ChieftainCy and the Christian ChurCh

Chieftaincy and the Christian Church were the main principles that governed Nelson’s life at Mqhekezweni but to him Christianity was not so much a system of beliefs as the ‘’powerful creed of Reverend Matyolo’’. ‘’ the fact that he was the regent’s superior in spiritual matters’’ made a ‘’strong impression’’ on Nelson Mandela.

the Church, he observed, was ‘’as concerned with this world as the next... virtually all of the achievements of Africans’’ seemed to be connected to their ‘’missionary work’’. ‘’ the mission schools trained the clerks, the interpreters, and the policemen, who at the time represented the height of African aspirations’’.

this was somewhat analogous to our own denominational system of education developed in the 19th century and funded in large part by the various established religious bodies in trinidad and tobago.

For some time, Nelson’s social life at Mqhekezweni continued to reflect the habits of his earlier life at Qunu. he dodged a Sunday service to take part in a fight against boys from another village for which the regent flogged him and, on another occasion, from Rev. Matyolo’s garden he stole maize, which he roasted and ate ‘’right there’’. he was seen by a young girl and the news reported to the regent’s wife who told him the ‘’devil would certainly take (him) to task for his sin”.