Pathisa Nyathi
WE have, in earlier instalments, considered qualifications and disqualifications in so far as these relate to the statuses of their fathers, and not their own. What emerges clearly is that women were not considered in their own right. It was as if their fathers’ statuses determined their own. The statuses of a chief’s wives were determined by the socio-political and economic statuses of their fathers.
We may recap instances where these applied. The Khumalo wives, we explained, had a pecking order in terms of seniority, a seniority that was linked to that of their fathers. It was for that reason that King Mzilikazi Khumalo’s daughters were ranked at the top of all the Khumalo wives, followed by the daughters of King Lobengula Khumalo. Quite clearly, the critical and telling consideration was that the two were monarchs. The two were separated by the fact that King Mzilikazi Khumalo ruled ahead of son King Lobengula.
We should never lose sight of the fact that proximity to Source was an important consideration. In temporal terms, the one who reigned earlier is considered more senior, mutatis mutandis. For example, it would not be a question of who was older between two Khumalo wives, one born to King Mzilikazi Khumalo and the other to King Lobengula Khumalo. He who reigned first (ophambili) is nearer Source bequeaths on his daughters a senior status-remember always, iphambili leNdebele lisemuva!
For the purposes of this article what matters is that the statuses of a chief’s wives were determined by the statuses of their fathers. We saw how Chief Gwabalanda Mathe’s daughter, who was married to Chief Manyakavula Masuku of eMatshetsheni, was ranked ahead of other Nguni wives on account of the political status of Chief Gwabalanda Mathe within the Ndebele State.
This was the case with the less royal Khumalos and the more ordinary Nguni wives. The former, by virtue of being Khumalos, ranked higher than the latter.
Nguni wives still ranked higher than non-Nguni wives. This was a consideration at the societal level and the ethnic categorisation of Ndebele groups on account of their ethnic identities. The question is, who determined a person’s ethnic identity? Ethnic identity in this particular was made in reference to a woman, in a direct sense when she was being viewed as a chief’s wife. The ethnic identity of a man’s daughter was determined by that of her father. We are, once again, dealing with fathers’ ethnic identities as ones that determined those of their daughters.
Were there no instances when women, rather the wives of a chief, were pecked in their own right when succession was being considered? The answer is, yes there were. Let us consider one such case. A woman who had had a child with another man before getting married to a chief never produced a succeeding son. In other words, imitha lalingayizali induna. This was also true of a king. A king’s successor had to be a son whose mother had not had a child with another man prior to getting married to a chief.
Thus, for a young girl to have had a child before marriage meant serious implications. It brought with it some social stigma, both to the girl and her parents. We have said it before that the Ndebele made use of social stigmas to discourage undesirable social behaviour. When it came to feeding during social functions such as imithimba, weddings, amamitha were served separately in their own group and besides, their food was dished in leaking vessels (izitsha ezigxagxazayo).
The aim was not to embarrass the imitha girl who had had a child before marriage. The horses had already bolted, making it senseless and futile to close the gate. The whole embarrassing arrangement was targeted at the young girls who had not yet fallen into the same trap. The result was that they were circumspect when it came to sexual matters. They avoided penetrating sex. When they succumbed to sexual advances from a man, the guiding principle was emsamo hatshi, as one of my cultural mentors used to put it. Instead, engaged in what was known as ukuhlobonga, in order to avoid sexual penetration which could sometimes result in unintended pregnancy with its disastrous consequences.
Every family looked upon to their daughter bearing a succeeding son to a chief. The family stood to benefit economically. A chief had means to pay amalobolo. The number of beasts depended on a number of factors one of which was the socio-economic status of the son-in-law. When a king settled for a couple’s daughter, there was even cause for greater celebration.
There was the prospect of a large herd of cattle exchanging hands. When a chief picked a non-Nguni maiden during the Reed Ceremony, he was accordingly advised by those who guided his choice: “Khafula Khumalo!”(Spit, my Lord). If he went ahead with his choice, which never was the case, that would have translated to a large herd of cattle going to a non-Nguni couple.
When such imitha got married, her umthimba, (marriage ceremony), was conducted in a different way. She did not perform ukumekeza dance in a cattle byre which was done by girls who were still full maidens, (izintombi ezigcweleyo). The socially degraded wedding ceremony was called isigubhu. The parents charged a smaller head of cattle when such daughter got married. Later when she visited her parents, she did not have a beast slaughtered for her. It was a painful reminder of her behaviour which courted such demeaning behaviour from her parents. In contrast, a maiden who had not had a child made a public announcement regarding her cherished and admirable status. She was proud to have preserved her status and was poised, if she qualified in other terms, to bear a son who could succeed a chief.
We have said before that cultural practices have cosmological underpinnings. Just what problem was there if a girl had had a child by another man prior to her marriage to a chief? It could have been an economic consideration. A reigning chief will not forget his elder brother born before his mother got married to the chief. A reigning chief with a brother belonging to another family would extend economic resources to him.
It was also not uncommon to have a son born in similar circumstances follow his mother to the chief’s family (ukulandela ebambe izidwaba zikanina). He may be raised just as if he was one of the chief’s sons. Sometimes the family, in order not to embarrass the “foreign son” his status was not revealed. Such a son may even harbor ambitions of succeeding his “father”, the chief when he dies. This is true even in non-chiefly or non-royal families. Such sons may cause havoc and misunderstanding within families when it comes to matters of succession.
Here then is a case where succession was not influenced by the socio-political or economic status of a father. Rather, the wife’s qualification status was determined by her personal behaviour prior to marriage. However, there was provision to restore the wife’s status so that she qualified to bear a son who could succeed his father. The daughter’s parents gave a beast to the chief’s parents. The condition was that the payment of inkomo yokumgcwalisa was witnessed by some members of the family so that they could give testimony when the right time came.
The issue did not concern the child who was born prior to marriage. Rather, it concerned the son born of a chief to a woman who had had a child before getting married to a chief. The paid beast thus restored the status of a chief’s wife and, by extension, that of the son who could then succeed his late father and chief.