Mhlontlo dies a commoner at Caba Location, Qumbu.
Though he had been found not guilty of Hamilton Hope’s murder he had been stripped of the status of ‘Paramount Chief’ by the Cape Colony Government and had been banished to Kingwilliamstown and later transferred to Willowvale, and was only allowed to live at Caba in Qumbu in 1906 when he was old and sickly. His heir Charles was not allowed to succeed either, since the intention of the colonial Government was to end the kingdom of amaMpondomise once and for all.
(Joe H. Majija, a descendant of one of the junior Houses of Mhlontlo, writes in his Dark Clouds at Sulenkama that his body lies buried in a well-kept family cemetery at the Great Place of Ntabankulu. ‘His grave is a source of inspiration to many Pondomises who normally visit it to get spiritual guidance and protection.’)
Malangana is not there to bid him farewell. He is still on a journey with his Mthwakazi.
The end is always a journey.