The Sunday News
Pathisa Nyathi
In last week’s article we looked at disqualification on the basis of a woman’s status. This was with regard to her own status and not by virtue of or contingent upon her being the daughter of a particular father. This applied even where the concerned woman was Nguni or the daughter of a Khumalo man. There are several instances where contentious chiefly succession exploded on account of women who were disqualified in their own right.
Let us cite some examples from iSizinda chieftainship whose founding chief was Maphisa Fuyane. Not so long ago there was a succession wrangle pitting Makhwanya Fuyane and Herben Fuyane. Makhwanya Fuyane was the son of Swelubuyo Fuyane who together with Mantombelana was Chief Mdilizelwa Fuyane’s children by MaKhumalo, okaSondukwana from eMagogweni. Chief Mdilizelwa Fuyane is famed for having delivered the fatal blow on Captain Allan Wilson during the Battle of Pupu across the Shangani River on 3 December 1893. He belonged to the iMbizo regiment under the command of Mtshane Khumalo.
After colonisation and the subsequent death of his father Maphisa Fuyane, he became chief and he and his followers lived at eNtabenemnyama, in the Centenary and Mbadizwe areas. They had been evicted from outside of Bulawayo where Sizinda Township stands today. In the same area there lived the Bhebhes who were descended from Siwila. Siwila’s male children included Mtshunkuli, Mathe, Maswimpo, Patagwa and Ngwana. These Bhebhes became an integral part of iSizinda community and when Chief Mdilizelwa Fuyane’s followers were evicted in 1912, the Bhebhes were among them and we all channeled to the newly established Shashane Reserve. The evictees settled at places such as Mbembeswana and Zamanyoni.
Chief Mdilizelwa Fuyane himself proceeded to Mbembeswana, leaving behind his sons at Zamanyoni. We mention the Bhebhes at Mbembeswana because they got entangled in the succession wrangle that pitted their candidate Makhwanya Fuyane against Herben Fuyane. Swelubuyo Fuyane, the father of Makhwanya had his mother, MaKhumalo okaSondukwana, get married to Chief Mdilizelwa Fuyane after having had a child by another man.
There was a claim later that Sondukwana Khumalo had paid a beast as a way of restoring her daughter to the status of a full maiden who, by virtue of the restoration, qualified to bear a successor to Chief Mdilizelwa Fuyane. MaKhumalo was Mdilizelwa’s first wife. Normally, by virtue of being a MaKhumalo, she would have taken precedence over MaMkhwananzi, okaNkuculana who became the mother of Mayenga, Silwalume and Mtshime. Silwalume Fuyane was the father of Joshua Nkomo’s wife, Johanna Fuyane.
However, as it turned out MaKhumalo, by virtue of having had a child by another man before getting married to Chief Mdilizelwa Fuyane was disqualified from bearing a son to succeed his late father. Her being a MaKhumalo was ignored. In the ensuing succession wrangle, Chiefs Khayisa Ndiweni and Simon Sigola asked the backers of Makhwanya Fuyane to indicate definitively what type of beast had been paid. None could give the identity of the said beast. As a result, Mayenga Fuyane won the tussle and succeeded Chief Mdilizelwa Fuyane.
However, Makhwanya Fuyane, with backing from the Bhebhes and other residents at Mbembeswana resuscitated the issue.
His bid did not meet with success. Chief Herben Fuyane, whose mother was a MaKhumalo, okaLopila won the race. The lesson that emerges is that some factors were more critical than others when it came to chiefly succession. Certainly, having a child before marriage was a serious issue that allowed lesser wives to take precedence. A MaMkhwananzi in this instance took precedence over a MaKhumalo.
Beyond this saga, Chief Herben Fuyane went on to marry a Maphosa woman whose children were Mathinzi and Stanford. His second wife was a Masina whose eldest son was Ngwemnyama Fuyane, the incumbent Chief Mdilizelwa. There were four girls that were older than Ngwemnyama Fuyane, namely Nokuthula, Zanele, Duduzile and Cingi.
Chief Herben Fuyane’s last two wives were MaMoyo and MaDube. Maphosa, being non-Nguni was disqualified from bearing a successor to Chief Herben Fuyane. Instead, it was his Nguni wife Masina whose son Ngwemnyama Fuyane took over. MaMoyo has several sons but going by the fact that Maphosa’s son Mathinzi was passed over, it goes without saying that all of MaMoyo’s sons stood no chance on the grounds of their mother’s ethnic identity.
What deserves a comment is the non-uniform application of Ndebele pre-colonial principles of chiefly succession. We have several instances where sons of non-Nguni mothers are incumbent chiefs. Here is a case where the Fuyanes still cling to traditional chiefly procedures and principles that apply when chiefly succession is considered. This points to a rather confused situation where there is no uniform application of known traditional procedures and principles. All this is fertile ground for contestations which risk spilling into the courts.
Let us mention another case where a woman who had had a child with another man prior to getting married to a chief was disqualified. In this particular case the concerned clan accepted the principle in question. We are here referring to the Lukuluba chieftainship which used to exist in the Hogo area beyond eMakhandeni prior to evictions to Silobela after the cessation of hostilities in the 1939-1945 World War II. Lukuluba, a Moyo, Vumabalanda and Sayi chief, was son of Mambo Nitjasike together with other sons such as Ntinima/Mutinhima and Washayanyika.
His first wife was married after having had a child with another man prior to getting married to Chief Lukuluba (Huruva). The eldest son in this house, one Mbebele, was disqualified from succeeding Chief Lukuluba. Instead, it was Matibenga, the eldest son of the second wife who took over.
When Matibenga died his younger brother Gobhi acted as regent till Matibenga’s son Mkhuhlane took over as Chief Lukuluba III.
This has been the case till the chieftainship was relegated to a Headmanship in the 1950s, after which it subsequently became the Mpiyabo Headmanship. The succession arrangement was primogeniture, vertical from father to eldest qualifying son, as opposed to lateral succession that used to be the case among the Lozwi prior to the arrival of the Ndebele when some chieftainships that were originally Lozwi Ndebelised and opted for vertical succession.
The families in question include Lozani (Ruzani), now referred to as the Malisa chieftainship in Silobela. Two other chieftainships, namely Mkoba and Sogwala are also of royal Lozwi origin characterized by lateral succession but incorporated into Ndebele society and ended up embracing primogeniture-from father to eldest qualifying son.
Let us consider another important factor in succession. This involves the question of succession where twins are involved. In this case we are concerned with male twins, be they identical or fraternal. Here and elsewhere it is important to go by a people’s perceptions as these are the determinants of cultural practice including chiefly succession. A good example in this regard is drawn from the Godlwayo community. We mentioned earlier a brave man who defended the Ndebele State from its enemies. That man was Mahubo, later generally become Dambisamahubo. He had twin sons.
The birth of twins was carefully observed by the midwife and the order of birth had a bearing on who between the twins would be the successor that is assuming the two are the eldest sons. It so happened that Ncozana emerged first, that is to say, he was born first. Mthikana was born next. According to Ndebele tradition, the son born last is the one considered senior or older.
Apparently, that is precisely what happened to the Godlwayo chiefly succession. Mthikana Mafu became chief after Dambisamahubo, the inner advisory council. He owned a horse and as a result of his influence and socio-economic and political status, he married King Mzilikazi Khumalo’s daughter, Princess Makhwa Khumalo whose son Maduna became chief following the death of Chief Mthikana Mafu.
