The Saga of Huberta begins in 1927 north of the Black Umfolozi and ends in April 1931
south of the Buffalo river, near East London.
Huberta first made her appearance on the 22nd November 1928 on a sugar estate at
New Geulderland, north of Stanger, over 50 miles from Durban. Within hours she was famous, after
The Natal Mercury had dispatched a reporter to the scene. A local Hindu quickly set up a business
ferrying paying customers to see the hippo. It was surmised that the hippo must belong to the
Provincial Administration and she was put under protection of a “little red bow”.
Many zoo hunters tried to capture her, for a zoo up north, but she led them a merry game
of hide and seek, ending up in a pool where it was said that Chaka, the terrible, sometimes
walked and held council. The Zulu’s were convinced that she was none other than the mighty one
returned. She was now, not only protected by the government but also by folklore.
After a while she started south again and happened to fall asleep one day in the middle of the
one-way bridge near Tongaat. Her journey took her to the Umhlanga Lagoon in February 1929.
From here her exploits were publicized far and wide, from Canada to London. The stories opened
when her foot prints were found across Beachwood Golf Course from tee to green.
She also visited Durban North and found a pool on the farm of Virginia. She even traipsed as
far as Pinetown and set up home at the water works for awhile.
After having altercations with a little boy, who she allegedly bit and dancing on a sergeants hat
She invaded Durban. The Umgeni and Blue Lagoon become her new home. She even wandered
onto the Durban Country Club, where she attended a pajama party, when all the residents came
out to see her in the their night clothes. She became even braver and scared a few merrymakers
returning from a club in West street. It is said that a riksha puller saw Huberta and no one would have
beaten him on that day.
With the Easter holidays drawing near and many holiday makers making the trip to see her, she
went north to Mt Edgecombe to hide away. It was said that she had better move on unless she wished
to join her band of brothers in the Durban Museum. With that advice and after having spent three
and a half months near the twinkling lights of Durban she set off south. Her trek would take her
400 miles by line of sight or nearer to 1200 miles as a waddle. She wandered past the
Trappist Monastery at Marianhill and the occasionally reported sighting followed her south.
She popped into hotels at Umkomaas and Anerley. She was allowed to raid vegetable gardens
and sugar cane fields as she went. She even blocked a railway line and nothing less that the cow
catcher could get her to move.
She continued to evade capture but eventually he travels took her south across the Umzimvubu river
at St Johns and into the Cape. On the 24th April 1931, after some 30 months of wandering she was
found dead floating in the Keiskama river. Her three murders where fined 25 pounds each, although
they claimed that they didn’t know it was a hippo.
Her hide was sent to London for mounting and she is presently displayed in the Kaffrarian Museum
in King Williams Town.
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All information researched from The “Saga of Huberta by GWR Le Mare