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The Hut Group

Highly commended winner best ap solution: adam smith awards 2021, an overhaul of thg’s payment methods in line with the company’s expansion and evolution, company profile, citi virtual card solution enables automated, low-cost payment for digital advertising expenses., novaon group is a technology enterprise based in vietnam. novaon was established in 2006 and has become one of the pioneers in the digital field in vietnam. as the preferred partner in vietnam for most of the world’s largest digital platforms, novaon is an industry leader across southeast asia. at present, novaon has 10 member units and more than 1,000 employees in five countries: vietnam, thailand, indonesia, philippines and singapore., after 15 renovating years, novaon has become a leading technology corporation in the consultancy and implementation of digital transformation solutions., the challenge.

As THG grew, the company developed its marketing and sales strategy to be even more directly integrated with its customers in processes that involved leveraging three distinct strategies: engagement with micro influencers on various social media platforms; the ability to offer services in our consumers’ local language involving partnering with translators through our translation business; to process refunds in a more streamlined and faster way. Challenges posed included refunding customers with no deductions via the same method they paid for goods, and paying suppliers such as influencers and translators for their services, many of whom don’t have traditional bank accounts or were only due “one-off” payments.

The solution

THG partnered with Citi and treasury management system provider Kyriba to build an end-to-end payment system integrated via SWIFTNet FileAct that had the ability to make instant payments to digital wallets in 20+ different currencies across almost 200 countries, from a centralised account in London.

The new system meant THG no longer needed to ask suppliers for their bank account details or SWIFT codes, information that influencers, translators and consumers often find a chore to source. All THG requires to process a payment is an email address. Now influencers, translator or consumers requiring a refund are instantly paid in a simple, yet sophisticated process.

THG pre-agreed an FX spread with Citi, so that if the payment currency is different to the currency of THG’s account, Citi will auto convert the funds to the currency of the beneficiary’s preference. THG is using PayPal wallet. Even if the company’s beneficiaries don’t have a PayPal wallet, when THG sends funds to their email address, PayPal can trigger a notification to them, guiding them on how to open a new wallet.

The company is currently exploring the option of integrating payments to Union Pay Cards in China.

Best practice and innovation

The traditional approach for managing these types of payments is to pay individuals using cross border wires. This is expensive, as it carries incremental correspondent bank charges that increase the cost of the transaction. Moreover, full value to beneficiaries is not always guaranteed.

It would also require THG to hold large sets of data for each beneficiary – bank account details, sort code information, SWIFT codes and bank addresses. THG pioneered a payment solution together with its partners that has helped the company achieve speedy payments to influencers, transparency and convenience in a cost-efficient way.

Key benefits

• Speed: payments into the wallets are close to real time.
• Transparency: the transaction status is instantly visible.
• Convenience: payment formatting is so much simpler and more straightforward than traditional cross-border wires.
• Cost efficiency: payment chain involves 2 financial institutions – Citi and PayPal. There are no intermediary costs or lifting fees. Furthermore, THG’s influencers receives full value with zero deductions.
• Security: the solution is fully digital, allowing us to initiate payments from the THG TMS that feeds instructions to Citi via SWIFTNet FileAct using an XML v3 file. There is zero paper trail and rationalisation of expenditures.

“The automated, streamlined and transparent solution we created together with Citi and Kyriba will change the way companies think about cross border payments to individuals. Whether it be for infl uencer payments, or for consumer refunds or payments to small freelancers all over the world. There is a growing demand from individuals to be paid in a smarter way. In a world that is becoming increasingly digital, why should we rely on multiple pieces of hard to gather account related data points?” says Ian Armstrong, THG’s Group Treasurer.

“The Hut Group’s objective was to design and implement a digital payment solution that was not dependant on traditional payment rails. They were paying a new class of suppliers and benefi ciaries, and needed a solution which was real time, digital, transparent and cost effi cient. At Citi, across our global network, we have recently launched the capability to pay directly to digital wallets and card schemes. We were able to structure a solution whereby The Hut Group was able to pay their influencers, translators and their customers into PayPal wallets all over the world in multiple currencies without the need of account details on a 24/7 basis.”

Sheharyar Butt, Global Sales Head Cross Border Payments, Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi

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About The Hut Group (THG)

THG is a vertically integrated, digital-first consumer brands group, retailing its own brands in beauty and nutrition, plus third-party brands, via its complete digital commerce solution, Ingenuity, to an online and global customer base.

For this case study interview, we connected with Paul Bonner, the Group Marketing Director at THG.

What Are Your Goals? Our main goal is to maximize sales whilst maintaining an efficient cost of sale. Driven by data, we ensure that we invest our efforts into channels and areas that will drive the most efficiency.

In terms of our CRM, our goal is to drive as many customers through these “free” channels as possible to allow us to invest more effectively in paid channels to drive customer acquisition, then convert them into returning customers via email and our mobile app channels. We make improvements to the customer journey by launching initiatives such as Wishlists, Preference Centre, and improved personalization and automation, in an effort to enhance the customer experience and drive retention.

What Are Your Biggest Challenges? Cost inflation as well as operating in saturated markets such as the UK is making it more difficult to acquire new customers efficiently, so it’s important that we retain customers and continue to do so via free and owned channels. Email is getting harder to get the same impact, so important that we diversify into new channels like in-app messages and push notifications. Given the current climate, our messaging strategy is critical to our growth because it allows us to focus on driving retention via owned channels.

Is There a Messaging Channel or Campaign You Have Found Particularly Impactful? Our app engagement strategy has been the most impactful over the last couple of years, we have driven a large percentage of our customer base to our app by creating exclusivity — including offers, content, and product launches.

What Does Your Messaging Strategy Look Like? We primarily segment our user base based on purchase history (Products, recency, frequency) and engagement (visited site, opened/clicked emails). We use push notifications to share promotions, re-engage inactive users, launch new products, encourage two-factor authentication, and more. In-app messaging has allowed us to run download initiatives for new users and then use in-app notifications to show the users personalized offers and intro messages.

