Maemu in the sources
Maemu was Makhado’s youngest son by his wife Nwaphunga, named by Makhado as heir, and proclaimed king after Makhado’s death. He was driven out within a short time by his elder brother Mphephu. Wikipedia lists him as ruler in 1895, briefly installed and then ousted, which agrees with the thesis; the Commission’s record simply has Mphephu succeed Makhado in 1895.
What the sources say
His installation. Lufuno Mulaudzi’s 2020 University of Pretoria thesis says Makhado, who had banished Mphephu to Gogobole after a defeat by the Tshivhase army, told his councillors that Maemu, the fifth child of Nwaphunga and his youngest son, should succeed him, against the rule that the eldest son inherits. After Makhado’s death Maemu was proclaimed by his mother Nwaphunga, who was said to be Makhado’s principal wife (mutanuni), and the old war leader Stemmer, while Mphephu was in Kimberley and Sinthumule was in Rhodesia. Maemu immediately subjected himself and his people to the Boer authorities in Pretoria, which his father would not have done (ch. 4, p. 92; ch. 5, pp. 100 to 101).
His fall. Nyakhuhu, Funyufunyu and the senior headman Mavhasa Musekwa objected and sent for Mphephu, and Sinthumule, who arrived first, backed his elder brother. Mphephu’s attack surprised Maemu and his supporters, and the war ended when there was no one left to fight; many of Maemu’s side changed allegiance. Maemu, said to have escaped with help from the khotsimunene Raliphaswa, crossed the Muhohodi River to the Boers’ Fort Hendrina, where Mphephu, respecting his father’s rule that those who crossed were immune, did not pursue him (ch. 5, pp. 101 to 105; see Mphephu I). Mulaudzi says many Venda felt Maemu’s rise was helped by his mother’s position more than anything, and that Mphephu then dealt with the three headmen who with Stemmer had proclaimed him.
Later. After the war of 1898 and the British takeover, Captain H. J. Taylor is said to have condemned to death those involved in poisoning Makhado, including Stemmer; one version says Mphephu saved his brothers Sinthumule and Maemu, while informants of the historian Nemudzivhadi say they were left alone (ch. 5, p. 121). Luonde says Makhado’s council installed Maemu shortly after Makhado’s death on 3 September 1895, that Makhado died poisoned, and that Maemu sent word submitting to the white regime. A Luonde page also names Ha-Maemu among the areas cleared under the 1913 Land Act. Wikipedia adds that Sinthumule was appointed king by the Transvaal republic in 1898. Mulaudzi himself gives Makhado’s death as 1897 in one place, which does not fit the other dates; see our Makhado page.
Overview article
His designation and fall are set in context in The Ramabulana succession, 1864 to 1895.
Cautions
The date of Makhado’s death, the poisoning story and what happened to Maemu afterwards are all disputed in the sources. Mulaudzi is a historian writing in 2020 from earlier collections of oral testimony, mainly Van Warmelo’s (1940), Nemudzivhadi’s interviews of the early 1970s and Müller-Malan’s popular history of 1953, and he says himself that traditions are socially constructed and reshaped over time. His text as extracted has stray spaces and some unreadable characters, so we have checked names against more than one passage; page numbers are approximate. The Ramabulana house’s history is told differently by Van Warmelo’s informants, Nemudzivhadi, Müller-Malan and the Commission’s record, 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 Maemu praises or totem because none has been confirmed. If you belong to the Ramabulana house and recite its praises, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- 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 5, pp. 100 to 121; drawing on Van Warmelo (1940), Nemudzivhadi (1977) and Müller-Malan (1953)
- Wikipedia: Venda Kingdom
- Luonde: Brief History (community site; no author or bibliography given)
- Luonde: Venda Kingship (community site; no author given)
- Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims: Determination on the Vhavenda kingship claim (the Mphephu Ramabulana house’s account, pp. 611 to 618)
See also Ramabulana, Makhado and Masingo.
Do you belong to the Ramabulana 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.