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In this book Sekese sets upbirds _ small and large - of Lesotho.

THE IMPACT OF CHRISTIANITY('

ON 20th CENTUR YBLACK SOUTH AFRICAN WRITING

B. Leshoai(Dept. of English UBS)

Dealing with such a broad subject in suchlimited space will not enable one to refer to as manywritings as one would like to deal with. Another problemis that the majority of the writings are in the nativelanguages of South Africa. One can, therefore, onlysample one or two writings from the main language groupsof one's own language, Sesotho, lsi-Zulu and Isi-Xosa ofthe AmaZulu and AmaXosa respectively.

In recent months we have interested ourselvesin the study of both English and native language writingsof black South Africans of the late 19th and early 20thcenturies. This study was prompted by the fact that thereis so much in them that is lost to South Africa and toAfrica by their being neglected. One hopes to translatea rew of these works into English to make them availableto a much wider reading public. Just a couple of monthsago we received from Lesotho, A. M. Sekese's classicalstudy of the behaviour and habits of the birds of LesothOin his book "Pit so Ea Linonyana" - "The Gathering of theBirds". This great trial is based on the local Ba.sotho

I t lation will notegal system. We only hope that our ranSdestroy the beauty of the setting, the mood, the nativetraditional atmosphere and the very idiomatic language.

a conference of theThe gathering and

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its procedures are based on the legal system of Lesotho.The centre of the controversy is the hawk who is theaccused. The jUdges are the eagle and the vulture. Someof the very interesting prosecution witnesses are thesmallest bird, Motintinyane (the grass warbler), thebutcher bird and the owl. The indictment is that thehawk is guilty of persecuting the birds and making theirlives miserable - making it impossible for them to enjoytheir meals. The entire bird family is there to see thatjustice is meted out and that the hawk gets a just punish-ment.

Anyone who has sat in a local traditional courtcase held under the shade of a tree in the king's head-quarters cannot help but admire the gift of observationthat the author possesses. Again anyone who knows thebirds of Lesotho cannot fail to see the profound knowledgethe author possesses of the birds of his native land. Theauthor begins his book by explaining that regular nationalconferences are held in Lesotho for kings and counsellorsto discuss national problems; for kings to meet the nationto hear their problems; for the various rulers to meet todiscuss national problems.

"A nation which does not hold national confe-rences is like a patient whose illness is ignored by thedoctors who are able to diagnose and cure disease."l

The trial extends over a period of several daysand in the first session Motintinyane is the first witnessand the author describes the proceedings thus:

"And Motintinyane stood up, the poor fellow'seyes unable even to look at the honourable judges; he isan Old, old man with a he d th ta a is grey, and he supportshimselt on a walking stick He hId h'• e 1s hands on hiswaiet and spoke and said' "Rono bl •• ura e J1tJ' masters, you w111wish to know what this thing is that speaks first. Indeed,in truth I am nothing i. n your presence; though it IIaY lie

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I do not sing 'ItiY own praises in' hisise if others. 0

For one is worth of prs.praises.

"Yes, My Lord and the court! We are all falliliarwith what happened in the first sitting of this court, andwe all know what caused the postponement of the proceed-ings. The accusations of my aCCusers were very unclear,and even I on that day I did not put ~ defence adequatelYand clearly. But sO as to avoid the waste of valuable

th t I am still expectedtime with trivialities, I can S8Y ad chieftains and yOUto defend myself today. Yes, My Lor ,

F °lv I aD!the son of the hawkthe nation of the Bird am1 J'(phakoe),

so, though I be nothing, yet I hate to die and see my

children killed year in and year out. I have only onething to say, I say, let the hawk give up his chieftain-ship, he is destroying and finishing the nation of theBird Family. Even I, as tiny as I a., I am on the fleeingpath all day with torrents of perspiration streaming downmy face. I just do not understand how he thinks he canchew me up when there is really nothing to chew of me. Iwonder whether he does not think of putting me into hisnostrils. You hawk, you have no shame indeed I You aresuch a great king, yet you insist on making such uselessthings as myself unhappy. Well, I have spoken, but I endwith these words: Oh, please my masters unite in yourdecision so that the hawk (Phakoe) should be stripped ofhis chieftainship I (And the nation cried: aW8Y with hi.laway with himl") And these are my words, I Motintinyane.n2

There follows a number of other witnesses to cor-roborate Motintinyane's words, but the first meeting endsindecisively. On the second day the great convocationmeets again and it is now the hawk's (phakoe's) turn toanswer the many accusations against him. He is proud andlooks scornfully and disdainfully with steady steel-likeeyes around him, at the judges, and then, his accusers andspeaks:

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I the hawk, I am the third in the line of succession afterthe Eagle and the Vulture. But, though I am a king I amashamed that today I should be standing here dressed inthe ugly name of the accused. I have listened to and haveheard all your misgivings and lamentations about me, andthough I have been so greatly pained, in one respect it isan honour and great respect for me to see here before methe entire nation of the Bird Family. I am especiallYhappy that today you will all hear and know what my posi-tion is OYer you, both you accussers and lamenters alike,above all I request that in this sitting today you shouldnot show yourselves lacking in good manners of speechwhich would prove that indeed you do not know my responsi-bility over you. I am not imposing myself on you, if youdon't know IIY responsibility over you, no one forces youto know it, for I have already realised that you do notpretend, you indeed, don't know my position over you;among you some have called me a cannibal, others say thatI all a constable, and still others say I should be killedlike Chaka was killed, if not so that I should be expelledand driven out of this nationl It was when I thought ofall these accusations that I said earlier that I was veryglad that tOday you will hear and know those things thatyou have never heard nor known all this time, with regardto my kingly position of responsibility over you. I amparticularly disgusted that my best friend here, theButcher Bird, (Tselleli) shOUld have called me a constablel

My Lord and the court, and you my accusers, Itrust you still remember what I said at the beginning ofthis sitting for I had said that I had not put my defencevery clearly at the first sitting. You are aware that whatI have said here today all

v coneerns the matters that wereraised in that sitting, all those things which I had notadequately answered on that day.

