Episode 4: Resurrection: The Nongqawuse Story

Umlando: Afrikan History Podcast

Nongqawuse was a 19th century Xhosa diviner, born in 1841 at a place known as Centane near the Gxarha River in the Eastern Cape province. Nongqawuse’s parents died while she was very young during the Eighth Xhosa War of Colonial Resistance. She was raised by her uncle Mhlakaza, who was the son of a councillor of the Xhosa King Sarili kaHintsa. Mhlakaza was a Xhosa spiritualist, who left Xhosaland after his mother's death and spent time in the Cape Colony, where he became familiar with Christianity. He returned to Xhosaland in 1853. Mhlakazi was to have a major influence in Nongqawuse's life, acting as an interpreter and organiser of her visions. In April 1856, Nongqawuse, at the age of 15, along with her friend Nombanda, who was approximately 8 to 10 years old, ventured to the seaside fields near the Gxarha River mouth to chase away birds from her uncle's crops. Upon her return, Nongqawuse confided in Mhlakaza, sharing that she had encountered the spirits of two of her ancestors. These ancestral spirits introduced themselves by name and began to impart their divine messages of warning to her.