Zakes Mda - The Heart of Redness

There were two groups of amaGogotya: those who built their homesteads deep inland in case there was truth in the prophecies that Unbelievers would be swept into the sea together with the white people, and those who defiantly established their homes by the sea, openly challenging the validity of the prophecies. Twin-Twin was becoming so fervent in his unbelief that it was rumored he was considering moving his vast homestead from KwaFeni to Ngcizele, to be close to the sea. Twin never got to know whether there was any truth in that, because it was at the time when he was no longer speaking to his brother. But the rumor strengthened his resolve to burn down Twin-Twin’s homestead before he could become his neighbor.

The Unbelievers had powerful chiefs such as Sigidi and Nxito on their side. They worked closely with the government to root out the cattle-killing movement. This was against the wishes of Sarhili, the king of all amaXhosa, who had issued orders that the prophets must be obeyed.

John Dalton was having the best of times. He was the most enthusiastic of government agents, working directly under the magistrates who had been placed by The Man Who Named Ten Rivers and his predecessors at the courts of all the senior chiefs of the amaXhosa. He rode in the countryside routing out those who were thought to be Believers. This sent most of the movement underground, and made Twin and his followers even more determined to wage a guerrilla war against the Unbelievers and their colonial masters.

Twin led his men to destroy the Unbelievers’ fields in the dead of the night. He started with his own brother’s fields. He opened Twin-Twin’s kraals and drove his cattle onto his fields and gardens to trample the crops. Then his men stabbed some of the prize bulls with spears. When Twin-Twin’s family woke up the next morning, they were consumed by an explosive rage. The Unbelievers had great difficulty in stopping Twin-Twin from riding to Mhlakaza’s homestead to show the traitors that he was not made of clay. It was at that very moment that the news arrived that Twin-Twin’s senior wife, the one who had once been identified as a witch by Prophet Mlanjeni many years before, had run away to join the Believers on the banks of the Gxarha River.

He was devastated.

The hand of the Believers was strengthened by five more prophets who emerged in those lands of the amaXhosa that were under British rule. All of them claimed they were messengers of the ancestors that would rise from the sea to bring freedom to the people. Their message was the same as that of the great prophets of the Gxarha River — Nongqawuse and Nombanda. People had to kill their cattle and refrain from cultivating the land. One of the prophets, the wife of Councillor Bhulu, prophesied that on top of Ntaba kaNdoda Mountain there would be endless supplies of wild animal skins of all types and beautiful ornaments for wearing. These would be provided by the new people only if the amaXhosa gave up their witchcraft and killed all their cattle. Another prophet, the daughter-in-law of Phetsheni, ordered the people to buy new axes to build kraals for the new cattle that would come with the new people. Like the rest of the prophets, she told the people, “Do not associate with white people! Do not join those who murdered the son of their own god! Or the god of the amaXhosa will punish you!”

While those chiefs who supported the cattle-killing movement did so secretly lest they incurred the wrath of the colonial magistrates, Chief Maqoma openly admitted to supporting it. Since he was the general who had gained great respect during the War of Mlanjeni, his support further strengthened the resolve of the Believers. Maqoma ordered that all those who lived in his chiefdom should actively participate in the activities of the cattle-killing movement. Those who disobeyed the orders were threatened with banishment.

But chiefs who were Believers continued to cultivate their land. Their territories became targets of Twin’s marauding destroyers.

Not long after destroying Twin-Twin’s crops, Twin led a party of armed men to his brother’s homestead again. They went first to his kraals, their spears ready for a massacre. But the kraals were empty, except for three milk cows. Twin-Twin had sent his remaining cattle with his sons to hide in the Amathole Mountains.

The armed men turned their wrath on the huts and set them alight. Crackling sounds filled the air, and a black cloud billowed above the homestead. A large swath was splashed with an orange glow as the flames raced to the sky, only to be swallowed by the black cloud. Shadows of screaming women and children ran helter-skelter. Some were trying to save their valued belongings from the burning houses. Twin-Twin was urging them to leave everything and save their lives. He was running from hut to hut, making sure that all his children were safe, when he came face-to-face with his brother, leading the men who were now singing triumphantly and dancing around the burning homestead.

“You. . child of my mother. . you did this to me?” he croaked in a voice stifled by horror.

But Twin did not answer. Instead he beckoned his men to move on. There were more homesteads to burn.

Twin-Twin and his wives and children found themselves exiled in the mountains. There were many other families who had also lost everything. They were huddled under the cliffs, where old Nxito’s councillors ministered to them. Chief Nxito himself was in exile at a secret place, having been driven away from his chiefdom at Qolorha near the Gxarha River by the activities of the Believers.

Most of the refugees in the mountains were the Unbelievers who believed — it was in the days when Unbelievers believed — in Qamata, the god of the amaXhosa. The one who was called Mdalidephu or Mvelingqangi by various prophets of old. Those Unbelievers who believed in Thixo, the god of the white man, were rumored to have been given succor on the grounds of the magistrates’ courts, and some as far afield as the Native Hospital in Kingwilliamstown. They were supplied with blankets and food.

This was the most humiliating time for Twin-Twin. Here he was, a man of means and standing, reduced to a beggar. He was sitting around a fire with other wretched people, where they would spend the night under the stars.

It was clear to him that some Unbelievers were beginning to waver. He listened in distress to idle gossip about Unbelievers who were converting into Believers and were throwing their spades and plows into the river. He heard of women who attempted to cultivate their fields but were fixed to the ground, unable to move. Some women were carried into the sea by strong winds when they tried to sow. And a man who went to cut the bush in order to fence his compound was swept up by a whirlwind, which left him suspended in the air.

Although these stories were told in great laughter, Twin-Twin found them very distressing.

His scars began to itch. They transported him to his flagellation by Prophet Mlanjeni’s men years before. The itching was so severe that he had to roll himself on the rough ground and scratch himself against a boulder.

Bhonco’s scars are playing up again. Whenever he is upset by the Believers the scars itch. And when that happens he is blinded even to the beautiful things that make him weep. He is blinded by anger. He needs NoPetticoat by his side. She has a way of soothing him, and scratching the scars gently, almost caressing them, until he is lulled to sleep. And in his sleep he joins his forefathers wandering on the mountain, digging out roots to feed their children and lamenting the folly of belief.

When he wakes up he is fresh again, and eager to enjoy life. He is ready to cry for beautiful things. And these include the fresh breeze that comes from the sea. He takes a walk with the view of bathing his lungs in the air.