Vele-la-Mbeu in the sources
Vele-la-Mbeu (also Dyambeu) is the Venda king whose death began the dispute that produced the separate royal houses. The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims records it as common cause that he succeeded Dimbanyika, and that he had one daughter, Tshavhungwe, by the dzekiso wife (the wife married to bear an heir), and two sons, Tshisevhe and Tshivhase (Raluswielo), by other wives.
What the sources say
The dispute begins. Because Tshavhungwe was a woman and could not succeed, the succession passed to a son of another house, and the claimants tell it differently (pp. 611 to 623). The Mphephu Ramabulana house says Thohoyandou was Vele-la-Mbeu’s second son and succeeded him; the Ravhura house says Thohoyandou was Vele-la-Mbeu’s brother and uncle to Tshisevhe, who was next in line; the Tshivhase house says Thohoyandou was the son of Masindi, a younger brother, so that he and Tshivhase were cousins; and the Mphaphuli house says Thohoyandou was his brother who never reigned and gave his favourite son Nelugunda the instruments guarding the kingdom. See our Thohoyandou, Ramabulana, Tshivhase, Mphaphuli and Ravhura pages.
The Commission did not decide whether Thohoyandou was his brother or son, because its finding did not turn on it. It found that the descendants of Vele-la-Mbeu went their separate ways after the split but that this did not create new kingships, and that the similarities among Vhavenda communities today were established by earlier kings including Dimbanyika, Vele-la-Mbeu and Makhado (pp. 654 to 660). Luonde calls him a king of the 1700s whose sons founded separate houses. Wikipedia’s Venda Kingdom article does not list him separately from Dambanyika.
Cautions
Whether Vele-la-Mbeu and Dimbanyika are one person or two, and who his heirs were, are exactly what the houses dispute. Venda oral history is told differently by each royal house and the dates in the sources do not always agree; where they differ we say so and take no side.
Izithakazelo and totem
We are printing no Vele-la-Mbeu praises or totem because none has been confirmed. If you belong to this 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 Masingo background, pp. 610 to 623, and findings, pp. 654 to 664)
- Luonde: Venda Kingship (community site; no author given; draws on the Ralushai and Nhlapo commissions and court judgments)
- Wikipedia: Venda Kingdom (lists of rulers and succession disputes; it cites Loubser 2024, Huffman, Beach 1980, Hanisch 2008 and others)
See also Masingo, Ramabulana and Tshivhase.
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