The Timbavati Secrets: Africa at Its Best

By Andries Botes

The Timbavati Secrets explores the Pedi Dynasty, one of Africas lesser-known kingdoms. It is about the mysterious events that took place 180 years ago and how it affected the events that take place within the Timbavati half-moon, all the aircraft accidents in this small area, and makes you question, what was the cause of that fatal aircraft accident of former Mozambican president Samora Marcel? The book asks, From where did the Timbavati White Lions, discovered thirty years ago in this area, mysteriously appear? It questions the Rain Princess, with her meteorologist knowledge and her unquestioned ceremonies, claiming she cleanses the sky. What is her secret? And will this secret hidden so long affect you?
Visual realization: The tale of the Timbavati takes you into the east of Southern Africa, to the majestic Drakensberg mountain range that dissects South Africa. You will learn to revere the mountains and understand the influence they have on this harsh land. The action-packed tour takes you along the Rooi Lebombo Mountains forming the Timbavati half-moon, with the Timbavati River as its heart. The Timbavati is a mysterious place, and is part of the Kruger National Park. It is distinguished by huge, unusual rock formations, just outside Skukuza camp. The rollercoaster discovery tour of Africa on foot among wild animals creates a danger of its own, certainly not for the fainthearted.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jun 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491894613

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© 2014 Andries Botes. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/26/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-9460-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-9461-3 (e)

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Contents

Author’s Preview

Historic Setting

Chapter 1   The Dry Heat of Africa

Chapter 2   Mark’s Camp

Chapter 3   Hoedspruit Airport

Chapter 4   The Hunt for the Hlogo Ngwako

Chapter 5   Hoedspruit Hospital   91

Chapter 6   Sun downers and the Game Drive

Chapter 7   Walking Lisa the Lioness   130

Chapter 8   From the Hospital to the Hunting Camp

Chapter 9   The New Look

Chapter 10   The night of the Lerumo

Chapter 11   Backstage

Chapter 12   Mcombothi

Chapter 13   The Search for Mark

Chapter 14   The Cry for Help

Chapter 15   The Secret Door

Chapter 16   A Lion is Born

Aftermath

Glossary

Acknowledgements

Author’s Preview

INDUSTRIALIZED SOUTH AFRICA TODAY DEPICTS a modern Westernized country with its big cities, fast cars, and highways making life comfortable. The problem is that in such a setting, it is easy to ignore former virgin Africa, its harsh climate and indigenous Black people. But when disaster strikes, your interest is awakened and who better to find the answers than young Mark; a scientist sent by NASA to do his research in the Timbavati and more, what he discovers! However, not before he joins forces with the attractive Shelley, a New York Times journalist. What will they discover when they come face-to-face with Africa’s history?

The tale of the Timbavati takes you into the East of Southern Africa, to the Majestic Drakensburg mountain range that dissects South Africa, where you learn to revere the mountains and understand the influence they have on this harsh land. The action-packed tour takes you along the Rooi Lebombo Mountains forming the Timbavati-half-moon, with the Timbavati River as its heart. The Timbavati is part of the Kruger National Park just outside Skukuza camp. It is a mysterious place with gigantic limestone rock outcrops and unusual rock formations dominating the landscape. It is Big 5 country where being on foot among wild animals creates a danger of its own; certainly a rollercoaster discovery tour of Africa, not for the faint-hearted.

This tale begins to explore the mysterious events that take place within the ‘Timbavati-half-moon,’ particularly all the aircraft accidents in this small area and makes you question: what was the cause of that fatal aircraft accident of former Mozambican president, Samora Machel? The book asks: From where did the Timbavati White Lions discovered 30 years ago in this area, mysteriously appear? Who lives in this area, and more importantly, how does the Timbavati’s history affect us? Events that took place 180 years ago and how they affected the Pedi Dynasty, one of Africa’s lesser known kingdoms, are investigated. It questions the Rain-Princess, with her meteorological knowledge and her unquestioned ceremonies, claiming she cleanses the sky. What is her secret? And will this secret hidden for so long affect you? To understand, it is vital to know the historic events that took place in South Africa 180 years ago involving the African royalty, and the setting explaining why things happened! However, this tale mainly teaches you all about the "African Man circumcision rites and how African Man" is influenced by a man’s genitals, from the way he eats to whom he marries! The text contains vivid, narrative descriptions and the reader is warned – it is age restricted: no persons under 18.

