Mamlambo is a deity in South African and Zulu mythology, the "goddess of rivers",^{[citation needed]} described as a large snake-like creature.^{[citation needed]}

The myth of the Mamlambo has become of interest to cryptozoologists in 1997, when some South African newspapers (including Johannesburg's The Star and Capetown's Cape Argus) reported on purported sightings of a "giant reptile" monster in the Mzintlava River near Mount Ayliff in South Africa. It was also reported that the monster had killed at least 9 people. Villagers of the area claimed that the monster was 20 meters (67 feet) long, had the torso of a horse, the lower body of a fish, short legs, and the neck of a snake, and that it shined with a green light at night. 9 dead bodies were actually found in the Mzintlava River; according to the police, they had been in the water for a long time and had the soft parts of their heads and neck eaten by crabs; local villagers, on the other hand, claimed that these mutilations had been caused by the Mamlambo's habit of eating faces and "sucking brains out". For this reason, the Mamlambo is often referred to as "the Brain Sucker".^{[citation needed]}