THE complex life of Nkosi Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela (Ah! Dalibhunga) has once again, albeit upon his death, awakened the people of South Africa to the reality that Africans, in their own motherland, have for too long been made to live a lie. Perpetrated for centuries by their European conquerors, that they have had no religion of any significance, that their faith in God, manifesting itself through the veneration of their ancestors, was nothing but heathenism and superstition (inkolelo), rather than belief (ukholo).
Thanks to our newly-won freedom, attained at the time of Dalibhunga’s leadership of the ANC, increasingly Africans are beginning to take pride in their cultures, customs, traditions and religion.
Traditional leaders, the African lords of our land, are correctly at the forefront of the crusade to recover the people’s identity.
Dalibhunga was born into royalty, his father being a Thembu lord of the Madiba royal clan.
He was raised in the house of the Regent King, Lord Jongintaba Dalindyebo, at the Mqhekezweni Palace.
It was in his capacity as a lawyer and a political activist that Dalibhunga gave of himself to the wider community of the South African people.
Increasingly he, therefore, spent a great deal of his time away from AbaThembu, in Johannesburg during his struggle years, on the Island of Nxele aka Robben Island during his incarceration, and later in Gauteng and Cape Town when and after he became the president of a democratic South Africa.
Africa and the rest of the world also laid claim to him during the latter period.
But, to the great relief of the Thembu, Dalibhunga made it clear quite early on that he wanted his final resting place to be where his parents’ homestead was – in Qunu.
In this way he was saying, “For all of my adult life I have been taken away from my people, the Thembu, the people who brought me to this world. It is, therefore, time that I went back home, as I have rendered the necessary service to you, the people of the world.”
This decision accordingly called for the rituals necessary for this rite of passage – death – to be brought into line.
I am not privy to what happened when Dalibhunga’s soul separated from his body. Had he been in his rural homestead, there would have the wailing of the women in the room, announcing to the neighbourhood that he has passed on, while expressing the grief over the tragedy of his demise.
Men would have quickly set forth to find out what had happened and upon arrival called upon the women to stop crying and proceed to close his eyes.
When ready to take the body to the mortuary to await the processes leading to his eventual burial, a male elder or senior male member of the family would speak to the body of Dalibhunga, telling him that he was being taken to a place where he would be temporarily kept.
The man would be addressing him directly as if he were still alive.
This is so because his spirit lives.
Whenever his body was taken to the Union Buildings to lie in state for the benefit of the public view, the same elder or senior male member of the family would have had to address him accordingly, and proceeded to accompany Dalibhunga on every occasion of his movements.
On departure for his Qunu homestead, custom would require that his body be taken first to the Johannesburg house where his soul parted with his body.
He would be told that he was being taken home. His spirit would be requested to come along, as to fail to do so would leave it wandering about and miss out on getting home.
To assist in this regard, a branch of a sacred tree called umphafa, usually mixed with certain herbs, is used to symbolically carry his spirit.
The person given this responsibility would be required to keep quiet, not uttering a word, throughout the journey until they arrived in Mthatha.
Before departing from the Gauteng airport and upon arrival at Mthatha airport the body would have been informed accordingly.
The entourage would then have reported to the elders and senior members of the clan, who had come to receive the body at the airport, how the journey had been.
In turn the reception entourage would have welcomed the body and thanked those accompanying it for a job well done.
Upon arrival at his homestead the family would have been called to the main house and told of the journey.
Dalibhunga would, of course, have been informed of his arrival at his homestead in the same way as before.
After the reception he would have been taken to a special room where he would have been in the company of selected men of the clan for the duration of the night.
In the morning, after the prayers have been said, he would again have been informed that he was being taken to the venue of the funeral service.
In the course of the service – as we saw –an imbongi, or praise singer, recited poems in honour of Dalibhunga.
Being a state funeral the coffin was draped in the national flag.
After the service, members of the clan alternated with the soldiers in placing his body in the hearse and taking it out at the grave site.
When the military processes were done and the priests had concluded their prayers, depending on what the clan had decided, his royal kaross would have been placed on top of the coffin – an act symbolising the fact that he was a lord.
Before the grave was filled with soil, a senior lord of the Thembu would have addressed the body, saying that Dalibhunga was now being put in his final resting place, commending him to his ancestors whose names he would recite, asking him to report to them on the state of the nation that he left behind and reminding him to continue to look after his family.
Thereafter the same lord would lead the men in rendering the royal salute three times, saying, “Ah! Dalibhunga,” thereby bidding him farewell.
The mphafa branch would either be placed inside the grave with the coffin or placed on top of the grave – its job having been finally done.