If history is not for you, then start reading Chapter 1: the historic explanations relate to events recorded in the following pages. The author found these events extremely interesting and recorded this story enabling the reader to visit the Timbavati area with renewed interest and uncover one of Africa’s mysteries!

Historic Setting

THE TIMBAVATI SECRETS TELLS THE story of a small tribe of people living in Southern Africa known as the Pedi or Ba-Pedi and historically the dominant tribe inhabiting the grasslands and central region of Southern Africa.

In the eighteenth century no nation in Southern Africa was more affected by the political upheaval, and hunger for land than the Pedi nation. This peace-loving nation residing in the central plains of Southern Africa discovered how territorial expansion amongst the peoples of Africa squeezed and robbed them of their land wealth and children. The Pedi nation with their cattle and wealth, found their people scattered throughout the land. This nation could easily be raided and the highly prized sorghum they produced for beer making could easily be stolen. And yet – they lived respected and peaceably; for their most prized possession was their wisdom that was constantly sought.

Without major armies to protect them, this small nation somehow survived. They were direct descendants of the great Modjadji, the first of the many rain princesses and also a direct descendant of the once mighty Kingdom of Monomotapa, who ruled over the Karanga people in Zimbabwe during the 15th century. Even great men such as the Zulu king, Shaka, came to this small Pedi nation, seeking advice and counsel from the various rain queens. It was said that Shaka and his mighty army had to wait for hours for the rain princess, testing his patience as he waited; respecting what she represented, whilst guaranteeing the safety of the Pedi people.

The 18th century hunger for land was first made obvious in the South Eastern Coast and Province of Natal, the home of the Zulu kingdom. Under the leadership of Shaka, the Zulu nation rapidly expanded, with its aggressive capture-and-engulf programme, incorporating all the tribes they captured and destroying the uncooperative. However, family feuds led to Shaka’s demise and the Matabele break-away, thereby halting Zulu expansionism; even so, no tribe dared venture into the terrain of the Zulu kingdom for either food or grazing, to feed their cattle. Safe grazing was simply found elsewhere. The militant Matabele breakaway group from the Zulu nation settled north of the Limpopo River, unsettling smaller tribes and forcing these to seek grazing for their cattle further south.

Down south along the magnificent Drakensburg Mountains, Moshesh built a strong mountainous empire for the Basotho people, with its powerbase high up in what today is known as Lesotho. Moshesh adopted an acceptance policy allowing various smaller tribes to retain their identity whilst enjoying the protection of the Basotho army.

The Swazi people sought sanctuary in the north-eastern parts of the Drakensberg establishing the mountainous kingdom of Swaziland, hiding in these inhospitable parts of the southern continent of Africa.

But there was another nation that did not believe in the values of the Pedi Rain Queen! They came with Bibles and guns. They built churches and destroyed the Pedi ancestral ruins; yes, from the south came Cecil John Rhodes, who, with his English armies, had his heart set on a Cape to Cairo railway line, and with the help of guns, he planned on building those dreams. The white nation of Boers, descendants of Dutch and French pilgrims that originally settled in the Cape, was moving north ahead of the English, attempting to avoid English oppression, thus fleeing from the English. First the Boers moved to Natal, forming an alliance with the Zulus under Dingaan, Shaka’s successor. But British intelligence double-crossed the Boers and the Battle of Blood-River between the Boers and Zulu ensued. Disgruntled, the Boers moved into the interior of Southern Africa. Cecil John Rhodes seized the opportunity and his English armies captured the Zulu kingdom with its strategic port of Durban.

The Boers heading inland establish three independent States; the Orange Free State, Lydenburg and Pietersburg. The Orange Free State was land negotiated and purchased from the Basotho people under Moshesh; whereas the state of Lydenburg was negotiated and handed to Potgieter, a Boer pioneer and leader by Swazi king, Sobhuza, father of the great Mswati, as a reward for helping the Swazis in a land skirmish with the Pedi, as peace settlement. This land deal thus took from the Pedi prime grazing lands in the Mpumalanga district from the town of Piet Retief on the Swazi border through to the Witbank district as a buffer between the Pedi and Swazi nations. The third Boer state of Pietersburg was in the heartland of the Pedi kingdom, endangering and threatening the succession of the Pedi dynasty.

