Clan directory

South African clan names & izithakazelo

Search every clan we have documented, or jump to a letter. Each page covers the name, its praises, totem, history and the people it belongs to.

384 clans

A Alexander McKidd Sotho-Tswana · Alexander McKidd was a Scottish missionary recruited for the Dutch Reformed Church by Dr William Robertson, who founded the Goedgedacht station in the Soutpansberg in 1863… View clan
A Antonio Albasini Shangana-Tsonga · Antonio Albasini was the son of João Albasini and, from at least January 1883 until his death in 1889, the Transvaal Republic’s Commissioner for Natives in… View clan
B Bafokeng Tswana · Bafokeng (singular Mofokeng) means "people of the dew." They are a Sotho-Tswana people whose main community, the Royal Bafokeng Nation, is centred on Phokeng near Rustenburg… View clan
B Bagananwa Tswana · Bagananwa (Gananwa, Ganawa) is the older spelling of the name now usually written Bahananwa, the people of Blouberg whose chief Leboho was besieged in 1894. We… View clan
B Bahananwa Tswana · The Bahananwa (Hananwa) are a people of the Blouberg in Limpopo. In 1894 the South African Republic besieged their chief Leboho for three months, and he… View clan
B Bahurutshe Tswana · The Bahurutshe are one of the principal Tswana tribes. Their cultural capital, Kaditshwene, in the Marico hills north-east of Zeerust, was a large iron-working and trading… View clan
B Bakenberg Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Bakenberg was a son of Masebe III and became the first chief of the northern Langa chiefdom after the 1890 partition. His name, Jackson says, is… View clan
B Bakgaga Pedi and Northern Sotho · Bakgaga is a name Wikipedia’s Northern Sotho article lists with Mphahlele, Maake and Mothapo as one of the Pedi groups; the sources that name them use… View clan
B Bakgalagadi Tswana · The Bakgalagadi (Kgalagadi people) are a Sotho-Tswana people of the central Kalahari in Botswana, said to have migrated from the Transvaal in the 17th century. They… View clan
B Bakgatla Tswana · Bakgatla are a Sotho-Tswana people whose totem (seboko) is the kgabo - the vervet monkey. The largest branch, the Bakgatla-ba-Kgafela, is unusual in having its royal… View clan
B Bakone Pedi and Northern Sotho · Bakone is a Northern Sotho clan name. A South African tourism page says it comes from Bakone ba Matlala a Thaba, who lived near Polokwane in… View clan
B Bakubung Tswana · The Bakubung ba Ratheo are a Tswana community near Rustenburg and the Pilanesberg, said to have come from the Ventersdorp area, with a community of about… View clan
B Bakwena Tswana · Bakwena (also Bakoena, Bakoni) means "people of the crocodile." It is one of the largest and oldest Sotho-Tswana clan groups, and many other well-known groups -… View clan
B Bakwena ba Mopeli Sotho · Bakwena ba Mopeli are the community of the Qwaqwa area that traces itself to Paulus Mopeli, a younger brother of Moshoeshoe. A government commission found that… View clan
B Balete Tswana · The Balete (Bamalete) are a people of south-eastern Botswana, with the king's seat at Ramotswa and a community at Lekgophung in North West. Wikipedia lists their… View clan
B Baloyi Shangana-Tsonga · Baloyi (also Valoyi) is a major Tsonga clan of the Khalanga cluster, found in Limpopo's lowveld (notably around Tzaneen and Giyani), across the border in Mozambique,… View clan
B Bangwaketse Tswana · The Bangwaketse are one of the eight principal Tswana tribes of Botswana, with their capital at Kanye. Under Moleta and Makaba II in the late eighteenth… View clan
B Bangwato Tswana · The Bangwato (Bamangwato) are one of the eight principal Tswana tribes of Botswana, described as an eighteenth-century offshoot of the Bakwena. Their capital is Serowe, and… View clan
B Bapedi Pedi and Northern Sotho · The Bapedi (also called the Marota, or Maroteng for the royal house) built one of the most formidable 19th-century kingdoms in the South African interior, centred… View clan
B Bapo ba Mogale Tswana · The Bapo ba Mogale are a Tswana chiefdom of the Magaliesberg whose chief Mogale gave his name to Mogale City and the Magaliesberg. Mzilikazi's forces overwhelmed… View clan
B Basia Tswana · The Basia (Mosia) are the people of the Wild Cat, remembered as the people of Mmanthatisi, the Batlokwa regent, daughter of the Basia chief Mothaha, who… View clan
B Batau Pedi and Northern Sotho · The Batau are a Northern Sotho clan of Sekhukhuneland with the lion as totem. Wikipedia gives two accounts of where they came from and a tradition… View clan
B Bataung Sotho · The Bataung are a Basotho tribe whose totem is the lion (tau). A Free State heritage statement says they separated from the Bahurutse around 1640 and… View clan
B Batawana Tswana · The Batawana are a Tswana people of north-western Botswana, said to take their name from Tawana, who left his father's people and settled about 1790 near… View clan
B Batlhaping Tswana · The Batlhaping are a Tswana people of the Northern Cape and North West who broke away from the Barolong. Their capital Dithakong, near Kuruman, was visited… View clan
B Batlharo Tswana · The Batlharo are a Tswana people living mainly around Kuruman in the Northern Cape. Their kgosi Toto Makgolokwe was a leader in the Langeberg rebellion of… View clan
B Batlokwa Sotho · The Batlokwa are a Kgatla people with communities in South Africa, Lesotho and Botswana. They are remembered for MaNthatisi, the regent whose people were called the… View clan
B Batlokwa ba Mota Sotho · Batlokwa ba Mota are the community of the Qwaqwa area that traces itself to Mota, a younger brother of Sekonyela. A government commission found that its… View clan
B Battle of Mangwele (1869) Venda · In October 1869 a Swazi force, which Nemudzivhadi says João Albasini had directed against Tshakhuma, attacked the Madzivhandila people. They fled to their fortress on Mount… View clan
B Bhaca Bhaca · The amaBhaca are an Nguni people of Mount Frere, Umzimkhulu and Ixopo who say they were once called the abakwaZelemu, and who formed under Madzikane. SAHO… View clan
B Bhebhe Zulu · Bhebhe is a name on our own planning list of Zulu clans. We searched three standard sources and did not find a clan history under it. View clan
B Bhele Hlubi · The amaBhele are an Nguni people whose tradition places their origin at Lenge, about 20 km south of Ladysmith. The Hlubi royal house says the name… View clan
B Bhembe Swati · Bonner, in his study of the Swazi state, states plainly that he has no information on the Bhembe chiefdom, and the Bryant and Soga texts we… View clan
B Bhengu Zulu · Bhengu (Bengu in Bryant’s spelling) is the royal salutation of the amaNgcolosi, from which the Ngcobo, Nyuswa and other Lala clans later split. View clan
B Bhungane Hlubi · Bhungane II was king of the amaHlubi from about 1760 to about 1800, a rainmaker and medicine-man said to have sheltered the fugitive Godongwana, later Dingiswayo,… View clan
B Biyase Zulu · Biyase is a name on our own planning list of Zulu clans. We searched three standard sources and did not find a clan history under it. View clan
B Biyela Zulu · The Biyela are, in Bryant’s account, a Zulu clan descended from Xoko, eldest son of the Zulu king Ndaba, whose people were “called Biyela” because of… View clan
B Blose Zulu · Blose is a name on our own planning list of Zulu clans. We searched three standard sources and did not find a clan history under it. View clan
B Bomvana Xhosa · The amaBomvana are a Xhosa-speaking people east of the Mbashe River, whose tradition links them to the amaNgwane of Natal. They are said to have left… View clan
B Borolong Tswana · Barolong (singular Morolong) are a Setswana-speaking people of the western Highveld, straddling the South Africa-Botswana border around Mahikeng, Ganyesa, Thaba Nchu and Lotlhakane. They are remembered… View clan
B Botumane Xhosa · Botumane (Botomane) is named, with Maqoma and Tyali, in Wikipedia’s account of the force that entered the Cape Colony in December 1834 at the start of… View clan
B Buthelezi Zulu · Buthelezi is one of the oldest and most politically prominent clan names among the Zulu. The clan is historically associated with the Mahlabathini and Nongoma districts… View clan
B Buys community Venda · The Buys community is a group of mixed-descent families in the Soutpansberg, who trace themselves to the frontiersman Coenraad de Buys and his sons Gabriel, Michael… View clan
B Buysdorp Venda · Buysdorp is a village of the Buys community in the Makhado municipality, on land of about 11,000 hectares that President Paul Kruger granted to the Buys… View clan
C Cele Zulu · Cele is one of the most widespread Zulu clan names today, carried by families across KwaZulu-Natal and far beyond. As with many Nguni clan names, the… View clan
C Chauke Shangana-Tsonga · Junod names Tshauke first among the main clans of the Hlengwe proper, the north-eastern Thonga facing the Maluleke and the Baloyi and extending to the Sabie… View clan
C Cirha Xhosa · Cira (Cirha) was, in Soga’s account of the Xhosa royal house, the heir of the great house of Nkosiyamntu, who reigned about 1575, and the elder… View clan
