The Sunday News
Pathisa Nyathi
Ultimately this series of articles will deal with principles pertaining to chiefly succession among the Ndebele people in the pre-colonial period. Succession rules comprised qualifications and disqualifications. Both were not written down but were understood by the entire society. As a result there were less conflicts resulting from contested successions. What is contentious these days is whether those principles are still applicable. What we do know is that there have been no formal discussions on the said principles. Flouting of same has become prevalent.
Succession principles were socio-political constructs within the context of goals that were set for the nation. What becomes clear is that today the state no longer exists. New ideas, values, social goals, beliefs emanating from colonial and post-colonial experiences have led to the relaxation of some of the succession principles. In the absence of formal discussions on measures to align succession rules to the new reality contestations have resulted and the situation is set to continue till there are formal interventions that will deal with the principles of succession within the context of a changed situation.
For now though on paper the traditional practices guiding succession apply. In the heyday of the Ndebele State women were never appointed chiefs. It is both wrong and unfair to judge such past cultural practices using today’s worldviews. What we should be investigating is why such traditional practices existed in the first place. This is precisely what we are trying to do with these preliminary articles — to find justifications for the various principles that were applicable then. When these are better appreciated it will be a lot easier to isolate those principles that have been overtaken by events. Piecemeal firefighting will not yield positive and sustainable results. In the past two weeks we looked at some goals that guided the selection of chiefs. In this article we continue looking at measures relating to the appointment of chiefs that ensured the king remained the single centre of power. We looked at the appointment of the Ndiwenis which surpassed, in terms of numbers, that of any clan within the Ndebele State.
Let us continue with the same goal and see how the king manipulated appointments to entrench his rule by taking steps to see that those appointed chiefs were to remain loyal to him. In essence we are saying the appointment and office of chief was a clearly political issue. Let’ us deal with the position of the royal Khumalo women in relation to non-royal women.
Here we come face to face with a hierarchy of women who qualified to bear chiefs. Daughters of King Mzilikazi took precedence over other women, be they Khumalo or not. In order to drive the point home we are going to make use of examples from some of the chieftainships. Let us start with the chieftainship of Indinana, which was held by the Matshazis, which still exists to this day in Zvishavane, as the Mafala chieftainship.
Mbungwana Matshazi, son of Nyanzamakhanda was connected to the Ndwandwe people at the beginning of the 19th Century. Later Mbungwana was associated with the Khumalos of Matshobana and it was him who led the Matshazis into present day Matabeleland under King Mzilikazi Khumalo. Mfangilele Matshazi succeeded his father, a chief of Indinana which in Matabeleland was located not far from Mhlahlandlela. This was prior to its relocation to the Insiza River, at its confluence with Indida River. Chief Mfangilele Matshazi initially married Memezi Nzima, a daughter of Sithiba. Later on he married the daughter of King Mzilikazi Khumalo by the name of Nsimukhulu. The oldest son out of that union was Ntembuzane who then took over as chief of Indinana, taking precedence over his elder brother born to MaNzima.
The succession was retained within the Ntembuzane line, he being succeeded by Mafala who in turn was succeeded by Jobe. MaNzima’s son Muthi gave rise to a headmanship in Lupane District under his son Goduka who was succeeded by Khenani. A daughter of King Mzilikazi became umdlunkulu (indlu enkulu), with MaNzima being indlu endala. The two need careful differentiation. Umdlunkulu provides the next chief. In essence, that meant Ntembuzane who was nephew of the king became chief of Indinana. With the king as his uncle Chief Ntembuzane was expected to be loyal to his relative and king.
Let us give the second example from the Ndiweni chieftainship of Ezinaleni/Ezisongweni. The heir to Chief Mabuyana was Thunzi the son of MaGama. Chief Mabuyana married a second wife already pregnant by another man. The son who was accepted by Chief Mabuyana was Faku who acted as chief while Thunzis son Tala was a minor. Chief Thunzi had been executed for supporting Prince Nkulumane Khumalo against Prince Lobengula Khumalo.
Faku Ndiweni had initially married MaThebe, okaMkhithika with Gijimani as the eldest son and Sinti as the younger one. Faku Ndiweni did not leave the chiefly post when the rightful heir Tala came of age. Chief Faku further consolidated his claim to the Ndiweni chieftainship by marrying a daughter of King Mzilikazi — one Princess Nedlana Khumalo.
The union resulted in the birth of son Nyangazonke. According to the Ndebele rules of succession Nyangazonke (so named because he was born after the interventions of many traditional doctors – izinyanga: uNedlana wamiswa) took precedence over Gijimani. Once again, the succeeding chief was a son of royal Khumalo daughter. There were many chieftainships that experienced the same royal precedence. In practical terms that meant the incoming chiefs were nephews of the king, a move that consolidated his power.
So far we have given examples where sons of daughters of King Mzilikazi took precedence over the sons of other women who were not Khumalo, but just Nguni. The Khumalo daughters too were arranged into some hierarchy. The daughters of King Mzilikazi topped the list followed by those of King Lobengula. The other Khumalo daughters were ranked below these and here were included the following Khumalo houses: iNzonda kaMatshitshi(ekaLugebhe), uNgwende (amaNyangana, uDonda weziziba), uMamba kaKlekekleke (Bhozongwana belonged to this house).
To illustrate the hierarchy we turn to Chief Mehlomakhulu Dlodlo a chief at Emakhandeni. Initially, he married a MaKhumalo that belonged to the iNzonda house. At that juncture the eldest son Damasane was looked upon as Chief Mehlomakhulu’s heir. However, Chief Mehlomakhulu Dlodlo later married Princess Londlela Khumalo born of a son of King Mzilikazi. The eldest son was Msindazi with Hole as his younger brother. By virtue of being a son of King Mzilikazi’s niece Msindazi took precedence over Damasane. That was not to remain so for much longer. Chief Mehlomakhulu later married Princess Bhitshi a daughter of King Mzilikazi whose mother was Queen Loziba okaPhahlana when the king then lived at eMhlangeni, in Inyathi. The son, the most royal of the sons and therefore heir apparent, was Manqikila Dlodlo. Manqikila Dlodlo, serving in Inqobo/Ingqobo regiment commanded by Chief Mthini Mphoko Ndlovu, died in battle at Gadadi in November 1893. His son Vungindaba was still a minor and Msindazi acted as regent for him.
Here is a case where there were three Khumalo wives married to one man. The iNzonda wife was the least royal and that is what disqualified Damasane. The other two wives were closely related to the king. However, the one of them was a daughter of the king while the second was the king’s niece, being the daughter of kings’ son. According to the rules of succession King Mzilikazi’s daughter took precedence over his niece. The former was closer to the centre of power or source.