The discovery of diamonds in South Africa posed another serious threat to the Pedi. Diamonds were discovered in the town of Kimberley and soon the British were involved in fighting the Boers, to obtain possession of the diamond rich town of Kimberly. The first Boer-British war in Southern Africa was thus started with the Boers defending their land from British Imperialists; the British war machine of the 18th century requiring vast resources, conquering and adding resource-rich territories and extending the reign of the royal crown. Although peace was declared after the first Boer war, between the British Empire and Boer Republics, it did not mean peace for the Pedi nation.

The price of peace that the vanquished Boer Republics had to pay to ensure independence from the British meant the sacrifice and hand-over of the diamond rich town of Kimberly to British rule; hence the town’s incorporation into the Cape Province. Consolidation of the Boer Republics resulted in the formation of the new Republic of Transvaal, north of the Vaal River. The Republic of Transvaal thus incorporated the mining town of Johannesburg, the place of gold and also incorporated the two former Republics of Lydenburg and Pietersburg under the leadership of Paul Kruger. The formation of the Boer Republic of the Transvaal resulted in the Pedi nation losing all its hereditary land with Mapog’s defeat (the last military general of the Pedi) when he was killed at the Roossenekal Caves situated near Lydenburg, and signalling the end of the Pedi wars.

This was a dangerous time period for the Pedi nation. King Sekwati and his tribal council decided to send his beautiful wife, Mohasi and rain queen of the Pedi people, heavy with child, across the Drakensburg to sacred villages in the escarpment at the foot of the Drakensberg Mountain, to protect the heir to be. Mohasi thus moved with the Pedi royalty to the hostile area of the Timbavati, short of water, tormented by tsetse-flies and malaria-carrying mosquitoes, to peacefully give birth and rear the heir to the Pedi throne.

Moving across the Drakensberg, the Pedi established themselves on the elevated hills, at the foot of the Drakensberg in the Rooi Lebombo mountains, a low range of hills that forms a half moon, branching from the mighty Drakensburg Mountain. The half-moon starts at the small town of Hazyview and stretches along the Rooi Lebombo mountains; cutting through Pretorius-Kop, running parallel to the Drakensberg, continuing east towards Skukuza, and turning as it leads you up towards Satara, forming the Timbavati-half-moon, with the Timbavati River as its heart. Building their homes on the eastern side of the hills, they found that the evening breeze and light winds would blow away the mosquito and tsetse-fly that plagued both man and beast in the early evening hours, making life in this hostile country possible. But it was the wisdom and ingenuity of all these nobles and Pedi intellectuals, brought here by Sekwati for their own safety; that would soon change the destiny of the Pedi nation.

Bored, they planted sorghum to brew their beer. The sorghum would only grow in water-rich soils as found along the Timbavati River, a wetlands known to supply water no matter how severe the drought. (Timbavati means never ending water.) Soon they planted their sorghum along the Timbavati in the black fertile soil amidst masses of unproductive white sandstone soils. Strange, huge rock outcrops appear in this area – red to mustard orange, that glitter and glow. The nobles transported some of these rocks back to their villages because of their beauty. What those nobles did not realise was the radio conductivity of gold and platinum. These rocks that they strategically scattered acted, unbeknown to them, as radio conductors, and when Mohasi, the rain princess, was asked to bless the river and their crops, strange noises and events occurred in the sky.

Ritualistic dancing, chanting and hammering of rocks created echoes that soon followed a rhythmic pattern, relaying her message far and wide. African drums are known as the communications network of primitive Africa but the rock formations served as a new type of radio-conductor, electrifying the sky with Mohasi’s message.

Mohasi immediately discovered her new found powers and summoned Sekwati, her husband, living on the other side of the mountain attending to his people as a king should. She invited him to come to the festivities and to see his son, Thabo, who had turned eight years old. Mohasi sent her personal bodyguard to summons and accompany the king back to her.

Mohasi kept the festivities going, awaiting the imminent arrival of her husband, the great king Sekwati. The sorghum was good and festivities were intense; yet fate would have its own, as Arab horsemen and Portuguese slave hunters raided that small village, overrunning the drunken citizens in the absence of Mohasi’s bodyguard. These slave hunters ruthlessly captured small children, the black gold of Africa; raiding whatever material goods they could carry, taking them to the Portuguese port of Beira. From Beira, these small children would be sold as slaves. The great Cecil John Rhodes, Governor of the Cape’s dream of a Cape to Cairo rail linking British colonies, had resulted in the annexure of Zanzibar Island. Zanzibar Island for centuries was the headquarters and last vestige of the then international slave trade. Under British rule, the Zanzibar slave markets were closed. Slave traders, no longer free to capture Negroes from central Africa as slaves and sell them in Zanzibar, turned to the Portuguese port of Beira on the Mozambican shores. To the former Portuguese colony where slavery was still permitted, Mohasi’s little boy of eight years old was taken; the ideal age for little boys that were stolen and taken to become slaves in the sugar-fields of the rich American landlords via the Portuguese slave traders.

