In Search of Nongqawuse
By Treive Nicholas
(Kwela Books)
When UK author Treive Nicholas first stumbled across the story of Nongqawuse he became so intrigued that he decided to do his own deep dive into what really happened all those years ago.
A young Xhosa girl in 1856 had a vision that her people were to destroy their crops and kill their cattle and in return great wealth would be bestowed on the amaXhosa.
Nicholas tells us “more than 400,000 cattle were slaughtered resulting in 40,000 or more of the amaXhosa people starving to death. About 150,000 were displaced and forced off their land, as starvation drove them to seek refuge or employment among neighbouring tribes or in white-owned enterprises in the Cape”.
Still Nicholas thought blame for this colossal tragedy could not fall solely on one teenage girl.
It was while researching his first book, A Nun and a Pig, about his time as a teacher in SA in the ’80s that Nicholas learnt about Nongqawuse. So he headed back to the Eastern Cape in his mission to find out more.
His travels took him to the Gxarha River in the Transkei where Nongqawuse had her vision.
After her failed prophecies, Nongqawuse lived out her days on a farm near Alexandria.
Nicholas travelled to Alexandria where he met Stephen Fick from Glenshaw Farm who is the custodian of the grave of Nongqawuse and her daughters.
Many stories from that time had been passed down through the generations and Fick shared these with Nicholas.
Starving amaXhosa fled their homes and hid in vegetation around the farms in Alexandria.
The Ficks cooked mielie meal and left it in big black pots outside and when the farmers returned in the morning the pots were always empty.
“As a sign of respect and thanks, the local amaXhosa called the Ficks the Phekinkobe family, which translates into ‘they cook mielies’.
Another story was that Nongqawuse was hidden in a laundry basket to evade capture after some persecutors attempted to track her down.
She fled the area and came back after things had cooled down to live out her remaining days.
Nicholas shares a lot of information about various wars fought in the Eastern Cape.
Members of the Border Historical Society also helped in his research by taking him to various destinations and sites.
A name that comes up a lot throughout the book is that of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Smith. Nicholas regards him as a nasty piece of work for all his bad deeds committed in SA.
While we may never know the truth of what happened all those years ago, Nicholas’s insights create some compelling reading.
His adventures around the Eastern Cape and broader SA are enlightening.
The Herald
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