“Could they then have foreseen what a full, interesting, but troubled life their infant son would
live?” asked Patrick Stillwell in his obituary of Inkosi Mhlabunzima Joseph Maphumulo in
1991.1 Stillwell was referring to the name bestowed upon the murdered inkosi by his parents,
which means the “earth that is heavy” in isiZulu. Indeed Inkosi Maphumulo had once told
Advocate Ann Skelton that his name foretold how he would live in troubled times and have
many responsibilities.2 From his installation as leader of the Maphumulo ubukhosi in 1973 until
his assassination in 1991, Inkosi Maphumulo led his people in Mbambangalo in an era of
unprecedented political violence, known as the udlame. His court in Maqongqo, in the shadow of
Pietermaritzburg‟s Table Mountain, was known until early 1990 as a haven of peace in a region
in turmoil. Maphumulo earned a reputation of almost mythological proportions as a
“peacemaker,” “maverick,” and “rebel chief” for his resistance against Inkatha domination3 and
for his struggle to quell the violence in Natal. While the rise of warlords accompanied the
violence in many communities, this “peace chief” shaped the course of events in the Table
Mountain area. Maphumulo‟s progressively hardening anti-Inkatha stance and his
accommodation of the refugees on contested land sparked a series of violent political conflicts
tied to land and his leadership. His actions divided his people and ignited conflict with the
neighboring amaNyavu, who were under an Inkatha-affiliated inkosi, Bangubukosi Mdluli.
Kelly2011.pdf