GLOSSARY

Word	Meaning/pronunciation – general interest facts
Akukho	Zulu: No
Ant Bear	Common name for an Aardvark
Assegai	A traditional spear, used for fighting
Bakkie	South African word for a pickup truck, a ute in Australian
Baleka	Zulu: Run fast/sprint
Bantu	Black ethnic workers who speak an African language
Biltong	A kind of dried meat
Boer	The Afrikaans and Dutch word for farmer
Boma	An area surrounded by a fence used to keep animals enclosed, also can refer to an area used for outdoor meals and parties
Boomslang	(Dispholidus typus) a venomous snake
Bundu	Slang for the bush
Bundu-bashing	Taking a vehicle through the bush and making a new trail
Bushbaby	Galagos, bushbabies or nagapies (Afrikaans: meaning night ape). With large eyes, long tales and nocturnal behaviour, these primates are delightful
Catty	Also called a slingshot – or a catapult
Chimanimani	Forming a natural eastern boarder between
Mountains	Zimbabwe and Mozambique, this mountain range is distinguished by large peaks, the highest reaching to 2440 m and stretching for some 50 km
Chinhoyi Caves	(Originally name Sinoia Caves) are limestone caves located in the Makonde District, Zimbabwe, they have amazingly clear blue deep water in this cave system
Cicada	A large insect (Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha) with large transparent wings, and big bug eyes. The ones found in Zimbabwe and Bulawayo vary, but I refer to the black/grey ones that are roughly 2.5cm long and make a beautiful ‘song’. They are also eaten as a food
Coloured	A mixed blood, a black and a white persons offspring
Comrade	Left over from communist times, a comrade usually fought in the war with you – but in Zimbabwe it is used as a term of friendship. To be a comrade, means that you are in the same circle
Dagga	Marijuana
Deka Safari Area	State-owned land that is protected and utilised, with a conservation strategy, ensuring that significant financial earnings revert to the rural communities in that area for their benefit
Dete	Town in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe
Doppies	Afrikaans: shells from spent bullets
Duck	An inflatable boat usually with a hard bottom and inflatable surrounds, with a motor at the back. E.g. make: Zodiac
Ek is nee kla	Afrikaans: I am not finished with your girl
maissie	(Phonetic spelling used, correct Afrikaans spelling is meisie)
Ek sal jou moer, jy is een dood kaffir	Afrikaans: I shall kill you – you are a dead kaffir
Esigodini	(Originally known as Essexvale) is a village in 43 km south from Bulawayo
Esofas	A couch or sofa, is a piece of furniture that seats two or more people
Frezza	A freezer
Gaan by die huis	Afrikaans: Go to the house
Gabions	Baskets of wire that are filled with stone to reinforce structures like dams and used to stop erosion. Can be made in different sizes depending on the application you need to use it for
Gook	Used in Zimbabwe during the War of Independence against anyone who was on the opposing side – a terrorist is referred to as a gook
Hond	Afrikaans: Dog
Ikhaya	Home, hut made with mud and thatched roof. Pronounce: ee-kai-a
Inkosanan	Zulu: Little Master or Small Chief
Isipho	Zulu: a gift
Isipho Rodney	Most Zulus have a Zulu name and then an easily pronounceable English name that they are known by to the wider community
Ja	Afrikaans: Yes
Ja Oom, ek verstaan	Afrikaans: Yes Uncle, I understand
Kaffir	The word kaffir has now evolved into an offensive term for a black person. But it was previously a neutral term for black southern African people. Also was used in the term of a non-believer – referring to the black people not being of Christian upbringing
Kalimbas	The thumb piano is an African musical instrument, usually with a wooden back board, with different lengths of metal are attached. To play it, hold it in both hands, and using your thumbs to play a tune on the iron ‘keys’
Kan	Afrikaans: can
Kaross	Blanket made from animal skins
Keghla	Zulu: Wise old man – grandfather figure
Knopkierie	An African club. These are typically made from wood with large knob (wood knot) at one end and a long stick protruding from that. They can be used for fighting (smashing someone’s head) or throwing at animals during hunting. Ideal size to also be used as a walking stick
Koeksister	Plated deep fried doughnut, dipped in a sugary syrup when hot to absorb the liquid. An Afrikaans sweet ‘cookie’ from the Dutch decedents but could be adapted from the Malay heritage too
Kop	Afrikaans: Head
Kopje	Afrikaans: A small hill rising up from the African veld
Kraal	Afrikaans but used commonly in South African English, is an area where animals are kept, usually found inside and African village/settlement, and is usually circular with barricades to keep the stock inside. Can also refer to an African cluster of huts together
Lobola	An African tradition of an arranged payment between a groom and the bride’s family in exchange for their daughter. Can be paid as cattle or cash, and the higher the lobola, the greater value the bride is held in the groom’s eyes. This payment is the groom’s way of thanking the parents for raising a good daughter. It is still applicable to many South Africa traditional weddings
Landy	Short for Land Rover
Madala	Zulu: Old man
Mannetjie	A small kopje – small hill (used as a slang term in South Africa and Zimbabwe)
Marula	Sclerocarya birrea. A medium sized tree, mainly found in the woodlands of Southern Africa. Now popularised for its fruits being used in the liqueur Amarula. When ripe, the fruits have a light yellow skin, with white flesh. Many animals love this fruit to eat, but it does ferment. Even the seeds/nut inside is eaten by rodents once the flesh of the fruit has gone
Melktert	Meaning ‘milk tart’ with an Afrikaans influence, contains boiled milk, egg and flour, like a thick custard tart, only with less milk. Usually dusted with cinnamon on the top of the yellow filling in the tart
Meneer	Afrikaans: Mister (Mr.)
Middle mannetjie	The dirt bump in the middle of the two tyre tracks in the road
Mielie-meal	Maze ground up and used as a flour. The staple food of many African people
