Legend of Mmantsiripane demystified

Although with much passage of time, and as typically happens when there is missing knowledge with yawning and inviting voids, blanks are typically filled in with all manner of invention and embellishment – depending on the peculiar whims of the storyteller. But, thankfully, there is a coherent and authentic story that roundly explains the source of the term mmantsiripane.

But first let me give a small background to my methodology. I try to keep my work as scholarly as possible: not just as entertaining as possible. Everything I write can be backed up…although for a newspaper column such as this, it is not good practice to include copious formal references typically required of most non-fiction books or a scholarly article for a scholarly journal.