Who the Masingo are
In its determination on the Vhavenda kingship claims, the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims uses Masingo to mean all the Vhavenda except the Vhangona. Wikipedia’s article on the Venda people lists Masingo (with Rambau) among the Venda groups and describes it as a late arrival. The page uses the spelling Masingo, not Singo. The name is also recorded as Makwinda: the commission’s text says that at the time of the first Dzata the community “was known as Masingo or Makwinda”.
Origins and the crossing of the Limpopo
The commission records the account presented by the claimants, which it describes as mostly common cause up to the death of Vele-la-Mbeu. Like most peoples of Southern Africa, the Masingo trace their origins to Central Africa, where they were led by Mambiri. They moved south and settled at Mapungubwe, in what is now Botswana and Zimbabwe, under Shiriyadenga. Around 1600 they crossed the Limpopo under Dimbanyika and settled around the Soutpansberg, where he established the first Dzata.
The same account gives Dimbanyika’s reign as 1688 to 1722, which does not fit “around 1600”, so the dates should be read as oral chronology and not as settled history. The commission itself found that Dimbanyika established the kingship of the Vhavenda around 1600.
The making of the Vhavenda
North of the Limpopo the Masingo found other communities, the Vhangona and the Vhatavhatsinde. According to the account, Dimbanyika conquered, subjugated, assimilated and merged them into a new community called Vhavenda, and so created the Vhavenda kingship. The commission accepted that Dimbanyika “conquered, subjugated and assimilated” the Vhangona and other small communities, and used that to reject a Vhangona claim to seniority. Dimbanyika is said to have died in 1722 and to have been followed by Vele-la-Mbeu.
After Vele-la-Mbeu
There is no dispute about the kings from Dimbanyika to Vele-la-Mbeu. The disputes begin at his death. The commission records that Vele-la-Mbeu’s senior house (the dzekiso, or “candle” house) produced only a daughter, Tshavhungwe, who by custom could not rule, so the succession passed to sons of other houses. Out of that dispute grew the separate houses of Ramabulana, Tshivhase, Mphaphuli and Ravhura, each of which tells the story differently. Each of those pages gives its own house’s account and the commission’s finding.
Izithakazelo (zwidade) and totem
We have not found a published praise text or a confirmed totem for the Masingo, so we are not printing either. If you belong to a Masingo 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: Vhangona, Ramabulana, Ravhura, Tshivase and Mphaphuli (pp. 599 to 664 of the PDF)
- Wikipedia: Venda people (tagged as needing more citations)
The accounts in the determination are presentations by the claimants, recorded by the commission. They are the claimants’ own histories and several of their dates conflict.
Do you belong to a Masingo house? Tell us your praises, your totem and what elders say about the history, and we will add it, credited to you. Share what you know or WhatsApp 065 138 8213.