How when I continue with my defence I say to you,th••e are the kings who have ig ven me the responsibility

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of being a shepherd over you; ask them, satisfy yourselvesperfectly on both sides, whether I was not put over you bythem or whether I have imposed myself over you.n3

Anyone who has been to a native traditional courtsitting cannot fail to recognise the great sense of oratorythat Sekese has written into this classic. The speakerprides himself in the use and control of the language.The real point at stake is not so important as the beautyof speech. At that point of Phakoe's defence speech theChief Justice, Lenong, (the Eagle) interrupted him withthese words:

"Just a minute, just a while, son of the Hawk, Idon't wish to disturb your speech. (I don't wish to enteryour mouth). In short, and in one unanimous voice Iaccept the truth that Phakoe was given the responsibilityover you by us; but though it may be so, we did not givehim the power and the right to spill blood, and above allwe did not give him the right to paint his lips red withblood like greedy dogs do.

It is not a custom among kings to give a subor-dinate such powers and responsibilities that are greaterthan the powers and responsibilities of those who are abovehim, for the hyena is always brought to the king'spalace! ••• ,,4

This is the richness that we have lost by neglecting themany mast~r pieces that have been produced in the nativelanguages by our writers, some of whom have long gone intoobscurity through death. We must begin to dig these goldmines for if we don't very soon adventurers from Europeand America will discover them for us and it will be toolate to moan and cry about outsiders coming to exploit theliterary wealth of Africa. Now,! should not, like son of

, 'n this paper is tothe Hawk, go off the track for my a1m 1, . h h d on the black Southshow the impact christ1an1ty as aAfrican writing of the periods indicated.

11'1

The history of South Africa shows clearly howclosely christianity followed behind the wars of libera-tion fought by the black people against the white invadersand colonizers. Where the whites were victorious they setup missions and opened schools for the express purpose ofchristian indoctrination. The victories they had won werenot handed to them On a golden plate but it cost themsweat, blood and the lives of thousands of their men,women and children. So christian indoctrination was app-lied as vigorously as the gun had been used to enable the

.~hiteman to gain a firm foothold on the African soil.Going hand in hand with the building of mission stationswas also the founding of christian printing presses. Thiswas to make sure that a great deal of what was publishedby both black and white writers was closely censored by thechurch. This was especially so for the African writer whocould not have his work published by the white commercialpublishing houses who themselves were strict censors formost of them were also owned by white people closely conn-ected with the churCh.

In South Africa the two publishing houses whichpublished black writers were Morija Printing Press inLesotho and Lovedale Printing Press in the Eastern Cape.Morija Mission station was founded in Lesotho near ThabaBosiu, King Moshoeshoe's strong hold, in the year 1834.The founders were missionaries of the Paris EvangelicalMissionary Society who arrived in South Africa in 1829.Lovedale was founded in the town of Alice in the EasternCape in the year 1841 by missionaries of the GlasgowMissionary Society of the Church of Scotland. In the pre-face to his book A History of Christian Missions in SouthAfrica the author, Professor J. Du Plessis, has this to say:

"From the pages of the book it will beabundantly evident that mission historyand Cape history have always been asso-ciated in the closest POssible vaY. In

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South Africa, at any rate, they form,not, two parallel and separate streams,but two streams which Unite and Commingle.And this "History" may claim to be thefirst attempt to place the establishmentand growth of Christian Missions inSouth Africa in their true historicalsetting.,,5And this "true historical setting" was that

christianity followed closely on the heels of military con-quests. The missionary followed closely behind the sol-dier to consolidate his conquests and to spread christianindoctrination. There is no doubt that the missionariesdid a thorough job. They reaped rich results inspite ofthe great odds they worked against. One of the first andfinest results of missionary effort was the conversion ofa Xosa leader, Ntsikana, by Joseph Williams in about 1881.This man, Williams, was so strong that he also impressedthe strong King, Ngqika, and many of his followers.Dr. Shepherd of Lovedale Missionary Institution has thisto say about this man, Joseph Williams:

"One of the Bantu declared that whenWilliams lifted up his hands every mansaw that he had hold of heaven andbrought it upon earth. Ngqika, afterhearing him went to the bush to weepand pray. The whole country appearedto be on the brink of a great moral andreligious Change.,,6

It is in this kind of atmosphere that the early writingsot black authors were published and it is, therefore, notsurprising that christian influence is felt in almost allwritings belonging to the period under consideration.Though Ntsikana was not an educated man in the European

great and flaming evangelistsense yet he soon became a

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among the Xosa people. He assumed the dimensions of ateacher, artist and prophet and one of his best creationswhich has been handed down from generation to generationis still. sung with great emotion by South African blacks.After his contact with the missionary this great leaderand warrior became one of the greatest legendary figuresin black South Africa. His war cries ceased and insteadhe poured out floods of christian sentiment. At thispoint I would like to give you the original version ofhis great composition, tlUlo Thixo Omkhulu ngosezuliveni" -"He the great God, high in Heavenll, and then afterward ...Professor D. J. Darlow's English Translation:

"Ulo - Thixo umkulu, ngosezulwiniUnguwena, Wena, kaka lenyanisoUnguwena, Wena, Nqaba yenyanisoUnguwena, Wen' uhlel' enyangwaneni,Ulo 'dal', ubomi, wadala pezuluLo - Umdali wadala wadala izuluLo - Menzi wenkwenkwezi nozilimela.Yabinza inkwenkwezi, isixelela.Lo - Menzi wemfama uzenza ngabomiLatela ixilongo, lisibizela,Ulonquin' iZingela imipefumlo,Ohlanganis' imihlambi eyalamayoUlo - Mkokeli wasikokela tina.Ulengub' enkulu siyambata tina.Ozandla Zako zina maxeba Wena.Ugazi Lako liyimrozo yinina?Ugazi lako lipalalela tina.Lemali enkulu - na siyibizile?Lowonzi wakon - na siwubizile?

