South African Myths, Tales & Traditional Tales

Stories contribute to the richness of our cultures and locales, in addition to being a part of our legacy. Old folktales, legends, and myths should be preserved and passed down to future generations in order to form an essential part of South Africa's common cultural history. Additionally, they can improve the attractions we already provide.

 ~ Nyaminyami ~ Howick Falls

According to the Zulu people, inkanyamba is a snake-like beast with a horse-like head. Many people think that only sangomas can approach the pool without being harmed since he is reported to reside in the rough waters at the foot of the Howick Falls. Inkanyamba is active in the summer, and many of the severe storms are connected to his wrath.
Nyaminyami (or Batonga) is believed by the river Tonga to control life on the Zambezi. He is said to be a dragon-like creature with a snake's torso and a fish's head. Legend has it that he has been seen on occasion by locals - much like the Lochness Monster. However, hard evidence is elusive and hard sources are hard to come by. The story of the dam wall construction and the floods in 1957 and 1958 are well documented.
Although he was never used as a political symbol it was generally agreed that Nyaminyami disapproved of the white man's plans to build the dam. According to local folklore, during hard times, the Tonga had free access to his flesh and were thus sustained by removing strips of meat.

~The Ghost of Uniondale~ 

Maria Roux is probably South Africa's most well-known highway ghost. A few years later, in 1976 motorists started seeing a woman in white alongside the road where the accident took place. Some motorists picked her up, and minutes later they would hear a shrill laugh and an icy chill would be felt inside the car. When Pretorius himself died in a car accident in 1984, Maria stopped appearing, she was at peace at last.

~Highway Sheila~

Residents of Chatsworth in KwaZulu-Natal believe 'Highway Sheila' is responsible for a spate of accidents on Higginson Highway over the festive season. Residents claim she has an annual "quota of lives" to take, and an accident that killed five people was part of her yearly quota. According to one resident, Sheila was a young girl who was killed in a car accident on the highway. Sheila is said to be a beautiful, young Indian woman with long hair, who died after being hit by a car. A popular myth has it that she took to haunting the highway in revenge for the motorist who killed her. One Chatsworth woman said a popular story involved a young man who had stopped to pick up a hitchhiker named Sheila.

The man offered to take her home and noticed the temperature in his car drop when the woman entered the car. He offered Sheila his coat.
"He dropped her off at a house in Chatsworth," said the woman, who did not want to be named. "Sheila wanted to return the jacket but the man insisted she keeps it and said he would fetch it in the morning. When he went back to the house the following day a middle-aged woman answered the door and the man asked for Sheila. "The woman was baffled and replied, 'She does not live here anymore. The man told her he had dropped her off the night before and the woman said it was impossible, as Sheila had died years ago. "She told the man to go to the cemetery where he would find proof. Shocked at what he heard, the man rushed to the cemetery and found his jacket on Sheila's tomb."

~ The Tokoloshe ~

The name Tokoloshe or Tikoloshe originates with the Xhosa word uthikoloshe.

The tokoloshe is a little, hairy creature from Bantu legend that resembles a dwarf. It is a naughty, evil spirit that can swallow a pebble to become invisible. Tokoloshes are summoned by the wicked to bring misfortune to others. A tokoloshe can be used to frighten kids in the least harmful way, but it also has the capacity to make the victim sick or even die.
The tokoloshe's penis is so long that he must sling it over his shoulder. The tokoloshe is sexually endowed, and one of its functions is to make love to its witch mistress. It receives milk and nourishment in exchange. Similar to European myths and traditions about familiars.
Tokoloshes' food offerings cannot contain salt. By cutting the hair fringe that hangs over the tokoloshe's eyes, the witch is able to keep it obedient.
In South Africa, where many white families employ domestic help, the maids frequently elevate their mattresses by resting their legs on bricks. White people nearly universally believed that this was done to keep the person in the bed out of the tokoloshe's grasp.
The only way to get rid of him is to summon the local n'anga, or witch doctor, who has the authority to remove him.