Moenie fuck nie	Afrikaans: Don’t fuck no. (In Afrikaans there is a double negative used.)
Mopane worms	Gonimbrasia belina is the species of moth, whose large edible caterpillars are referred to as mopane worms
Mopani	The mopane or mopani (Colophospermum mopane) tree grows into South Africa, Zimabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Angola and Malawi
Morabaraba	(Southern Sotho: ‘mill’ or ‘go around in a circle’). Twelve Men’s Morris is a two-player
	board game. Commonly known in South Africa by its Xhosa name umlabalaba
Mossies	The Cape Sparrow or Mossie (Passer melanurus) is a medium-sized sparrow at 14–16 centimetres. They are mostly coloured brown and grey, and the male has some black and white markings
MPLA	Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
Muti	Traditional medicine in Southern Africa, coming from Zulu origin. It is used in South Africa as a slang word for medicine in general
My wena	Zulu: translates roughly to Oh goodness
Mzilikazi	Meaning ‘The Great Road’. He was the Zulu who split from King Shaka, moved north and founded the Matabele kingdom (Mthwakazi), Matabeleland, Zimbabwe
Ndebele	The Ndebele are an ethnic groups in Zimbabwe, descendants from Mzilikazi
Nee	Afrikaans: No
Nightjar	The Swamp Nightjar (Caprimulgus natalensis) is a species of nightjar in the Caprimulgidae family. A nocturnal bird
Nyamandhlovu	Nyamandhlovu is a village in Matabeleland, northwest of Bulawayo. Ndebele: meat of the elephant
Nyaminyami	(Zambezi River God) is a legendary creature. It is described as a creature with a snake’s torso and the head of a fish, with
	fangs. The local Tonga people believe that the spirits of Nyaminyami and his wife residing in the Kariba Gorge are God and Goddess of the underworld
Nyenje or chenje	Refers to edible cicadas in the Eastern province of Zambia. The large cicadas are de-winged, fried on a hot pan until they are crunchy, and salted. They are served with the nshima staple meal
Op die plans	Afrikaans saying for Life on the farm
Panado	Paracetamol medication used for headaches and fever
Piccaninny	A small black child. At one time the word may have been used as a term of affection, but it is now considered derogatory. In this story this word is used with affection!
Plaas	Afrikaans: Farm
Putzi fly	Cordylobia anthropophaga, the mango fly, tumbu fly, tumba fly, putzi fly or skin maggot fly is a species of blow-fly. The larvae, known as Cayor worms, penetrate the skin and lie in the subcutaneous tissue, causing the formation of large bumps as they grow. (Yes, the maggot sits under your skin!) On reaching full growth, the larvae breaks free from the skin and fall to the ground
Quelias	A small finch/weaver bird native to Africa. Often referred to as ‘feathered locusts’, they can form nomadic super-colonies of up to 30 million birds, feeding on grains
Riempies	Ropes made with animal hides
Rondavel	A westernised version of the African-style hut. Round hut with a pitched thatch roof
Samp	Dried corn kernels, with the coasting around the kernel removed during the pounding and stamping process, it is maize broken down, but not ground finely like Mieliemeal or mielie rice. Quite chunky pieces
Sangoma	Traditional healers, practitioners of traditional African medicine. Often still holding onto the Sharman aspect of mixing witchcraft with herbal medicines
Seuntjie	Afrikaans: Small son. Youngest son
Shaya insimbi	Zulu: hit the iron
Siabonga Zol-dala	Ndebele: Thank you Old Man Zol
Snuff	Product made from ground or pulverised tobacco leaves. It is generally snorted or ‘snuffed’ through the nose
Sope	Shona: something magical, inhabited by powerful and bad spirits. Albinos are called ‘sope’ in Zimbabwe
Spoor	Afrikaans: tracks – usually left by animals
Steenbok	The steenbok (Raphicerus campestris) or steinbuck or steenbok, is a common small antelope of southern and eastern Africa
Sadza	Sadza is the staple food in Zimbabwe of the African people. It is a thick maize meal porridge
Suid Afrikaanes	Afrikaans: South African, but pronounced badly by this character – so this is not a spelling error, it’s how the author wants it pronounced.
Tanganyika	Formally the Republic of Tanganyika, now known as United Republic of Tanzania
Teak Forests	Zambezi Teak Forests area (Baikiaea plurijuga)
The thinnings disease	In Africa, HIV is commonly referred to as the thinnings disease. One of the symptoms of full blown AIDS, people who lose lots of weight suddenly, more often than not have HIV. If you have the thinnings disease it is assumed that you will be dead soon as there is not a lot of intervention by the government with drugs
Toi-toi	A dance of the African nations, usually a joyous dance – but can also be used at rallies and places where a statement is being made and can erupts into violence
Tokoloshe	A really bad spirit. A Tokoloshe can resemble a zombie, or a poltergeist, or a gremlin, any demon like thing. A tokoloshe in this book refers to something evil
Tombe	Ndebele: teenage girl or ‘little woman’. Pronounced tom-bee
Tosholotsho	Tsholotsho (formerly known as Tjolotjo) is a village 65km north-west of Nyamandhlovu and 98km north-west of of Bulawayo
Tsessebe	The common tsessebe or sassaby (Damaliscus lunatus) is a shy medium size antelope found in Southern Africa. Tsessebe can run at a maximum of 80 km/hr
Ubabamkhulu	Zulu: Grandfather
Ubani gamalaku	Zulu: What is your name?
Umsiko	Zulu: Cut /slashed (also can say umsiga further north)
Umtshwili	Leadwood tree (Combretum imberbe Wawra) grows up to 20 metres tall, it has a single thick trunk, with distinctive bark
Umuthi	Zulu: Muti
UNITA	Union for the Total Independence of Angola
Veld	Veld, or veldt, is a generic term defining wide open grass or low scrub rural spaces of Southern Africa
Veldskoene	Afrikaans: Bush shoes. These are suede ankle leather boots, usually worn without socks
Vlei	Afrikaans: (pronounced ‘flay’) ‘shallow minor lake’, mostly of a seasonal or intermittent nature
Wag-’n-bietjie	Wag-’n-bietjiebos – The Buffalo-Thorn Tree (Ziziphus Mucronata). Any of several plants having sharp, often hooked thorns. Literal Afrikaans translation is wait-a-minute
Woza	Zulu: Come
Yebo	Zulu: Yes