Amen?

was done by theAfrican Native

'!he fallowing translation into EngliShthen Professor ot English at the SouthCollege Fort Hare Ali

t . t eft. Cape ProTince in 1941occasion ot Lovedale's centenar~ celebrations.

on the

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JlHe the great God, high in Heaven,Great 'I am', of truth the BucklerGreat 'I am', of truth the Stronghold,Great 'I am', in whom truth sheltersWho created life around usWho created Heaven above usAnd the stars, No-Zilimela (The Pleiades)We were blind until He taught us.(Thou mad'st uS blind, it was Thy purpose)With a trumpet gave the message.As He hunted our spirits.Toiled to make our foes our brothers(Thou our leader who dost guide us.)Then He cast His cloak about us,Cloak of Him whose hands are woundedCloak of Him whose feet are bleeding.See the blood that streameth for us;Flows it, though we have not asked it.Is it paid without our prayingHeaven our Home with nO beseeching?,,8

Among the Africans of South Africa religion is found inthe veneration of spirits as distinct from God himself.Among the Basotho these spirits are Balimo; among theZulus and Xosas these spirits are AmadloZi or Iminyanya -the ancestors. This composition of Ntsikana's therefore,is about a God unknown to the black people of SouthAfrica. He wrote or, as it was then, composed about astrange God brought to him by the missionary JosephWilliams. This then is what christianity made of thisgreat African leader who was born and lived and died in anarea where South Africa's blOodiest battles were foughtbetween the white invaders and the indigenOUS peoples.

Even at this time of the twentieth Century thetOnue with the role

Morija and Lovedale presses had to con 1

for which they were intended. ~. Shepherd makes a yeryinteresting rellllll.rkabout the role that the christian

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press had to play when he wrote about Loveda1e in 1941,one hundred years after its founding.

"It is another proof of the statesman likeviews of the pioneer missionaries that so earlythey recognised the power of the printed word.John Ross, who conveyed the printing - pressfrom Britain in 1823, declared in a later daythat there must be provided "good books foryouth and age, for the Lord's Day and week-days,for schools and libraries ••• The church hasstill her own people, for whom to care. Sheshould not forget that her commission extendsto the world - whence others are to be calledthe world of readers, who become the men ofaction, for evil as much as for good".9

The book referred to at the beginning of thispaper, "Pitso Ea Linonyanalt, by A. M. Sekese was firstpublished by Morija Printing Works in 1928 in the earlyTwentieth Century. What is interesting about the book isthat though it is an apparent criticism of the politicalsituation in Lesotho at the time of writing, yet thewriter could not avoid being influenced by the powerfulchristian atmosphere of the country. The hawk, dictatorand murderer, is on trial during the second sitting andafter several other witnesses, such as the quail (Koekoe)had spoken, the Partridge (Khoa1e) interrupts the pro-ceedings with these remarks:

"Quail, child of my younger brother, just takea breather for a while by sitting down. Hawk (Phakoe)listen and let me tell you a true story of long ago andwhich is true eVen tOday. It is said that a certain per-secutor who persecuted people who worshipped the God ofOVer there on a Cert' d' S:l.nay, even after he had been giventhe power and right to kill bv~ permission of the king,when he invaded a certai tn own, on the way the ruler ofthat town which he was invad~ng~ got hold of him and

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throttled him and threw him to the ground; and while hewas still unconscious, he was awakened by a voice thatcalled him by his name, though he did not see who calledhim. When he answered he asked, 'Who are you my master?'And the answer was: 'I am him who you are persecutingl Itis difficult to kick against the pricks. At once the per-secutor regretted his actions and repented. I must say,though that his regret and repentance were not quite com-plete for he should have been convinced by the dust inwhich he had found himself.lIlO

Khoale goes on to explain that Phakoe is in thesame position as this persecutor and also reminds him thatltthe heart of our Creator is not pleased by the things youdo to us. And if our masters don't speak strongly to youabout your doings, you yourself better pull yourself upand correct your ways. Open your ears Phakoet and listento my second example concerning the matters I am composingfor your benefit".ll

The exchange between the two goes on with Khoalagiving another example of another king who lived in anotherfar away country and who ruled over his own people and man1other nations which he had conquered but who killed merci-lessly. This went on until the Strong Man (Senatla) whorules over all of us realised that this king had no repen-tance and he decided to kill him, and so he killed him.

At the end of the second day nothing reallydecisive has been reached and so there is another adjourn-ment. During the third session more witnesses give evi-dence and the owl who had to be fetched to come and giveevidence gets very rough treatment from the judges. As aresult of the unsatisfactory manner in which the whole.t .thtrial has gone Tlaka-Tsooana is forced to close 3. WJ.

the following sad wo~ds:Itl Tlaka-Tsooana, I am one of the staunch .up-

porters of the kingship, though it be so yet we are

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amongst those to whom it is always said by those in highplaces, close your eyes so that the big one may be able toswallowl At this very trial we closed our eyes to enablethe big one to swallow Sephooko (owl).1tThe setting of the story is a political one and it revealsthe corruption of those in high places, but Sekese thinkshe can solve a political problem by appealing to the moraland christian consciences of those involved in politicalcorruption. So~ what could have been a clever and satiri-cal attack of the corrupt morals of those eagles, vulturesand hawks in high places, is reduced to another sermonfrom a christian pulpit. After having said all this onemust also say that one is not condemning Sekese's artisticqualities as a writer and observer of the world around him.Unfortunately he lived at a time when black writers had toproduce Itgood books for youth and age, for the Lord's Dayand Week-days ..." "Pit so Ea Linonyana" is definitely oneof the best Classics in the Sesotho language, rich inidioms and beautiful expressions.

