Historic rock artwork in SA

IF YOU’RE a Weekend Warrior heading for the Southern Drakensberg on a hiking trail, you may want to add a touch of art to your trip by popping in to the KwaZulu-Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg to see what was once described as South Africa’s finest rock paintings.

A piece of rock removed in 1910 from a cave on Bamboo Mountain, or Mvuleni (the place of rain) which the Giant’s Cup Trail traverses, has been in the museum for more than a century but only went on display in recent years.

The 150-year-old work is by a group of people who called themselves the Amatola and had Khoi, San and Nguni blood in their veins.

The display shows how they survived colonialism, living in rock shelters, trading and raiding livestock.

A soldier recommended that the paintings be removed to a museum because he thought they were the best in South Africa, according to the display.

Among the pictures on the slabs of rock are rainmakers leading a rain bull to the place where they want the rain to fall.

“The Amatola called the rain down after they had made a cattle raid. The rain washed away the footprints, made it difficult for settlers to chase them,” it reads.

Two horses in the paintings are carrying meat.

“The Amatola were excellent riders and cattle herders. The sticks they carried could be medicines which they believe made them invincible during cattle raiding expeditions,” according to the display.

Then there’s a painting of a homestead where people live in rock shelters and dancers who have become powerful by taking on the power of animals.

The display adds that cattle and horses, stolen from European settlers and Nguni farmers, and also traded with the latter, were kept in a separate part of their rock shelter.