Manana in the Swazi record
Wikipedia’s Bemdzabuko article lists the Manana among the notable bemdzabuko clans, the “original” Swazi who arrived with the Dlamini kings, and Wikipedia’s Swazi people article names the Manana among the 17 founding clans. We found no history of the clan itself.
What the sources say
The name appears in Philip Bonner’s Kings, Commoners and Concessionaires in two minor ways. A map of the chiefdoms around 1820 (PDF p. 11) labels the Manana among the names of central and eastern Swaziland, with the Fakudze, Simelane, Mamba and others, and Bonner’s notes cite interviews with Manana informants at Ka-Manana, Swaziland, in April 1970 (for example Maphoyisa Manana and Mgoti Manana), as evidence for several episodes of early Swazi history (pp. 248, 250, 259). The books give no account of what the Manana themselves said.
Cautions
The OCR labelling on the map is uncertain, and we have not checked it against the printed page. We found no Manana chief, origin story, praise text or totem. The surname Manana is common, and we claim no link between surname-holders and the founding clan. We read Bonner and Gillis only through machine OCR of scanned copies, so names and page numbers may contain errors.
Izithakazelo and totem
We are printing no Manana praises or totem because none has been confirmed. If you belong to the Manana and recite your izithakazelo, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Bemdzabuko (needs more citations; cites Matsebula 1988 and T. Thwala 2013)
- Philip Bonner: Kings, Commoners and Concessionaires (SAHO scan, read by OCR)
Do you belong to the Manana? 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.