Mandume's legacy lives on

This year, 6 February marks the centenary of the death of one of Namibia's most feisty kings, Mandume Ya Ndemufayo.

The Oukwanyama Traditional Authority (OTA) is planning a centenary commemoration of the death of King Mandume who became the king of the Aakwanyama at the age of 17 and ruled between 1911 and 1917.

Highly underrated in Namibian history, Mandume was a spirited and fair man and made a very good king for his people, even though he was thrust onto the throne by his uncle Nande, as there was no male heir in Nande's line.

Often referred to as the 'lion warrior of Namibia's floodplains', Mandume was crowned king in 1911 at the tender age of 17 and reigned for only six years. In this short time he made major inroads and thus, he remains with us today - his life and his battles cast in stone and sure in the history of this country.

How could such a short reign make such an impact that a century later he is still remembered and revered?

The greatest controversy surrounding the life and times of Mandume is the whereabouts of his skull.

Much of oral tradition says it is kept in the monument of what is now known as Palm Tree Park at the corners of Bahnhoff Street and Mandume Ndemufayo Avenue while other sources say it is in Germany.

The fact is, his head, after being severed by the South African forces after the siege at Oihole, was indeed taken to Windhoek.

What became of it is not known and remains speculation to this day.

But we will get to that later.

Let us start at the beginning.

Born circa 1894, Mandume was crowned king after his uncle, Nande, died on February 5, 1911.

Nande had played a manoeuvring game with both the Portuguese and the Germans, making promises to both and avoiding confrontation.

The Oukwanyama kingdom stretched from Angola through into the then Deutsch Südwestafrika and he had made concessions which included the provision of migrant labourers.

After his death, Mandume took over and he did not tolerate the colonial presence in his kingdom.

Every report makes it clear that this young king had but one goal – the unification of his kingdom, and sovereignty and freedom within his own territory.

In her MA thesis, Napandulwe Shiweda writes that, “He is represented in both written and oral accounts as having from the first, a coherent, integrated vision of necessary internal change.”



Pioneering and modern reforms

Mandume is known for six major reforms in the day-to-day running of the kingdom.

The first was a law issued that no unripe fruit especially from the omuandi trees was allowed to be picked.

These trees in particular had suffered from droughts and the unripe fruit was beaten off or whole branches were pulled off.

Offenders were forced to eat all the unripe fruit they had picked.

Secondly, Mandume placed a ban on random shooting and would not permit the carrying of firearms to festivals and celebrations.

Third, he set out to limit the powers of his omalenga (regional headmen) and centralised the authority of the kingship.

The headmen had been trading with the Portuguese and had also, in their various parts of the kingdom, removed the more affluent members of the community so as to appropriate their cattle and crops.

If they were wealthy, they were able to make decisions regarding poisoning and witchcraft.

This was detrimental to the kingdom.

Another reform was to stop all cattle raids that did not carry his personal consent.

Not only did he assent his central authority in this way, he was also able to curtail the accumulation of wealth by the headmen and ensured good relations with neighbours.

Offenders were made to drink all the milk of the cattle they raided until they became ill.

He also made changes with regard to women.

They were allowed for the first time to own cattle and severe penalties were issued for those guilty of rape.

Women were also no longer forced to have abortions if they fell pregnant before marriage.

Finally, he expelled Portuguese traders who had established themselves in the kingdom because of their over-inflated prices.

With these modern and advanced reforms, Mandume began to restore the status of the Aakwanyama and consequently, began to attract the attention of the colonial forces in the country. That he was aggressive is so, but that he was proud and did not fear external forces, is also so.



Mandume's death

It is important to mention that during the late 1800s the kingdom of the Aakwanyama was divided by Germany and Portugal with a man-made border. The Portuguese wanted the border to be six miles further south and the Germans wanted it to be six miles north.

As no agreement could be reached, a neutral zone of seven miles was created. Eventually, in 1914, a battle ensued and by 1915, the union was running Namibia on behalf of the British Crown.

During that year, Mandume fought the Portuguese army and after being defeated, he moved his capital across the border into the neutral zone to Oihole.

Now, the king presided over his kingdom from the neutral zone.