Sekese concludes his book by telling the storyof the case between a blindman and a cripple over the skinof a buck which they had snatched from the birds. Afterthey had eaten the meat they began to quarrel over thepossession of the skin. The blindman claimed the skinbecause he had carried the cripple to where the birds wereeating the buck and had again carried back the cripple, themeat and the skin to the caVe. The cripple claimed theskin because he had seen the birds which were fl7ins towhere the dead animal was and he had skinned it and hadcarried the meat and the skin in his hands on the blind-man's back when they returned to their cave.

He ends his story by saying it was God's planthat these two people shOUld work together for each other'sgood, but that things went wrong when they began to quarrelOYer who should pOssess th k'e s 1n. He concludes very irra-tionally that the skin reall b 1y e onged to the blindman

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because the blind are always the victims of those who haveeyes and can see. The cripple looks fatter than the blind-man and this, therefore, means he must have had a greatershare of the meat without the poor blindman knowing it.Like in the story of the birds Sekese's purpose in thisstory is to preach the moral lesson that it is wrong forthose in better and higher positions to exploit and cheatthose in lesser and inferior positions. Very heaYY oyer-tones of Christian morality 1

We wish to look at a book published ten yearsafter "Pitso Ea Linonyana", Thomas Hofolo's "Chaka". Thepublishers are also Morija Printing Works and the bookhas been translated into English by F. D. Dutton and pub-lished by Oxford University Press. In the preface to theEngliSh translation the publishers claim that "This bookChaka is not a history of the great Zulu chief, for itdoes not claim to give all the known facts of his lite.But Mofolo uses fact as a basis for his story of au.angreed and unchecked ambition, an ambition that mastersits victim and leads to his downfall and terrible punish-ment".12

There are very interesting similarities betweenChaka and Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. WhereMarlowe uses the devil Mephistopholes, to .ialead Faustus,Mofolo uses the African medicine san, Isanuse, to do thetrick. Both victims have a long spell of successes inlife and have the world in the hollow of their hands tora while. Both die a terrible and painful death in theend with their masters coming in just at the right Iloaentto claim the wages of sin, death. In Mofolo's eyes Chakais not a nation builder as he is treated by Seydou Badianthe West African playwright who incidentally used Mofolo's

.. '''m.. D ath of Chalta" alsobook as a basis for h1B play ~~e e. To Badian Chaka '"published by Oxford Univers1ty Press.t 1 to the nation, but to

death is regarded as a grea _ OBS

h h d chosen the path atMotolo Chaka deserves death for e a

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sin. After Chaka has met the Lord of the Deep Waters hehears these words from a voice in the grass:

"Ahe, ahe. The world is yours,Child of my own people.

You vill rule the nationsand their chiefs and kings,

You will rule all the nations of men,You will rule the winds and the storms of the

seaAnd the deep pools of the mighty rivers,And all things will obey your word,They shall fall down before your feet.E, oi, oi. But take care,

13that you follow the right path."Yes, indeed Chaka ruled a vast area of land; he was vic-torious in war; he ruled chiefs and kings and all thenations of men, but in doing so he had chosen the wrongpath. And for this he had to pay dearly for in terms ofchristian philosophy the wages of sin is death. Isanusileads him from one cruel deed to another till he widesdeep through the blood of his nation, his mother and hiswife, Noliwe. Like Shakespeare's Macbeth he cannot goback any longer for his hands are red with blood and hisheart longs tor aore blood and power. The followingextract which is Chaka's dream of Isanusi in his greatesthour of need will make the point better than any lengthyexplanation. This dre&m comes at the end of Chaka'sdays.

"And Chao watched them thus in his dreams,Isanusi came with his companions. The three of them re-~ined quite silent, as if they were rejoicing over Chakawith a terrible joy, like the joy of a man who overcomesthe ene., he has prepared himself to kill. It was thejoy of those who see that their day has come. And1sanusi said: 'Chaka, today I have CO.e to demand myreward. I told 10u that it I shou.ld pass her$' again you

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were to have all preparations made; there was to be nodelay; you were to give me what is mine without argument.For I have worked well for you, and you have won thechieftainship and power and honour and riches and glory.'

Harmless as these words were, the pain theycaused Chaka was terrible. He saw that Isanusi was count-ing up all the dead vho had gone to till tTdonga-luka-Totiyana during the years of his chieftainship, for asIsanusi spoke he looked down into the Talley. When Chakaheard these words he seemed to leap up in his sleep andfallon one of Isanusi's companions and kill him. He wokeand looked this way and that, and all he saw was that thenight had gone. Beyond this there was nothing else torhim to see, except he knew he had been dreaming.

The Bun rose and vith great difficulty Chakafound the courage to go out and speak with the SOldiers,but the Chaka who spoke waS no longer the Chaka they knew.He stood up like the royal lion of the Mazulu, like awild beast without fear, but like a lion with its strengthgone, unable even to raise its head. His fine body, hisbroad shoulders, could no longer carry out his command-ments.

Death, the mighty ox, had seized Chaka, but hedid not Bee it; it had come to him and he could not runaway or fight against it.

