Mondlane in the sources
Wikipedia’s Tsonga people article lists the Mondlane under the VaN’wanati, with the Maluleke, Makwakwa and Xivambu. Junod’s Nwanati are the group that the Maluleke and the Makwakwa of Khambane are said to have formed (see our Makwakwa page), which is consistent with that grouping, but Junod does not mention the Mondlane by name.
What the sources say
The best-known person of the name is Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane, born on 20 June 1920 in N’wajahani in the Mandlakazi district of Gaza Province, then Portuguese East Africa. Wikipedia says he was the fourth of 16 sons of a chief of the Tsonga, was the first leader of FRELIMO from 1962 until his death, and was killed on 3 February 1969 in Dar es Salaam by a bomb in a parcel. That article does not name his clan or link his family to the Nwanati, and we do not.
Cautions
We found no Mondlane-authored clan history, praise text or totem. The surname is shared by many people and we claim no link between surname-holders and any chiefly house. Page numbers for Junod are approximate, read from machine-scanned text.
Izithakazelo and totem
We are printing no Mondlane totem because none has been confirmed. If you belong to the Mondlane and recite your praises (miLao), we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Tsonga people (its post-1890 community list has no inline citation)
- Wikipedia: Eduardo Mondlane
- Henri A. Junod, The Life of a South African Tribe, vol. 1, The Social Life (Neuchatel, 1912), read in the Internet Archive scan; a missionary ethnography of the Thonga (Tsonga), using his own spellings
Do you belong to the Mondlane? 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.