The political overtones of tshikanda are perhaps best expressed in the drama of Thovhela and Tshishonge, which is performed on the last day of the school. This was described to me as a 'game' (mutambo), a spectacle (ano) of tshikanda. Stayt (1931:112-12) reports that a story, similar to the one I saw acted, is told to novices as part of the one-night ritual of tshikanda; and that the hut for the rooibok and the ensuing fight, which I saw as part of the drama of Thovhela and Tshishonge, is one of the ritual lessons of domba (Stayt 1931:119). I attended several domba schools, but never saw the rite as Stayt describes it; and several old ladies insisted that the drama had always been performed as I saw it. It is, however, perfectly possible that both Stayt's report and my own represent what happens in different parts of Vendaland: there are local variations in initiation rites, and in any case our observations are separated by a period of thirty years.

The drama of Thovhela and Tshishonge is played during the day in the public meeting place (khoro) of the ruler. Men never attend it, but I am not sure whether this was because they were not allowed, or because they were not interested in the antics of their womenfolk. I was allowed to see it, as I was other rites of women's initiation, partly because I was an outsider and therefore neuter, and partly because the old ladies were intrigued by my camera and recording machine, and above all by the incredible fact that I was interested in what they were doing. All the parts in the drama are taken by women of the ruler's household. Novices take the parts of the chief's younger wives and dogs.

I saw only one performance of the drama in chief Ne-Thengwe's country, which I shall now describe. Apparently, the sequence of events is the same in other parts of Vendaland. Ideally, the chiefs should be dressed in leopard skins.