Mandawe Church

Tap Tap Makhathini at his restaurant on the P230

Leave Eshowe on the R66 towards Melmoth and after about 5kms turn off to the right on the P230. The first point of interest on this route is the imposing Mandawe Church which has panoramic views of the Mhlatuze valley and Phobane Lake. To visit Mandawe Church, drive along the gravel P230 for 7,4kms then turn left onto the rough track which leads after 2,2kms to the church. This track may be impassable after rain, but if you don't mind the bumpy ride, the excursion to the little church with its panoramic views is well worth while.
The church is built with local rock and the steeple is in the shape of an inverted wooden Zulu milking pail.
Return to the P230 and just before reaching the prominent Tap Tap Liquor Store, there is small group of trees shading the single grave of a British solder buried here in 1888.
The grave stone reads:
"Erected to the memory of Private George Milne, D Company, The Royal Scots, who was killed by accident while on the march on the 19th of July 1888, aged 22 years. This stone was erected by his comrade soldiers."
The Tap Tap Liquor Store -owned by former SA boxing champion in the Super Middleweight division, Elijah 'Tap Tap' Makhathini - is 300m after this grave site. If you need refreshments this is your only chance on this route.
About 3,5kms after Tap Tap Liquor Store is a side road to the right. Shaka's mother Nandi is buried in a simple grave about 3kms off this road (asking for directions is probably the easiest way to find it).
Nandi featured prominently in Shaka's life and it is believed that her death in early August 1827 from dysentery was followed by a prolonged period of mourning during which many people were killed for not displaying adequate grief.
Henry Francis Fynn, a white trader and traveller in Zululand during Shaka's reign, heard - though he was not allowed to witness the burial of Nandi - that 'ten maidens' were buried alive with Nandi to care for her in the afterworld.

The simple grave of Shaka's mother, Nandi

The site of Shaka's capital KwaBulawayo ("The place of one who was killed") is 5kms further on the P230. Nothing about the location suggests that this was once one of the biggest cities in southern Africa. Today it is a large tract of uninhabited thorn veld grazed by cattle and goats. A section near the top of the slope has been levelled into a soccer field.
When one reaches the summit it is easy to see why Shaka chose the site as his military headquarters as the slope drops steeply away on the north side - from which the most dangerous threats would have come. The Mhlatuze Valley, which in the early 19th century would have been teeming with game, can be seen in the distance. The sheltering heights of the Ongoye Forest - which would have provided for the timber needs of such a large settlement - are within easy reach to the south-east.
Archaeological surveys confirm that its general layout was similar to Dingane's better preserved capital uMgungundlovu and Cetshwayo's capital oNdini.
After a further 800m on the P230 there is another stone cairn, marking the site of Cowards' Bush where legend has it, Shaka tested the bravery of his soldiers who had been accused of cowardice and executed those found lacking the courage required by a Zulu military regiment.
Visitors can continue on the P230 till it reaches the R34 and then drive through the Nkwaleni Valley with a visit to the cultural villages of Shakaland or Stewarts Farm before returning to their destination or they can continue on the R34 towards Empangeni and visit The Empangeni Art and Cultural History Museum which houses an impressive collection of work by Zululand artists as well as an exhibit of the pioneering days of the sugar industry in Zululand.

An artist's impression of KwaBulawayo. Notes from The Diary of Henry Francis Fynn Fynn was an ivory trader in south east Africa in the early 19th century and from 1824 was based at Port Natal [Durban] from where he made several journeys into Zulu territory. The excerpt below records his first visit to King Shaka at KwaBulawayo in 1824. King Shaka 'On arriving within a mile of the king's residence [KwaBulawayo], we were directed to wait under a large tree . . . The kraal was nearly two miles in circumference. At the time of our entering the gates, the kraal was surrounded by about 12 000 men in their war attire . . . After exhibiting their cattle for two hours, they drew together in a circle, and sang and danced to the war-whoop . . The women now entered the kraal, each having a long thin stick in the right hand, and moving it in time to the song. They had not been dancing many minutes when they had to make way for the ladies of the seraglio . . These danced in parties of eight, each party wearing different coloured beads, which were crossed from the shoulders to the knees. Each wore a headdress of black feathers, and four brass collars fitting close to the neck . . . On the following morning we found him [Shaka] sitting under a tree, in the act of decorating himself. He was surrounded by about 200 people, a servant standing at his side, and holding a shield over him to keep the glare of the sun from him. Round his forehead he wore a turban of otter-skin, with a feather of a crane erect in front, full two feet long . . From shoulder to shoulder he wore bunches, three inches in length, of skins of monkeys and genets hanging half down the body. Round the ring of the head . . . were a dozen bunches of the red feathers of the loerie, tastefully tied to thorns which were stuck into the hair. Round his arms were white ox-tails, cut down to the middle so as to allow the hairs to hang about the arm. Round the waist a petticoat, resembling the highland plaid, made of skins of monkeys and genets reaching to the knees, below which were ox-tails to fit round the legs, so as to hang to the ankles. He had a white shield with a single black spot, and an assegaai.'