Nephawe in the sources
Nephawe is the royal name of the Vhangona claimant to the Venda kingship, Azidwohi (also written Azwidohwi) Tshidziwelele Nephawe. The claim was heard by the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims, rejected, and rejected again when he took it to court in 2012. The Vhangona, the earliest known inhabitants of Venda, are described on our Vhangona page.
What the sources say
The claim. The Commission records that Nephawe presented the history of the Vhangona: that they came from Matongoni in Central Africa, where Mwali was their sacred leader; that they were the original inhabitants of Venda, naming its mountains and trees; that Tshidziwelele was their first king, with his royal settlement in the Soutpansberg; and that he, the son of Mafanedza Nephawe, was entitled to the kingship of the Vhavenda as his father’s successor (pp. 608 to 609). The Sowetan reported in 2012 that he said he was the great-grandson of Thovhele Tshidziwelele III, assassinated between 1759 and 1800, and that the Vhangona lost their kingship through wars and apartheid-era laws.
The outcome. The Commission did not hear him in person at the second stage of the hearings: a Mr Rakhadana told it that Nephawe was indisposed, and Nephawe answered its questions in writing. It found that the Vhangona could not claim seniority over the other Vhavenda, because they conceded that the Masingo had subjugated them, and that his claim was unsuccessful. He applied to the Pretoria High Court to review the Commission’s ruling of January 2010, and Judge Frans Legodi dismissed the application on 6 September 2012. According to the Sowetan, the judge said the Vhangona were not “born and bred” Vhavenda but came from somewhere in Mapungubwe before settling in Venda as its first inhabitants, and that the question of who held the kingship was not relevant to the application.
Since then. In July 2019 the Vhangona National Cultural Movement, led by its president T. R. Rakhadani, delivered a memorandum to the office of the President, which Zoutnet reported. It described the Vhangona as the original people of the country with a predecessor kingdom at Mapungubwe, under a king it named Shiriyadenga Tshidziwelele Nemapumgubwe-Nephawe, and asked for recognition like that given to the Khoi-San, a structure to deal with government, permission to perform rituals at Mapungubwe, and it objected to alleged irregularities in the reburial of human remains there. The Commission also records the claimant’s list of four current Vhangona traditional leaders (see our Vhafamadi, Vhaluvhu and Ndou pages) and of past leaders that included Netshiendeulu.
Cautions
We found no account of the Nephawe house from outside the claim: the sources are the claimant’s own presentation, the Commission’s and the court’s findings, and press reports. Sources spell the names differently (Azidwohi, Azwidohwi, Tshidziwelele, Tshidzuwelele), and Vhangona oral history is itself disputed, including whether the Vhangona were ever united under one king. Vhangona and Singo history is told differently by each side, and we take none. We found no confirmed totem or praise text.
Izithakazelo and totem
We are printing no Nephawe praises or totem because none has been confirmed. If you belong to this 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 (the Vhangona account, pp. 608 to 609, and findings, pp. 642 to 644)
- Sowetan, 7 September 2012: Claim to Vhavenda kingship is dismissed
- Zoutnet, 29 July 2019: Vhangona claim chieftaincy
See also Vhangona, Dimbanyika and Masingo.
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