C Coenraad de Buys Venda · Coenraad de Buys (1761 to about 1821) was a Cape frontiersman of Huguenot descent who left the colony in the early nineteenth century, travelled north into… View clan
C Cornelis Lottering Sotho-Tswana · Cornelis Lottering was a Boer farmer in the Soutpansberg who helped bring the Dutch Reformed Church’s first missionary there and gave him the land for the… View clan
D Dalindyebo Xhosa · Dalindyebo is the great house of the abaThembu, descended from Ngubengcuka through his heir Mtirara. A government commission found the Thembu kingship resorts under the Dalindyebo… View clan
D Dange Xhosa · The imiDange (Dange) were, in Soga’s history, one of the older Xhosa clans that settled on the Fish River and were among the first to meet… View clan
D Davhana Venda · Davhana was the eldest son of Ravele Ramabulana. He was installed as king after his father’s death in 1864, was driven out by his half-brother Makhado,… View clan
D Dhladhla Swati · Bonner lists the Dhladhla with the Ngwenya and Mavimbela, west of Mahlangatja, among the smaller Sotho-speaking chiefdoms of central and western Swaziland when Sobhuza I advanced… View clan
D Dimbanyika Venda · Dimbanyika (also Dambanyika) is remembered as the king who led the Masingo across the Limpopo and created the Vhavenda kingship. The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes… View clan
D Dingana of Tsianda Venda · Dingana was the khosi of the Vhalaudzi of Tsianda in the time of Ramabulana and early Makhado, son of Tshipetane and grandson of Govhamasenga. He moved… View clan
D Dlamini Swati · Dlamini is the royal clan of the Swazi nation and one of the most widely carried surnames in southern Africa, found across Eswatini, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and… View clan
D Dlangamandla Swati · Dlangamandla is the royal salutation of the amaTolo, a Lala clan descended from Tolo, the twin of Zizi. Both Bryant and Soga say the word, “he… View clan
D Dlomo Hlubi · Dlomo is a royal name of the amaHlubi. Dlomo I appears in the king list around 1675 to 1710, born, in the Hlubi royal house's account,… View clan
D Doris Buys Venda · Doris (also written Doors or Doors Buys) was the first-named of the sons whom Coenraad de Buys had with his wife, Mzilikazi’s sister or niece, an… View clan
D Dube Zulu · In Bonner's history of the Swazi kingdom the Dube are a chiefdom a few miles west of modern Mbabane (a note on PDF p. 287 places… View clan
D Dyambeu Venda · Dyambeu is a Venda ruler whom the sources place differently. In E. Mudau’s account he is the great-grandson and successor of Hwami and was killed by… View clan
E Evacuation of Schoemansdal, 1867 Venda · On 15 July 1867 the Boers of Schoemansdal, with Paul Kruger’s commando, abandoned the town after failed attacks on Makhado at Luatame and Vhulorwa and on… View clan
F Faku Xhosa · Faku kaNgqungqushe was king of the Mpondo from about 1818 to his death on 29 October 1867. He turned back Zulu armies in 1824 and 1828,… View clan
F Fakudze Swati · The Fakudze appear in Bonner as officers and councillors of the Swazi kings. He says Macetshane Fakudze was given a strategic post around the Bulungu range… View clan
F Funyufunyu Venda · Funyufunyu and Stuurman were the two Venda men, hunting companions and gun-handlers, who in Lufuno Mulaudzi’s 2020 thesis helped Makhado take the throne in 1864. Funyufunyu… View clan
G Gabriel Buys Venda · Gabriel Buys was a son of Coenraad de Buys and elder brother of Michael Buys, one of the three brothers whom Michael de Jongh’s abstract names… View clan
G Gabriel Buys, evangelist to the Banyai Venda · Gabriel Buys was a Buys evangelist of the Dutch Reformed Church, sent with Petrus Buys and two others in June 1883 to the Banyai country north… View clan
G Gama Swati · The name Gama appears in these books for two different things. First, Bonner lists the Gama with the Mncina "at Mdimba" among the Sotho groups of… View clan
G Gambu Xhosa · Bryant mentions the aba-kwa-Gambu once, as a sub-clan of the Memela under a chief Msutu; the better-known historical name that looks similar, Gambushe of the amaBomvana,… View clan
G Gamedze Swati · Bonner names the Gamedze among the earlier-settled chiefdoms attacked by Mswati's forces (PDF p. 97), and among those which, with the Thabede, Mavimbela, Mngometfulo and one… View clan
G Gcaleka Xhosa · Gcaleka is the Xhosa Great House, descended from Gcaleka, the first-born son of King Phalo's great house. A government commission found that the kingship of the… View clan
G Goedgedacht Sotho-Tswana · Goedgedacht was the first Dutch Reformed Church mission station in the Soutpansberg, founded by Alexander McKidd in 1863 in the country of Madzhie. Stephanus Hofmeyr took… View clan
G Gole Venda · Gole is the ancestor of the Mphaphuli house. The sources describe him in three different ways: as the Venda high priest under Thohoyandou, as the chief… View clan
G Gonaqua Khoi and San · The Gonaqua were a Khoikhoi people of what is now the Eastern Cape, absorbed into the Xhosa polity from the 18th century, so that their name… View clan
G Govhamasenga Venda · Govhamasenga was, in the Hamutsha tradition, the brother of the mother of Thohoyandou and the ancestor of the rulers of Tsianda and Hamutsha. Nemudzivhadi follows his… View clan
G Gqunukhwebe Xhosa · The amaGqunukhwebe are a Xhosa chiefdom, described as of mixed Khoikhoi and Xhosa descent, with a Khwane dynasty that later split into the houses of Phato… View clan
G Griqua Khoi and San · The Griqua are a people of mixed Khoikhoi and European descent, with later Tswana, San and Xhosa ancestry, who formed their own captaincies on the Orange… View clan
G Gumede Zulu · Gumede kaZulu appears in South African History Online's list of Zulu chiefs as the son of Zulu and father of Phunga and Mageba. The list gives… View clan
G Gwebu Swati · The Gwebu appear in Bonner’s study of the Swazi state only as a clan whose chiefdom he says he knows nothing about, and as a family… View clan
H Hadebe Hlubi · Hadebe is a prince of the amaHlubi royal line. In the account given to a government commission, Hadebe fathered the royal heir Dlomo for his dead… View clan
H Hamutsha Venda · Hamutsha is the southern part of the old Tsianda territory, around Tshituwani, ruled by Mugivhi and his descendants after the 1885 division. It was the royal… View clan
H Hintsa Xhosa · Hintsa kaKhawuta was king of the amaXhosa of the Gcaleka house until his death on 12 May 1835 in the Sixth Frontier War. Wikipedia gives two… View clan
H Hlatshwayo Shangana-Tsonga · Wikipedia's Tsonga people article lists the Hlatshwayo under the AmaShangana, with the Ndwandwe, Nxumalo and Mkhatshwa, and says the name "Shangaan" strictly applies only to the… View clan
H Hlongwa Zulu · The Hlongwa are, in Bryant’s account, a Lala (Tonga-Nguni) tribe of the country south of the lower Tukela, in two sections, a senior house on the… View clan
H Hlongwane Zulu · Hlongwane is a name on our own planning list of Zulu clans. We searched three standard sources and did not find a clan history under it. View clan
H Hlophe Swati · The Hlophe were one of the groups the early Ngwane (Dlamini-led) state absorbed in the south. Bonner says Tigodvo, the Hlophe chief the Ngwane incorporated at… View clan
H Hlungwani Shangana-Tsonga · Wikipedia's Tsonga people article lists the Hlungwani under the VaHlengwe, with the Chauke, Sono and Mavasa, and says nothing more about them. We could not find… View clan
H Hwami Venda · Hwami, also called Mutumbuka-Vhathu, “creator of men”, is the first Vhasenzi (Masingo) ruler to reach the Soutpansberg in the account of the Venda informant E. Mudau,… View clan
I Inqua Khoi and San · The Inqua, also called Humcumqua in one list, were a Khoikhoi group of the Cape named in Wikipedia's lists of Central Cape Khoe and among the… View clan
J João Albasini Shangana-Tsonga · João Albasini (1813 to 1888) was a Portuguese-born trader and hunter who settled in the Soutpansberg in the 1850s, became Portuguese vice-consul and the Transvaal Republic’s… View clan
J Jwarha Xhosa · Jwara (Jwarha) was, in Soga’s account, the heir of the right-hand house of the early Xhosa chief Nkosiyamntu, about 1575, younger than Cira and older than… View clan
K Kekana Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · The Kekana are the Ndebele group under the Lebelo line, who broke away from the Ndzundza near present-day Mokopane and settled near Pretoria. Johannes Jane Tane… View clan
K Kennedy Tshivhase Venda · Kennedy (Midiyavhathu) Tshivhase is the present head of the Tshivhase house. The Commission names him as the present thovhele of the Tshivhase traditional community and the… View clan
K Khakhu Venda · Khakhu is a Venda community, item (l) on the 1991 proclamation’s roll. In Lufuno Mulaudzi’s 2020 thesis a Khakhu elder is one of the interviewees of… View clan
K Khomani Khoi and San · The ǂKhomani San are the southern Kalahari San, who call themselves N||n‡e and speak N|u. In March 1999 the government awarded them 40,000 hectares outside the… View clan
