Mngometfulo in the Swazi record
Bonner places the Mngometfulo, with the Mathenjwa, in the mountains further south on the Lubombo, among the Tsonga or partly Tsonga-ised Sotho chiefdoms of the east that Sobhuza’s new state bordered (PDF p. 42).
What the book says
He says the Mngometfulo were among the earlier-settled chiefdoms attacked by Mswati’s forces (pp. 97, 99), and that, along with one section of the Mahlalela, they seem to have backed their political ambitions with extensive claims to magical and ritual powers (p. 98). In his account of Mswati’s dealings in the east he says that, further down the Lebombo, Mswati killed the Mngometfulo king in battle and returned the chiefdom to the subordinate status it had held in Sobhuza’s reign (p. 103). The book does not name the king.
Sources and cautions
This page summarises Philip Bonner’s Kings, Commoners and Concessionaires (read from SAHO’s scanned PDF by OCR; page numbers are PDF pages). Bonner’s evidence on the Mngometfulo is brief and comes from his reconstruction of oral accounts and records, not from the Mngometfulo themselves.
We read this book only through machine OCR of a scanned copy, so names and dates may contain OCR errors, and we have not checked them against the printed pages or against the oral and archival sources Bonner cites. His chapters rest on oral evidence collected in the 1970s and present contested episodes from a scholarly point of view. We did not find these clans in Gillis’s book.
Izithakazelo and totem
We are printing no Mngometfulo praises or totem because none has been confirmed. If you belong to the Mngometfulo and recite your izithakazelo, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
See also Maziya, Thabede and Dlamini.
Do you belong to the Mngometfulo? Tell us your praises and what elders say about the history, and we will add it, credited to you. Share what you know or WhatsApp 065 138 8213.