Ngangelizwe
The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims, in its determination on the Thembu of the Dalindyebo house, records that Mtirara’s sons were Ngangelizwe of the great house, Rhaxoti Matanzima of the right-hand house and Mfanta of a minor house. It says Mtirara died in 1855 and Nonesi was regent while Ngangelizwe was a minor, that Ngangelizwe returned to Mgwali around 1860 and was installed king of the abaThembu, and that in 1876 he was the first Thembu leader officially recognised by the colonial government as paramount chief. He was followed by Dalindyebo, Jongilizwe and Sabata Dalindyebo; see our Dalindyebo, Matanzima and Thembu pages.
The war from 1871
South African History Online’s entry on Thembuland says that from 1871 the Thembu fought a long war against an alliance of neighbouring Xhosa-speaking peoples, including the Pondo, the Bomvana and the Gcaleka. It says Ngangelizwe had tried to unite the Thembu clans but came under growing military pressure from Sarhili, paramount chief of the Gcaleka, and that the conflict had a family side: Ngangelizwe’s chief wife Novili was Sarhili’s daughter, and there were rumours that he had ill-treated her. The entry says he was controversial and hated by many in the Pondo and Gcaleka states and was accused of various crimes; we report that as the entry’s statement, not as established. See also Bomvana.
Annexation
The entry says that, under heavy pressure, Ngangelizwe and his ministers sought alliance with, and possible incorporation into, the Cape Colony, which they saw as a suitable partner because its franchise applied to male residents regardless of race and its laws barred white settlement in “native territory”. It says the Cape first required Ngangelizwe’s resignation, then waived this as impractical, and that the Thembu asked for four magistracies, equal access to the Cape franchise and military protection. The Tembuland Annexation Act of 1876 created the districts of Xalanga, St Marks, Elliot and Engcobo and recognised the Thembu system of government, with salaries for the king and chiefs; annexation was completed in 1885. It says that by 1882 settlers had moved illegally north of the Great Kei and that Ngangelizwe himself sold land in the Umtata district to white owners.
What we have not read
The SAHO entry cites the Council of the Thembu King of Roda, J. A. Tropp’s Natures of Colonial Change (2009), an 1903 handbook and Cape parliamentary records, none of which we have read. We could not open a Wikipedia article on Ngangelizwe (404). We found no Thembu royal-house account of him. The Commission page is about the royal succession and does not describe his reign in detail.
Izithakazelo and totem
We found no recorded praises or totem for Ngangelizwe, so we are printing none. If you belong to the Thembu royal house and recite his izibongo, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- South African History Online: Thembuland
- Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims: Determination on abaThembu bakwaDalindyebo
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