Roles of chiefs within the Ndebele State

Pathisa Nyathi
THE roles and functions of chiefs are today spelt out in the Traditional Leaders Act. The origins of the office of chief are traceable to the pre-colonial period and survived the vicissitudes of the colonial period. It does appear the traditional leaders will be around for quite a while within what Mahmood Mamdani refers to as the bifurcated state which is characterized by hereditary leadership that exists alongside elected leadership.

In this article we seek to point out the roles of chiefs within the Ndebele State in the pre-colonial era. The king had an advisory council within which senior chiefs who presided over amaxhiba served. However, there were lesser chiefs who, on account of their closeness to the king and tremendous influence that they wielded, served on the advisory council known as uMphakathi. Indeed, such chiefs had access to the royal town and, in particular, the Royal Enclosure which was the preserve of royalty and its helpers.

In addition to these select and special chiefs there were, especially during the reign of King Lobengula Khumalo, the monarch’s male relatives who served on the advisory council. Such royal princes included the following: Mahlahleni, Makhwelambila, Nyanda, Fezela and Sibhamubhamu. It should not be imagined that the Ndebele monarch was a dictator who ruled single handedly. He relied on the advice proffered by members of the advisory council.

It is alleged, for example, that during the last days of the Ndebele State one of the members of the advisory council was Lotshe Hlabangana, chief at Induba. When white concession seekers approached the king he advised the king to sign the concession and avoid possible bloodshed. Chief Lotshe Hkabangana, inkosi yamaNtshali, had led a raiding party to the land of the BaTawana(abakoNdawana) and his attack was repulsed by the BaTawana who possessed guns given to them by the Boers in South Africa. As a result Chief Lotshe Hlabangana appreciated the power of the gun over the spear.

The young Ndebele warriors were not amused with Chief Lotshe Hlabangana’s advice and applied pressure on King Lobengula who had the chief at Induba executed. This was after the signing of the Rudd Concession at Umvutshwa in October 1888. However, the king later regretted the advice from the hot heads and said, “O yek’ uLotshe. Umuntu kafi avez’ umunwe.” His regret came rather too late after the crack regiment, Imbizo kaMtshane Khumalo, had been defeated at Gadadi on 2 November 1893. Be that as it may, chiefs did proffer advice to the king on a wide range of issues of a political administrative, judicial, spiritual and cultural nature.

In geographical terms the Ndebele State was fairly compact but was surrounded by a more expansive tributary state which served as some kind of buffer zone where communities were friendly to the Ndebele and owed allegiance to the Ndebele monarch. Communities within the tributary state provided resources(tribute) to the Ndebele core state, such as grain, tobacco, conscripts who served within the Ndebele army but not on a permanent basis. Quite a number of chiefs belonged to this category and amongst them were chiefs such as Nhema (Ndema) and Lukuluba (Moyo, Vumawbalanda). In exchange for the services rendered by the tributary state they enjoyed protection, but otherwise they were allowed to continue with their cultural practices including their languages. Those assimilated within the core state assumed Ndebele identity.

Beyond the tributary state lay what I have termed the raided state. Here Ndebele chiefs led their armies on raids undertaken for economic reasons; to acquire cattle and captives. We should appreciate that a village, umuzi comprised men, women and children. What initially was in existence was the male component that had been conscripted, trained and given a chief to lead them. A ceremony, some kind of pass out parade, was held where the parents of recruits were advised to slaughter animals of a particular colour scheme so that the new regiment would be kitted out in the same colour of shields.

This was important as some form of identity. A man belonging to iMbizo regiment was identified by his shield which in terms of colour was different from that carried by Insukamini led by Manondwane Tshabalala. This differentiation was particularly important to differentiate between friend and foe. The Ndebele came out of KwaZulu-Natal and shared a common military tradition with the Zulus of King Tshaka. The two armies would have looked alike, a situation that would have led a soldier mistaking his ally for an enemy. The Ndebele who were aMahlabezulu (abahlaba uZulu, stabbers of the Zulu people), quickly changed a lot of their military regalia so as to identify the Zulu enemy and avoid thrusting spears into the chests of fellow comrades. Shield cutters, abasiki bezihlangu, were engaged to make the shields and these lived in specialized villages such as eMganwini.

The new regiment was given a patriotic name such as iNtunta (ethutha izinkomo zabafo), uGodlwayo (ogodlwe ngamakhosi) and iNtemba(ethenjwe nguMthwakazi). The men were then allowed to marry, and umuzi came into existence. The term umuzi depicted the married status of a man as only a married man could be said to have umuzi. When going on a raid the male component, the real uGodlwayo, went on the raid where their chief provided the necessary leadership.

We should not lose sight of the fact that there were respected and talented fighters who were not chiefs but were roving military geniuses and leaders. These men, such as Mtshana Khumalo and Mkhithika Thebe, were given fighters from a wide cross section of regiments to lead on a raid. Recruitment took place within umuzi. Age sets were taken away from their parental homes to undergo military training, ugalo lwesizwe. This process continued even towards the end of the Ndebele State. New regiments were created during the reign of King Lobengula Khumalo. The oldest (first to be commissioned) was iMbizo encane, the chip off the old block. Apparently, there had been a regiment during the reign of King Mzilikazi Khumalo which went by the same name of iMbizo. The next regiment to be commissioned was iNsukamini. Others that followed included iHlathi(ihlathi lokuphephela amakhosi), uMcijo.

Iqanda lengwenya had no completed training by the time the Ndebele State collapsed in 1893.

It was the duty of chiefs to organize the conscription of eligible men under their jurisdiction. After a raid the chiefs were given a share of the booty to be held in trust by them for the community under their care. Such livestock had a special ear notch, uphawu, which distinguished the animals that were individually owned by men of the particular village. There were ear notches such uchacho, ijodo, icici, isikeyi, inkonjane etc. This was the equivalent of zunde ramambo in Mashonaland. The herd was distributed by the chief to starving families. In Matabeleland cattle provided the necessary safety nets. At that time meat was consumed as a dish and not as relish as happens now when people hardly slaughter cattle for consumption.

The chiefs distributed captives that were brought home by their charges. Initially, the king would have taken the lion’s share of captives: amalalaze/imbovane/abesihlangu. During the process of capturing them each captor made a mark on their captives, using a spear blade. There was further redistribution of captives at the level of umuzi. The chief, generally with a large household, needed many captives to look after his household. Virtually every Nguni household had captives, both male and female.