Please note: bastardised Afrikaans is used in this book intentionally to indicate Rodney’s restricted ability with the spoken language.

Persecution of people with albinism

The History:

Africa has a problem with persecution of people with albinism. A white baby born to black parents was an unexplained phenomenon. There is a dark traditional belief that their body parts hold magical powers. This superstition has been fuelled by propaganda from sangomas and others who profit from the use of these body parts in use in rituals, muti and potions that claim that their magic will bring prosperity to the users. Their body parts are also used in muti-murder. Where a sangoma curses someone to die and their belief in this tradition is so strong, that the recipient of the curse actually dies. Because of this, people with albinism have traditionally been persecuted, killed, and dismembered.

Steeped in ancient traditions, people with albinism have been banished and killed because they are presumed to be cursed, and because they bring bad luck. Even in death they are not safe, as they are dug up, and their grave desecrated.

Note from the Author:

I condemn the treatment of albinos in Africa.

My character Rodney is FICTIONAL.

I based Rodney on treats of ‘the sope’, from stories told to me by my nanny when I grew up in Zimbabwe during the War Of Independence, if there really was a terrorist who was an albino who operated in the Nyamandhlovu area I have no knowledge of him. But just the mention of the Tokoloshe were enough to keep me in line many years ago, and the aura and mystery around the albino race has remained with me – however, Rodney’s character exists simply in my imagination and has no relevance to anyone alive or dead or to any modern day albino.

T.M. Clark