Death came to him in the moment ot his clory.in the hour of his boasting, whe~ he said that the armieaof Mazulu had fought ~gainst death and eTereo •• it aDdmarched over it with their feet. At such a ti.e death had

,,14come to him and there was no deliverance •

. ld like to exa.ineThe next Morija publicat10n we wottbriefly is a drama in Sesotho by Twentyman M. Mofokencentitled "Sek'ona Sa Joa1a" - A Calabash of Beer -

f th'S play is quitepUblished in 19.53. The purpose 0 1 and throughoutclearly meant to militate against polygamy

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the chruch's voice is clear and loud. The story of theplay is about two intimate friends, Lefaisa, father of abeautiful girl, Keneuoe, and Beob!, father of a young man,Phephei, engaged to the beautiful Keneuoe. Beobi is apolygamist and his friend Lefaisa does not approve of it.One day Morongoe, Seobi's second wife, offers him a cala-bash of poisoned beer which his friend knocks out of hishands because he knows that the beer is poisoned. Thisact strains the old friendship between the two men andalso affects the engagement of the two young people.Though the play ends with a reconciliation because ofMorongoe's confession, the playwright attempts throughoutto stress that polygamy is unchristian and dangerousbecause it goes hand in hand with jealOUSY and hatred aswas proved by Morongoe's attempt in trying to poison herhusband because he paid more attention to his first wife,'Malirontso'.

The first scene opens with Phephei at the localwell just after his arrival from the gold mines inJohannesburg. In his long soliloquy, amongst other things,he aeditates about how the eyes were meant to see thebeauty of nature by God. but how that they also see theugliness of.the sinful world; how God meant the tongue tospeak good things. but that it also is capable of speakingeTil things. Some of the things that were useful to thenation haTe now been turned into bad things by man.

nperhaps this thing which today has become witch-craft vas once great knovledge very different from what itis today; vas something vhich was used in various ways forthe good or the nation; but today it was changed into aterrible thing which the priests and wise people viselycondean when they say that people shOuld not believe inthe. because they are bad.n15

!hen he benda down to drink water from the well with theseworda:

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"Wonderful cool refreshing water. I believethat the well from which Moses let the flocks of hisfather-in-law drink was as cool as this when, he, Mosessaw Sephra and when Jacob saw Rachel, and - listen~ What'sthat I hear?,,16

He soon sees his beloved, Keneuoe, walking tothe well to draw water and he hides behind the nearbyrocks as she draws the water to the companyment of thissong.

1. "We put ourselves at thy feet our Father inHeaven, we ask for your protection as we goTo rest.

2. At night the evil spirits will surprise usWith evil dreams; please protect us.

3. Encircle us with an army of angels,Watch over us, protect us, You Jesus, Saviour.

4. When we wake in the darkness of the night,Protect us and give us good thoughts only.

5. In our imaginations give us good thoughts only,Thoughts about repentance and new life and newSpirit.

6. In our thoughts at night teach us Thy truthOnly, so that we may find and follow theRoad of heaven.,,17

We said in the beginnings that the play was an attack onthe age-old custom of polygamy, but before we say some-thing about that here is another example of sentimentalindulgence in religious hope by the characters. WhenKenouoe hears that her father has broken her engagementbecause of the calabash of beer incident she wails,

"Even though my mother and father desert me, myGod will keep me. Phephei, my beloved, I was created foryou by God, and there is nothing in heaven or earth that

b ked to drink bloodcan separate me from you. I may e as

d d with the slimyin place of water or eat brea covere ."th fOre oT be covered"W1thsaliva of frogs or be burnt W1 1

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open sores, all these things I would gladly do because ofmy love for you as all these things that pain my heart arenot greater than love; even death I can face without fear,

. ,,18because I love you w~th a red hot love •••When Seobi explains to Lerafu, Lefaisa's brother-in-law,the cause of the quarrel with his friend he says,

"In fact you remind me one matter which Ialmost forget to tell you about. The beercalabash was given to me by one personLefaisa has always criticised me for insecret, she is this sec('Ud 1-rifeof f1iEe,

Morongoe. Lefaisa always criticiscs mefor having married her as a second wife,and sometimes I believe it is for thisreason that he has cancelled my son'smarriage to his daughter.,,19

And when eventually Morongoe, Seobi's second wife, explainsto Phephei, his son, why she wanted to poison her husbandthis is how the conversation goes.

"MORONGOE: Now I have told you all, but I wishalso to tell Seobi in your presence because Inow wish to return to my people so that I mayget married to someone else; I am fed up ofbeing responsible for the breakage of the loveaffairs of other people, indeed I live in cons-tant fear when I rea1ise that Seobi has greaterlove for his first wife than he has for me, buteven so their first love has diminished; allthat remains for me now is just to confess toboth of them and then to go away from here.PHEPHEI: You indeed speak the truth, polygamycan never let people live in peace at all. Letme go and call Seobi f.or I have talready senword for Lefaisa to COme here. You go intothis room and wait for my return.1l20

130

And later when Lefaisa meets Phephei this is the trend ofthe conversation between them:

"LEFAISA: By the way this woman says shewishes to confess?PHEPHEI: Yes, infact she wants Seobi toreturn her to her people, for she wishes togive up polygamy as she has found out thatthere can never be peace in a polygamousmarriage, and she wishes to get married toanother man, if it is possible.1I2l

The play ends with both Morongoe and Seobi making thefollowing passionate speeches and public denouncements ofpolygamy. It is very much like what happens in the nume-rous incidents in church when members of the congregationmake public confessions and testimonies.

"HORONGOE: Now I realise that Lefaisa, yourfriend, who is your enemy today, had seen mewhen I put t~e poison into the beer, and itis for that reason that he knocked it fromyour hands, and spilled it. I plead withyou, I pray y~u, I beg you and 'Malirontso,with tears in my eyes I say, 0, please yOU ofthe Bafokeng people, forgive mel I feelterrible about the manner in which I havedestroyed your friendship with Lefaisa; Ifeel ashamed to think of the manner in whichyou had driven your son from your house, Iam horrified of myself when I think of themany evil plans I tried, to make you hateyour wife and lose your love for her. Now

t. yOU to releaseI end my words by reques ~ngt eople. and ifme so that I may return 0 my p ,

I should suffer I won't mind because I willhave been responsible for my suffering; no

f those who bring calamity uponone weeps or .themselves.