K Khosa Shangana-Tsonga · Junod puts the Khosa first among the Djonga clans, whose country he calls Khosen (the Cossine country of the Portuguese), north of Delagoa Bay. Wikipedia's Tsonga… View clan
K Khoza Shangana-Tsonga · Khoza appears in two of our sources as a Tsonga name: Junod’s Khosa, one of the older “tribes” or clans of the Thonga, and a Khoza… View clan
K Khumalo Zulu · Khumalo is a northern Nguni clan name carried today by families across KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, and - as Kumalo or Khumalo - by the Ndebele (Matabele) of… View clan
K Kok Khoi and San · Kok is the name of the Griqua captains who led the Griqua from the Cape to the Orange River, Philippolis and, in 1861 to 1863, over… View clan
K Korana Khoi and San · The Korana (Kora) were a mobile Khoikhoi people of the Gariep, Vaal and Harts rivers, divided into the Great and Little Korana and many splinter groups.… View clan
K Kranspoort Sotho-Tswana · Kranspoort is a farm and Dutch Reformed Church mission station at the foot of the Soutpansberg, which the church’s own pioneers acquired in the 1860s. A… View clan
K Kranspoort removals, 1955 to 1964 Sotho-Tswana · Between about 1955 and 1964, after a conflict with the resident missionary Lukas van der Merwe, most of the roughly 800 people living at the Dutch… View clan
K Kunene Swati · Gillis says that suspicions of disloyalty after Mswati's accession fell on those who had backed the brothers or were thought allied with the Zulu, and that… View clan
K Kutama Venda · Kutama is one of the independent Venda chiefdoms. Lufuno Mulaudzi’s 2020 thesis says Mphephu gave his two brothers Sinthumule and Kutama their own locations to rule… View clan
L Lamola Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · The Lamola were the highest-ranking headmen of the Langa until about 1854, when their head, Maruputlane Lamola, was killed and the clan banished. Jackson says he… View clan
L Langa Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · The Langa are the ruling clan of two neighbouring chiefdoms, Mapela and Bakenberg, north of Mokopane (formerly Potgietersrus) in Limpopo. A. O. Jackson, a government ethnologist… View clan
L Langalibalele Hlubi · Langalibalele is the royal name of the Natal amaHlubi. Langalibalele I, deposed in 1873 and exiled to Robben Island, was the last Hlubi leader to be… View clan
L Le Fleur Khoi and San · Le Fleur is the family of Andries Abraham Stockenstrom le Fleur (born 1867), the Griqua leader and visionary known as the Reformer, who campaigned for Griqua… View clan
L Lelaka Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Lelaka is a ward at Mapela. The people have the crocodile (kwena) as totem and call themselves Bakwena. View clan
L Letsie Sotho · Letsie I (born Mohato about 1811, died 20 November 1891) was Moshoeshoe's eldest son by his senior wife and paramount chief of the Basotho from 1870.… View clan
L Ligegise Venda · Ligegise (also Legegisa, with the title Ramarumo) ruled the Tshivhase house from 1867 until about 1901 or 1902. The Commission writes his name Morwale Legegise Mankili-Mankili… View clan
L Lobedu Pedi and Northern Sotho · The Balobedu (Lobedu) people of Limpopo are known across South Africa and beyond for one thing above all: an unbroken line of reigning queens, the Modjadji… View clan
L Luthuli Zulu · Luthuli is a Zulu family name best known through Chief Albert Luthuli of Groutville, the ANC president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. This page records what… View clan
L Luvhimbi Venda · Luvhimbi was, in the account of the Venda informant S. M. Dzivhani, the first Venda khosikhulu whom anyone remembered. He was a ruler of the Vhambedzi,… View clan
L Lwamondo Venda · Lwamondo is a mountain village in Venda whose royal house is the Nelwamondo. It is known in the sources for resisting the Tsonga, Gaza and Swazi… View clan
L Lwamondo succession dispute, 1883 Venda · In 1883, after the death of Maboho Nelwamondo, his sons Raidimi and Phophi fought over the throne of Lwamondo. Raidimi called in Makhado’s army, which arrived… View clan
M Mabandla Xhosa · Mabandla is the family name of the chief of the Bhele tribe at Alice, Thandathu Jongilizwe Mabandla (1926 to 2021), who was the first Chief Minister… View clan
M Mabaso Zulu · The Mabaso appear in Bryant’s history as one of a small Ntungwa-Nguni group in the Nondweni district, grouped with the Kumalo (Mabaso-Kumalo-Koza), whose neighbours the emaNgwaneni… View clan
M Mabena Southern Ndebele · Mabena (also spelled Mabhena) is the name of the Manala royal house of the amaNdebele. A government commission heard a dispute inside the house between Johannes… View clan
M Maboho Nelwamondo Venda · Maboho Nelwamondo was the khosi of Lwamondo through the Boer, Tsonga and Swazi pressures of the 1860s and 1870s and died in 1883. Nemudzivhadi’s 1998 thesis… View clan
M Mabuela Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · The Mabuela are one of the four "great wards" at Mapela. Jackson says they are the remnant of the Phalane of Mokoka (now in the Pilansberg),… View clan
M Mabunda Shangana-Tsonga · Mabunda (also Mavunda, Mavundza) is a Tsonga (Xitsonga-speaking) clan name found mainly in Limpopo and Mpumalanga in South Africa and in southern Mozambique. Some sources and… View clan
M Mabusela Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · The Mabusela ward is the highest-ranking ward at Mapela, and the Mabusela are the clan that most often gave wives to the Langa chiefs. Jackson says… View clan
M Mabuyakhulu Zulu · Mabuyakhulu is a name on our own planning list of Zulu clans. We searched three standard sources and did not find a clan history under it. View clan
M Mabuza Swati · The Mabuza are named among the 17 founding clans (bemdzabuko, the "true Swazi") in Wikipedia's article on the Swazi people, which our earlier listing used, and… View clan
M Madadzhe Venda · Madadzhe was the son and successor of Tshilala. Wikipedia's list gives him as ruling from 1840 to 1847, followed by his brother Ratsibi from 1848 to… View clan
M Madondo Zulu · Madondo is a name on our own planning list of Zulu clans. We searched three standard sources and did not find a clan history under it. View clan
M Madonsela Swati · The Madonsela, spelled Madvonsela in one list, are named among the 17 founding clans (bemdzabuko) in Wikipedia's article on the Swazi people, which our earlier listing… View clan
M Madzhie Venda · Madzhie was a brother of Ravele Ramabulana and a khotsimunene, the king’s younger brother, in the Ramabulana house. Lufuno Mulaudzi’s 2020 thesis, from Van Warmelo’s informants,… View clan
M Madzikane Bhaca · Madzikane is named as the founder and king of the amaBhaca, who led the Zelemu south and united many groups. Wikipedia's article on him gives three… View clan
M Madzivhandila Venda · The Madzivhandila are the royal house of Tshakhuma in Venda. They appear in the history of Makhado’s reign as a ruling family, Raluthaga Madzivhandila being the… View clan
M Maemu Venda · Maemu was Makhado’s youngest son by his wife Nwaphunga, named by Makhado as heir, and proclaimed king after Makhado’s death. He was driven out within a… View clan
M Magagula Swati · Bonner treats the Magagula as the second most important group in central Swaziland after the Maseko, but far less united, with at least two chiefdoms: Moyeni… View clan
M Mahlalela Swati · Mahlalela is the name of the bakaMahlalela (also bakaMlambo), who tell of three brothers, Mahlalela, Maziya and Dlamini, who split from the abaMbo. Dlamini went on… View clan
M Mahlangu Southern Ndebele · Mahlangu is the royal clan name of the Ndzundza Ndebele and the most common isibongo among the Southern Ndebele people of Mpumalanga. It is also carried… View clan
M Mahumani Shangana-Tsonga · Mahumani is a name on our own planning list of Tsonga clans. We searched the sources we have and did not find a clan history under… View clan
M Mahwanqa Hlubi · Mahwanqa was a brother of the Hlubi king Mthimkhulu II who led the amaHlubi back to their land after the Mfecane. The Commission records that he… View clan
M Majola Xhosa · Majola (Jola) is described by Wikipedia as the royal clan of the amaMpondomise, whose totem is the mole snake (umajola), revered as a protective ancestral presence.… View clan
M Makaringe Shangana-Tsonga · Wikipedia's Tsonga people article lists the Makaringe under the VaRozvi, with the Valoyi, Mukansi and Mathevula. Junod mentions a Makaringe clan once, in a story about… View clan
M Makhado Venda · Makhado (about 1839 to 3 September 1895) was a Thovhele of the Singo (Vhasenzi) dynasty of the Venda, youngest son of Ramabulana, who ruled the Dzanani… View clan
M Makhanda Xhosa · Makhanda (Nxele, Makana) was a Xhosa healer and prophet, adviser to Ndlambe, who urged and led the April 1819 attack on Grahamstown. He was imprisoned on… View clan
M Makhubele Shangana-Tsonga · Makhubele is a name on our own planning list of Tsonga clans. We searched the sources we have and did not find a clan history under… View clan
