A Royal Wedding

We have been anticipating this union for many years and when the invitation finally arrived we were excited beyond belief. Our friend Sokalengane E. Tembe (Enoch) was going to marry his sweetheart Sifisesihle M. Ngubane (Mbali).

We met Enoch many years ago when we first arrived at Utshwayelo Camp site in Kosi Mouth. He was very shy at the time and it took a few years to get to know this kind and gentle giant.

To be honest we never knew his high royal ranking and were not aware of his social standing, he never shared that piece of his heritage with us, however we knew he was a man of honour and integrity and we knew he was a special soul, we just did not realise how special.

The 27th of May was the day set for the big wedding. Enoch had to wait fifteen years to collect the steep lobola to pay for his bride. That is not to mention the damages. In traditional African culture if you make your bride pregnant before the wedding you have to pay damages to the family for breaking the protocol of keeping your bride pure for the wedding day.

A whopping R100 000 in lobola and R80 000 in damages was paid for Mbali and she was a beautiful bride on the day. Shy and overwhelmed by the attention of the hundreds of people who came to pay their respects.

Kosi bay is the cultural capital of the Tembe -Tonga people who migrated to the area in the middle of the 17th century. These people established a great kingdom stretching from the Pongola (Maputo) River in the west to the Indian Ocean in the east; and from Delagoa (Maputo) Bay in the north to the Sodwana Bay area in the south.

The Tonga tribe ruled by the Tembe family have lived in this area for over 250 years. Since the days of King Shaka they have lived side by side with the Zulu nation. The border between Mozambique and RSA split the tribe and today the Tonga people live on both sides of the border. The area falls under King Mabuthu Israel Tembe and chief Ncelapi Tembe. The camp was started by the local community in 1992 using grants from lotto and KZN Tourism. The Lodge is currently run and managed by Ken Whitfield and Enock Tembe in association with Chief Tembe and the community elected committee. To us its one big happy family that we return to at least three times a year to reboot and to strategize.

The Tembe people are a nation torn apart by the historical ravages of colonisation by Britain and Portugal who were the respective custodians of the region in what is today northern KwaZulu Natal and southern Mozambique.

Inkosi Mabhudu Israel Tembe is a direct descendent of the Tonga King, whose ancestors under the rule of Inkosi Ngwanase fled southern Mozambique to escape the Portuguese colonial governance. The Royal Tembe currently resides in the Ka Tembe area and the Tembe Royal House is still recognised by the local population of southern Mozambique.

As a result of the colonial divide of land between Britain and Portugal the Tembe tribe faced a struggle for survival in economic terms. Once a self sufficient nation, enjoying the fruits of the trade routes of Delgoa Bay (Maputo Bay) and later by tilling the soil and fishing the estuaries of the area, they are now one of the poorest communities amongst the inhabitants of South Africa, occupying an area that has poor soil for agriculture with much of the more fertile coastal areas being reserved for conservation.

Being classified as Zulu by the modern political structures after being incorporated into the Union of South Africa in 1910, the Tembe played second fiddle to the Zulu nation that is today seen as the official custodian of the area.

This is a Nation of mixed feelings and traditions, a mixed sense of belonging being influenced by the overwhelming power of western politics and an on-going struggle to be recognised as a Sovereign Tribe with their own identity and language.

The Tembe Chieftainship is the largest in South Africa, with an area that is over three hundred thousand hectares in extent. Due to the geographic setting, the region has historically been at a disadvantage in attracting direct investment and has therefore missed out on development and economic prosperity.

Economic development in the area has been extremely slow to non-existent. The R22 road was built in 2002 after the opening up of the borders with Mozambique, resulting in some economic benefits.

The area is however unique in its makeup within South Africa, in that it forms the southern tip of a geological structure that stretches north through Mozambique to central Africa and also forms the southern tip of the natural migration path of Elephant that stretches northwards to Maputo.

Enoch's words of love and devotion were filled with an intensity I have not seen before, he spoke like a true Don Juan saying, "When I looked at her and she looked at me our eyes met for the first time. When I looked at her and she looked at me we felt love for the first time. And then I looked at her and she looked at me and we knew we were going to be together for the rest of time."