Chitungwiza Men Eat Rats Known As Pinga
While most people in Zimbabwe generally accept that mice or mbeva are a delicacy and rich source of protein, almost all of them disagree when it comes to eating rats.
Those who eat rats normally do so far away from prying eyes because of the stigma that is associated with eating them.
A few brave men in Chitungwiza have decided to come out in the open and proudly eat a certain species of rats known as pinga in Shona.
H-Metro visited Zengeza 4 shopping Centre popularly know as Pangomba were they caught up with the gentlemen who said they did not mind what people said about them.
The four men Marufu Nhachi, Munetsi Wellington Masomera, Givemore Mupundu and James (Jimmy) Nyozani said popular Prophet Java and sungura great Alick Macheso gave them the much-needed inspiration to continue eating the rodents.
Alick Macheso in his latest song ‘Zuro Ndizuro’ gave a dissimilarity between a common house rat and the big rat the men from Chitungwiza regularly feast on.
These are not rats. It is an animal called pinga which stays where there are banana plants, sugar can plant or in swamps.
Macheso akaimba wani kuti pnga ipinga, iri harisi gonzo, Nhachi told H-Metro as he was busy slaughtering the pinga.
The men who now call themselves ‘Pinga Boys’ said they buy the rodents for US$1 each from boys who hunt them at a nearby wetland.
Nhachi said they have even come up with recipes of their own that includes stew and roast pinga.
Sometimes we stew the pinga after a bit of roasting.
On another day we just braai and in some cases, we cook the meat and add peanut butter.
We have our own pots we keep here at the shopping centre and we cook our own pinga as we do out hustles, he said.
Marufu also defended their delicacy saying Prophet Java even came up with a theme -‘gore regonzo’ (year of the rat) so we will eat the pinga without any shame.
Prophet Passion vakati igore regonzo saka tongotenderera doing our hustles mudhuze imomo (Prophet Passion said this is the year of the rat so we will do our hustles along those lines).
But ipinga not rats as many might want to believe.
We are not even ashamed of the delicacy, said Marufu.