M Makhubu Swati · Wikipedia's Emakhandzambili article lists the Makhubu among the prominent Emakhandzambili clans, the groups of mostly Sotho and Tsonga origin already settled in the region before the… View clan
M Makwakwa Shangana-Tsonga · Junod says the Maluleke are, according to native historians, one half of a larger clan called the Nwanati, whose second half is settled near the mouth… View clan
M Makwarela Venda · Makwarela succeeded to the Mphaphuli house at the end of the nineteenth century. Wikipedia's list gives his reign as 1904 to 1925, and names a succession… View clan
M Malebana Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Malebana is a ward at Mapela whose people are Kgatla. Their totem is kgabo, the monkey. View clan
M Maluleke Shangana-Tsonga · Maluleke is the best-known name of the Van'wanati, a Tsonga people of the Limpopo valley whose paramount house is Mhinga. Wikipedia traces them to Malenga, a… View clan
M Mamaala Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Mamaala (from the Ndebele nomayala ngenhlabathi, "he who sows with sand") is the second-senior lineage of the Langa clan. Jackson says it descends from Makgenene, a… View clan
M Mamabolo Pedi and Northern Sotho · The Mamabolo are a Northern Sotho (Pedi) community of the hills east of Polokwane. A 1940 history written in Northern Sotho for the ethnologist N. J.… View clan
M Mamba Swati · The Mamba were an influential chiefdom of the Swazi region. Gillis says that when early Dlamini-line brothers separated, one returned north-west towards the Ngwavuma river and… View clan
M Mampuru Pedi and Northern Sotho · Mampuru II was a son of Sekwati who claimed the Pedi throne against his half-brother Sekhukhune. After Sekhukhune was killed in 1882, Mampuru took refuge with… View clan
M Manala Southern Ndebele · Manala is the Southern Ndebele house descended from Musi's son Manala, born to his great wife and regarded in Ndebele custom as the rightful heir. A… View clan
M Manana Swati · Wikipedia's Bemdzabuko article lists the Manana among the notable bemdzabuko clans, the "original" Swazi who arrived with the Dlamini kings, and Wikipedia's Swazi people article names… View clan
M Manenzhe Venda · Manenzhe is a Venda community listed as item (k) on the 1991 proclamation’s roll. The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims records Manenzhe among the… View clan
M Mankopane Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Mankopane was chief of the Langa Ndebele from about 1836 until his death on 30 May 1877. He was the grandson of Mapela, through Mapela's son… View clan
M Mapela Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Mapela is both a Langa chief, who ruled from about 1795 to 1825, and the name of the southern of the two Langa chiefdoms, ba ga… View clan
M Maqoma Xhosa · Maqoma (about 1798 to 1873) was the eldest son of Ngqika, a Rharhabe military leader in the Sixth and Eighth Frontier Wars, and led at Amalinde… View clan
M Maroteng Pedi and Northern Sotho · Maroteng is the royal clan of the Bapedi, the people who built the Pedi kingdom in what is now Limpopo. Its best-known rulers were Thulare, Sekwati… View clan
M Masakona Venda · Masakona is a Venda community, item (v) on the 1991 proclamation’s roll. In Lufuno Mulaudzi’s 2020 thesis its thovhele is described as part of the Ramabulana… View clan
M Masebe Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Masebe III ruled the Langa Ndebele from 1877 to 1890. He was the son of Mankopane, and the chief after whose death the Langa were divided… View clan
M Maseko Swati · The Maseko were the most powerful chiefdom in central Swaziland when Sobhuza I moved north. Bonner describes them as of Ntungwa-Nguni origin, settled at Nqabaneni on… View clan
M Masemola Pedi and Northern Sotho · Masemola is a Batau chiefdom of Sekhukhuneland, named for Masemola, said to be a son of Matlebjane. Ga Masemola is a large village area in Makhuduthamaga.… View clan
M Masenya Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Masenya, one of the four great wards of Mapela, is Koni of Matlala origin. Their totem is the small bird tlhantlhagane, a scaly-feathered finch. View clan
M Mashamba Venda · Mashamba is a Venda community, item (u) on the 1991 proclamation’s roll. Lufuno Mulaudzi interviewed an elder of the Mashamba royal family in February 2015, and… View clan
M Mashau Venda · Mashau is a Venda community, item (s) on the 1991 proclamation’s roll. The Know My Roots blog says the Vhafamadi settled at Ha-Mashau, and the Commission… View clan
M Mashinini Swati · Bryant lists the Mashinini among the clans found in the Swazi country in the early nineteenth century, “all described as of Sutu origin”. View clan
M Mashiya Hlubi · Mashiya is a name on our own planning list of Hlubi clans. We searched three standard sources and did not find a clan history under it. View clan
M Masilela Swati · Bonner places the Masilela with the Mahlalela, Maziya and Sifundza on a section of the Lubombo, among the Tsonga or partly Tsonga-ised Sotho chiefdoms of the… View clan
M Masingo Venda · The Masingo are the group that crossed the Limpopo under Dimbanyika, conquered and merged the people already living in the Soutpansberg, and created the Vhavenda. In… View clan
M Masombuka Southern Ndebele · Masombuka is named as a son of the Ndebele king Musi. The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims lists eight sons of the Ndebele king… View clan
M Maswanganyi Shangana-Tsonga · Wikipedia's Tsonga people article lists the Maswanganyi under the VaHlave, with the Nkwinika. Junod lists a Hlabi clan he spells Mapsanganyi, which is probably the same… View clan
M Matamela Mulelu Venda · Matamela Mulelu was one of Makhado’s elder brothers and the commander Makhado sent to support Mukhesi against Mugivhi in the Tsianda war. He turned out to… View clan
M Matanzima Xhosa · Matanzima is the right-hand house of the abaThembu, descended from Rhaxoti Matanzima, son of King Mtirara. The house leads the Thembu of Emigrant (Western) Thembuland. A… View clan
M Mathebula Shangana-Tsonga · Wikipedia's Tsonga people article names the Baloyi, Mathebula and Nyai among the tribes often identified as the Gwamba, "properly the descendants of Gwambe", who it says… View clan
M Mathenjwa Swati · Bonner describes the Mathenjwa as one of the “Tsonga or semi-Tsongaised Sotho chiefdoms” of the Lebombo in the 1820s, settled in the mountains in the south… View clan
M Mathonsi Shangana-Tsonga · Mathonsi is a name on our own planning list of Tsonga clans. We searched the sources we have and did not find a clan history under… View clan
M Matlou Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Matlou is a ward at Mapela. The people say they are Pedi, and their totem is kgwadi, a water bird. View clan
M Matsebula Swati · The Matsebula clan holds an unusually close relationship to the Eswatini (Swazi) royal house: by long-standing custom, the king's first wife is chosen from the Matsebula… View clan
M Mavimbela Swati · Bonner lists the Mavimbela with the Ngwenya and Dhladhla, west of Mahlangatja, among the smaller Sotho-speaking chiefdoms Sobhuza I met as he moved into central Swaziland… View clan
M Mavuso Zulu · A Mavuso appears in the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims' list of Ndwandwe leaders. In its determination on the amaShangana kingship claim, the Commission… View clan
M Mazibuko Zulu · Mazibuko is the name of a small Ntungwa-Nguni clan that, in Bryant’s account, settled among the emaNgweni and came to be counted as emaNgweni; he says… View clan
M Maziya Swati · Bonner places the Maziya, with the Mahlalela, Sifundza and Masilela, on a section of the Lubombo among the Tsonga or partly Tsonga-ised Sotho chiefdoms of the… View clan
M Mbhongo Southern Ndebele · Mbhongo is the lineage of Mbhongo I, a son of Buti of the Manala royal house. A government commission found that kingship of the Manala and… View clan
M Mbokane Swati · Mbokane is a name on our own planning list of Swati clans. We searched three standard sources and found no entry for it. View clan
M Mchunu Zulu · Mchunu is a name on our own planning list of Zulu clans. We searched three standard sources and did not find a clan history under it. View clan
M Mdluli Swati · The Mdluli appear in Bonner and Gillis through royal officials and queens. Wikipedia's article on the Swazi people names the Mdluli among the 17 founding clans. View clan
M Mdushane Xhosa · Mdushane was the eldest son of Ndlambe and founder of the Imidushane. Wikipedia says he commanded Ndlambe's forces at Amalinde in October 1818 and the attack… View clan
M Mfengu Xhosa · The amaMfengu are an isiXhosa-speaking people said to descend from refugees of the Mfecane, largely of Hlubi, Bhele and Zizi origin, who settled among the Xhosa… View clan
M Mhlakaza Xhosa · Mhlakaza was the uncle and spokesman of the prophetess Nongqawuse, who carried her message to Sarhili in 1856. Historian Jeff Peires identified him with Wilhelm Goliath,… View clan
M Mhlanga Swati · Mhlanga means "reed" (umhlanga) in the Nguni languages. It is a clan name carried mainly by Swazi, Zulu and Ndebele families across Eswatini, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and… View clan
