End of an Era

Ranging from Matabeleland in the 1890s to Zimbabwe and India in the 1980s, David Fyfe's stories of humour and bravery cover vastly differing aspects of a country at the crossroads. Who could fail to laugh at Station Foreman Patrick O'Halloran and his 'snake' bite? Who could fail to be moved by Manxiweni's account of his District Commissioner, a fair-haired giant nicknamed Dlamini, who met a soldier's death in the bush wars of the 1970s? Or be fascinated by the author's expedition to the mysterious Drotsky's Cave in the middle of the Kalahari, and his eerie encounter with Bushmen? Time was when Rhodesia, under Ian Smith, was a pariah. Here are some tales to redress the balance: everyday life, railway lore, bush legends, wartime encounters and the customs of the country are all graphically and sympathetically recorded. We meet men of courage and frailty on both sides; we laugh with them, and we cry. For what greater sadness can there be than to see a great nation with endless resources brought to its knees by incompetence? It doesn't take long for an aasvogel to spot rich pickings. And there he flaps, while the hyenas laugh and the donkeys bray endlessly on the night air. Only the bright rails stretching south across the veld offer any sort of permanent way... yet the author's loyalties lie firmly in the Ndebeleland he calls home.