Ratshimphi in the sources
Ratshimphi (written Rasimphi Phiriphiri Frans Mphaya in the Commission’s record) succeeded Ramaremisa in 1930 or about 1931 and is remembered among the Tshivhase as a legendary figure who resisted the government. His end is told in three different ways.
What the sources say
Three accounts of his fall. The Tshivhase house told the Commission that the Black Administration Act, introduced in his reign, was used as an instrument to depose him; that he was arrested for defying the Smuts-Hertzog government between 1930 and 1947 and banished to Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria; and that he is believed to have been assassinated, dying of poisoning in 1952 (p. 626). Fokwang says local accounts hold that he resisted Boer encroachment so resolutely that it cost him his life, that some informants say he joined the Communist Party in the 1930s and was arrested for fear that he would make his chiefdom a communist stronghold, and that he was imprisoned in Pretoria and died in 1946. Luonde says the Union government dethroned him in 1946, reportedly partly over fears of communist influence, and banished him, and that he died in Pietermaritzburg in 1947. Wikipedia gives him as ruling from about 1931 to 1946.
He was succeeded by his brother Ratshialingwa or by his son Thikhathali, depending on the account; see Thikhathali. Fokwang adds that the Tshivhase claim a legacy of association with resistance and liberation, which some historians have disputed.
Cautions
The three versions of his death (1946, 1947 and 1952) cannot be reconciled from what we read, and the communist allegation is an informants’ claim recorded in the thesis, not a documented finding. The Tshivhase house’s history is told differently by the Commission’s record, local oral history and academic work, and the dates and names do not always agree; where they differ we say so and take no side.
Izithakazelo and totem
We are printing no Ratshimphi praises or totem because none has been confirmed. If you belong to the Tshivhase 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 Tshivhase house’s account, pp. 622 to 627, and findings, pp. 645 to 648)
- J. T. D. Fokwang, thesis (2003), University of Pretoria electronic theses, chapter 2, “Historical background to the Tshivhase chiefdom, Venda” (read by us in this chapter only)
- Luonde: Ha-Tshivhasa (community site; no author, date or sources given, so treat as unverified oral history)
- Wikipedia: Venda Kingdom (lists of Tshivhase rulers; it cites Loubser 2024, Beach 1980 and others)
See also Tshivhase, Masingo and Ramabulana.
Do you belong to the Tshivhase 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.