Member-only story
Chief Mdange is Dead: A frontier mystery
The last wisps of fog vanished over the Amathole Mountains as the morning sun rose high above the peaks. Birds chirped and insects buzzed around the blooming yellowwoods that covered the gentle slopes. Eastwards, a faint rumble could be heard as the Gxulu River sprang to life at the heart of the mountains and gushed down towards the valley. The channel widens at the foot of the mountain and the river meanders westwards like a great serpent in search of the nearest village, rising and falling with the changing plains. As it approaches the solitary town of Qobo Qobo, however, the river is swallowed up by the silver waters of the Keiskamma, which turn the course south towards King William’s Town. Amidst the rolling hills and stretching plains through which the Keiskamma flows lied the Great Place of King Mgolombane Sandile, paramount chief of the Amarharhabe people, where this tragic story starts.
As you travelled down the Keiskamma River for the first time, you were struck by the imposing grandeur of the king’s homestead. Large kraals fenced with thick mimosa thorn-branches stood proudly next to sweeping gardens of maize, melons and tobacco, where the king’s cattle grazed after the winter harvest. Facing…
