Maswanganyi in the sources
Wikipedia’s Tsonga people article lists the Maswanganyi under the VaHlave, with the Nkwinika. Junod lists a Hlabi clan he spells Mapsanganyi, which is probably the same name, among the Hlabi (Ba-Hlabi) settled in the triangle formed by the Limpopo, the Shengan and the 24th parallel, with the Tsungu, Mavundja, Nkwinika and Makamo.
What the sources say
Junod says the Hlabi speak a dialect very like the Djonga (about pp. 16 to 17). He lists their clans from the Olifants-Limpopo confluence southwards and says the Nkuna were settled not far from that confluence; the Khosa, Nkuna and Hlabi all claimed a western or south-western origin (about p. 23). His record of Hlabi praise-names (shibongo) gives, for the Hlabi as a whole, “the Hlabi who are hated, sons of Makamu, of Mavuse” (about p. 335); the last words are marked doubtful by Junod himself. See our Nkwinika page.
Cautions
The Hlabi praise is for the whole group, not for the Maswanganyi alone. Junod wrote in 1912 in his own spelling and from a missionary’s viewpoint, so the match between his clan names and today’s surnames is by sound and is our inference. We found no Maswanganyi-authored history or confirmed totem. Page numbers for Junod are approximate, read from machine-scanned text.
Izithakazelo and totem
We are printing no Maswanganyi totem because none has been confirmed. If you belong to the Maswanganyi and recite your praises (miLao), we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Henri A. Junod, The Life of a South African Tribe, vol. 1, The Social Life (Neuchatel, 1912), read in the Internet Archive scan; a missionary ethnography of the Thonga (Tsonga), using his own spellings
- Wikipedia: Tsonga people (its post-1890 community list has no inline citation)
Do you belong to the Maswanganyi? 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.