Dingane’s Spring Traditional Cache
DiePienaars: Time to archive this one.
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Mthonjaneni means ‘place of the little fountain’. It was Dingaan’s spring, located on the Mthonjaneni heights
During the reign of King Dingane between 1828 and 1840, a garrison of warriors were stationed at the Mthonjaneni Spring to protect it, and as part of their daily chores maidens from Dingane's kraal at Umgungundlovu were ordered to fetch water for the King's household on a daily basis. King Dingane only drank from the spring because he was afraid of being poisoned by water from nearby rivers. Today it is known as Dingane's Spring. The spring is situated next to the Mtonjaneni Cattle Sales Yard, and has been declared a National Monument. A plaque has been erected on the site. This is one of the water points that King Dingane used to fetch clean water. Two thousand Zulu maidens had to walk a distance of twelve kilometers every day to fetch the water high up in the valley. They had to carry the water in claypots balanced on their heads, and legend has it that if the water was dirty once they reached the King's homestead ,the maidens where thrown off a cliff so that the King's "children" ,the vultures, could be fed.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Zntargvp, Ybj