Why OneSignal? We needed a solution that provided everything we needed to fulfill our requirement for push notifications and allow for easy integration. OneSignal has helped us grow our user base, engage new users, and drive return purchases.

We needed a solution that provided everything we needed to fulfill our requirement for push notifications and allow for easy integration. OneSignal has helped us grow our user base, engage new users, and drive return purchases. Paul Bonner Group Marketing Director

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The Hut Group: Managing reputation amongst investors

It is an accepted view amongst founders that the strength of their company does not go hand-in-hand with their individual reputation. But, the media frenzy around the share conditions of THG show this isn’t always the case.

Many ambitious founders believe that their company’s reputation will remain ‘rock solid’ in spite of concerns (and, indeed, questions) about the strength of corporate governance. The argument goes: As long as the company delivers strong growth and dividends, corporate governance doesn’t really matter. Right?

Just look at the biggest tech start-ups in San Francisco, where founders like Jess Bezos and Elon Musk continue to maintain a vice-like grip on the company and its decisions.

Who needs a strong independent Board? Or why would investors need a strong voice to challenge their decisions? They are the entrepreneurs, so they are the ones who know how to make the best decisions for the company.

THG founder Matthew Moulding to give up ‘golden share’

The current media frenzy around Matthew Moulding and The Hut Group (THG) is an interesting case study about the importance of thinking carefully about the optics of 'founder control' and corporate governance. And, why it makes a difference to companies and their performance.

Firstly, it should be said that Moulding, who is founder and current CEO of THG, is one of the country’s most innovative, ambitious, and inspirational entrepreneurs.

He has built a multi-billion-pound e-commerce enterprise over the course of a couple of years, that not only powers thousands of UK jobs but, much more than that, is also playing an important role in ensuring that the UK economy is packing a punch globally when it comes to tech and innovation.

As of Monday morning, Moulding has said he will surrender his ‘golden share’, which gives him significant control over the company, and how it is run, to regain City confidence after a difficult two weeks.

Some investors had previously raised questions about whether this gave Moulding too much control and say, and whether it is possible to properly hold the executive to account, whilst ensuring the long-term performance of the company.

THG hopes this update to its share conditions will promote “good corporate governance” and secure them a premium listing in London by 2022. The removal of the dual-class structure will certainly appeal to (and assuage the fears of) investors.

The market has responded positively since the announcement Monday morning, with shares in THG jumped 8% to 312p, demonstrating how rethinking how IPO conditions will be perceived is a necessary consideration for founders’ today.

The need for conscious consideration of founder reputation

But, should this have all been done earlier? This case highlights why it is crucial for companies and their founders to think carefully about how they are perceived by the banks, investors, and the wider markets who, ultimately, may have a different set of standards to their own.

Often, entrepreneurs need to be quietly told that, despite what they may first think, the markets do often have more power than them – and can make or break their success. Thinking consciously about how their behaviours, strategies and decisions look is paramount in today’s landscape.

Ultimately, it is critical that all founders and entrepreneurs think carefully about optics – both for the company and them personally – before undertaking an IPO, and usually this process should start 6, 12 or even 18 months before the planned IPO itself.

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Hut Group Ltd v Nobahar-Cookson – Case Summary

Hut group ltd v nobahar-cookson, court of appeal.

Citations : [2016] EWCA Civ 128; [2016] 1 CLC 573.

The parties had given each other warranties. The seller’s warranties included representations as to the state of their accounts and business affairs. The buyer was contractually required to serve any notice of claim within 20 days of becoming ‘aware of the matter’ (‘the time clause’).

The parties later sued each other for breach of warranty. The seller sought to rely on the time clause. The parties disputed what the buyer needed to be aware of for the time limit to begin running. At trial, the judge found that the buyer was aware of enough facts to bring the claim more than 20 days before they served their notice. However, the judge also held that the buyer was not aware of their entitlement to bring the particular claim until it received advice from its forensic accountants. They had served their notice of claim within 20 days of receiving this advice. It was therefore important whether ‘aware of the matter’ meant either:

• ‘Aware of the facts giving rise to a claim’;
• ‘Aware that there might be a claim’; or
• ‘Aware that there was a proper basis for a claim’.
• How should the time clause be construed ?
• Should the time clause be construed contra proferentem ?

The Court of Appeal held that from a commercial and linguistic sense, ‘aware of the matter’ was ambiguous. This ambiguity could not be resolved using the usual rules of construction. The clause should therefore be construed contra proferentem . Applying this approach, ‘aware of the matter’ meant ‘aware of a proper basis for a claim’. The claimant had, therefore, given timely notice of the claim.

This Case is Authority For…

Historically, exclusion and limitation clauses were interpreted ‘ contra proferentem ‘. This meant that the court would resolve any ambiguities against the party seeking to rely on the clause.

The Court of Appeal clarified that the contra proferentem rule is no longer a ‘presumption’. They noted that courts should not go out of its way to seize on any little ambiguity and should not use the rule to give clauses a strained meaning. The courts should first try to resolve any apparent ambiguity using the usual rules of contractual interpretation.

However, the Court disagreed with the trial judge, who held that the rule could not apply in this case because the parties had clearly thought out the balance of risk between them. The Court of Appeal held that this was insufficient reason to ignore the rule if there remained a true ambiguity in the clause after the court has applied the usual rules of construction.

Briggs LJ explained the justification of the contra proferetem rule:

‘Ambiguity in an exclusion clause may have to be resolved by a narrow construction because an exclusion clause cuts down or detracts from the ambit of some important obligation in a contract, or a remedy conferred by the general law such as (in the present case) an obligation to give effect to a contractual warranty by paying compensation for breach of it. The parties are not lightly to be taken to have intended to cut down the remedies which the law provides for breach of important contractual obligations without using clear words having that effect.’

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Hut Group cancelled 2011 flotation after multimillion-pound fraud was uncovered

Details of 2014 judgment come to light as e-commerce firm prepares new £4.5bn listing

The Hut Group, the Manchester-based e-commerce company preparing a £4.5bn stock exchange listing, cancelled a previous flotation following the discovery of a multimillion-pound fraud at the firm.

