Blood, bone & soil
Nosipho is at death’s door when she finally finds the Xulus’ ancestral graves.
Nosipho Xulu (Nompilo Maphumulo) is exhausted and close to losing her life on Thursday 22 November when she reaches the destination that her dreams have been driving her to: her great- grandmother’s final resting place. “There is a dream that leads her to the same land that she has seen in her dreams, where this gogo has been giving her instructions,” reveals Nompilo. “And it so happens that the land she has run off to belonged to the Xulu people back in the day. They find this out when they get help from a real, qualified sangoma and elder from the Xulu elders.” But her long, dangerous quest isn’t over yet. The ground is more than a last resting place for old bones, it belongs to Xulu blood.
CLOSE TO DEATH
“They find the place just as she is really fragile and very weak,” says Nompilo. “It was beautiful to play and I enjoyed it. But it took a lot of focus and preparation, because before they take Nosipho to the farm, her body locks up. She can’t walk properly. Then her hands start locking and her body starts shaking… She is so weak that they need to carry her to the ritual spot.” And Nosipho’s poor health isn’t the only roadblock. “When they get there, they find that the place is owned by a white farmer. It becomes a problem because the man is defensive. He doesn’t want people coming to do rituals on his farm! But eventually he does agree to let them put up a tomb stone and do the ritual. The sangoma calls a cleansing and does a ‘house’ for them – they call it a house because in Nosipho’s dream they are requesting ‘house of stone’. And the sangoma pleads with them to help Nosipho get better.”
SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS
While Nosipho’s dreams ease up and her health quickly improves, it seems that the ancestors haven’t finished just yet. As Nosipho sleeps on Monday 26 November, she is sent a far gentler message. “After the tomb stone ritual is done, the ancestors contact her to tell her that if there’s anything that she needs to know, a message can be passed on and they will come through for her via her dreams. She won’t get sick anymore now, they will just give her messages through her dreams.”
XULU BONES, XULU LAND
And there’s one more little thing that Nosipho needs to do for her ancestors. On Friday 30 November, she announces that she wants the Xulus’ land back. “They have to go back and do some digging (metaphorically, so Great Granny can rest in peace), then come back and tell this farmer that they know that this is their land and that they are going to take him to court. The story of the land being ours gets her uncle Mkhonto (Bonga Dlamini) fired up. He is quite supportive of Nosipho,” says Nompilo. “It is like having her real dad there. That is a relief to her. Having a father figure come through is appreciated, because she doesn’t even like her stepdad Nkunzi (Masoja Msiza), as much as he wants to help. She’s not really fond of him.”
THE WAITING GAME
Nompilo adds that we’ll have to wait to see how the Xulu land claim turns out though. “The outcome is going to carry on. The production company is waiting for some real-life land claims cases in South Africa to have a way forward or resolution so that when they write the story they go very close to the truth. It’s not specifically one but it’s the current situation with land claims.”