The Drakensburg was no more than 250 kms away and no more than ten days on horseback away from the Portuguese port of Beira. Yes, 180 years ago Portuguese slave traders kidnapped the great Sekwati’s firstborn son and legal heir to the throne. To America, that little boy went, and generation after generation the hopes of his returning were kept alive by a tiny piece of a mask that broke when the Portuguese raiders stormed the village. The holy faces, oblong and with peg-like teeth indicative of dental mutilation performed during initiation ceremonies (what we would describe as masks), were used in the festival and one had fallen and been broken. This pottery fragment was picked up by Thabo, the son of Sekwati. Mohasi shouted, knowing her son would somehow return: Save the piece and when you return, the matching piece will secure your place. Sekwati and Mohasi never had another son and the king was ultimately succeeded by Sekhuhkune, a step son.

Devastated, Sekwati and Mohasi returned to their former home North of Pietersburg, after the loss of their only son and rightful heir to the throne. The holy Pedi ‘faces’ were sent with Sekwati’s mphato and trusted leader of the Lydenburg district to Lydenburg. The medicine men and wise elders were left behind in the Timbavati to guard the Pedi secrets, with the promise that, until the heir returned, the powers of the rock must remain with the Pedi, for in due time their proper use would be found. Those rocks were associated with misfortune, for the Pedi had lost all their natural land to the invading Boer and British forces with the slave traders eventually capturing their only son. The medicine men left behind were given the instruction to find a way of turning the bad omens the rocks brought to the Pedi to the favour of the Pedi whilst letting the rocks work against their enemies!

It may have been fine to entrust the Pedi indunas with keeping that ancient secret; but what would the Americans attitude be and would they uphold these African values?

Although a novel, this is a tale that the author has tried to relate as accurately as possible both historically and geographically; however, with imaginative minds, the question is: where will all this information take us?

CHAPTER 1

The Dry Heat of Africa

IT WAS LATE AFTERNOON, AND the heat and travel exhausted Mark. Mark had been instructed to collect a parcel at Lanseria International Airport in Sandton, situated West of Johannesburg, the lesser known airport.

Mark had started his journey early travelling from Hoedspruit and been on the road since 03h00 to be at the airport by 11h00 as the plane landed, for he had been instructed to personally collect the parcel and return to Hoedspruit the same day. Tired, Mark drove through the Strydom Tunnel crossing the Drakensberg, knowing his journey was nearly complete for he had travelled 840 kms, crossing the spectacular Drakensberg Mountain range twice on the same day with all the altitude changes.

Irritated with the extensive travel all in one day, Mark was further annoyed when road works abruptly forced his vehicle to a stop. Mark did not recollect passing road works that morning on the way to the airport; however, his journey had started early, but now more than one car stood waiting. It was a dual carriage way but road works on the one side restricted the vehicle traffic to a single lane, with an official on either end controlling traffic and indicating to the cars when to move. Waiting for the ‘Go’ signal, Mark read the instructions he had received but ignored the accompanying parcel.

It was a scolding letter, his boss accusing Mark of sitting inside the air-conditioned unit out in the research field, and not going out meeting people, collecting information and doing the research he was meant to do. The bag, he read, contained the instruments to test radio signal and altitude meters.

Mark was angry about the lack of consideration on the part of his superiors. Research did not simply produce results overnight, and they should know as much. Furious, Mark opted to drive with open windows, switching the air conditioner off, even though his luxury, rented SUV came fully equipped with every gadget. Mark sacrificed the luxury, and in exchange, acclimatized his body to the hot, arid conditions of the Lowveld, making his way as fast as possible per the instructions in the letter to the nearest place where he could meet people. Mark did not need a second invitation to go and mingle in a pub and drink a beer. If that’s what they wanted him to do, he would gladly follow those instructions. After all it was too early to return to the lodge, and it seemed so wrong to be alone in the bush. Mark’s research had so far been fruitless, and he needed help. Mark decided he would stop at a small pub along the way to mingle with the locals, as listening to them might help. In any case, in this heat a beer would be most welcome. Hopefully he could find local pilots to drink a beer with and share their stories. After all, they were the most likely ones to assist him in his research.