M Mhlontlo Xhosa · Mhlontlo was the Mpondomise king in the revolt of October 1880, in which the Tsolo magistrate Hamilton Hope and his companions were killed at Sulenkama. He… View clan
M Mhwaduba Southern Ndebele · Mhwaduba, also written Mrhwaduba, is named as a son of the Ndebele king Musi. The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims lists eight sons of… View clan
M Michael Buys Venda · Michael Buys was a son of the frontiersman Coenraad de Buys who, with his brother Gabriel, became the leading figure of the Buys community of the… View clan
M Mini Hlubi · Mini is named in the Commission's record as a son of Mahwanqa who disputed the Hlubi kingship with Langalibalele after Dlomo II's death and was defeated… View clan
M Miya Xhosa · Miya is named among the clans of the Fengu (amaMfengu) in Wikipedia’s article, with no history. Soga records that the amaMiya are sometimes said to be… View clan
M Mkhabela Swati · Wikipedia's Bemdzabuko article lists the Mkhabela among the notable bemdzabuko clans, the "original" Swazi who arrived with the Dlamini kings; its Emakhandzambili article does not name… View clan
M Mkhize Zulu · Mkhize is one of the most widely carried Zulu clan names, found throughout KwaZulu-Natal and across South Africa. The clan is remembered above all through Zihlandlo… View clan
M Mmbara Venda · Mmbara is a name on our own planning list of Venda clans. We searched the sources we have and did not find a clan history under… View clan
M Mmbidi Venda · Mmbidi was a headman (gota) in one of the Mphaphuli villages and the mukoma muhulwane of the Mphaphuli ruler, whom the Mphaphuli house sent to Pretoria… View clan
M Mncina Swati · Bonner lists the Mncina with the Gama at the Mdzimba (Mdimba) mountains among the Sotho groups of central Swaziland when Sobhuza arrived (PDF p. 41). He… View clan
M Mndzebele Swati · 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… View clan
M Mngometfulo Swati · Bonner places the Mngometfulo, with the Mathenjwa, in the mountains further south on the Lubombo, among the Tsonga or partly Tsonga-ised Sotho chiefdoms of the east… View clan
M Mnisi Swati · Bonner lists the Mnisi among the Sotho-speaking groups of central Swaziland, near modern Mbabane (p. 41). View clan
M Mokhachane Sotho · Mokhachane was the father of Moshoeshoe I and a minor chief of the Bamokoteli, a branch of the Bakoena. A doctoral thesis abstract calls him the… View clan
M Mokoena Sotho · Mokoena (Koena, Kwena) is the crocodile clan name shared by many Sotho and Tswana peoples. Moshoeshoe I's Bamokoteli were a branch of the Bakoena. Wikipedia traces… View clan
M Mokopane Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Mokopane (Mugombane in Ndebele, called Makapan in settler records) is the name of several Kekana chiefs of the branch founded at Makapanspoort, and the name the… View clan
M Molapo Sotho · Molapo was a son of Moshoeshoe I who escorted the first missionaries to Thaba Bosiu in 1833 with Letsie and, after 1870, was based at Leribe.… View clan
M Moletsane Sotho · Moletsane was a Bataung chief who, a Lesotho official says, joined the alliance under Moshoeshoe I, with his territory at Taung near the Makhaleng River. A… View clan
M Mondlane Shangana-Tsonga · Wikipedia's Tsonga people article lists the Mondlane under the VaN'wanati, with the Maluleke, Makwakwa and Xivambu. Junod's Nwanati are the group that the Maluleke and the… View clan
M Monene affair, 1864 to 1865 Shangana-Tsonga · The Monene affair was a quarrel between João Albasini and the Boer officials of Schoemansdal over a Tsonga trader, Monene, whom Albasini had planned to surrender… View clan
M Mopeli Sotho · Mopeli is the family name of the chiefs of Bakwena ba Mopeli in Qwaqwa. It goes back to Paulus Mopeli, whom a government commission describes as… View clan
M Moshoeshoe Sotho · Moshoeshoe I (about 1786 to 11 March 1870), born Lepoqo, was the first king of Lesotho, chief of the Bamokoteli branch of the Bakoena. He built… View clan
M Mosoge Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Mosoge is the genealogically senior lineage of the Langa clan. Jackson says it descends from Mosoge, the son born to a daughter-in-law married to raise an… View clan
M Mothapo Pedi and Northern Sotho · Mothapo is a name Wikipedia’s Northern Sotho article lists with Mphahlele and Maake under Bakgaga, and a Mothapo Traditional Council exists in Limpopo. We found no… View clan
M Motsa Swati · Bonner says the Matsebula soon provided the king's chief ritual wife and the Sotho Motsa provided his second insila, a blood brother who became the king's… View clan
M Mpangazitha Hlubi · Mpangazitha was a Hlubi leader, a son of Bungane, who took over the leadership when his kinsman Mthimkhulu II was killed in 1818 and led part… View clan
M Mphafuli Southern Ndebele · Mphafuli, written Mphaphuli by the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims, is named as one of the eight sons of the Ndebele king Musi. The… View clan
M Mphahlele Pedi and Northern Sotho · Mphahlele is a Northern Sotho royal house, called Bakgaga ba Mphahlele in a recent government certificate. We found a record of a 1953 banishment of its… View clan
M Mphaphuli Venda · Mphaphuli is a Venda royal house descended from Nelugunda, a junior son of Vele-la-Mbeu. The house says it built an independent kingship at Tshitomboni. A government… View clan
M Mphaphuli Traditional Council Venda · The Mphaphuli Traditional Council governs the Mphaphuli traditional community in the Vhembe District of Limpopo, led by the head of the Mphaphuli house. A 2003 University… View clan
M Mphephu Venda · Mphephu is the name most associated, in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with the paramount royal house of the Vhavenda. The clan descends from the Ramabulana… View clan
M Mphephu I Venda · Mphephu Ramabulana, called Mphephu I, was the eldest son of Makhado. He took the Venda throne from his younger brother Maemu in 1895, lost it in… View clan
M Mpondo Xhosa · The amaMpondo (Mpondo people) built one of the most powerful kingdoms in what is now the Eastern Cape, and were the last independent African state in… View clan
M Mpondomise Xhosa · The amaMpondomise are a southern Nguni people of Tsolo and Qumbu, said to descend from Mpondomise, twin of Mpondo. Their king Mhlontlo was accused over the… View clan
M Mqikela Xhosa · Mqikela was Faku's heir of the great house and ruled Eastern Pondoland (Qaukeni) from 1867 or 1868 until he died on 28 October 1887. The Commission… View clan
M Msimango Swati · Bryant lists the Msimango with the Mashinini, Makubu, Matebula, Mshweshwe and Mota among clans in the Swazi country that he says were “described as of Sutu… View clan
M Msiza Southern Ndebele · Msiza is a Ndzundza Ndebele family, described as shield-bearers to the king. Its best-known community is KwaMsiza, a village north of Pretoria known for beadwork, whose… View clan
M Mthembu Zulu · Mthembu is a Zulu clan name closely tied to the Thembu nation of the Eastern Cape - the two names come from the same root, and… View clan
M Mthethwa Zulu · The Mthethwa led a confederacy of about thirty Nguni chiefdoms in northern Natal. Their best-known chief, Dingiswayo, backed the young Shaka and was killed by the… View clan
M Mthimkhulu Hlubi · Mthimkhulu II (Ngwadlazibomvu) was king of the amaHlubi from about 1800 and was killed in 1818 or 1819 in the war with the amaNgwane. His sons… View clan
M Mthimunye Southern Ndebele · Wikipedia's article on the Southern Ndebele lists Mthimunye among the surnames the Ndzundza took after their split from the Manala, with Ntuli, Bongwe, Masombuka, Jiyana, Msiza,… View clan
M Mudau Venda · Mudau is a Venda surname and, in the sources we read, three different things: the surname of E. Mudau, a Venda informant who wrote histories for… View clan
M Mugivhi Venda · Mugivhi was a son of Dingana of Tsianda and, in the Hamutsha account, the rightful heir whom Makhado’s deputation passed over in 1882 when it installed… View clan
M Mukhesi Venda · Mukhesi was the son and successor of Raluswielo (Tshivhase) at the head of the Tshivhase house. Sources differ on whether Mukhesi and Luvhengo were one ruler… View clan
M Mukhesi of Tsianda Venda · Mukhesi was the son of Dingana of Tsianda by a Singo wife, the daughter of Ratombo of Tshidzivhani. Makhado’s deputation installed him at Mikondeni in 1882… View clan
M Mulaudzi Venda · Mulaudzi is the singular form, MuLaudzi, of Vhalaudzi, a Venda sib with sacred mountains at Lwamondo, Tshingani, Vhulorwa, Masia and Tsianda. The sources we read are… View clan
M Munzhedzi Mpofu Venda · Munzhedzi Mpofu is the king the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims found to have remained with the Venda kingship after the split at Dzata.… View clan
M Musekwa Venda · The Musekwa are a Venda headman’s family in the Mphephu territory who appear at two moments of Lufuno Mulaudzi’s 2020 thesis: as senior councillors in 1895,… View clan
