The Sunday News
Pathisa Nyathi
NAMES of Ndebele regiments in the erstwhile Ndebele State ranged from cultural artefacts to cosmic bodies. In the majority of cases, the common denominator was the presence of eulogising, extolling and inspiring names that were calculated to ring out from within the fighters a fighting spirit, valour and military prowess in the hope they would effortlessly defend the state. As pointed out earlier on, the regiment was the core male entity within a village which acquired the regiment’s name. The regiment exited the village and rejoined it from time to time.
Let us now attempt to categorise the regiments in terms of naming and at the same time give relevant examples. It may be ideal to start with the cosmic bodies and see which of these were used to name the regiments. The one good example is inkanyezi, the star. There are stars in the heavens that are shining bright. We may recall the rhyme we recited at primary school:
Twinkle twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are,
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
For a regiment, the use of such a metaphor was appropriate. A star shines brightly and will stand head and shoulders above dimmer stars. For the members of a regiment to believe in themselves, that they are a cut above the rest, is inspiring. In battle they will remember what is expected of them. They will excel and fight to the best of their ability. Inkanyezi today lives in the name of a primary school in Bulawayo. We can only hope that the school is performing to expectation, in line with its name.
Another regiment which had the name of a heavenly body was Ilanga (Elangeni) which, before the demise of the Ndebele State, was located just east of Bulawayo and not far from Cement Siding. Apparently, there were many Dlaminis in the regiment/ village and that could very well have been the origin of the name. At the time it was under the leadership of Nungu Khumalo who belonged to the section of the Khumalos known as uDunga kaMamba kaKlekekleka, uMthiya kaMafu.
By the time of the collapse of the Ndebele State Sambane was the incumbent chief. His father was Silevu son of Nungu who was related to Mlugulu Khumalo who fought gallantly on the eastern front during Imfazo II of 1896, alongside, among others, Sikhombo Mguni the chief of Izinkondo. Initially, when the whites were taking over the land, Ilanga was evicted and settled at Ezzexvale (Esigodini). Soon thereafter, they were moved to the Shangani Reserve (Lupane/ Nkayi). However, due to transport challenges, they were temporarily settled in Ntabazinduna alongside Chief Khayisa Ndiweni’s people. The latter and his people were also destined for settlement at Emaguswini.
In 1967 Chief Sambane’s people were relocated from Ntabazinduna. They were settled at Chibila near Lusulu in the Binga District. Unfortunately, the people under Chief Khumalo did not constitute the required threshold population to sustain their chieftainship. They were advised to absorb more people till their numbers reached the stipulated figure. Ultimately, the chieftainship was discontinued. About two years ago, the claimant for the defunct chieftainship, one Samson Nguni Khumalo made some efforts to resuscitate the chieftainship. To date nothing has materialised.
Our thrust here is not the history of Ilanga but to understand why such a name was chosen and given to a regiment. Ilanga is the brightest cosmic body within the solar system. Ilanga is so bright that we cannot look at it directly. Doing so is risking going blind. Once again, we come across a regiment whose name suggests it is a cut above the rest. It was expected therefore, that it would perform as expected by virtue of its heroic name. Naming was, in some instances, some expectation about given names. Sibusiso is expected to be a blessing to his parents in the first instance but also to the family.
Elangeni today is canonised through the name of a Public Service training centre in Bulawayo. It so happens that the regiment/village, during the heyday of the Ndebele State, was not very far from where the training institute is located. The name, as indicated above, was a pointer to the several Dlaminis, who are the Elangeni people who were part of the village/regiment. It is possible that some of these Dlaminis remained behind in Ntabazinduna when the rest were evicted, only to be settled far away in Chibila.
In this vein, Elangeni is comparable to Emazizini located west of Inyathi where a people known as Amazizi lived as pointed out in last week’s article. Another village in the same category was Emambanjeni where the Mbambos lived in the Cyrene-West Acre area. Some of the Mbambos are today found in Sikhombigo in Silobela. Others are to be found at Mawaza in the southern part of Gwanda District.
So far, two categories of regiments have been identified. Those that were named after cosmic bodies and those bearing names of ethnic groups. There were categories which did not directly relate to the names of regiments. Intelligence gathering was important for the security of the state. Travellers were not expected to venture deep into the state before their presence was reported to the king. Such reporting regiments were located at the state boundaries to intercept would-be invaders and send word so that regiments were summoned to repulse the invaders. In the main, such regiments/villages were in the southern part of the state where Afrikaners presented some real threat. Regiments performing such a function were known as izihlabamkhosi or izikhuza.
In addition to the Ndebele villages in the core state, there were groups of people in the tributary state who were appointed as intelligence officers who were expected to report any suspicious goings-on on the border. Such officers did not report directly to the king. Instead, they reported to the Ndebele chief who supervised them. Arguably, the best known such officer was Chief Kgoatalala Nare (uHwadalala) who, on account of his role, was referred to as umswiliswili wenkosi, the royal intelligence officer. He reported to Chief Thunzi Ndiweni of Ezinaleni/Ezisongweni.
When Prince Nkulumane, the rightful heir approached Matabeleland, Chief Kgoatalala reported to Chief Thunzi who apparently was aligned to Prince Nkulumane and not Prince Lobengula. Chief Kgoatala was put to death for allegedly not reporting the approaches of Prince Nkulumane. He and Chief Podipedi Nare (uMbuzimbili) were victims of some ethnic intrigue.
However, King Lobengula realised the treachery of Chief Thunzi and regretted the death of Chief Kgoatalala and immediately reinstated his son to the chieftainship which was, in 1951, reduced to a headmanship. Chief Thunzi, alongside other Nguni chiefs, were eliminated by King Lobengula, thus presenting the opportunity to Faku his brother to take over the chieftainship which today goes by the name of Chief Nyangazonke after the name of Faku’s son.