131

SEDBI: The blame is mine, I am to blameI who did not fear to take you intomarriage though I had a wife. When youask me to forgive you I also ask you toforgive me. 0, my dear friend, Lefaisa,my honest helper, I dread to think how Ihave wronged you. May the word forgivenessbe the dominant word today, and my son alsowhom I have driven away from his own home,may he also forgive me, that Mofokeng, wher-ever he may be. And you, Morongoe, you whoI deceived with clever words, even thoughyou are guilty of nearly spilling blood,that guilt of yours is made insignificantby what motivated you; as you have said, noone weeps for one who brings calamity uponhimself, this ~lich has happened to me now,and that which nearly happened to me, I

22brought them upon myself."Polygamy is an accepted custom among the Basotho peoplelike the ones Mofokeng is writing about in this play.They see nothing wrong in it so that the words that comeout of the mouths of Seobi and Morongoe, condemning thisrespected and time-honoured custom are words coming outof the mouth of the converted christian, Twentyman T.Mofokeng himself. It is the church speaking:

We now wish to take a glance at two bookswritten by two authors from among the Zulus. The pley,tiTheGirl Who Killed to Save" was written by H. I. E.Dhlomo and published by Lovedale Missionary InstitutionPress in 1935. And the novel "An African Tragedy" waswritten by R. R. R. Dhlomo and also published by LovedalePress in the thirties. The two brothers have writtenthese books in the English language and they had a combi-nation of talents for journalism, music composition andauthorship.

132

The play is based on a historical event whichtook place among the AmaXosa of the Cape Province in theyear 1856. Umhlakaza a medicine man. and his daughter.Nongqause. tired of the oppression of the white invaderstold the nation that they had communicated with theancestors. The message of these great past brave warriorsto the nation was that they had to destroy all their foodand cattle and that on a certain day new herds wouldemerge from the ground. the country would be filled withquantities of grain and the ancestors would come out ofthe dead past armed to the teeth to drive the white meninto the sea and rid the land of them for good. Thisgreat even was to take place on 27th February, 1857 andso for ten months there was a great destruction of foodand animals. That day dawned as any other day and nothinghappened. A terrible period of starvation set in andUmhlakaza and an estimated number of 20 000 men, women andchildren died. while about 15 000 cattle also had beendestroyed. and the countryside was white with bones.Nongqause lived for years after this incident.

During this period of distress. many peoplesought refuge on the white farms and missions.

Dhlomo has written a beautiful play with lots of

traditional music and dances in it. and he has given itan authentic African atmosphere. The author has alsowoven into this play the story of the missionaries andchristianity. He alsO sees this great heroic story ofthe Amaxosa to rid themselves of white oppression as astory of salvation. Death and destruction helped toplant, cultivate and nurture the seeds of western civili-zation and christianity. It would make an interesting

. "'th .......ahim N Hussein'sstudy to compare th1s play W2 ~Vr •"1 k' d of"Kinjeketile" which he haS based on a sim2 ar 1»

historical event in Tanzania, the Maji Maji War otT . in 1906liberation against the Germans by anzan1ans •

"" "f ' f1' factorHussein seeS Kinjeketile's MaJ1 as a un1 11»0

133

against the Germans and Dhlomo sees Nongqause's act assomething that was essential to bring christianity to theAmaxosa. The play is full of examples of the tremendousimpact that christianity has had on the author.

In scene III when the administrator, Brownlee,and Hugh, the christian, speak about Nongq~use's appeal tothe people they have this to say:

"HUGH: Nongqause, the source of this drama, mayaccomplish in a short time, by means of an expensivemethod, what in the ordinary course of events would havetaken generations of christianity and education and admini-strative wisdom to do. The only thing to ask is whetheror not the price she asked the people to pay is not toocostly. The passing of time will, I believe, show that itwasn't too costly. If we believe in the doctrine of thesurvival of the fittest then we may excuse her by sayingthat those who may survive her purging and liberating testwill be individuals physically and intellectually superiorto the others. You have told us that some of the peoplealready have shown their intellectual independence bybeing sceptical and refusing to kill their cattle. Thisreveals strong characters and keen minds not totally tram-melled by tradition, or enslaved by supersti Hon. ,,23

Scene V opens in an interesting and revealingmanner. It shows very clearly the author's mental atti-tude to christianity and to the African. This scenehappens many months after the event which Hugh describesas Nongqausets drama.

"(Many months after, Interior of a christian,but ttraw" Xosa home., aho~~ng a room and a sick man lyingin bed. Three women att~ndJ.'ngth .e patJ.ent talk in whis-pers and walk stealthily).

He has fallen asleep. Be carefulSleep soothes. In sleep the sick and

"LUMKA: Shlnot to wake him up.

healthy, poor and rich are all alike, you know. PoorDaba! Wakefulness brings pain. (Covers him up withcare).

"MRS. DABA: 0, 0, Yo-o-o. I'm afraid. Nohope my sisters, no hope for him. He may die. Oh! hewill die. Yo! Yo!

~OMSA: Don't MaXaba, don't. You will wake him

father, insisted upon him taking also thebrought in by Mdhlamkomo, the herbalist.both preparations alternatively.,,24

he slept, did youbrought?the old man, his

herbal mixtureWe give him

ButI did.Yes."NOMSA:

up. He needs rest. Be calm and trust in God. TOday, youknow, things are different. Before that great NongqauseFemine, death was a fearful black thing. But today weknow of our Lord and Saviour of whom the good missionariespreach. Today death means birth. We need not fear forDaba who is a baptised believer. We should pray, believe,work and wait. MaXaba God loves you. (Gently touchingthe covered up, and bundled MaXaba).

