Book 162: Lesotho (English) – Chaka (Thomas MAFOLO)

He saw all the affairs of his life, from the time of his childhood, and he found that they were ugly and frightening, and made a man shudder. And when he thought of the day when he came back from rounding up the calves, and found that there was already a plot against him, and the day the boys surprised him in the fields, and about the lion and the hyena, he realized that here on earth people live by might only, and not by right; he decided that here on earth the only person who is wise and strong and beautiful and righteous, is he who knows how to fight with his stick, who, when people argue with him, settles the matter with his stick; and he decided that, from that day on, he would do just as he pleased, and that, whether a person was guilty or not, he would simply kill him if he so wished, for that is the law of man.

‘Chaka’ is no doubt the seminal work of Lesotho’s literature (written about 1910), but the Basotho people have only a cameo role in it. Here we are in South Africa at the time of the birth and meteoric rise of the Zulu nation, created single-handedly (according to this) by Shaka, or Chaka as his name is spelled here. It is the story of a psychopath and reminded me of the rise and fall of the Third Reich.

His mother Nandi was pregnant with him before her marriage, and the two of them were banished due to the machinations of the king’s other wives (which would seem to point to a fair amount of power among the women). Chaka appears as a hero even as an infant. His rise to glory starts when he kills a lion then a hyena which had taken a girl. He nevertheless has to leave, but meets a sorcerer, Isanusi, with whom he makes a faustian deal to gain the kingship – he supplies him with killing medicine for his soldiers (which, if it not sated with enough blood, will kill him himself) and two invaluable advisors. After this he basically loses his humanity. The sweet Noliha falls in love with him (inexplicably for me) and he supposedly loves her too, though for both of them the only reason given is their attractive looks and voices.

He creates a war-centred society which reminded me of ancient Sparta. He never does marry – and doesn’t let anyone else marry either, apart from those of his fighters who were brave. For himself he picks any pretty girls he wants to use then discards them. Chaka trying to teach his people compassion seems ironic in the extreme. He names the new nation he has created from his people and those he has conquered, called Zulu (’Sky’).

Having gained all he had been promised in the original deal, Isanusi offers him more, at a terrible price (he could not be blamed for not reciting all the terms and conditions!) – even more conquests in exchange for whatever he most loves, which is Noliwa. For that he does not hesitate to murder the pregnant girl. He goes on a rampage at home and abroad, murdering tens of thousands of his own troops for supposed cowardice, and going on endless wars which cause mass displacement of tribes throughout southern Africa (the so-called difaqane). Lesotho survives when its king puts out the white flag. As Chaka becomes increasingly murderous and paranoid, getting rid of even his best and most loyal commanders, putting them in a situation where whatever they do is wrong (shades of Hitler again), and kills his own mother as well, two of his commanders revolt and set up their own independent states. The only way to put an end to the monster seems to be to kill him.

I felt that ‘Chaka’ explained his success (in terms of supernatural advisors, sorcery and ‘medicine’), but not why he ‘lost it’ – except for the more prosaic reason of greed for power.

This is a great and very readable work of art.

Shaka Day (24th September) is a public holiday in South Africa.

Mafolo, Thomas (1876 – 1948), Chaka, translated by Daniel P. Kunene, African Writers Series, Oxford, Heinemann, 1981 (first published in SeSotho 1925), ISBN 0-435-90229-6