By D.Ndwandwe

Inqina is a Zulu word which means an organized hunting event where five or more people come out to hunt together  . Its leader is called Umthonga.

We have been hunting for three days in vanderBidjangs farm ,through his permission to reduce number of wild animals he has. We have been successful with many wild animals from antelopes to wild cats. Today there was Mr Shandu the business man. He seemed to be trigger happy. He even shot a babboon. I  won't eat that thing. Will he? I  don't think so.

 We had just started hunting when the leopard  show up. Even Mr Biljank didn't know he had it in his farm. We all know leopard is a very vicious and strong wild cat  which take six to eigtht men to kill but Shandu decided to give it  a go. It just climbed up a  tree then shandu started bombarding the tree. You could see a rain of buning leaves and barks flying away from the tree. Fierce cat noise was heard when it fell on the ground .  Oh! I was so scared  I thought I would die. Shooting didn't only scared me and the  monkeys in the forest but it alerted Mthonga and the rest of the pack that something fishy was going on. On the winking of an eye, they had all crowded the scene . About twenty to fourty  men.

Shandu characterised  by baldy head, cowboy hat at the back of his shoulders, on top of a  brown   wildlife shirt   was scrutinizing  in the the woods but no  where it could be found . Some started to blame shandu's poor decision to a attack such a difficult animal with 9mm which was a small wapon. Leopards, cheaters and buffalos need  one or two AK 47 , if you  attempt to gun them down. Did he hear that never what he wanted was to finish the job he had started before someone superseed him.That would steal his glory. By killing a leopard ,he would be the hero of the series for ten years as this sport is held after a decade.

Someone shouted and ponted to the woods 'Nakhuya!'. We all focussed  on the pointed area. I saw its shaky mane through the woods. All men  organized themselves, armed with  weapons from traditional ones to Ak 47's. Oh dear where did they get all this types of rifles as I only heard my rod in the bolt[ i gulikeyi] I took a step foward following my father who had all of a sudden got a courage to go foward when he saw his pals armed with such dangerous wapons. Someone started  firing and the rest followed. I saw the cat change colours from golden black to all black.It started to shrug then reduced itself to the size of a kitten. A tally of bullets entered its body like nails in the coffin. From the mist of woods and leaves I saw it shrugging, gulping and vomoting bloody shrubs. It flew up like a jet ,out jumping every men who were there , covering their faces fearing for their lives it. The animal recognized the intiator of an event. I saw it just tapping Shandu's baldy head with its fore claws. The white skull was shown up , while its peripheral sides were bleeding profusely. Shandu  cried like a two year old boy.The hunting disbanded .Most men  ran away shivering. My father and some brave men  went to rescue Shandu.They would not let him crunched by a wild beast.I saw it shaking him like a sack of mealie meal. Brave hunters including my father led by umthonga fought gallantly beating it like a snake with ther traditional weapons ,not giving it a chance. It just died instantly.

We are from hospital .The nurse said Shandu  is recovering well in an intensive unit , after  ermegency operation. My main concern is how he will cope  with stings from its claws  because they need a special attention from an expert-traditional doctor? But Shandu is a business  man. Inqina may be officially disbanded tomorrow.

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