"LUMKA: (To Nomsa) Beforegive him the medicine the missionary

All this christian talk takes place onlyafter the "great Nongqause Femine" amongand superstitious ancestor worshippers.christianity can perform miracles.

a few monthsthe then "raw"Yes, of course,

piecedying.doctor

Now, for us, here follows the most devastatingof evidence. THe play is about to end and Daba is

There is present the three women, a missionary, aand a Xosa, Tiyo Soga, a new African missionary

th fter "thefrom Scotland, and all this only a few mon s agreat Nongqause Femine."

"DABA: (Suddenly sitting right up - unearthlTexpression on his face) MaXaba, come to me. (Wite goesto him). Look, MaXaba Look! Listenl Seethe beautiful

, the host of those who perishedcrowd singing? Ah! this is

135

in the Great Femine. Do you see those people, surrounding,thanking and laughing with Nongqause? They tell her thathunger and destitution drove them into the paths of life,led them to the missionary and his divine message; putthem into the hands of God. So there is triumph in death;there is finding in death; there is beauty in death.Nongqause laughs as she tells them that she was really inearnest but was ignorant. They laugh and sing. They callher their liberator from Superstition and from the rule ofIgnorance. These people are dressed, not in Karosses andblankets as we are but in Light - Light that makes it im-possible to see their bodies or to distinguish their sex.(Bright light bathes his face, and he stretches out histrembling arms, and smiles). There she comes to us. Igreet you Nongqause. Yes, I come. Yes, thank you, dolead me to the Master. 0, Nongqause, the Liberatorl

(Falls back dead)Wife falls into the arms of Nomsa: Lumka closes Daba'se1es and puts the blankets over his chest (the threewomen sobbing softly. Missionary sits at organ and plays.Others stand rigid with heads hung down).

Soft music fills the Place.1I25

Now, we are not mocking when we say that the power and in-fluence of christianity over Dhlomo Was so great that itcould create miracles in just a few months after such agreat femine. It could liberate easily those bound bysuperstition and the rule of Ignorance. It createdScottish trained African miSSionaries, and even producedorgans miraculously in "raw" Xosa homes. Of course,Marxists always tell us that opium creates hallucinationsin the minds of those who use it.

ttAnAfrican Tragedy" is a novel in English by theZulu Writer R R R Dhl .

, ••• OlllO, brother of the playwr1ght wehave just exa.ined. Dhlomo, we learn from the Publishers'Note, Will'S educated at Ohlange and Amanzimtoti Institutionsin Natal. He was a t h .eac er and a M1ne-clerk in Johannesburg

136

and was also a keen journalist. The Dhlomo of "An AfricanTragedy" most probably experienced the same christianinfluences of his brother for he dedicates his novel,

"To all those who have not found God's allin all this story - the humble effort of myinspiration - is with my innermost andfervent - feelings dedicated.,,26

Dhlomo explains in the Preface of the bpok that the storyis about the causes that undermine the peacefulness andblessedness of the newly-founded homes of young marriedpeople as he had observed then in Johannesburg. The noveltells the story of a young Zulu teacher, Robert Zulu, wholeft his job at Siam Village School to seek his fortunesin the big city of Johannesburg to raise enough Lobola orMahadi money for the girl he wished to marry. InJOhannesburg, he meets with serious personal problemsbecause of bad company such as prostitutes, drunkards andknife-happy Malawian (Blantyire card players.) This youngchristian teacher Boon forgets all the good ways of lifeof his people and gets mixed up in a murder case whichforces him to abandon all and flee for his life to hisnative home in Natal. Back at home two friends plan toget rid of him because they complain that since his returnfrom Johannesburg he plays havoc with their girls and monO-polises them as if he were not married. So both DanielZibi and Jonathan Moya plan to "send him across the Jordan"which they eventually do by using a girl to be their bait.So very much like the Samson and Dellila story of the Bible.

There is no doubt that Dhlomo believes that theproblems that worry him and which he is writing about inhis novel can only be solved by christianity. To him

. 1prochristian morality is the only panacea to the soc~a -

dung people seneral17.blema of young married couples an yoIf they wish to be victorious and successful in lire then

11 '. in such a lIIlAllerthey must cultivate the still sma vo~cil forces of the dedIso that in their struggle with the eT

137

they can always hear it loud and clear as in the followinginstance in the story soon after Robert Zulu's arrival inJohannesburg.

"In his heart, Robert heard a soft, warningvoice say:- 'Do nott You will be ruinedtThink of your duty to God. Think of thoseyou left behind you. Be a mant' Yet anothervoice loud and insistent this time rang inhis heart: 'Pleasure is the essence ofyoung people's lives in Johannesburg. Enjoyit, mant You will be loved and admired bylovely, dancing ladies of fashion, if youmix up with the gay throng and let your

27'money and clothes advertise yout ft,

Now Dhlomo was writing when Johannesburg was prosperousand there was a great rush by black and white to the gold.ines. There was money, there were slums, there wassegregation (today apartheid) and there were all the otherproblems that are found in any prosperous large city. ToDhlollloall these social problems could only be removed bypeople being obedient to this still small voice and rejec-ting the loud and insistent voice.

The author believes that political problems alsocan be Bolved by christianity. In the following extract hedescribes a scene and then immediately comments on it.

"At one end of the room an organ was beinghaamered by a drunken youth. Couples _ literally fas-tened to each other - were swaying giddily widly, to thisbarbaric time. In this mood young girls are deflowered intheir youth. Yet we hear people wondering why there is so.neh licence among youag people.

"Do these people who have the welfare of ournation at heart, eVer visit these dark places and try tovin back the straying youth?

