1850 California Courier (San Francisco) 31 Aug. 2/1 All this is the work of the squaws—or, as they call them—‘Mo-hales’.

1903 G. W. James Indian Basketry 227 Do not believe for a moment that a majella will furnish you goods of as fine a class as she makes for herself.

1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap 338 That old mahala of mine, she not able to chew much now.

1969–70 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1996) III. 472/1 Here come this big fat mahaly in the house. She knocked at the door, you know, and came in, and the father was there, too, and the mother.

1941 Bantu World 1 Mar. 4 Jos. And who gave her away in marriage? Jer. She gave herself away—mahala.

1948 E. Hellman Rooiyard 60 The host and hostess dispense beer and food mahala.

2012 MailOnline 25 Apr. A quirky South African airline have poked fun at their own polygamous president... ‘Not only will you get a great deal on kulula.com flights for your first three wives, but your fourth wife will fly free, mahala, on the house.’

1977 Weekend World (S. Afr.) 31 July c1 There lies my bid for an easy R25. That's mahala money you might say.

1995 O. Musi in City Press 11 June 28 This might just be an ordinary tribesman who bought the ticket in the vain hope that it would get him into the local soccer stadium for mahala.

1999 Y (S. Afr.) June 48/2 To surf, you need the accessories—the boards, wetsuits, wax and ocean. And none of it is mahala.

2012 Civil Engin. (S. Afr.) (Electronic ed.) Jan. Sitting on the periphery, not participating, and aspiring [to] economic freedom for mahala, is simply not going to work.