Details of the fraud and the subsequent collapse of the share offering – which dates back to 2011 – are contained within a 2014 judgment in a high court case that included THG being ordered to pay £10.8m to settle a claim from the owner of a business it had acquired.

The judge’s ruling explored how THG’s aggressive business culture during that time contributed to the fraud and stated how attitudes within its finance department had “allowed the fraud to flourish”.

The news of the historical accounting problems comes just a day after THG confirmed its intention to float , in a move that could value the company at £4.5bn and raise it around £920m of new funds.

Founder Matthew Moulding, who was THG’s chief executive in 2011 and is now executive chairman, is said to be in line to receive £700m if the company reaches a valuation of £7.25bn by December 2022 . He is also insisting on retaining a “founder’s share” to block unwanted takeover bids.

The court documents state that in May 2011, THG acquired the sports brand Myprotein from its founder Oliver Nobahar-Cookson for £58m, which was made up of £30m of cash plus shares representing 12% of the combined company.

Cookson claimed he had been led to believe the shares were then worth £28m and that he would quickly be able to sell them for a significant profit when the company floated in the autumn of the same year, according to the judgment.

The documents show that a fraud inflating THG’s valuation was discovered in September by THG’s auditor, PwC. Mr Justice Blair stated: “I am satisfied that the reason that the [flotation] went off was the fraud and the discovery of the losses concealed by the fraud.”

THG’s then financial controller, plus another member of the accounting department were sacked, with Darren Rajanah, then finance director and now working in THG’s Ingenuity division, put on gardening leave before returning to the company.

Rajanah’s conduct was criticised in the judgment including how “a bonus of £50,000 which had been awarded to Mr Rajanah … was paid into [the fired financial controller’s] bank account to hide it from Mr Rajanah’s wife, from whom he was undergoing a divorce.”

The judge added: “I am satisfied that [the sacked financial controller] was under pressure to produce figures which would be used in the acquisition [of Myprotein], and that though not personally fraudulent, Mr Rajanah, as finance director and a member of the board, has to take some responsibility for an atmosphere within the finance department which allowed fraud to flourish.”

He concluded: “In my judgment, [the] fraud is to be attributed to THG.”

It was not suggested that Moulding had prior knowledge of the fraud.

A THG spokesperson said: “This historic [sic] matter related to the actions of two junior individuals back in 2011. Contemporaneous independent reviews and the court found THG was not aware of their actions nor the systems issue causing the reporting inaccuracy and [THG] took immediate corrective action on discovery.

“At the time, the company was considering the option to list or raise money privately and had not engaged any investors prior to identifying the accounting system error.

“A private placement was then completed in September 2011, which the Myprotein founder participated in.”

In the same case, THG successfully claimed £4.3m for its losses because of inaccuracies over the Myprotein accounts.

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More on this story

Online health and beauty firm THG in talks to buy freesheet City AM

THG chief Matt Moulding gives up ‘golden’ share

THG shares fall after failed takeover talks with Apollo

Kelso Group ups stake in THG and calls for spinoff of nutrition business

Boss of THG quotes Alanis Morissette as he slams ‘negative press’

THG shares soar on takeover move amid spate of private equity bids for UK firms

Now would be a good moment for the chair of THG to find his voice

More pain for online retailer THG as top insurer reduces cover

THG shares rise after SoftBank sells stake to Moulding and Qatar

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The Hut Group

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The Hut Group

When you’re the largest online retailer in the UK, you need cleaning machines that maintain a high standard. The Hut Group realised this when opening their new depot and required robust and reliable cleaning solutions from Hako Machines Ltd.

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The Hut Group

Crossdock Development constructed a 212,000 S.F. FDA and DEA certified building for The Hut Group.  The Hut Group is a British ecommerce company specializing in the sports nutrition, health and beauty, and cycling and endurance categories. The facility started as a speculative building, and quickly became a build to suit for The Hut Group soon after the initial ground breaking.  The building’s premier location, nestled between Amazon’s complex along Amazon.com Boulevard, made this facility an ideal setting for The Hut Groups logistics operations.

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Here Turks and Jews and Gypsies,

  There Persians haughty-browed;

With silken-robed Celestials,

  And Frenchmen from the Seine,

And Khivans and Bokhariotes,—

  Heirs of the Oxus plain.

Here stalk Siberian hunters;

  There tents a Kirghiz clan

By mournful-eyed Armenians

  From wave-girt Astrakhan;

And Russ and Pole and Tartar,

  And mounted Cossack proud,—

Now, by the Tower of Babel,

Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia

Center for Low-Moisture Food Safety

Improving user experiences (ux) with food safety materials developed by agricultural commodity group: a case study of the almond industry.

August 07, 2024

This project aims to examine food safety materials developed by the agricultural commodity group for the almond industry, identify insufficiencies, and suggest ways to enhance the experience of stakeholders using these materials.

Agricultural commodity groups are ideally positioned to bring together industry stakeholders and assist in establishing and implementing appropriate practices (Young & Hobbs, 2002). The Almond Board of California (ABC) exemplifies this role, being a leading commodity group in the world’s largest almond-producing region – California, which produces about 80% of the world’s almonds (Almond Board of California, 2023). To support safe food production among stakeholders, they have developed extensive food safety materials. However, limited knowledge exists on how stakeholders use these materials and how to enhance their user experiences. Involving end-users in the material design and evaluation helps to improve the perceived usability of educational materials (Kealey et al., 2023).

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• Published: 01 September 2024

Utilisation of rondavel space by amaXhosa people: a case of Mbhashe local municipality, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

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Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  1122 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Traditional rondavel building patterns, designs and materials have changed due to urbanisation, economic status, globalisation, and modernisation. There is limited understanding of how the architectural change has impacted the utilisation of rondavel space. This study uses the concept of habitus to understand whether the changing design of traditional rondavels has influenced their utilisation, based on a case study of the Mbhashe Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa. The data was collected using semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal the habitus of the AmaXhosa people on how they utilise traditional rondavels (family house) for childbirth, placing a deceased’s coffin, sleeping, seating, food preparation, serving and storage, keeping the spear, hosting ceremonies, communicating with ancestors, and interacting with the living. While the influence of contemporary architecture has changed the construction of rondavels, the inhabitants have not resisted changes to the architecture or cultural values as they have found different ways to adapt. Certain old dispositions are adaptable to contemporary structures, but some people are uninterested in adapting elements to the contemporary rondavel. Some habits of utilising traditional rondavels cannot be adapted to the contemporary rondavel because of health and medical innovations.