138

"Carrying war only in clean and favourable sur-roundings; and preaching to the well-to-do and educated,is no remarkable and self-sacrificing warfare. War, ifwar it is, should be waged right into the enemies' lineswhere the source of all evil is.

For after all is said and done what is the useof trying to unite our peoples when their offspring wallowin the mud _ so to speak? Do christians who profess tolove God and seek to do his will ever visit such places -not as they do on Sunday afternoons when the people in theyards are already half mad with drinks and evil passions -but in the quiet during the week when these people aremore amenable to reason?

Does it occur to their minds that these slavesof vice may be the sheep of whose welfare Christ spoke soeloquently and so feelingly in the loth Chapter of St.John's Gospel: Verse 161

Pardon my digression, my poor effort being towrite the story of Robert Zulu as he handed it to me tor

bl' . h h ,,28pu 1cat1on _ not to presume to teae or preae •

In fact though the author realises his digres-sions to teach and preach, nevertheless, he does eothroughout the entire story. Robert Zulu finds himselfin positions, all the time, which cause the angels inheaven to hold their breath in fear and dismay. Now andagain his mind fixes on the serious problems that faceblack people, for example the pass problem, but hebelieves that such political problems will only be solyedthrough chri~ianity.

In conclusion we wish to refer to the lastd th Sinner" Thechapter in the book entitled "God an e •

two rivals of Robert Zulu at last get their girl friend. f his wife this isto poison him and as he d1es be are

what happens."Those two young scoundrels had got hill!. Forthe first time in his life Robert Zulu felt the pressure

of the Band of God.139

"Where is the Minister? He gasped. TheMinister soon made his appearance. The air in the roombecame tense, and fraught with tragic issues •••

"My sins", Robert's voice broke the silence,feebly."My sins are past forgiveness.""Hush, my son", said the Minister fervently.l1Not past forgiveness, 'The Blood of JesusChrist cleanseth us from all sins. ,,,29

We wish now to quote in ftUl the last part of this chapterbecause it illustrates quite clearly how easy it was forDhlomo to digress from his main story in order to teachand preach. The lines that follow are the closing onesof the chapter just after Robert Zulu's death.

The rain began to fall with a fury of a storm.The Minister stood calmly before the awe-inspired gather-ing and opened his Bible read.- Thou hast beset me behindand before, and laid thine hand upon me. Whither shall Igo tro. thy spirit or whether shall I fell from thyPresence. If I ascend up into Heaven, Thou are there;

.Psalm 139 if I make my bed in Hell, behold thou art there;if I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in theuttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand leadme, and thy right hand shall hold me.

'Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but thenight shineth as the day: the darkness and the light areboth aUke to Theel'

He clOsed his Bible.Had the Boundless Love of ~esusrevealed itself to Robert ZUlu during thatbrief hour of visitation?Who knows?'God moves in a mysterious way •••,..30

After all that we have said about the writings of theseearly writers they should prompt us more and more to find,

140

read and analyse their works so that we may know theforces that have influenced the development of writingamong African authors. In fact we believe we shouldbegin to search for not only the writings but also otherworks of art. For example we know a man, in theTransvaal, who has two of the early paintings of GeraldSekoto who has been living in Paris since 1947 as apainter. He bought these paintings for ten shillingseach before Gerald left South Africa, but when we spoke tohim in 1963 he would not part with those paintings forthousands of shillings.

The two paintings "The Symphony of Labol1rll and"Starvation in the Midst of Plenty" are a political state-ment about the blackman's position in that country. Itwas in the political situation that Gerald Sekoto foundhis inspiration and creativity.

The powerful christian influences which workedon Mofo10, Ntsikana, Mofokeng, Sekese and the Dhlomobrothers, and many others of that time whom we have notmentioned, had no effect on Sekoto. When he came ontothe scene the political situation was hot just after theSecond World War. Africa was engaged in the violentstruggle of breaking the shackles of oppression andimperialism. And, therefore, christianity had no fasci-nation for him. He wanted freedom.

F 0 0 T NOT E S

lSekese, A. M., Pitso Ea Linon~ana, Morija SesutoBook Depot, Morija, 1955, page 7

2Ibid• page 8

3Ibid• pages 15, 16

4Ibid• page 16

5Du Plessis, J., !History of Christian Missions in

South Africa, Longmans, 1911, Preface pages VIIand VIII

6Shepherd, Robert H. W., The Story of a Century,

Loveda1e, South Africa, 1841-1941, page 19

7Umbedesho Namcu10 Ama-Wesi1e, London, 1953pages 19, 20

8Shepherd, Robert H. W., The Story of a Century,

1841-1941, Loveda1e, South Africa, page 20

9Ibid• page 400

lOSekese, A. M., Pit so Ea Linonyana, Morija SesutoBook Depot, Morija, 1955, pages 17, 18

11lbid. page 18

142

FOOTNOTES (Continued)

12Mofolo, Thomas, Chaka the Zulu, London 1949

Preface

13Ibid• page 21

14Ibid• pages 121, 122

15Mofokeng, Twentyman, T., Sek'ona Sa Joa1a,

Morija Sesuto Book Depot, Morija 1939,

page 6

16Ibid• page 6

1?Ibid. pages 6, ?

18Ibid• page 9

19Ibid• page 13

20Ibid• Page 39

21Ibid• Page 41

22Ibid• pages 42, 43

23Dh1omo, H. I. E., The Girl Who Killed to Save(Nongqause the Liberator) Lovedale, pages 23, 24

24Ibid• pages 36, 37

25Ibid• pages 40, 41

FOOTNOTES (Continued)

26Dhlomo, R. R. R., An African Traged~, ( A novelin English by a Zulu Writer) Lovedale

2?Ibid. pages 3, 4

28Ibi~.pages 6, 7

29Ibid• pages 37, 3830Ibid. pages '9, 40