South Africa

Our connections with South Africa go back many years. Our guest lecturer at the Cambridge BASICS Symposium in September 1982, was Mr. Alan White FRCS (Ed) FRCS (Eng), Principal Surgeon of the Addington Hospital, Durban, Director of Emergency Medical Services for Natal and Kwazululand. Alan White made a world-wide study of immediate care in order to improve the service to the ill and injured in the four Provinces of the South African Republic. After attending the Symposium on Immediate Care at Aviemore in 1973, and subsequent BASICS Conferences, he was able to adapt the BASICS teachings and philosophies of teamwork for the situations in the republic where its application was particularly relevant.
At the beginning of his talk Mr. Alan White presented an antique "Ixuba" to the Chairman Dr. Easton with the best wishes of the Kwazulu Government, and as a token of gratitude to Dr. Easton, Dr. Baskett,and others of BASICS for the support given over many years. The Ixuba was presented and accepted with the Zulu gesture of Peace: open palms balancing the weapon, and forearms crossed right to left. The Ixuba was acquired by Mr. White through the good offices of his personal friend Prince Gatsha Buthelezi, Chief of the Zulus, and of the South African Red Cross of which Alan was Commissioner, was given for use as Chairman's gavel at BASICS' Annual General Meetings, and was most gratefully accepted for such use.
This gift, claimed to be the traditional Zulu throwing weapon, with its silver inscription, is unique and we were honoured to receive it. In producing this page however Google was consulted, and failed to reveal the existence of an item called an Ixuba. It does however appear to be a Knobkerrie, also spelled knopkierie or knobkerry, which is an  African club used mainly in Southern and Eastern Africa. Typically they have a large knob at one end and can be used for throwing at animals in hunting. This knob is carved out of a treetrunk and the shaft is simply the branch that protruded from the tree at that point.
The name may derive from a settler word knob or knop and the Afrikaans word for cane or walking stick. Knobkerries were an indispensable weapon of war, particularly among southern Nguni tribes such as the Zulu and the Xhosa.
Knobkerries are still widely carried, especially in rural areas. The weapon is employed at close quarters, or as a missile, and in time of peace may serve as a walking-stick.
The head, or knob, is often ornately carved with faces or shapes that have symbolic meaning. The knobkierie itself serves this function in the crest of the 2000 new federal coat of Arms of South Africa and also features on the Order of Mendi for Bravery.