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Introduction.

Based on archaeological evidence, rondavels have existed since pre-colonial times as a prime settlement form in homesteads in much of South Africa and other African countries, including Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho and Eswatini (Schoenauer 2000 ; Steyn 2006 ). The rondavel is considered as a vernacular architecture: it is built using locally sourced material and forms part of a region’s culture and heritage (OpenHeritage 2016 ). Steyn ( 2006 :1) describes the rondavel as a “drum”, often built with mud and grass-thatched roofs (Fig. 1A ). They are popular indigenous settlements which are still prevalent in the rural areas. While most households have more than one rondavels (Fig. 1B ), some indigenous settlements are now roofed with zinc materials (Fig. 1B ). Going forward, this article refers to indigenous settlements as traditional rondavels.

A traditional rondavel with grass-thatched roof and ( B ) household two rondavels with zinc roof.

Traditional rondavels were used for dwelling and hosting important customary rituals and celebrations in Africa (Steyn 2006 ). Modern day rondavels exist with flat-roofed rectangular buildings or structures built using cement and zinc roofs, which will be referred to as contemporary rondavel design henceforth (Van Vuuren 2017 ).

Steyn ( 2006 ) argues that the change is a result of urbanisation and economic status because people admire urban architecture and can afford their desired building materials. A study by Aikpehae et al. ( 2016 ) reveals that globalisation, urbanisation and modernisation transformed building patterns, designs and materials used for construction. They illustrate how Nigerian building patterns and housing have transformed because of the influence of colonisation (Aikpehae et al. 2016 ). Guerrieri ( 2020 ) adds that migration has allowed the export of architecture and urban planning models from one country to another; hence, we see the same style across countries. The global intercultural contact led to the change in dwellings in southern Africa (Frescura 1981 , 2015 ) where traditional dwellings were constructed using mud, wattle and thatch grass. Missionaries introduced contemporary building constructed using sun brick and mortar with corrugated iron sheet for roofing as well as highveld and parapet housing styles, the contemporary building is illustrated in Fig. 2 .

Illustration of the contemporary building under construction.

Tapiero et al. ( 2024 ) indicates that in Montesinho Natural Park, north-east of Portugal, residents had vernacular buildings constructed using locally available wood, slate stone tiles, lime mortar, schist and granite. The availability of industrialised material and decreasing traditional labour posed a threat vernacular buildings.

The following section discusses the evolution of the traditional and modern rondavel followed by the utilisation of rondavels by amaXhosa people, detailing the study area, research methods, results, discussion and conclusion.

Traditional and modern rondavel evolution

Early African dwellings were caves, stone-walled iron shelters or houses quickly erected and dismantled as nomadic societies followed herds of animals (Frescura, 1981 ; Moremoholo, 2021 ). Frescura ( 1981 ) explains the historical development of dwelling types, presented in Fig. 3 . The earliest traditional dwelling was a beehive hut also known as ngqu-phantsi . It was made up of stakes organised in a circle with their tops arched inward to a point. The stakes were then bound together by hoops and the frame was insulated with thatched grass (Walton, 1949 ). It is possible that the need for more living space resulted in the rondavel, which is a cone-on-cylinder rondavel with a wall and roof. Although its doorway was raised higher compared to the beehive hut, it was still lower than the height of a man. The material used to construct traditional rondavel was either a thatch roof with stones and mud bricks or sticks mixed clay and dung mortar or mud and wattle (Walton 1949 ; Frescura 1981 ; Oliver 2006 ; Moremoholo 2021 ; Onyejegbu et al. 2023 ). These vernacular dwellings were constructed using locally available materials (Tapiero et al. 2024 ).

This figure is covered by Creative Commons licence.

The third iteration of dwelling development was influenced by Western ideas of hipped-on-cone, which had a linear floor plan, rooms divided into rows and triangulation of the thatch roof. The fourth dwelling type was an introduction of the highveld style with iron-sheet roofing and sun brick (Frescura 1981 ).

Western ideas influenced the cone-on-cylinder rondavel design and materials used which included the use of iron-sheet roofing and sun brick. Despite the Western influences, the traditional rondavel still exists while others have modernised (Moremoholo 2021 ; Onyejegbu et al. 2023 ). Vellinga ( 2006 ) notes that the traditional vernacular architecture has not vanished, but has rather merged with modern styles to suit the current circumstances. Tapiero et al. ( 2024 ) argue that the use of modern materials in construction does not compromise the values of the dwelling in the community. They also note that conserving vernacular architecture plays an essential role in the preservation of culture and sustainable practises by optimising energy usage (Tapiero et al. 2024 ). Onyejegbu et al. ( 2023 ) argue that some Nigerian households still have traditional mud huts that were built by their forefathers in commemoration of their culture, tradition and prowess.

Moremoholo ( 2021 ) used a case study of the Sotho community in Makgabeng, a rural area in Limpopo to investigate how indigenous values have been incorporated or retained on houses built using brick and mortar. The findings show that both traditional rondavel and modern dwellings exist and residents were able to adapt values of indigenous rondavel to modern dwellings, including practising ancestral ceremonies.

Smith ( 2022 ) suggests that the modernisation of the traditional rondavel design into contemporary sensibilities reflects the development of awareness of the diverse heritage that connects South Africa to the rest of the African continent and its people. Thus, the integration and adaptation of indigenous values into modernisation promotes self-definition for many South Africans. Moreover, it encourages a deeper appreciation of the connections between South Africa and the rest of the world. Bianco ( 2022 ) states that this hybrid form of building reflects the evolution of local culture and ways of life so that one can imagine new development aspects entrenched in the culture and environment (Bianco 2022 ). Thus, currently, vernacular architecture can be understood as the foundation of the contemporary architectural type that is rooted in integrating local building traditions (Naude 2010 ; Bianco 2022 ). The current study focuses on the amaXhosa people and intends to understand whether the changing design of traditional rondavels has influenced their utilisation.

