Mndzebele in the Swazi record
Bonner says that within a generation of the Ngwane (Dlamini-led) nucleus assimilating the groups it conquered, the Mndzebele were called on to supply the chief wife of the king Ndvungunye, just as the Matsebula soon supplied the chief ritual wife, the Sotho Motsa the second insila, and the Nsibande the chief indvuna to Ndvungunye’s son (PDF p. 45). Bonner uses this as evidence of how thoroughly the royal line intermarried with and drew on the groups it overcame.
What the book says
The name also turns up in a note about identity. Bonner mentions a messenger, Majumba, used by the Swazi in dealings with Langalibalele (p. 74), whom he lists as Majumba Kunene, and adds in a note that according to Matsebula his isibongo was Mndzebele, not Kunene (p. 260). That is a small illustration of how clan names can be recorded differently by different writers. See our Kunene and Matsebula pages.
Sources and cautions
This page summarises Philip Bonner’s Kings, Commoners and Concessionaires (read from SAHO’s scanned PDF by OCR; page numbers are PDF pages). We found no further detail on the Mndzebele in the book, nor in Gillis. The surname Mndzebele (Ndzebele) is common, and we claim no link between surname-holders and the clan of the chief wife.
We read this book only through machine OCR of a scanned copy, so names and dates may contain OCR errors, and we have not checked them against the printed pages or against the oral and archival sources Bonner cites. His chapters rest on oral evidence collected in the 1970s and present contested episodes from a scholarly point of view. We did not find these clans in Gillis’s book.
Izithakazelo and totem
We are printing no Mndzebele praises or totem because none has been confirmed. If you belong to the Mndzebele and recite your izithakazelo, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
See also Ngwenya, Mavimbela, Motsa and Dlamini.
Do you belong to the Mndzebele? 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.