Page 21 - FWG Issue 5 June 2024

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THULAMELA:

Panoramic Thulamela Hill
THE KRUGER’S BEST-KEPT SECRET

B Y SIAN CLARK

n a remote northern corner of Kruger National Park, watched
over by enormous 2 000-year-old baobab trees, lies the mystery
of an ancient African walled kingdom that existed for more than
I400 years. This is the sacred site of Thulamela.

In 1983, a park ranger on patrol discovered the stunning Thulamela
site. Covering 22 acres, it is located in the remote Pafuri region in
the northern tip of the Kruger Park. The area is known as the Pafuri
Triangle.

As Wikipedia puts it:
“The ‘triangle’ is a wedge of land created by the
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confluence of the Limpopo and Luvuvhu Rivers at the
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tripoint Crook’s Corner, which forms a border with
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Zimbabwe along the Limpopo River. It is a natural
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choke point for wildlife crossing from north to south
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and back, and forms a distinct ecological region.”
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Thulamela is one of only a few kingdoms in Southern Africa and
of late, it has been spectacularly reconstructed. Why? Renowned
historian Professor Peter Delius explains: “Thulamela captures a
whole area and period of our history which we should all know
about and which is fundamental to the making of South Africa.”

When it comes to learning about our South African origins, we’re
used to starting in the Cape and then moving inland.

Thulamela represents a period of history that long precedes the
history of colonisation. For years, people thought that South African
history only began in 1652, when the Dutch sent Jan van Riebeeck Baobab trees thousands of years old
to colonise the Cape. But the discovery of sites like Thulamela
proves that traders were importing and exporting goods from “From that baobab, you turn to your right and follow a trail of
other parts of the world long before that. baobabs until you eventually reach the top of this hill, which gives
a breathtaking view of the Luvuvhu River and, further afield, the
Between the 13th and 17th century, this hilltop site was a successful Limpopo River.”
trading route, importing goods from as far away as China and India. This location is crucial to understanding the walled kingdom that
was Thulamela. The top of the hill opens onto a very large space,
“What excites me most, from the Thulamela point of view, is the fact fit for a community. In fact, the locals built a citadel there which
that we have this pre-colonial African kingdom that we know very housed more than 1 000 people. Commoners lived in the floodplain
little about,” says archaeologist and senior lecturer Dr Tim Forssman. below.

Dr Forssman describes the climb to the top of Thulamela hill: The royals would have moved upwards from the very fertile
“The climb up the hill is in the saddle of an impressive koppie. floodplain to gain the advantage of observing any impending
There’s an area where you move your way slowly through the rocks, attack from a safe distance. Following in the footsteps of these
heading towards a very large baobab that sits in the middle of the predecessors, visitors today can see how easy it would have been
saddle. to observe people moving up the river and beyond.
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Fourways Gardens • 19 • June 2024