Lozikeyi Dlodlo

Sitting centre-front in this picture is Lozikeyi Dlodlo, a formidable Northern Ndebele Queen of the late 19th century who fought against colonial rule. She was King Lobengula's much loved and senior queen, and later became the de facto Regent Queen of the Northern Ndebele kingdom soon after her husband's death in 1894.

Oral and recorded history has it that Lozikeyi played an unrivaled and heroic role in the Anglo-Matabele war of 1896, also known as Impi Yehlok'elibomvu (The War of the Red Axe). Lozikeyi was both a leader and an inspirational figure to the warriors who fought hard to reclaim their falling kingdom from the oppressive colonial system of the time.

After her death during the great flu epidemic of 1919, she remained an inspiration to Ndebele freedom fighters, and it is said that during the liberation war of the 1970s, bullets from the opposing sides were symbolically placed by her grave.