M Mushasha Commission Venda · The Mushasha Commission of Inquiry into Venda Vhuhosi Affairs was appointed on 18 May 1990 by the Venda military ruler Brigadier Gabriel Ramushwana. It was chaired… View clan
M Mutele Venda · Mutele is a Venda community whose head is named “Mutele of Nzhelele” among the four present Vhangona leaders in the Vhangona claimant’s presentation to the Commission… View clan
M Myeni Zulu · D. Hugh Gillis says that, among the clans moving from the Maputo settlements, a number sought the protection of the Lubombo mountain ranges: the Matsenjwa, Mngomezulu… View clan
M Mzila Shangana-Tsonga · Mzila (also written Muzila or Umzila) was the son of Soshangane (Manukosi), the founder of the Gaza kingdom, and the winner of the war of succession… View clan
N Nama Khoi and San · The Nama are the largest group of the Khoekhoe, living mainly in Namibia with communities in the Northern Cape. They speak Nama (Khoekhoegowab) and include several… View clan
N Ncapayi Bhaca · Ncapayi (Ncapai, Ncaphayi) was the Bhaca chief of the 1830s and 1840s, a son of Madzikane. He is said to have turned back a Zulu attack,… View clan
N Ndamase Xhosa · Ndamase was the first-born son of Faku's right-hand house, who settled west of the Mzimvubu about 1845 and founded the amaMpondo aseNyandeni. A government commission found… View clan
N Ndlambe Xhosa · Ndlambe was a son of Rharhabe and regent for his nephew Ngqika, who fell out with him. The two fought at Amalinde in October 1818, and… View clan
N Ndlovu Shangana-Tsonga · Ndlovu means "elephant" in isiZulu and isiNdebele, and it is one of the most widely carried surnames in southern Africa - but, unusually among the clans… View clan
N Ndou Venda · Wikipedia's Venda people article lists Ndou among the Venda clans and describes nothing about it. The one concrete mention we found is in the Commission's determination… View clan
N Ndwandwe Zulu · The Ndwandwe, also called the Nxumalo, were the northern Zululand rivals of the Mthethwa and the Zulu. Under Zwide they destroyed Dingiswayo's alliance around 1817 to… View clan
N Ndzimandze Swati · Bonner places the Ndzimandze, with the Thabede, in command of the Lubombo flats below the mountain chiefdoms of the Mahlalela, Maziya, Sifundza and Masilela (p. 42). View clan
N Ndzundza Southern Ndebele · Ndzundza is the Southern Ndebele house descended from Musi's first-born son by his second wife. It is the house of the Mahlangu royal family and of… View clan
N Nelwamondo Venda · Nelwamondo is the name of the ruling house of Lwamondo. The best-documented members are Maboho Nelwamondo (died 1883) and his son Phophi, whose accession in 1883… View clan
N Nemukula Venda · Nemukula is a name on our own planning list of Venda clans. We searched the sources we have and did not find a clan history under… View clan
N Nephawe Venda · 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… View clan
N Nesengani Venda · Nesengani is one of the seven independent Venda vhuhosi that Lufuno Mulaudzi’s 2020 thesis lists for the 1920s (Mphephu, Tshivhase, Mphaphuli, Rambuda, Sinthumule, Nesengani and Kutama),… View clan
N Nethengwe Venda · Nethengwe is the family name of the rulers of the Thengwe community, the Vhatavhatsindi of Thengwe, listed as item (g) on the 1991 proclamation’s roll. The… View clan
N Netshiendeulu Venda · Netshiendeulu is the title and family name of the hereditary custodians of the royal graves on Tshiendeulu, the mountain also called Lwandali, above the Nzhelele valley… View clan
N Netshivhambe Venda · Netshivhambe is a name on our own planning list of Venda clans. We searched the sources we have and did not find a clan history under… View clan
N Ngangelizwe Xhosa · Ngangelizwe was the Thembu king of the great house, recognised by the colonial government as paramount chief in 1876. He fought a long war from 1871… View clan
N Ngcamphalala Swati · Bonner names the Ngcamphalala among the clans that stayed behind in the Shiselweni region when the early Ngwane king Sobhuza fled north, and later among the… View clan
N Ngcobo Zulu · The Ngcobo are, in Bryant’s 1929 history, one of the large Tonga-Nguni (Lala group) clans of the lower Tukela valley, whose founder he names as Vumezita… View clan
N Ngobeni Shangana-Tsonga · Ngobeni is a name on our own planning list of Tsonga clans. We searched the sources we have and did not find a clan history under… View clan
N Ngqika Xhosa · The Ngqika are the Rharhabe Xhosa house of the chief Ngqika, grandson of Rharhabe, whose rivalry with his uncle Ndlambe is a central story of the… View clan
N Ngubane Zulu · Ngubane is a name on our own planning list of Zulu clans. We searched three standard sources and did not find a clan history under it. View clan
N Ngwenya Swati · The Ngwenya appear in Bonner's account as one of the smaller Sotho-speaking chiefdoms of central and western Swaziland, listed with the Mavimbela and Dhladhla west of… View clan
N Nhlabathi Swati · Nhlabathi is a name on our own planning list of Swati clans. We searched three standard sources and found no entry for it. View clan
N Nhlapo Commission Venda · The Nhlapo Commission is the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims, chaired by Professor Thandabantu Nhlapo, set up under section 23 of the Traditional Leadership… View clan
N Nkadimeng Pedi and Northern Sotho · Nkadimeng is a Pedi royal-house name of Manganeng in the Leolu foothills of Sekhukhuneland. A government commission names a Nkadimeng house as the family of Sekhukhune… View clan
N Nkambule Swati · In Bonner and Gillis the Nkambule appear mainly through Tibati Nkambule, a wife of the late king Mbandzeni who became queen-mother and then queen-regent. Gillis says… View clan
N Nkosi Southern Ndebele · Nkosi is among the most widely carried surnames in the Nguni languages, and the books we read give no clan narrative under it, only a table… View clan
N Nkuna Shangana-Tsonga · The Nkuna are one of the leading Tsonga chiefly houses, historically centred in the Tzaneen and Ritavi area of Limpopo province, and are sometimes grouped with… View clan
N Nkwinika Shangana-Tsonga · Wikipedia's Tsonga people article lists the Nkwinika under the VaHlave, with the Maswanganyi. Junod names a Hlabi clan he spells Nkwinika among the Ba-Hlabi settled in… View clan
N Nokwe Xhosa · Nokwe is a name on our own planning list of Xhosa clans. We searched three standard sources and did not find a clan history under it. View clan
N Nongqawuse Xhosa · Nongqawuse (about 1841 to 1898) was the young Xhosa prophetess whose visions in April 1856 led to the Great Cattle-Killing and famine of 1856 to 1858.… View clan
N Novela Shangana-Tsonga · Novela is a name on our own planning list of Tsonga clans. We searched the sources we have and did not find a clan history under… View clan
N Nqarhwane Xhosa · The amaNqarwane are listed by Soga as one of the clans of Khoikhoi (Hottentot) origin living among the Xhosa, a minor branch of the Gqunukwebe, with… View clan
N Nqika Xhosa · Nqika (more often written Ngqika) is the name of one of the two great branches of the Xhosa, the amaNgqika, whose royal line descends from Rharhabe;… View clan
N Nqwiliso Xhosa · Nqwiliso was the eldest son of Ndamase, chief of Western Pondoland. In 1878 the Cape recognised him as paramount chief in the west, which the Commission… View clan
N Nsibande Swati · Bonner says that within a generation of the Ngwane (Dlamini-led) nucleus assimilating the groups it conquered, the Nsibande were called on to supply the chief indvuna… View clan
N Ntombela Zulu · Ntombela kaMalandela appears in South African History Online's list of Zulu chiefs as the father of Zulu kaNtombela, founder of the Zulu clan about 1709. The… View clan
N Ntsele Hlubi · Ntsele (Nasele in the Eastern Cape) was an 18th-century king of the amaHlubi and father of Bhungane II, said to have led the Hlubi to victory… View clan
N Ntuli Zulu · The Ntuli were a Zulu clan with their own chiefdom on the bank of the Thukela River. Their chiefs Godide and Mavumengwana, sons of Ndlela kaSompisi,… View clan
N Nwamitwa Shangana-Tsonga · Nwamitwa is the royal house of the Valoyi (Baloyi) near Tzaneen. It is known for the 2008 Constitutional Court case that confirmed Tinyiko Nwamitwa-Shilubana as the… View clan
N Nxumalo Zulu · Nxumalo is the royal name of the amaShangana, the people of Soshangana's Gaza kingdom, who broke away from the Ndwandwe and built a kingdom among the… View clan
N Nyakhuhu Venda · Nyakhuhu was the makhadzi, the king’s paternal sister, of the Ramabulana house. In Lufuno Mulaudzi’s 2020 doctoral thesis she and her brother Madzhie are the two… View clan
N Nyoka Southern Ndebele · Bryant records the aba-kwa-Nyoka as a sub-clan of the emaNgweni in the Vryheid district, and as the people who in 1823 tried to detain Mzilikazi’s fleeing… View clan
N Nzimande Zulu · Nzimande is a name on our own planning list of Zulu clans. We searched three standard sources and did not find a clan history under it. View clan
P Phophi Nelwamondo Venda · Phophi was the son of Maboho Nelwamondo who won the contest for the throne of Lwamondo in 1883, when Makhado accepted his surrender and recognised him… View clan