The utilisation of rondavels by amaXhosa people

The amaXhosa people are predominantly located in the Eastern Cape province (Nyamende 1994 ; Mokhoathi 2021 ). A rondavel in a Xhosa home ( umzi ) typically exists in a cluster of other structures. Umzi , plural imizi , is a collection of physical, social and organic elements constituting a settlement component known as homestead. It typically comprises several rondavels or huts (the family house, with middle huts reserved for children and visitors as well as a traditional dispensary and consultation), an adjacent garden and a kraal with tools and equipment often used in various ways (Perry 2013 ).

The family house ( indlu enkulu ) is the main hut where everyone meets to socialise and prepare, store and eat food (McAllister 2004 ). It is a space where all rituals take place and people communicate with their ancestors (McAllister 2004 ; Mlisa 2009 ). In the past, following the birth of a child in the family house, children and men were prohibited from using the space (Kobo 2016 ). McAllister ( 2004 ) illustrates how the family house is divided, as shown in Fig. 4 .

This figure was reproduced with permission: Ethnology, Department of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh.

The upper part, called entla , is associated with ancestors; an appointed person will commune with the ancestors, and it serves a storage space for meat and beer if there is a ritual planned (McAllister 2004 ; Reeve 2011 ). The right side is the sitting area for men while the left is reserved women. Older people sit next to the door on either side, while the youngest generation often sits next to the upper part of the rondavel (McAllister 2004 ). At the centre is a hearth ( eziko ), where they make fire for cooking (McAllister, 2004 ; Brocious 2021 ). Kobo ( 2016 ) identifies the hearth as a pedagogical space for the girl child to learn food preparation. The way the amaXhosa people utilise the traditional family house can be purported as a gendered space.

A gendered space is “…more attractive for women than for men; men and women use the same space in different ways: some spaces give feelings of comfort and belonging to men, while women feel excluded; in some spaces, women have authority, while other spaces are under male authority” (Fortuijn et al. 2004 : 215). This is a gendered space because of how a spatial order of seating and gender roles in the utilisation of the space is enforced (McAllister 2004 ; Kobo 2016 ).

It should be noted that the number of rondavels in a homestead depends on the family’s needs. In addition to the family house, a rondavel may be reserved as a bedroom for younger family members and to accommodate visitors (Mlisa 2009 ). Moreover, a rondavel may be used by traditional healers for consultations and storing dispensary (umrawule) items. Certain people are often excluded from using such a space. Menstruating women are prohibited from accessing this space while on their cycle because of a belief that they will defile the herbs (Mlisa, 2009 ). The dispensary is only built once a rondavel has been revealed to a potential traditional healer in a dream, and a ritual is performed to officially open the rondavel and the dispensary prior to consultations being held (Mlisa, 2009 ).

Literature is ambiguous as to whether the recorded rondavel uses are performed in traditional or contemporary rondavels and whether the uses are adaptable to current rondavel designs (McAllister 2004 ; Mlisa 2009 ; Perry 2013 ; Kobo 2016 ; Brocious 2021 ). The available literature focuses on understanding traditional rondavel architecture, its utilisation, history and the changes in the design and structure (Schoenauer 2000 ; Steyn 2006 ). Vellinga ( 2006 ) also notes that publications on vernacular architecture are rarely featured and those that are available focus on drawings, forms and material. The impact of changing building designs and structures in traditional space utilisation is inadequately understood. It is against this backdrop that this study uses the concept of habitus to understand whether the changing design and structure of rondavels has influenced the traditional utilisation of rondavel spaces, based on a case study of the Mbhashe Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

Pierre Bourdieu, a French sociologist who was concerned with what motivates social action and behaviour (Navarro 2006 ), developed the concept of habitus, which refers to the norms, values, habits, dispositions and behaviour of a particular group. Each society has its own habitus. Habitus can then guide how a particular group feels, thinks, acts and uses the space (Bourdieu et al. 2000 ; Navarro 2006 ). Habitus can be a product of past experiences and practices learned from parents, family experiences, and society (Hong and Zhao 2015 ). It is created and reproduced by the structures and practices of society (Bourdieu et al. 2000 ; Navarro 2006 ). People with similar backgrounds (social class, religion, nationality, ethnicity, education and profession) usually share habitus which shapes how individuals perceive or receive the world. It is not fixed; it changes due to circumstances (Bourdieu et al. 2000 ; Navarro 2006 ). However, when change occurs, some within the group may resist the change while others adapt to a new style of doing things. Often, others combine the traits of new and old habitus. Therefore, the theory seeks to provide an in-depth understanding of how people adapt in a changing world and circumstances resulting to change.

Bourdieu used this concept to study how the Algerian habitus changed during the liberation struggle in the 1950s (Bourdieu et al. 2000 ; Navarro 2006 ). He analysed their norms, values, habits, dispositions and behaviour before and after colonisation. He defined Algerian peasantry as a traditional society which believed in:

the importance of group solidarity;

kinship based on patriarchal and patrilineal relationships;

patriarchal division of labour;

marriage as the primary concern of the family; and

an economy governed by pre-capitalist methods such as

subsistence farming,

products not sold but shared by the community

goods exchanged for social capital (i.e. a neighbour will lend you an ox in exchange for fresh produce).

The economy was governed by strict reciprocity and non-payment. The blacksmith was expected to provide each peasantry with all repairs in exchange for goods and services (Bourdieu et al. 2000 ; Navarro 2006 ). Their habitus was passed from generation to generation. As determined by Bourdieu, habitus changes over time due to circumstances. The change in the Algerian habitus was a result of French colonial imposition which introduced a capitalist economy leading to a decline in agricultural activities and the establishment of factories in urban areas (Bourdieu et al. 2000 ; Navarro 2006 ). Due to this increased urbanisation, people started working for wages, which resulted in the development of social classes (Bourdieu et al. 2000 ; Navarro 2006 ). Subsequently, women were granted access to receiving an education and earning a living. Likewise, society was introduced to the concept of bachelorhood, with marriage being an individual choice. Communal living with neighbours sharing their fresh produce evolved into neighbours selling their produce for cash (Bourdieu et al. 2000 ; Navarro 2006 ). Ultimately, the culture of group solidarity was destroyed, and the focus was on individualism.