Nkosi Phathekile Holomisa (Ah! Dilizintaba) is lord of the Hegebe clan, former president of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa and an ANC MP
Traditional rites in putting Dalibhunga to his final rest
Thanks to our newly-won freedom, attained at the time of Dalibhunga’s leadership of the ANC, increasingly Africans are beginning to take pride in their cultures, customs, traditions and religion.
Traditional leaders, the African lords of our land, are correctly at the forefront of the crusade to recover the people’s identity.
Dalibhunga was born into royalty, his father being a Thembu lord of the Madiba royal clan.
He was raised in the house of the Regent King, Lord Jongintaba Dalindyebo, at the Mqhekezweni Palace.
It was in his capacity as a lawyer and a political activist that Dalibhunga gave of himself to the wider community of the South African people.
Increasingly he, therefore, spent a great deal of his time away from AbaThembu, in Johannesburg during his struggle years, on the Island of Nxele aka Robben Island during his incarceration, and later in Gauteng and Cape Town when and after he became the president of a democratic South Africa.
Africa and the rest of the world also laid claim to him during the latter period.
But, to the great relief of the Thembu, Dalibhunga made it clear quite early on that he wanted his final resting place to be where his parents’ homestead was – in Qunu.
In this way he was saying, “For all of my adult life I have been taken away from my people, the Thembu, the people who brought me to this world. It is, therefore, time that I went back home, as I have rendered the necessary service to you, the people of the world.”
This decision accordingly called for the rituals necessary for this rite of passage – death – to be brought into line.
I am not privy to what happened when Dalibhunga’s soul separated from his body. Had he been in his rural homestead, there would have the wailing of the women in the room, announcing to the neighbourhood that he has passed on, while expressing the grief over the tragedy of his demise.
Men would have quickly set forth to find out what had happened and upon arrival called upon the women to stop crying and proceed to close his eyes.
When ready to take the body to the mortuary to await the processes leading to his eventual burial, a male elder or senior male member of the family would speak to the body of Dalibhunga, telling him that he was being taken to a place where he would be temporarily kept.
The man would be addressing him directly as if he were still alive.
This is so because his spirit lives.
Whenever his body was taken to the Union Buildings to lie in state for the benefit of the public view, the same elder or senior male member of the family would have had to address him accordingly, and proceeded to accompany Dalibhunga on every occasion of his movements.
On departure for his Qunu homestead, custom would require that his body be taken first to the Johannesburg house where his soul parted with his body.
He would be told that he was being taken home. His spirit would be requested to come along, as to fail to do so would leave it wandering about and miss out on getting home.
To assist in this regard, a branch of a sacred tree called umphafa, usually mixed with certain herbs, is used to symbolically carry his spirit.
The person given this responsibility would be required to keep quiet, not uttering a word, throughout the journey until they arrived in Mthatha.
Before departing from the Gauteng airport and upon arrival at Mthatha airport the body would have been informed accordingly.
The entourage would then have reported to the elders and senior members of the clan, who had come to receive the body at the airport, how the journey had been.
In turn the reception entourage would have welcomed the body and thanked those accompanying it for a job well done.
Upon arrival at his homestead the family would have been called to the main house and told of the journey.
Dalibhunga would, of course, have been informed of his arrival at his homestead in the same way as before.
After the reception he would have been taken to a special room where he would have been in the company of selected men of the clan for the duration of the night.
In the morning, after the prayers have been said, he would again have been informed that he was being taken to the venue of the funeral service.
In the course of the service – as we saw –an imbongi, or praise singer, recited poems in honour of Dalibhunga.
Being a state funeral the coffin was draped in the national flag.
After the service, members of the clan alternated with the soldiers in placing his body in the hearse and taking it out at the grave site.
When the military processes were done and the priests had concluded their prayers, depending on what the clan had decided, his royal kaross would have been placed on top of the coffin – an act symbolising the fact that he was a lord.
Before the grave was filled with soil, a senior lord of the Thembu would have addressed the body, saying that Dalibhunga was now being put in his final resting place, commending him to his ancestors whose names he would recite, asking him to report to them on the state of the nation that he left behind and reminding him to continue to look after his family.
Thereafter the same lord would lead the men in rendering the royal salute three times, saying, “Ah! Dalibhunga,” thereby bidding him farewell.
The mphafa branch would either be placed inside the grave with the coffin or placed on top of the grave – its job having been finally done.
Nkosi Phathekile Holomisa (Ah! Dilizintaba) is lord of the Hegebe clan, former president of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa and an ANC MP
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