During September of that year, he signed a treaty with Major Stanley Pritchard for protection against the Portuguese.

One of the conditions of the agreement was that he, along with all his subjects, was not allowed to enter Angola.

In 1916, a “buffer state” was created between Namibia and Angola to which Mandume had no access whatsoever.

He was not able to reach his subjects resident in Angola.

He was not party to that agreement and for this reason, the union officials began to appear untrustworthy to the young king.

Chaos took hold on the Angolan side of the kingdom with cattle raids and unabated violence.

Mandume entered the Angolan side of his kingdom twice to establish law and order and to protect his people.

He had to apologise on both occasions.

The third time, he and 70 soldiers killed a Portuguese headman and reclaimed the cattle he had stolen.

The South Africans accused him of travelling 120 miles into Angola with 800 soldiers and said he had killed several people.

After this he also clashed with the Portuguese, defeating them and managing to obtain horses, two maxims (automatic guns), other rifles and even two cars. The colonial power in Namibia was concerned.

Mandume, already difficult to control, had managed to secure substantial firepower and through the battle, had managed to unite his people.

He was now, a real and tangible threat.



Surrender was not an option

Mandume is quoted as having said that surrender was never an option.

“If the English want me, I am here and they can come and fetch me. I am not a steenbok of the veld, I am a man, and not a woman and I will fight until my last bullet is expended.” On February 6, 1917, Mandume's kraal at Oilhole was attacked by the Union. Various sources have noted that when he met with colonial forces, he would dress in western clothes but on this day, he was dressed in full traditional garb. He was hopelessly outnumbered and died in the battle. The cause of death was gunfire.

And the controversy begins.

South African reports state that Mandume was killed by their forces in a siege that took but a few hours. Oral tradition states that Mandume killed himself and the siege took three days.

Fact: Mandume said he would never be taken alive.

Fact: Mandume was dressed in traditional garb on the day of the battle.

Fact: The distance between the three maxim bullet wounds across his chest was too close for the position he was found at.

If shot at that position, the wounds would have been further apart.

Fact: His body was moved, whether by himself or another, after the maxim gunfire hit him.

Fact: A single bullet wound, according to most sources, was found in his neck.

After the years following Mandume's death, the Namibian/Angolan border was moved further south and finalised in 1926.

Mandume's remains, interred at Oihole, are now in Angola.



Was it suicide?

The late Vilho Kaulinge, a boy at the time of the siege at Oihole, said that Mandume had stated he preferred to die at Oihole than move again.

He said Mandume shot himself, that he had said he would never be taken alive. Kaulinge also said that when they took Mandume's belongings south to Ondonga he was shown Mandume's head, severed from the body.

The union troops said that they had not killed him, but he had taken his own life. A man by the name of Slapjan du Plessis was 17 and a union soldier at the time of the siege. He said the siege did not take an hour or two, but rather three days and that Mandume killed himself some distance away from the kraal at Oihole.



Mandume's head

Mandume's head was paraded throughout the kingdom by the union to show his subjects that he was dead and no doubt, as a show of force.

Almost all the sources agree that he was decapitated after his death. Some believe that his head is buried in the memorial at Palm Tree Park where 12 palm trees were planted for the 12 Union soldiers who died in the battle.

What we do know is that the head was in Windhoek.

We have several reports of this although some prefer anonymity. Others have also reported seeing Mandumes's head in Windhoek.

Three oral accounts in Shiweda's thesis say that the memorial, unveiled on February 6, 1918, was guarded 24 hours a day.

The position of the memorial is no coincidence. All visitors coming to Windhoek, most travelled by train, saw it and the migrant labourers, travelling mostly to Walvis Bay, saw it too. Some believe Mandume's head was taken to Germany, some say that it was studied and some still believe it is inside the monument.

Digging up Mandume's grave or tearing down the monument which they say stands as a testament to their king, will be, in Aakwanyama values, desecrating both the body and the memory of the king.

Hence, we will never know.



*Our deepest appreciation is extended to Dr Jeremy Silvester and Napandulwe Shiweda. Shiweda's thesis is entitled Mandume Ya Ndemufayo's Memorials in Namibia and Angola (2005).