We have heard about the tales of various powerful female deities across the African continents, and these deities are said to control various aspects of existence, such as fertility and agriculture. This article delves into one such figures, and it starts with the beginning of the tales of Mamlambo, a significant river goddess whose origins can be traced back to the Xhosa tribe of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa and whose genuine makeup creates a deeper understanding of the complex and sometimes contradictory roles given to women within the ancient spiritual belief systems.

Early stories of this goddess were said to bestow wealth and good fortune on those who were able to capture her, but as time went on, her influence expanded, and her name was integrated into the Zulu mythology, solidifying her position as part of the pantheon of Zulu gods and adding more nuance to her complex nature.

Though she’s sometimes depicted as a massive snake-like creature with features such as her horse head, the glistening scales on her tail, and her mesmerising glowing eyes¹³, part of Mamlambo’s essence lies in her ability and power to control the water element. She’s known to manipulate the ebb and flow of the rivers¹³, positioning her as a crucial figure in times of drought which pays respect to her given name, uMamlambo (mother of the river), but also makes her a goddess to be feared whenever the people anger her due to the possibility of flooding, which is a destructive proclivity of hers.

She is sometimes referred to as Nkosazana, which loosely translates to princess or maiden¹³, a nickname that quickly links her to other deities such as Mami Wata, who are noted for their beauty, charm, and ability to entice people into the depths of the sea.

Beliefs and Local Perceptions of Mamlambo

Most goddesses in African mythology are generally depicted as loving, caring, and benevolent deities, which demonstrates how tranquil and quiet a woman is thought to be in her natural state. But this is not so with the Mamlambo. Like her predecessor, Mami Wata, Mamlambo is often described as a benevolent spirit, but she’s also a deadly spirit that is known to create perilous situations for her followers, especially when she’s angry with them.

Situations like this can be traced back to 1997, when adults and children drowned in the Mzintlava River near Mount Ayliff. When the victims were discovered, they had bite marks and evidence that pieces of their heads had been eaten, sparking an uproar among the inhabitants at the time. Journalists from reputable newspapers like the Star in Johannesburg and Cape Argus in Cape Town wrote about the sighting, and a formal discussion about the matter was proposed during an Eastern Cape legislative meeting, which resulted in the organisation of armed conservation officers who patrolled up and down the Mzintlava River but couldn’t find anything. This event cemented and established her position as a goddess not to be trifled with, earning her the nickname "brain-sucking monster".

However, her dualism extends beyond harming locals who provoke her fury. Instances of her softer, feminine character occurred when she assisted a herbalist named Khotso Sethuntsa in achieving wealth beyond what anyone at the time could ever attain, propelling him to the peak of prosperity and making him an enigma that people sought to emulate. 

At that time, there was an increase in the segregation of South African indigenes from the white society making it difficult for them to advance in society in terms of wealth and status, but Khotso was able to accomplish this extraordinary achievement – something that many people believed a man of his original status wouldn’t have accomplished because he was born in an isolated village deep in the Maloti mountains in Lesotho¹⁰. This revelation and the fact that he has very little command of the English language gave the people cause to believe in the powers of Mamlambo.

Khotso started meeting people from all walks of life, both Black and white people, and through Khotso, the goddess started to help people who came to him. He started selling Uthwala, the process that is said to bring good fortune and wealth to any individual through the goddess’ intervention, also known as wealth-giving snakes, but the goddess never gave it for free. Individuals who had gone through the process stated that it usually involves the individual going through various ordeals that range from swallowing needles to facing an oncoming train. At the end of every process, the goddess attaches a familiar to the individual, normally in the form of a snake, and the individual takes care of the snake for the rest of their life.

Mamlambo was said to introduce this process to test the individual’s fortitude and commitment to attract her blessing and favour. But this process and the commitment after it have made many people sometimes report feeling terrified of the goddess even after achieving wealth and good fortune, and a good number of them would always try to get rid of their familiar, but it is extremely tough to get rid of. It requires the individual to transfer ownership of the familiar to another person, which is frequently accomplished by duping people into adopting the familiar or by killing a large beast, folding its dead skin into the skin of the familiar, and discarding it. However, Mamlambo did not pick up multiple names for nothing.

She’s been dubbed a predatory goddess in reference to the 1997 incident, the brain-sucking goddess, and she’s also known as Mamlambo omnyama, which means black in Zulu, in reference to her mysterious nature and her natural propensity for staying in dark waters¹³, but none of these names prepares an individual for the demands she makes once she’s acquired as a familiar. She has a penchant for committed and steadfast people, and she looks after them as long as they follow every order given to them, but there are times when people forget to carry out a sacrifice she has demanded of them, or they disobey her. In times like that, she’s known to cause tragedies such as killing the individual's family, beginning with the youngest and progressing to the individual.

Perceptions of Mamlambo in the Modern Era

Mamlambo is commonly associated with flowing streams and rivers¹³. She is described as a serpent-like creature with a long, sinuous body covered in smooth, shining scales. She is 20m (67 ft) long, with a horse's head, a fish's lower body, short legs, a snake's neck, and a diamond on her forehead. She has a hypnotic stare⁴ that can trap anyone and force them to do anything she wants, and she emits a green glow at nighttime. However, her unique nature comes from the stories that are mixed with myth and true occurrences, making her a unique goddess with a mysterious persona.

It gave rise to debates regarding her unpredictability and the stories that people have been able to tell and retell in order to better understand her. Some of these tales show how much of a monster she was, while others praise her for being a benevolent being. However, as time passed and we reemerged in a more modernised world, people began retelling most of these tales, interweaving related happenings in the modern world with tales from what people had said about her before. One of these stories concerns the type of wealth associated with her person.

