Who the Mpondomise are
The Dictionary of South African English defines the Mpondomise as members of a southern Nguni people of the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape, “originally part of the Pondo people”, with the name of unknown isiXhosa origin and an earliest citation of 1866. Wikipedia describes them as a Xhosa-speaking, Nguni (Aba-Mbo) people whose homeland is in the Eastern Cape, with royal houses at Tsolo and Qumbu. Its article carries notices for multiple issues, weasel words and unsourced statements, and rests partly on YouTube videos, so we use it only for claims it presents consistently.
The twins and the Xesibe
Wikipedia says Mpondo and Mpondomise were twin sons of Khubazi, so the two peoples are cousins, and that the Xesibe were born after the twins. It says a dispute over a lion skin caused a rift and that which twin was senior is debated, with Mpondomise the more commonly held senior. The same article says the name means “to hold your horns upright”, a claim it tags “citation needed”. The mole snake (umajola) is described as a protective ancestral presence, and the royal Jola or Majola clan as descending from intermarriage with the San, a claim largely unsourced. See also Majola.
Kings and the 1880 revolt
The Wikipedia article gives a king list with dates (Myeki 1814 to 1851, Mhlontlo 1870 to 1912) that we could not check. Our page on Mhlontlo records the 1880 killing of the magistrate Hamilton Hope, which South African History Online presents as a revolt against the colonial government. A 2023 Daily Dispatch report, which we saw only as a search summary and have not read in full, attributes the removal of the kingship in 1904 to the colonial government, after Mhlontlo was accused over that killing and acquitted. Wikipedia says the Union of South Africa stripped the royal status in 1904; the Union was formed in 1910, so that wording cannot be right, and we have not tried to settle who removed it.
The Commission and the courts
The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims records that the amaMpondomise, with the amaNdungwana and amaXesibe, helped the Thembu king Dlomo against his brother Hlanga at the Battle of Msana (see Thembu). Wikipedia says the Nhlapo Commission (2005) found the Mpondomise had no claim to kingship and that the Eastern Cape High Court at Mthatha later recognised the kingship and ordered it reinstated, setting aside the Tolo Commission’s decision; it also says Zwelozuko (Luzuko Matiwane) has reigned since 2018 while a contest from another branch delayed his coronation. We have not read the judgment or any reaction, and do not know the present position.
What we have not read
Wikipedia cites Hammond-Tooke (1968), Soga (1930), Mkhize (2009), Jordan (1940) and a 2020 High Court judgment, none of which we have read. The University of Pretoria holds a 1939 Xhosa manuscript by T. K. Jubase titled “Mpondomise of Qumbu, history” (van Warmelo Collection), which we have not seen; the record gives only its title and author. We found no Mpondomise praise text.
Izithakazelo
We are printing no Mpondomise praises because none has been confirmed. If you are Mpondomise and recite your izithakazelo, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Dictionary of South African English: Mpondomise
- Wikipedia: Mpondomise people (several tags)
- South African History Online: 23 October 1880
- Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims: Determination on abaThembu bakwaDalindyebo
See also Xesibe, Mhlontlo and Faku.
Are you Mpondomise? 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.