Tshilala in the sources
Tshilala is the first ruler of the Mphaphuli house in the Commission’s record, the Ralushai Commission’s genealogy and Wikipedia’s ruler list, which gives him as ruling until 1839. In the Luonde account he is the son of Gole, set by Thohoyandou to hold the south-east from Tshitomboni.
What the sources say
Luonde says Tshilala held the south-east, based at Tshitomboni, to guard against invaders from that direction; that he stayed out of the war of succession after Thohoyandou vanished in 1770; that he moved from Tshitomboni to Miluwani because he feared an attack by the Ramabulanas; and that he later settled at Mbilwi, where the house’s headquarters (the musanda) came to be. Another local account says the Mphaphuli crossed the Luvuvhu and settled at Mbilwi, leaving the Mbubana in charge of Tshitomboni, and a 2025 court judgment is reported to place the Mbubana as the first settlers at Tshitomboni between 1600 and 1700; we have not read the judgment. The Mphaphuli house told the Commission that the later holders were Tshilala, Ratsimbi Ranwedzi, Makwarela, Phaswana, Magwedzha and Mpandeli (p. 621), which omits the intervening names in the other lists.
Mulaudzi writes that by the time Andries Hendrik Potgieter and his Voortrekkers founded Soutpansberg dorp in 1848, both Mphaphuli and Tshivhase had already left Dzata to become independent, and that Makhado later forced them to submit out of fear of attack (ch. 9, pp. 211 to 212). See also our Gole, Madadzhe and Tshivhase pages.
Cautions
The Luonde story is single-sourced, and the Commission’s list skips several rulers that the other sources name. The Mphaphuli house’s history is told differently in the Commission’s record, local oral history and academic work, and the names and dates do not always agree; where they differ we say so and take no side.
Izithakazelo and totem
We are printing no Tshilala praises or totem because none has been confirmed. 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 Mphaphuli account, pp. 618 to 622, and findings, pp. 648 to 664)
- Luonde: Ha-Mphaphuli (community site; no author, date or sources given, so treat as unverified oral history)
- Wikipedia: Venda Kingdom (list of Mphaphuli rulers and succession disputes; it cites Loubser 2024, Beach 1980 and others)
- Lufuno J. P. Mulaudzi, “Historicising the politics of vhuhosivhuhulu: the Venda polity and state formation in South Africa, c.1800s-2020”, DPhil thesis, University of Pretoria (2020), chapter 9, pp. 211 to 212
See also Mphaphuli, Masingo and Tshivhase.
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.