The house of Mphaphuli
The Mphaphuli house traces itself to Nelugunda, also called Kutama or Tshibogo, a son of the Venda king Vele-la-Mbeu from the most junior house. The account below is the one presented to the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims on behalf of the house by Tshifhiwa Maumela Mphaphuli, followed by the commission’s finding. Other houses tell the story differently, and their accounts are on the pages for Ramabulana, Tshivhase and Ravhura.
The house’s account
In the Mphaphuli account, Thohoyandou was the brother of Vele-la-Mbeu and never reigned as king, only as regent for Tshisevhe. Vele-la-Mbeu gave his favourite son Nelugunda the traditional instruments that guarded the whole kingdom. After Vele-la-Mbeu’s death the houses, in order of seniority, were the senior house (to which a daughter, Tshavhungwe, was born), then those of Tshisevhe, Mpofu and Raluswielo (Tshivhase), with Nelugunda’s house the most junior. Tshavhungwe, being a woman, could not succeed, so the royal council nominated Tshisevhe, who was then a minor, and Thohoyandou served as regent.
The council sent Nelugunda to take Tshisevhe’s son Ragavheli to a Ndebele traditional healer to prepare him for the throne. On the way Ragavheli was killed. In the skirmish Nelugunda cut off the arm of one of the attackers, and from this he took the name Mphaphuli, from the Venda word for “to chop”. He fled to Tshitomboni and never returned to Dzata. The house says that it gathered its followers there, later moved to Mbilwi, and found Vhangona and other communities who submitted to its authority. It names the later holders as Tshilala, Ratsimbi Ranwedzi, Makwarela, Phaswana, Magwedzha and Mpandeli, and gives the present holder as Phaswana Musiwa Mphaphuli. It also says the arrival of the Voortrekkers ended the Venda kingships, by deposing legitimate leaders and promoting commoners.
What the commission decided
The commission noted that the Mphaphuli house concedes it comes from a junior house of Vele-la-Mbeu, so its claim rests not on seniority but on having founded an independent community at Tshitomboni. It found that although the house was independent of Dzata it did not create a community with a new identity through conquest, and that the Vhangona had already been subjugated by its forefathers, so it could not claim they submitted to its authority. The claim for recognition of a Mphaphuli kingship, by Gordon Mphaphuli, was unsuccessful. The house had asked that the status quo be kept, with each house independent.
A different Mphaphuli account
Wikipedia’s article on the Southern Ndebele says that Mphafuli and Sibasa, sons of the Ndebele king Musi, moved north into Venda territory and set up chieftainships there, and that some of Mphafuli’s descendants later joined the Ndzundza. See our Mphafuli page. We have not found a source that connects that account to the Venda house of Mphaphuli described here, so we are not treating them as the same.
Overview articles
The Mphaphuli claim and the commissions that heard it are set in context in Venda kingship disputes, 1890s to 2020s.
The Berlin missionaries and the Mphaphuli house are discussed in The Berlin Mission in Venda, 1872 to 1908.
Izithakazelo and totem
We have not found a published Mphaphuli praise text or a confirmed totem, so we are not printing either. If you belong to the Mphaphuli house and recite its praises, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims: Determination on the Vhavenda kingship claim (the account on pp. 618 to 622, the findings on pp. 648 to 664)
- Wikipedia: Southern Ndebele people
The account above is as presented to the commission by the house and has not been independently checked.
Do you belong to the Mphaphuli house? 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.