Bourdieu argues that change can be adopted or resisted, as evidenced in Algeria (Bourdieu et al. 2000 ; Navarro 2006 ). Certain Algerian norms, values, habits, dispositions and behaviours were influenced by innate traditions of peasantry and colonial imposition (Bourdieu et al. 2000 ; Navarro 2006 ). Most older people resisted the change and continued to be trapped in the old way of life.

This study focuses on the traditional family house rondavel with the users’ social activities derived from the norms, values, habits, dispositions and behaviours of amaXhosa. Premised on the concept of habitus used by Bourdieu et al. ( 2000 ) and Navarro ( 2006 ) in the analysis of Algerian peasantry, this study unpacks the utilisation of the traditional family house rondavel before the introduction of contemporary architecture and design changes. Before the introduction of the contemporary architecture, the traditional family house rondavel was spatially divided based on gender and used for childbirth, communicating with ancestors and hosting rituals, serving and storing food and igniting a fire for warmth (McAllister 2004 ; Kobo 2016 ; Brocious 2021 ). This paper intends to understand whether the changing design and structure of rondavels has influenced its utilisation, using the case of Mbhashe Local Municipality.

Mbhashe local municipality

The Mbhashe Local Municipality extends over a geographic area of over 3200 km² and is situated within the Amathole District Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa (Mbhashe Local Municipality IDP, 2016 ; 2023 a). The municipality is named after the Mbhashe River, which tracks between the municipality’s major urban regions of Willowvale (Gatyane), Xhorha and Dutywa, the latter being the administrative centre or municipal headquarters. The municipality has a total population of approximately 240 020 people (Municipalities of South Africa 2023 ), 94% of whom speak the isiXhosa language (Mbhashe Local Municipality IDP, 2016 ; 2023 b). It is a rural region facing various challenges, including poor road infrastructure, high unemployment and inadequate access to essential services such as water and electricity (Mbhashe Local Municipality IDP, 2016 ; 2023 a). It finds significant economic leverage from tourism nodes through coastal, inland and historic or heritage site attractions.

Rondavel structures are prominent in every homestead. Over 66% of households in the municipality are traditional dwellings Footnote 1 , followed by 21 and 5% of households living in brick or concrete block structures and flat blocks, respectively (Mbhashe Local Municipality IDP, 2021 ). However, some households have a modernised rondavel and, more commonly, an octagonal-shape veranda structure, sometimes with an attached garage. Others tend not to have a rondavel at all albeit infrequently. In rural areas, the process of domestic building is not influenced by planning schemes and policies (Oliver 2006 ). Instead, rural architecture is enriched by the surrounding natural environment, local economy and livelihood of villagers (Pirzad and Moghaddam 2023 ). This offers villagers free will to build the type and design of house they desire.

Figure 5 represents the spatial location and geographical extent of Mbhashe Local Municipality in the Amathole District Municipality, with reference to the Eastern Cape Province and South Africa, respectively. The points of interest indicated in the map are examples of homesteads and places across the municipality where:

contemporary rondavels at the Village Lodge in the Dutywa urban region,

rondavel clusters in the homestead of Nqadu great place (Komkhulu ) in rural Willowvale,

Emanzothweni , a multitype dwelling homestead in Bende location, rural Dutywa (Photo: Lilitha Breakfast), and

Kwa-Nonyameko, a multitype dwelling homestead in the Mbhangcolo administration area in rural Willowvale (Photo: Luyanda Ndude).

A map representing a study area—Mbhashe Local Municipality.

Methodology

Ethical clearance was received from Rhodes University. Purposive sampling was used to select a sample population, which included participants of amaXhosa descent with a rondavel structure in their homesteads and residing within the Mbhashe Local Municipality. Ten participants, aged 24–48 years old, were interviewed; they are referred to as Participants 1 to 10 (P01–P10).

Data was collected using participatory mapping and semi-structured interviews consisting of open-ended questions. The interview schedule was developed with a purpose of obtaining an in-depth understanding of the utilisation of rondavels and changes that occurred over time because of the new architectural style. The interviews were conducted face-to-face at the participants’ residences. The participants were also given a rondavel diagram to illustrate the spatial ordering of how the rondavel family house was utilised in the Mbhashe Local Municipality. The results are presented in Fig. 6 .

Spatial ordering of how the amaXhosa family house rondavel was utilized in the Mbhashe Municipality.

The information from the participants' drawings were then used to create Fig. 6 diagram, which was constructed using ArcMap 10.7.1 software for visualisation of the activities undertaken in the family house. The circle represents a typical rondavel floorplan with a diameter of 6 m (3 m radius). The diameter of the rondavel intersects the doorway and therefore dictates the gendered sides. The points in the diagram do not represent actual geometric values, instead they are ordinal representations of circular living in the AmaXhosa family house. Data was analysed and presented using thematic analysis. The concept of habitus guided the development of the themes presented. The first theme related to the amaXhosa habitus and the utilisation of traditional rondavels in the Mbhashe Local Municipality and the second was the amaXhosa habitus and the changing rondavel design in the Mbhashe Local Municipality

In both themes, specialised quotations to highlight some pertinent statements and demonstrate how the participants make sense of the rondavels and their utilisation, using their exact words.

amaXhosa habitus and the utilisation of traditional rondavel in the Mbhashe municipality

The section of findings only focus on the traditional family house rondavel before the introduction of the contemporary architecture. Adapted from McAllister ( 2004 ), the participants were given a circle to explain the use of each space and its purpose. They also revealed some uses that were not presented in earlier sections. First, the spatial division of the family house based on gender was discussed, followed by how the Mbhashe people utilised the family house. Figure 6 illustrates the spatial division between men (right) and women (left) inside the family house. Women married into the family ( makoti ) are forbidden to access the men’s side. The mud bench, known as soze , is built on the men’s side by the door for seating.

