Aron Mazel
Newcastle University and University of the Witwatersrand

This article was originally published as part of KwaZulu-Natal Museum's 120 year celebrations. Staff and guest curators chose one object or item per year of the Museum's existence to highlight to the public.
https://www.nmsa.org.za/8-featured/675-120-years-in-120-objects-1922.html

In 1979, Aron Mazel described and photographed the intriguing Sigubudu 1 paintings of people with guns for the museum (Pictures 1 - 3). The first picture, here, shows paintings of people with guns as photographed in 1979. The second picture is an enhanced version of the photograph. The third is a drawing based on the original and enhanced images. We can see three seated people with guns and another two guns to their right. Two other humans are near the people and guns, one of whom might be carrying a child.

1 Photograph of Sigubudu 1 paintings of people and guns. Scale in centimetres

 © Aron Mazel, 1979

2 Enhanced version of Picture 1 using D-stretch

 © George Nash, 2023

Who made these paintings and why? Hunter-gatherers, sometimes accompanied by African farmers, responded to the increased settlement of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg mountains and surrounding areas by European colonists and African farmers by raiding their cattle, horses, and other livestock. The raiders occasionally carried guns.  Historian John Wright (1971) listed 64 raids between 1845 - 1872.  Most raids occurred in the central and southern uKhahlamba-Drakensberg but five took place in the north. It is possible that the Sigubudu 1 paintings were connected to one of these northern raids, or they could simply represent hunter-gatherers in the area with guns.

The public can visit Sigubudu 1:
https://amafainstitute.org.za/rock-art-kzn/

Wright, J. 1971. Bushman Raiders of the Drakensberg 1840-1870. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press.