/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/WFD_1693.jpg "In the early morning, NoWonga Zintoyinto carries a bucket filled with water to her home to prepare boiling water for the family on 17 July 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/WFD_1741.jpg "Here again, NoWonga Zintoyinto carries a bucket filled with water to her home to prepare boiling water for the family on 17 July 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/WFD_1759.jpg "NoWonga Zintoyinto carries a blackened pot outside her home to prepare boiling water for the family on 17 July 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/WFD_1878.jpg "NoWonga Zintoyinto feeds dry sticks under a blackened pot, on an open fire outside her home to prepare boiling water for the family on 17 July 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/WFD_1924.jpg "NoWonga Zintoyinto checks the pot on an open fire outside her home to prepare boiling water for the family on 17 July 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/WFD_1992.jpg "While waiting for water to boil, NoWonga Zintoyinto goes about her morning duties in and around her home on 17 July 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/WFD_2010.jpg "A little later, close to her home on 17 July 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/WFD_2043.jpg "Waiting for water to boil, NoWonga Zintoyinto, on 17 July 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla). DM")
PHOTO ESSAY
Stoking the fire: A quiet moment in Bulungula, Eastern Cape
Outside her home in Bulungula, Eastern Cape, NoWonga Zintoyinto crouches beside an open fire, feeding sticks into the flames. As the pot begins to steam and crackle, the boiling water readies itself for tea, cooking, and bathing — part of a daily rhythm shaped by resilience and routine.
NoWonga Zintoyinto feeds dry sticks under a blackened pot on an open fire outside her home to prepare boiling water for the family. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)