Competing origin accounts
There is no single agreed history here, and we set out the main versions rather than picking one:
- A Tembe/Kalanga origin. One scholarly account (drawing on a Stellenbosch University dissertation) argues that “Mthembu” is an Nguni-ized form of Tembe, and traces the patriarch to a Kalanga background, with a separate university document suggesting a Chief Mthembu arrived from the Zimbabwean plateau and settled near Maputo Bay around 1554.
- A Xhosa oral tradition linking Mthembu to the Ndwandwe. Recorded by the historian W. Rubusana, this tradition holds that the Mthembu, Xhosa and Mpondomise descend from one ancestor, Njanya, son of Mbulali, whose own line runs back to Zwide – the same Zwide who led the Ndwandwe confederacy against Shaka. A separate tradition recorded by Henderson Soga instead says the Xhosa, Mthembu and Chibi were three sons of one Nguni ancestor who migrated together from north-east Africa.
- The Thembu’s own oral tradition (as recorded in the standard account of the abaThembu) names Mbulali kaNanzinzaba as the earliest known ancestor, whose grandson uMthembu kaNtongakazi led his people out of what is now KwaZulu-Natal to Dedesi in the present-day Eastern Cape – becoming the founding figure of the Thembu nation there.
These three accounts do not fully agree, and each rests on a different kind of source – academic reconstruction, Xhosa-language oral history, and Thembu dynastic tradition. We present all three rather than choosing, because the disagreement is itself part of the honest picture.
Sopitso / Yem-Yem
Thembu royal praises use the phrase Sopitso or Yem-Yem, a shared address linking the royal houses of Madiba (Nelson Mandela’s clan), Dlomo, Nxongo and Qwithi. This is the clearest documented thread connecting the KwaZulu-Natal Mthembu name to the Eastern Cape Thembu royal house, though the Thembu today are generally considered Xhosa-speaking and part of the Xhosa nation rather than Zulu.
Izithakazelo
We have not yet located a verified full Mthembu praise text from a reliable written source. What we can say with confidence is that genuine Mthembu praises would be expected to name ancestors along the lines above – Ntongakazi, Mthembu, and the Dlomo/Sopitso line for those connected to the Thembu royal house – but we do not want to publish an invented or unverified list in their place.
Where the Mthembu are today
The surname Mthembu is common across KwaZulu-Natal, while the Thembu nation (surnames including Dlomo and the royal Madiba line) is centred on the former Transkei region of the Eastern Cape, around Mthatha and Qamata.
Notable people
- Nelson Mandela – of the Thembu royal house, clan name Madiba.
- The surname Mthembu is widely carried in KwaZulu-Natal in public life, music and sport.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia, “Thembu” – the standard summary of Thembu oral tradition and royal succession.
- Roelie Kloppers, dissertation on Tembe history (Stellenbosch University) – cited for the Tembe/Kalanga argument.
- iAfrika (isiXhosa), “Imbali yesizwe sabaThembu” – Xhosa-language clan history citing W. Rubusana and Henderson Soga.
- Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom (1994) – on Thembu custom and the Madiba line.
Help us find the real praises. If you are Mthembu and your family can supply a verified izithakazelo text, or can help settle which origin account your branch follows, send us a WhatsApp on 065 138 8213 or use our contact page. We credit contributors who wish to be named.