Place: In a home in the Ndlebe part of Mahlabatini District, the Dlamini area
Speaker: A Zulu man, a Dlamini / He is about 45 years old / He also performed 1S-3597, 3709, 3748, and 3793 / "Sondoda Ngcobo" is a pseudonym - the storyteller asked me to use that name instead of his real name, because he feared repercussions from the apartheid government of South Africa
The Indaba: Comments about the historical Chakijana who lived during the Anglo-Boer War, and who harassed both sides by betraying each to the other, while pretending to be working for each. Chakijana lived at Inhlazatsha Mountain near Ndlebe--a mountain that was held by the Boers during one battle, while the British held another mountain not far away, and they fired at each other. Chakijana is said to have stayed at a mission at Inhlazatsha Mountain. Like the Chakijana of the stories, the historical Chakijana was a trickster. Did be derive his name from the story? Or did the inganekwane of Chakijana have its origins in this historical person and his activities? He might also have been named after the meerkat of the same name, a creature that engages in trickster activities. Cf. 3891 and 4070
Audience: Six women, six men, three children, all Zulu
Notes about the Chakijana of the Izinganekwane Sondoda Ngcobo, the Zulu man who performed 1S-3597, 3709, and 3748, and who made the above comments (1S-3750) about the historical Chakijana says that the Chakijana of his inganekwane (1S-3597) is an umfana, a young man. The Ndebele man who performed 1S-3559, 3583, 3647, and 3669 says that Chakijana is a meerkat. A Zulu boy (1S-3608) says that it is simply a cat. Others suggest that Chakijana may be the same as isalukazi. A woman (1S-3630) argues that Chakijana is "like a cat," though larger, a cat that kills other animals. Another performer says that it is a very small animal, smaller than a cat, and that it eats other animals. But unlike the nogwatya (rabbit) that people eat, the Chakijana is not eaten by humans, says the same person.