The Teachings of Unkulunkulu became the oral wisdom of amaZulu and their system of elders were equipped with judgement in order to interpret this wisdom.

Unkulunkulu is not God. Missionaries in their zeal to plant a Christian cosmology into the African natives, took the word UNkulunkulu, and translated it into God. In Zulu cosmology nothing is as far from the truth. In modern South Africa, millions of black people regard UNkulunkulu as God. From a true and etymological point of view, Unkulunkulu is the Being who is created like ourselves who came out first. Another rendering of the name of this Being is umvelingqangi.