The house of Ravhura
The Ravhura house descends from Ravhura (written Rhavhura in the commission’s text), son of Tshisevhe, a son of the Venda king Vele-la-Mbeu. The account below is the one presented to the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims on behalf of the house by Aaron Fulufhelo Nedzingahe, followed by the commission’s finding. Other houses tell the story differently, and their accounts are on the pages for Ramabulana, Tshivhase and Mphaphuli.
The house’s account
In the Ravhura account, Thohoyandou was the son of Dimbanyika and so the brother of Vele-la-Mbeu and the uncle of Tshisevhe. Because the senior (dzekiso) house produced no heir, the next senior house was Tshisevhe’s. Tshisevhe was still a minor, so Thohoyandou was regent, and after Thohoyandou disappeared Tshisevhe was enthroned. Tshisevhe was later assassinated. On the advice of Nwali, the ancestral god of the Vhavenda, his son Ravhura fled from Dzata to Makonde, keeping his status as successor to the Venda kingship. At Makonde he ruled as thovhele of the Vhavenda as a whole. The account says leaders came to Makonde to pay homage and to ask for rain, because Nwali spoke to the Vhavenda through Ravhura, and that Ravhura successfully defended himself against an attack by Tshivhase.
1879 and after
In 1879 the colonial authorities called a meeting of all traditional leaders at Muananzhelele, attended by the Tshivhase, Mphaphuli and Mphephu Ramabulana houses. Ravhura did not go: as thovhele, the account says, he could not be summoned, because by right people came to him. The authorities treated this as insubordination, demoted him to headman, and placed him under Tshivhase’s jurisdiction. The account says Ravhura then disappeared and was succeeded by his younger brother Malise, then by Jim Masindi Badaga (1911 to 1955) and Solomon Mavhungu (1956 to 1965). Regents ruled for the minor Azwianewi David Mutshinyalo Ravhura from 1967 until he ascended the throne in 1990. He was the claimant before the commission.
What the commission decided
The commission noted that Ravhura was enthroned and reigned for a short period. It said it did not deem it fit to decide whether that enthronement was in line with custom or a usurpation, but that on Tshisevhe’s death Ravhura, as successor, should have ascended the throne, and that by fleeing to Makonde, as he conceded, he effectively abandoned his right. It also observed that he could not have fled to Makonde “with the kingship”, because this was before he was enthroned. It found that at the split Ravhura did not retain the kingship, and the claim for the restoration of the kingship of the Vhavenda as a whole by the house of Ravhura was unsuccessful.
Overview article
The Ravhura claim is set in context in Venda kingship disputes, 1890s to 2020s.
Izithakazelo (zwidade) and totem
We have not found a published Ravhura praise text or a confirmed totem, so we are not printing either. If you belong to the Ravhura 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 account on pp. 627 to 630, the findings on pp. 651 to 664)
The account above is as presented to the commission by the house and has not been independently checked.
Do you belong to the Ravhura house? 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.