Women sit on the floor on handcrafted mats woven from reeds or grass known as ikhukho . Behind the door on the women’s side is a place for childbirth. The participants also alluded to the statement made by Kobo ( 2016 ) that during the birthing process, children and men are prohibited from using the space. They revealed that there was no cultural significance in giving birth at home. Instead, the inaccessibility of health facilities necessitated home births. Booysen ( 2003 ) argues that, in South African rural areas, women give birth at home because health facilities are located remotely to the homesteads and they do not have the means to access them.

Regarding funeral rites, the deceased’s coffin will arrive at the homestead the day before the funeral and a night vigil – a ceremony to honour the deceased—will be held in the family house. The coffin is usually placed on the women’s side and senior women will gather to sleep next to the coffin until the funeral. An elderly family member will burn impepho (incense) and request the ancestors to welcome the deceased. It is believed that if this ritual is not performed, the deceased will not rest in peace.

In households that use the family house for sleeping, designated spaces will be allocated for men and women. A handcrafted mat is used as a base for the foam mattress on both sides. The seating arrangement in the family house is based on seniority, with younger members of the household placed toward the upper layer, as noted by McAllister ( 2004 ). The participants further explained that seniority was not based on age: married women were regarded as senior and women who were not related by blood or matrimony would occupy the upper end of the women’s side. Men’s seating arrangements depend on when one was initiated, with the youngest (the last to go to the bush) towards the upper layer.

McAllister ( 2004 ) and Reeve ( 2011 ) reveal that an appointed person will commune with the ancestors, and store meat and beer in the upper part of the rondavel if there is a ritual. Their findings concur with how the Mbhashe people utilise the space, further indicating that the upper layer is divided into A and B, as shown in Fig. 6 . On the right (men’s side) is where slaughtered meat and beer is stored. It is the responsibility of the men to serve both the meat and beer; hence, it is located on their side. Section B in Fig. 6 is a space in the uppermost end of the rondavel on the women’s side. It contains domestic essentials such as a table and cupboard, crockery, and cutlery and ilitye lokuguba , which is a flat rock which is used to grind food.

In the centre of the family house is a hearth. Kobo ( 2016 ) argues that this is where women are taught to prepare food. The findings of this study also reveal that men also use the space to roast corn. So, there are no gender-based restrictions on the use of this space. The centre also has a pole called intsika , which supports the roof structure. The door is positioned in the lower part of the family house. Section C, illustrated in Fig. 6 , is where the spear ( umkhonto) is kept by sticking it on the roof above the doorway on the men’s side. The spear is used for the slaughter of traditional animals if there is a ritual or ceremony. The spear is believed to obstruct lightning during a storm and is placed in the doorway.

The participants also utilised the rondavel for interacting with each other and the ancestors. Interaction takes place through song and dance during ceremonies. People also interact through spoken word to communicate with or appease ancestors, to socialize with each other by telling stories of love, horror, fiction, and the past, and to play games. The study’s participants expressed clearly how the family house is used which they learned from growing up in rural areas and passed from generation to generation. They have the duty to continue passing this information to the younger members of the family.

amaXhosa habitus and the changing rondavel design in the Mbhashe local municipality

People in the rural areas of the Mbhashe Local Municipality were inclined to architectural change and desire contemporary architecture and luxury, including those who did not currently own it. The contemporary rondavel design was considered progressive, cognisant of the times and, for that matter, the contemporary way of life to which there was a strong inclination to conform: “I too [wish to have a modern house] because these are the houses that are built nowadays, and they make the home beautiful” (P 01).

Notwithstanding, there was a strong consensus to preserve conventional ways of using space and adapt to the contemporary design, including the structure and shape (multi-room), the material used (no longer a thatched roof or mud walls), or hard surfaces (tiles/concrete). The respondents preferred contemporary structures because of their aesthetic and convenience: “…contemporary houses have better aesthetical value, spacious and are functional (e.g., energy consumption, natural lighting)” ( P 09).

Other uses were not adopted in the contemporary house design such as utilising the family house for childbirth because modern women mostly give birth in hospitals and clinics. Statistics South Africa ( 2020 ) revealed that the number of home deliveries has decreased from 14% in 1998 to 4% in 2016 while health facility deliveries have increased from 83.4% in 1998 to 96.7% in 2016 (Statistics South Africa 2020 ). Both 1998 and 2016 home deliveries statistics are indicative of the national level (Statistics South Africa 2020 ).

Placing the deceased’s coffin in the upper part of the family house (section B in Fig. 6 ) was adopted in contemporary rondavel utilisation until the Covid-19 pandemic when people became sceptical of disease transmission. Before the pandemic, the deceased’s body would arrive at home a day before burial, and people would gather for a final ceremony the night before the funeral (night vigil) inside the family house to honour the deceased (Bambalele 2020 ). A South African Covid-19 restriction prohibited corpses being sent home prior to the funeral and the hosting of night vigils (Bambalele 2020 ). This practice has continued since Covid-19 restrictions were relaxed, while others have stopped. However, once the deceased’s coffin arrives on the funeral day, it is taken to the upper part of the family house and a ritual will still be performed where incense is burnt and a request is made to the ancestors to welcome the deceased. Therefore, the cultural significance of the whole process does not rest with the placement of the deceased’s body a day before the funeral but the performance of the ritual.

The presence of mud benches on the men’s side no longer exists. Although the traditional rondavel structure is diminishing in the physical environment, modernisation has certainly swayed people’s sense of feeling, thinking, acting and their use of space. Admittedly, modernisation has not entirely appropriated the Xhosa people’s habitus. Some people were uninterested in adapting to some elements of the contemporary rondavel and house design: “A traditional rondavel must be present in a home. You can make fire, but it is difficult to do that on floor tiles. Still, you perform customs in traditional rondavel” (P 03).