In recent times, many indigenous people have linked Mamlambo to modern prosperity, resulting in a significant shift from the usual rise in farms and cattle to the distribution of modern notes as an increase in wealth. This is due to the socioeconomic divide between individuals, which led them to assume that the definition of wealth was a rise in the amount of modern notes in the bank, increasing their desire to gain it from a far easier source. However, another interpretation dates back to when Khotso was well-known for flaunting his riches in front of others who did not have them, which must have led to the assumption that Mamlambo is the giver of money in modern notes.

Another factor that contributes to people’s misconceptions about Mamlambo as a person is how people have modernised her appearance in the form of a Western mermaid. In this version, she is a beautiful seductress with a fish tail from her waist down who lures unsuspecting men with the promise of riches before dragging them into the depths of the sea to be slain.

Representation Across Different Media

The earliest representation of Mamlambo was likely the oral narratives passed down from generation to generation within the Xhosa community before the Zulu people came in. Most of these tales deal with her mysterious nature and her ability to stay hidden even though she’s able to stay within the realm of human reasoning – in reference to her ability to cause drought or flooding when angered – but after Khotso came into the picture, the belief that she was also a giver of wealth and power spread far and wide, giving people the opportunity to communicate more with her. Although as South Africa became more modernised, most people began to believe that Mamlambo indicates a long-standing connection with western-influenced prosperity, and this belief was influenced by herbalists (Sangomas) who began the process of uthwala (selling wealth-giving snakes) after Khotso left the scene.

During the mid-twentieth century, tourists and members of the Hogsback community began to patronise the artists at e-Hala due to their well-known craft of manufacturing miniature clay figures, one of which was Mamlambo. She was frequently bought as a familiar with the expectation that she would increase the riches of whoever got her, albeit her demand for blood through slaying family members around her acquirer. But she’s also known to take the form of a beautiful woman, especially when she is acquired by a man.

In 2023, a film known as Mamlambo, was released on Netflix. It was released in response to the increase in gender-based violence in South Africa, but it featured Mamlambo, as a mystical being who is known to watch over women and protect them against gender-based violence. Through this movie, her benevolent nature was recalled after years of feeling fearful of her and forgetting that she had a benevolent side.

It highlighted her feminine side, portraying her as a goddess who is ready to defend women by showing her perilous side to those who seek to harm them. Gcobi Gee Yako phrases it better, stating that she and her team were flabbergasted by the fact that most tales with women at the centre always end with them either shamed or vilified¹², hinting at the fact that most tales of Mamlambo might have been an extension of the fear felt by the residents who must have witnessed some form of her greatness and felt too fearful to admit that she did them within reason.

Diverse Cultural Narratives About Similar Entities

There are various cultures across Africa that have deities that are comparable to Mamlambo, and a few of them are mentioned below:

Inkanyamba

Known as Inkanyamba to Xhosa-speaking people but known as Khanyapa to Sotho speakers, is a frightening snake-like creature in the Zulu mythology that is believed to come during heavy storms and tornadoes⁶. It is also said to have a horse head like Mamlambo and to live in deep rivers, but unlike Mamlambo, it sweeps through the air during a tornado storm and wreaks havoc wherever it falls without warning⁶.

Mami Wata

Mami Wata, a deity primarily known in western Africa, and Mamlambo are both associated with water, and in some ways, they are both depicted as beautiful women with the ability to bestow wealth and power on anyone, as well as the ability to bring ruin to someone if they so desire.

Chitapo

Chitapo is another water deity from Zambia who is typically shown as a young woman with long wavy hair, a light complexion, a naked upper human torso, and a fish tail below her waist, wrapped in a giant serpent². She is equally wicked as Mamlambo in inflicting severe punishments on her victims, but unlike Mmalambo, she does so without provocation.

Yemoja

Yemoja is another river goddess who serves as the patron deity of the Ogun River¹⁶. She is sometimes represented as a mermaid, but unlike Mamlambo, she does not leave a trail of ruin.

Conclusion

Mamlambo is not the conventional feminine deity that everyone is familiar with. She’s an unpredictable goddess who can alternate between love, mercy, fury, and true kindness, setting her apart from other deities. Her presence has the potential to bring down even the richest king due to her quick temper, which leads others to assume that they would rather not incur her wrath, and this makes her unfamiliarity, which conceals an unpredictability, keep people devoted to her while making others who have incurred her anger flee from her. However, her dedication to those who believe in her has compelled her followers to listen to and obey anything she says. Basically, highlighting her person as multifaceted and breaking down the simple category placed on women on a wider scale.

Reference

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2. Brian Siegel, “Water spirits and Mermaids: The Copperhelt Chitapo,” in sacred Waters: Art for Mami Wata, ed. Henry J. Drewal (Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2008), 303-312, http://scholarexchange.furman.edu/ant-publications/2.
3. Felicity Wood and Michael Lewis, The Extraordinary Khotso: Millionaire Medicine Man from Lusikisiki (Cape Town: Kwela Books, 2007), n. pag.
4. Felicity Wood, “Blood money: An examination of oral narratives concerning wealth-giving snakes in the career of Khotso Sethuntsa, with particular focus on their socioeconomic implications,” Journal of literary studies 21, nos. 1-2 (2005): 68-92.
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12. Melody Chironda, “South Africa: Short Film ‘Mamlambo’ challenges Gender-Based Violence in South Africa Through Mythological Storytelling,” AllAfrica.com, April 7, 2023, accessed April 17, 2025, https://allafrica.com/stories/202304070305.html.
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