Wehlelwe yinhlanhla abengayilindele
English Literal Equivalent: He took a bath in a pool that is home to crocodiles.
English Meaning: A person who has been fortunate beyond imagination.
Context: A story in told of a man who lived during the time of kings. Crimes were, then, punishable either by paying a fine or in extreme case, by death. This particular man committed a crime for which he knew fully well the punishment was death. So when the king’s emissaries came looking for him, he tried to run away. Realising he was failing to outrun the king’s emissaries he headed straight for a pool in a river which was home to crocodiles and no person entered the pool and came out alive. The man considered it was better to be killed by the reptiles than to face the wrath of the king. As soon as he dived into the water, the emissaries went and reported to the king that the person was as good as dead. When the king heard the story, he was convinced the accused was now deceased. However, months later, the man was seen alive. People then considered the man very lucky as he entered the crocodile territory and came out alive. They knew he did not believe his lucky.
Application: Some people resign their lives to fate. According to this proverb, doing so is like dicing with death. One cannot always be lucky especially where life threatening situations are concerned. As such, people should strive to live a straight life and avoid situations where they will be deemed to be lucky after surviving some punishment or getting the benefits they did not work for.