P Pila Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Pila is a ward at Mapela of Tlokwa people from Moletsi. Their totem is nkwe, the leopard. View clan
Q Qwabe Zulu · The Qwabe (amaQwabe) are one of the oldest Nguni royal houses in KwaZulu-Natal, and by most genealogies the senior branch of the House of Malandela -… View clan
Q Qwambi Xhosa · The amaQwambi claim, in Soga’s account, to be of Xhosa descent through a minor (iqadi) house of the early chief Nkosiyamntu, whose principal son of that… View clan
Q Qwathi Xhosa · The amaQwathi are a people of Tembuland who, in Soga’s account, are a minor house of the amaXesibe, entered Tembuland in the reign of Ngubencuka and… View clan
R Radebe Hlubi · Radebe is a clan name closely tied to the amaHlubi royal line, though - like many widely-carried South African surnames today - it is held by… View clan
R Ralushai Commission Venda · The Ralushai Commission of Inquiry was set up on 2 February 1996 by the Premier of the Northern Province, Ngoako Ramatlodi, under Proclamation No. 2 of… View clan
R Raluswielo Venda · Raluswielo, usually called Tshivhase, is the ancestor and founder of the Tshivhase house. The name Tshivhase is said to mean "one who burned and conquered the… View clan
R Raluthaga Madzivhandila Venda · Raluthaga Madzivhandila was the ruler of Tshakhuma in the time of Ramabulana and Makhado, in the 1860s to the 1880s. Nemudzivhadi’s 1998 thesis names him as… View clan
R Ramabulana Venda · Ramabulana is the Venda royal house of Munzhedzi Mpofu, Makhado (the Lion of the North) and Mphephu. A government commission found that the kingship of the… View clan
R Ramaremisa Venda · Vele Ramaremisa, son of Ligegise, ruled the Tshivhase house from about 1902 to 1930. The Commission records that land laws passed between 1913 and 1936 took… View clan
R Ramavhoya Venda · Ramavhoya was a son of Munzhedzi Mpofu and the rival of his brother Ravele Ramabulana for the Venda throne in the 1830s. Lufuno Mulaudzi’s 2020 University… View clan
R Rambuda Venda · The Rambuda are a Venda royal family and traditional council in the Vhembe District of Limpopo. Wikipedia's Venda people article lists Rambuda among the Venda clans… View clan
R Ramorulane Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Ramorulane is a ward at Mapela whose people say they came from Bopedi. Their totem is kwena, the crocodile. View clan
R Ramushwana Venda · Brigadier Mutheiwana Gabriel Ramushwana was the military ruler of Venda after a coup in 1990. He appointed the Mushasha Commission and, through the 1991 proclamation, abolished… View clan
R Ranwedzi Venda · Ranwedzi (also written Ratsimbi Ranwedzi in the Commission's record) is the best-documented ruler of the Mphaphuli house. Wikipedia's list gives his rule as 1861 to 1903.… View clan
R Raphulu Venda · The Raphulu are, in M. M. Motenda’s account to Van Warmelo, a people regarded as the owners of the Venda land whom Thohoyandou defeated in war.… View clan
R Ratshimphi Venda · Ratshimphi (written Rasimphi Phiriphiri Frans Mphaya in the Commission's record) succeeded Ramaremisa in 1930 or about 1931 and is remembered among the Tshivhase as a legendary… View clan
R Ravele Venda · Dr Frank N. Ravele (written F. N. Ravele) was the second and last State President of the Republic of Venda, from 1988 until the coup of… View clan
R Ravhura Venda · Ravhura is the Venda house of Ravhura, the son of Tshisevhe, who fled to Makonde after his father's assassination. The house says he ruled there as… View clan
R Rharhabe Xhosa · Rharhabe (also written Rarabe) is the founding ancestor of one of the two great branches into which the Xhosa nation split in the 18th century -… View clan
R Rikhotso Shangana-Tsonga · Wikipedia's Tsonga people article lists the Rikhotso under the VaMbayi, with the Khosa, Rivisi and Mbhanyele, in its list of Xitsonga-speaking communities after 1890. Henri Junod,… View clan
R Risimati Shangana-Tsonga · Risimati is a name on our own planning list of Tsonga clans. We searched the sources we have and did not find a clan history under… View clan
S Sandile Xhosa · Sandile kaNgqika (about 1820 to 29 May 1878) was the Rharhabe right-hand paramount chief, a son of Ngqika and brother of Maqoma. He fought in the… View clan
S Sarhili Xhosa · Sarhili (Sarili, Kreli) was king of the Gcaleka Xhosa from 1835, after his father Hintsa's death, until about 1892. He took part in the 1856 to… View clan
S Schoemansdal Venda · Schoemansdal was the Voortrekker town founded in 1848 below the Vhulorwa and Makwatambani mountains, in Makhado’s country, which was a leading ivory-trading centre until the Boers… View clan
S Seema Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Seema is a ward at Mapela of Matlala origin. The people are Koni, and their totem is the small bird tlhantlhagane. View clan
S Sekhukhune Pedi and Northern Sotho · Sekhukhune is the royal name of the Pedi kings. Sekhukhune I fought the Transvaal Republic in 1876 and the British in 1879 and was killed in… View clan
S Shabalala Zulu · The name Shabalala appears in the Swazi histories as one of the uncles of the early Ngwane (Swazi) kings. Philip Bonner says that as the Ngwane… View clan
S Shilubane Shangana-Tsonga · Shilubane is the form we use for a name that Junod’s 1912 ethnography writes Shiluvane: the name of a chief of the Nkuna, of a Swiss… View clan
S Shirinda Shangana-Tsonga · Junod names a clan he spells Shirindja in the country north of Lourenco Marques, one of two clans, with the Manyisa, that "form the transition" between… View clan
S Shongwe Swati · Shongwe is a Swazi clan whose local tradition describes an independent tribe from northern Zululand, near the mouth of the Pongolo River, that was pushed into… View clan
S Sifundza Swati · Bonner places the Sifundza, with the Mahlalela, Maziya and Masilela, in the Lubombo mountains among the Tsonga or partly Tsonga-ised Sotho chiefdoms of the east (p.… View clan
S Sigcau Xhosa · Sigcau (Sigcawu) succeeded his father Mqikela as Mpondo king in 1887 and was imprisoned by proclamation in June 1895. Sigcau is also the name of the… View clan
S Sigcawu Xhosa · Sigcawu ka Sarili was king of the Xhosa (Gcaleka) from 1892 to 1902, son of Sarhili. The Sigcawu family name runs through the later Gcaleka kings.… View clan
S Simelane Swati · Simelane is a Swazi clan whose history is tied to the royal house: two Simelane sisters married King Ndvungunye, and one of them, Somnjalose, was the… View clan
S Sinthumule Venda · Sinthumule was the second son of Makhado and an elder brother of Maemu. His chiefdom is one of the seven independent Venda vhuhosi that Lufuno Mulaudzi’s… View clan
S Sithole Zulu · Sithole (written Sitole in the older books) is the name of a clan of the Mzinyati (Buffalo) river country in what is now northern KwaZulu-Natal, historically… View clan
S Siyephu Hlubi · Siyephu was a son of Langalibalele I who, according to the Commission, took over the leadership of the amaHlubi and ruled until his death in 1910.… View clan
S Skosana Southern Ndebele · Skosana is named as one of the eight sons of the Ndebele king Musi in the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims' determination on the… View clan
S Sokhela Zulu · Sokhela is a name on our own planning list of Zulu clans. We searched three standard sources and did not find a clan history under it. View clan
S Sonkosi Xhosa · Sonkosi is a name on our own planning list of Xhosa clans. We searched three standard sources and did not find a clan history under it. View clan
S Sono Shangana-Tsonga · Wikipedia's Tsonga people article lists the Sono under the VaHlengwe, with the Chauke, Hlungwani and Mavasa. In Junod's account the Sono are the people from whom… View clan
S Stephanus Hofmeyr Sotho-Tswana · Stephanus (Stefanus) Hofmeyr (1839 to 1902 or 1905) was the first South African-born missionary of the Dutch Reformed Church. He reached the Soutpansberg in February 1865,… View clan
S Stephanus Schoeman Venda · Stephanus Schoeman (1810 to 1890) was the Voortrekker commandant-general who gave Schoemansdal its name and headed the settlement in the 1850s. In the 1860s he is… View clan
S Sukati Swati · The Sukati are named among the 17 founding clans (bemdzabuko, the "true Swazi") in Wikipedia's article on the Swazi people, which our earlier listing used. The… View clan
T Tatazela Hlubi · Tatazela kaSiyephu ascended the Hlubi throne in 1926 and died in 1956, according to the Commission. Wikipedia's king list calls him Tatazela (Mthunzi) and gives the… View clan
T Tembe Shangana-Tsonga · The Tembe built a coastal kingdom around Delagoa Bay (Maputo Bay) in what is now southern Mozambique and northern KwaZulu-Natal. After a split in 1746 the… View clan
T Tfwala Swati · The Tfwala are named among the 17 founding clans (bemdzabuko) in Wikipedia's article on the Swazi people, which our earlier listing used. Wikipedia's separate article on… View clan
T Thabede Swati · Bonner says two groups of the Lubombo flats, the Thabede and the Ndzimandze, held the lowlands below the mountain chiefdoms of the Mahlalela, Maziya, Sifundza and… View clan
