of causing problems over the custodianship and priesthood of Njelele.