In his poetry Burns-Ncamashe uses the baboon and
impundulu (the lightning bird) as symbols of witchcraft.
People referred to the poll tax, for example, as the
impundulu, the lighting bird and the quintessential exemplar of witchcraft.(23)
A vivid illustration of the connection between taxation and supernatural powers is given by Govan Mbeki: he reports that people generally knew the poll tax by the name of
impundulu, which he translates as `bloodsucker'.(21) But the mythical
impundulu was more than a bloodsucker, it was also the name of the feared lightning-bird that worked for witches and wizards to destroy their enemies.
That is apparent in his use of impundulu (the lightning bird) as an image.
Due to the leader's unacceptable manner of ruling he is viewed as impundulu (the lightning bird).
Impundulu is believed to be non-selective in its actions.
As impundulu is a mythic object that may not have actually been seen with the physical eye; it thus exists only in theory and its existence can not be proven in reality; its use is an instance of the poet's employment of abstract imagery.
If you want to learn about mmuos and
impundulus, ichitipas and monwors, bushbabies and popobawas, to name some of the monsters in this collection, grab a copy of this coffee table book.