T Thembu Xhosa · The abaThembu are a Xhosa-speaking kingdom of the Eastern Cape. A government commission found that their kingship was established by Nxeko and that it resorts under… View clan
T Thikhathali Venda · Thikhathali was the Tshivhase ruler in the 1960s and the father of the present holder, Kennedy Tshivhase. The accounts disagree on how many men are involved:… View clan
T Thohoyandou Venda · Thohoyandou is the best-known name in the Venda succession: a ruler of Dzata after Vele-la-Mbeu who "disappeared", leaving a dispute among Vele-la-Mbeu's descendants. The houses disagree… View clan
T Thombeni Southern Ndebele · Thombeni is the name given, in various spellings (Thombeni, Mthombeni, Mathombeni), to one of the sons of the Ndebele king Musi. The Commission on Traditional Leadership… View clan
T Thovhakale Venda · Thovhakale is a name on our own planning list of Venda clans. We searched the sources we have and did not find a clan history under… View clan
T Thwala Swati · Thwala appears in Wikipedia's Bemdzabuko article among the notable founding clans, where the list gives the spelling Thwala; its Swazi people article lists a clan spelled… View clan
T Tsabedze Swati · Tsabedze is a name on our own planning list of Swati clans. We searched three standard sources and found no entry for it. View clan
T Tsabetse Swati · Tsabetse is a name on our own planning list of Swati clans. We searched three standard sources and found no entry for it. View clan
T Tshaba Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Tshaba, one of the four great wards of Mapela, is Tlhaloga, with the crocodile (kwena) as totem. Jackson says their name used to be Manamela. View clan
T Tshakhuma Venda · Tshakhuma is a community in Venda ruled by the Madzivhandila royal house. In the written sources it appears as the home of the Vhadau of Tshakhuma,… View clan
T Tshawe Xhosa · amaTshawe is the royal clan of the Xhosa nation - the ruling isiduko from which every recognised Xhosa king, and the two great houses of Gcaleka… View clan
T Tshikundamalema Venda · Tshikundamalema is a Venda community, item (m) on the 1991 proclamation’s roll. In the sources we read it appears only as one of the communities that… View clan
T Tshilala Venda · Tshilala is the first ruler of the Mphaphuli house in the Commission's record, the Ralushai Commission's genealogy and Wikipedia's ruler list, which gives him as ruling… View clan
T Tshisevhe Venda · Tshisevhe was a son of Vele-la-Mbeu, by the third house, and the father of Ravhura. The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims records him as… View clan
T Tshishonga Venda · Tshishonga is a figure in E. Mudau’s account of Venda early history who, Lufuno Mulaudzi argues, has not been properly acknowledged by historians: the grandson of… View clan
T Tshivhase Venda · Tshivhase is a Venda royal house descended from Raluswielo, a son of Vele-la-Mbeu. The house says it established its own kingdom at Dopeni around 1780. A… View clan
T Tshivhase Traditional Council Venda · The Tshivhase Traditional Council is the governing body of the Tshivhase chiefdom in the Vhembe District of Limpopo, the largest of the 25 tribal authorities of… View clan
T Tshivhula Venda · Tshivhula is, in E. Mudau’s account, the khosikhulu of the Vhangona (Ngona) who ruled the land to which Hwami’s people moved, and who later fled west… View clan
T Tshokwe Northern Ndebele (Limpopo) · Tshokwe is a ward at Mapela. The people have cattle (dikgomo) as totem, though they actually avoid the hare (mmutla). View clan
T Tsianda Venda · Tsianda is a Venda territory of the Vhalaudzi, founded by the sons of Govhamasenga, maternal uncle of Thohoyandou. It was split in the 1880s between the… View clan
T Tsianda succession war, 1882 to 1885 Venda · After Dingana of Tsianda died in 1881, the people of Tsianda asked Makhado to settle which of his sons should rule. Makhado’s deputation installed Mukhesi, Mugivhi’s… View clan
T Tyali Xhosa · Tyali (Tyhali) was a Rharhabe chief who fought alongside Maqoma in the Sixth Frontier War of 1834 to 1836. A British patrol seized his oxen on… View clan
V Vele-la-Mbeu Venda · Vele-la-Mbeu (also Dyambeu) is the Venda king whose death began the dispute that produced the separate royal houses. The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims… View clan
V Venda Traditional Leaders Administration Proclamation of 1991 Venda · The Venda Traditional Leaders Administration Proclamation, No. 29 of 1991, was issued by the Venda government of national unity after the Mushasha Commission. It listed the… View clan
V Vhadau Venda · The Vhadau are one of the clans that Wikipedia's Venda people article groups under the Vhangona, the earliest known inhabitants of Venda. The article lists two… View clan
V Vhafamadi Venda · The Vhafamadi are listed in Wikipedia's Venda people article among the clans grouped as the Vhangona, the earliest known inhabitants of Venda. The Know My Roots… View clan
V Vhakwevho Venda · Wikipedia's Venda people article lists the Vhakwevho among the clans it groups as the Vhangona, the earliest known inhabitants of Venda, and says no more. Two… View clan
V Vhalaudzi Venda · Wikipedia's Venda people article describes the Vhalaudzi, with the Masingo, as late arrivals in Venda, and says no more. The Luonde site places them among the… View clan
V Vhalembethu Venda · Wikipedia's Venda people article names the Vhalembethu (also written Vhanzhelele / Vhalembethu) among the Karanga-Rodzvi clans from Zimbabwe that later settled on Vhangona land. The Luonde… View clan
V Vhaluvhu Venda · The Vhaluvhu are listed in Wikipedia's Venda people article among the clans grouped as the Vhangona, the earliest known inhabitants of Venda. The Know My Roots… View clan
V Vhambedzi Venda · Wikipedia's Venda people article lists the Vhambedzi, also written Vha ha Tshinyike, and says that they and the Vhangona were the original inhabitants of Venda and… View clan
V Vhandalamo Venda · The Vhandalamo are described in Lufuno Mulaudzi’s 2020 thesis as the group, belonging to the house of the royal makhadzi, who held the sacred objects of… View clan
V Vhangona Venda · The Vhangona are the earliest known inhabitants of the Venda area, said to have named its mountains and rivers. They were later conquered and absorbed by… View clan
V Vhanyai Venda · Wikipedia's Venda people article names the Vhanyai among the Karanga-Rodzvi clans from Zimbabwe that later settled on Vhangona land. The Luonde site likewise lists them among… View clan
V Vhatavhatsindi Venda · The Vhatavhatsindi are a Venda people of the Lake Fundudzi area. In E. Mudau’s account they defeated the Vhasenzi under Dyambeu and seized their sacred drum,… View clan
V Vhatwanamba Venda · Wikipedia's Venda people article says the land of the Vhangona was later settled by Karanga-Rodzvi clans from Zimbabwe, and names the Vhatwanamba among them with the… View clan
W Waterboer Khoi and San · Waterboer is the family of the Griqua captains of Griquatown (Griekwastad), founded by Andries Waterboer, captain from 1820 to his death in 1852. His state in… View clan
X Xam Khoi and San · The ǀXam were San people of the Karoo and middle Orange River whose language, now extinct, was recorded in the 1870s by Wilhelm Bleek and Lucy… View clan
X Xesibe Xhosa · The amaXesibe are a people of Xesibeland around Mount Ayliff (EmaXesibeni), described as closely related to the Mpondo and Mpondomise. Their land was annexed to the… View clan
X Xhoxho Xhosa · Xhoxho (fl. 1815 to 1878) was a minor son of Ngqika. Wounded in a skirmish at Fort Beaufort on 10 December 1834, he later served as… View clan
X Xilaveko Shangana-Tsonga · Xilaveko is a Tsonga lineage name associated with the Nkuna royal house, one of the leading Tsonga chiefly houses of Limpopo. View clan
Z Zibi Hlubi · Zibi was the name of the heir of the Hlubi chief Sidinane. Soga records him ruling a section of the Hlubi in the Matatiele district in… View clan
Z Zondi Zulu · Zondi is the name of a chieftaincy of the Mpanza valley near Greytown whose chief Bhambatha kaMancinza Zondi refused the 1905 poll tax and led the… View clan
Z Zulu Zulu · Zulu is the name of the royal clan of the amaZulu. It began as a small clan among many in northern Zululand, and the kingdom took… View clan
Z Zuma Zulu · In Bryant’s 1929 history, Zuma is the name at the head of the genealogy of the aba-kwa-Nxamalala, a clan of the Mooi River valley that he… View clan
Z Zungu Zulu · The Zungu clan carries a direct connection to Zulu royal history: oral tradition and colonial-era archival records agree that Shaka's mother, Nandi, came from the Zungu… View clan
Z Zwane Swati · Both books know the Zwane through Sandlane Zwane, Mswati's chief minister. Bonner says he and Malunge, a senior paternal uncle of Mswati, were important officials already… View clan

Know a story that isn't here yet?

A lot of this history still lives only in rondavels and in people's memories. If you know a clan praise, totem or story passed down around the fire, we want to add it, properly verified and credited to you.

Share what you know