Nonteta Dungu (c. 1875–1935)
Nonteta Dungu (c. 1875–1935)
South African religious founder. Born into the Xhosa tribe in Mnqaba, in what is now South Africa, c. 1875; died of stomach and liver cancer in Pretoria, South Africa, May 1935.
When the worldwide influenza epidemic of 1918–19 struck the Xhosa, began to have visions during her bouts of fever, dreaming that God was punishing the earth for the sins of the people; on her recovery, began preaching against alcohol, adultery, and the eating of pork; eventually founded the Church of the Prophetess Nonteta; though she did not expressly preach against the white government, became a victim of the government crackdown on dissident, black-led religious sects; was arrested and imprisoned in an insane asylum (1921), where she died in 1935.
See also Women in World History.