There was a missionery present.
Apparently it was a regular occurrence in SA, a bit like musical chairs on steroids.
This is another occurrence, from the Booandik Tribe, by Mrs James Smith, who ran an orphanage for aboriginal children in the South East, written in 1880.
"However, he told me he once went to a murapena (a native festival), and that after the dancing was over, the men ran after each other with their spears. He saw one fall, and soon after heard the death-cry. The poor man was killed and speedily divided and devoured by his comrades."