These people continue to use traditional rondavels for the above purposes while also adapting the contemporary rondavel or house design for other uses such as sleeping, unless there is a ceremony when there is no space: “ People do not want to sleep on the floor in the rondavel, and there is no privacy and tile, or cemented floor is cold” (P 04).

While other participants preferred to continue performing traditional ceremonies and communicating with ancestors in the traditional rondavel structure, there were respondents who were open to communicating with ancestors and interacting with the living, and divide space based on gender in the contemporary rondavel – as indicated in Fig. 6 . The cultural strongholds continued to be practiced regardless of the house structure. Therefore, in the absence of a traditional rondavel structure in a homestead, any other house design such as butterfly or flat-roof corner houses can be used for traditional ceremonies: “any house structure can be used as a rondavel; it does not change the culture. It is the same” (P01).

Regarding food preparation, serving and storage, some people used the contemporary rondavel with slight changes for cooking. For example, food is prepared in the family house’s upper part (B section in Fig. 6 ) using a gas or electric stove instead of a hearth at the centre. Others will prepare food and store it in the kitchen of the main house, but people will be served in the contemporary rondavel.

This paper used the concept of habitus to understand whether the changing design and structure of rondavels has influenced its utilisation. Habitus refers to the norms, values, habits, dispositions and behaviours of a particular group, which can then guide how they feel, think, act, and use the space. Habitus can be a product of past experiences and practices learned from parents, family experiences, and society (Hong and Zhao 2015 ). It is created and reproduced by structures and practices of society; it is not fixed and changes over time due to particular circumstances (Bourdieu et al. 2000 ; Navarro 2006 ). The study discussed the amaXhosa people’s habitus on the utilisation of the traditional family house rondavel and how it has been influenced by the introduction of contemporary architectural designs. It is noted that architectural change brought by society does not change cultural norms, values, habits, dispositions and behaviours attached to rondavels but results in finding ways to accommodate and preserve its utilisation in new architectural developments and selectively choosing ideas to be transmitted to the contemporary house design. The cultural norms, values, habits, dispositions, and behaviours attached to rondavels have also been influenced by advancements in health and medical innovation, as well as Covid-19.

The findings revealed the habitus of the amaXhosa people at the Mbhashe Local Municipality. The utilisation of the traditional family house rondavel includes childbirth, placement of the deceased’s coffin, sleeping, seating, food preparation, serving and storage, keeping the spear, hosting ceremonies, communicating with ancestors, and interacting with the living. The amaXhosa habitus is acquired by growing up in the Xhosa society, being taught by parents, and observing how things are done, which has been passed down from generation to generation. The influence of contemporary architecture brought changes in the construction of rondavel.

Home births are no longer practised because of advancements in health and medicine. The placement of the deceased’s coffin in the upper part of the rondavel a day prior to the funeral has been adopted in the use of a contemporary rondavel; however, it is no longer prevalent because of the Covid-19 restrictions. However, on the day of the funeral, the deceased’s coffin is placed in the upper part of the rondavel for a shorter period and a ritual burning incense and asking the ancestors to welcome the deceased is performed because it is a critical cultural practice.

People also do not opt to sleep on the floor unless there is a ceremony. The preparation of food, its serving and storage differs in that there is no hearth in the new contemporary house; so food is prepared in the main house or the upper part of the rondavel. The gendered division of space, hosting ceremonies, communicating and interacting with ancestors has been adopted in contemporary houses too. However, some still prefer to host ceremonies and communicate with the ancestors in traditional rondavels instead.

People have not resisted new architectural designs or changing cultural norms, values, habits, dispositions and behaviours but have found ways to adapt. Certain old dispositions are adaptable to contemporary structures. Also, a study conducted by Moremoholo ( 2021 ) reveals that some indigenous values such as practising ancestral ceremonies can be incorporated or retained in modern house structure. However, some people are not interested in adapting elements to the contemporary rondavel. They would rather have two structures – the current rondavel design and a traditional rondavel to be utilised for uses that cannot be adapted to the contemporary rondavel. The presence of traditional rondavel in modern times is also witnessed even in Nigeria (Onyejegbu et al. 2023 ).

Some cultural norms, values, old habits, dispositions, and behaviours of utilising traditional rondavels were not adapted to the contemporary rondavel because of health and medical innovations such as childbirth and placing the deceased’s coffin in the rondavel. Clearly, some amaXhosa cultural practices are modified but not completely forgotten.

Future studies can focus on profiling architectural designs found in the Mbhashe Local Municipality and investigate their origins and influencing factors. Others could also focus on rondavels utilised by traditional healers to understand how they have been impacted by architectural changes to space utilisation. It will be also interesting to understand why people still opt for traditional rondavels despite the existence of beautiful modern buildings.

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and additional information is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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The research involves human participants, so Rhodes University has given ethical clearance to this research project. You can request to see the clearance certificate by contacting the Ethics Coordinator ([email protected]). All procedures performed involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Rhodes University Ethical Standards Committee, reference number 2023-7347-7994.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individuals who participated in the study. Participants had to sign an informed consent declaration form, which provided information about the nature and purpose of the study, the benefits and risks, and how data is collected, managed, analysed, presented, and stored. The study uses the concept of habitus to understand whether the changing design of traditional rondavels has influenced their utilisation, based on a case study of the Mbhashe Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa. Participating in this research project contributes to the sustainability and preservation of memory. Participants answered questions from the interview schedule. Participation was entirely voluntary, and they were made aware that they could withdraw at any stage without any negative consequences and would not be compensated for participating. Participants were also notified that some use of space might trigger bad experiences and be sensitive or hurtful; should they feel triggered, they can withdraw or not talk about such experiences. Confidentiality and anonymity of records were maintained when presenting the results. The data collected is stored securely, and only used for publication of this journal, if any data collected is to be used by the Researcher for any further study, the participants will be informed in writing. Participants have a right to receive feedback about this research unless they elect not to receive this feedback.

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Ndude, A., Memela, S. Utilisation of rondavel space by amaXhosa people: a case of Mbhashe local municipality, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 1122 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03649-3

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Received : 13 February 2024

Accepted : 21 August 2024

Published : 01 September 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03649-3

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