I work hard every day to make my beer (umqombothi),
Wake up early every morning to please my people with African beer umqombothi),
I make sure the fire burns to make my beer (umqombothi),
My special beer umqombothi (umqombothi),
Is African beer.
We MaDlamini (everybody),
Uph’umqombothi (come and drink my),
We MaDlamini (magic beer),
Uph’umqombothi”.
(Yvonne Chaka Chaka’s hit song Umqombothi)
Moprofeta Anna Mantsopa Makhetha o hlahile ka selemo sa 1795 sebakeng se bitswang Likotsi kapa Ramakhetheng haufi le moo e seng e le Maseru kajeno. Ke moradi wa Nkopane, moholwane e moholo wa Makhetha, le Sesilane. Lebitso leo a le fuweng tlhahong ya hae e bile Koena-li-fule, e leng se bolelang “dikoena di a iphepa/ho fepa dikoena”. Ha a ne a sa le monyenyane o ile a bona masisapelo a tlala a bakuweng ke Difaqane, tse ileng tsa susumetsa batho ho ba madimo mme ka bomadimabe ke se ileng sa etsa hore a lahlehelwe ke ntatae.
Prophetess Anna Mantsopa Makhetha was born in 1795 at a place called Likotsi or Ramakhetheng near present day Maseru. She is the daughter of Nkopane, elder brother of Makhetha, and Sesilane. The name she was given at birth is Koena-li-fule, which means “the crocodiles are feeding/ crocodile feed”. When she was young she witnessed the horrors of famine caused by the Difaqane, which forced many people to turn to cannibalism and sadly this is how she lost her father.
The name Modjadji or Rain Queen refers to a line of queens of the Balobedu (Limpopo province, South Africa) known for their ability to control clouds and rainfall. The origin of the first Rain Queen is shrouded in mystery, but all accounts agree that she is a direct descendent of an old chief from the Karanga kingdom of Monomotapa (southeastern Zimbabwe).
The manufacturing of weapons dates back to the time when humans started making functional tools with multiple purposes. These tools evolved to become some of the weapons that we know today. The earliest tool industry was Oldowan (about 2.5 to 1.2 million years ago) and it included flakes chipped off with another stone. It was followed by the Acheulean (1.6 million to 200,000 years ago), which is characterised by the hand axe. Like Oldowan, Acheulean implements were made from stone and used for multiple purposes, but the edges were much sharper and could serve many more functions (e.g. hacking wood from a tree, cutting animal carcasses as well as scraping and cutting hides). With time skills improved and more sophisticated tools/weapons were made.