Mark had driven this road many times. When you drive from Johannesburg to the central region of the Kruger National Park and the Timbavati, you head for Lydenburg and then Hoedspruit, the main towns along the way. Between Lydenburg and Hoedspruit lies the majestic Drakensberg separating the Highveld and the Lowveld with huge altitude changes. Your ears always feel like popping when you descend the escarpment going through the long Strydom tunnel, that pierces the Drakensberg as you descend from an average 1470m to a mere 300m above sea-level. It is this enormous altitude change that tires travellers along with the heat. Mark was exhausted, and the thought of a beer at the day’s end was very appealing.

He avoided the common franchise pubs frequented by tourists, in an effort to find a ‘watering hole’, as the locals described their family pubs or diners. Mark nearly missed the place, marvelling at the first Baobab tree to be seen before entering the town of Hoedspruit. Mark stopped to investigate this African marvel for some of these huge Baobab trees had been recorded as measuring more than 36m in circumference. The Baobab also is called the upside-down tree, for in winter without its leaves, the branches resemble the roots of a tree. Still marvelling, he noticed cars parked adjacent to the tree and decided to stop.

After wandering around the Baobab, not a significantly large specimen, he walked into the adjacent trading store, thirsty and hot to buy a coke; in fact, anything cool would do.

Inside the stall, he found the usual shop counter and asked the young woman standing behind the counter for a cold coke. The shop assistant apologized for not having any coke in stock, as there was a country wide shortage of coke and most soft drinks. Apparently this had something to do with the carbonation process and the chemical ingredients being in short supply, as the soda ash plant had burnt out. However, said the woman as she continued chattering, it did not affect the beer, and we have plenty in stock, but if you want a beer you must come inside!

Thinking the invitation was into the woman’s home, Mark was reluctant to accept, but, when she drew a curtain, he was surprised to see a well-organized private pub. Mark entered, and the curtain behind him fell neatly closed.

Mark seated himself with his back to the window, facing the door and the occupants of the room. There was a crowd of young Afrikaans men drinking and chattering away but Mark could not understand them. A couple of old-timers were seated around the bar, and the curtain he had walked through was a one-way see-through curtain allowing full view of what was happening at the counter. It was a stuffy room, and the fan was blazing away, but at least the wind kept the flies and mosquitoes at bay. The heat was stifling.

Soon enough the young waitress brought the beer; a Black Label. She had not asked Mark the type of beer he wanted! It was a case of take it or leave it. Not familiar with South-African beer, he examined it, ice cold in his hand, and as he poured it into his glass, he noticed it was a beer and not simply a lager. Mark observed the alcohol content and mentally noted not to drink too many of these Black Labels at once.

The beer tasted fantastic, not too bitter, and went down well. Mark immediately felt the beer’s effect. Not having eaten the whole day, Mark was slightly light-headed but blamed it on the altitude change, and at the first opportunity ordered a second. Sitting alone, Mark studied the room, and noticed the arrival of a woman at the door with a map in hand, obviously seeking road directions. Mark could easily detect her accent, a loud and unperturbed Texan American accent from back home.

Keen to assist his fellow country-man or woman and a beautiful one in this instance, Mark strained to hear what place she was looking for.

Mark’s Camp, she said. Please show me the way to Mark’s Camp!

A camp with his own name intrigued Mark and he strained his ears to hear more. But at the counter the two women seemed to have a communication gap and were unable to understand each other’s dialects.

Eventually the shop lady opened the curtain, and as they both entered the room she turned, facing the group of men and asked, Can anyone please give this American woman road directions – she is looking for a place called Mark’s Camp?

This was the moment Mark had been waiting for, to try and mingle and speak to this very definite bunch of young Afrikaans guys, in a God-forsaken little place. There were no mining activities or obvious work opportunities, providing these men, all in peak fitness and in their early twenties, with the money they seem to be spending freely. They wouldn’t be game rangers either, for most game rangers would be on game drives at that time of the afternoon. Mark knew the airport was nearby and assumed they were pilots.

Everybody seemed eager to help; after all she was a pretty lady – blonde and all. One of the chaps drew a map but again relaying the message seemed difficult.