Hlongwa in the sources
The Hlongwa are, in Bryant’s account, a Lala (Tonga-Nguni) tribe of the country south of the lower Tukela, in two sections, a senior house on the Mvoti under Zwebu and a junior house on the emaHlongwa stream under Mjulela; the Nyuswa drove the junior house off, and after Shaka’s advance the united clan wandered as far as the Mzimkulu before settling.
What the sources say
Position. Bryant says the Lala country lay on both sides of the Tukela valley, the Ngcobo holding the northern bank and, on the southern, “another large tribe of Lalas, divided into several closely related clans”, whom he names as the Hlongwa and the Mapumulo, “both of the same origin” though independent of each other (ch. 50, p. 524; see Ngcobo). He is unsure whether the name was aba-kwa-Hlongwa (people of Hlongwa), aba-s-emaHlongwa (those of the amaHlongwa stream, a southern tributary of the Tukela) or amaHlongwa (p. 524). In his survey of the early inhabitants he groups the Hlongwa and Mapumulo with the Ngcobo, Pepeta, Ngcolosi and Lutuli among the Lala group of Tonga-Nguni (p. 232).
Two houses. In Shaka’s time, he writes, the senior house lived on the south bank of the Mvoti near its meeting with the Hlimbitwa, under Zwebu, son of Mlanjana; the junior house, which became more prominent, was ruled by Mjulela, son of Mndindela, of Gabisa, of Zukela, of Lange, and lived on the emaHlongwa stream opposite the Nyuswa. Because the Nyuswa wanted more land, their chief Sihayo crossed the river at harvest time and defeated the Hlongwa, who fled to their elder brothers on the Mvoti (pp. 524 to 525).
Wandering. Bryant says that about 1822, when Shaka’s power reached them, the united clan “ran away” and toured south Natal: the Nzimtoti, then Tuli country, where the Tuli turned them back, then over the Mkomazi and Mzimkulu, back to the Mzumbe, where they gave the position of general to a disgraced Zulu soldier, Lukulimba; Lukulimba later returned to the Mdloti, at the site of Verulam, and carried tales to Dingane about the Europeans at the Port (pp. 525 to 526).
Cautions
Bryant’s Hlongwa account is a short narrative, written with a good deal of humour at the clan’s expense, and its dates are approximate (“c. 1822”). He gives no totem or praise. The surname Hlongwa is now widely held by people of many origins; this record does not show which families belong to this clan. Bryant was a Catholic missionary who collected clan traditions from informants in the early twentieth century; his book is written in a jocular colonial style, uses period terms for Africans that we do not repeat, dates the early generations by a rule of eighteen years to a reign, and often says he is guessing. We give his statements as his, not as settled history.
Izithakazelo and totem
We found no confirmed Hlongwa totem or praise poem. If you belong to the Hlongwa and recite your praises, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
See also Zulu.
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