Tfwala in the Swazi record
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 the Bemdzabuko lists a clan spelled Thwala among the notable bemdzabuko clans and cites a 2013 Wits MA thesis by Thabani Thwala on the politics of placing princes in Swazi history, but does not say whether Thwala and Tfwala are the same clan, and we have not found a source that does. Our Madonsela and Thwala listings treat them as separate entries for that reason.
What the sources say
The best-known person with the surname in the sources we read is Ntfombi Tfwala (born 27 December 1949), the Ndlovukati (Queen Mother) of Eswatini. Wikipedia says she married King Sobhuza II, is the mother of Prince Makhosetive Dlamini, who became Mswati III, was named queen regent on 10 August 1983 after the dismissal of Queen Dzeliwe, and became Queen Mother when her son was crowned on 25 April 1986, as the spiritual and national head of state alongside her son. That article gives no information about the Tfwala clan beyond her surname. She is a living person and this page says nothing more about her than those facts.
We found no Tfwala chief, origin story, praise text or totem. The Tfwala do not appear, under that spelling, in the OCR text of Bonner’s and Gillis’s histories of the Swazi kingdom.
Cautions
The surname Tfwala is common, and we claim no link between surname-holders and the royal wives or the founding-clan tradition beyond the shared name.
Izithakazelo and totem
We are printing no Tfwala praises or totem because none has been confirmed. If you belong to the Tfwala and recite your izithakazelo, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Ntfombi of Eswatini
- Wikipedia: Bemdzabuko (needs more citations; cites Matsebula 1988 and T. Thwala 2013)
- Wikipedia: Swazi people (list of the 17 founding clans)
See also Dlamini and Nkambule.
Do you belong to the Tfwala? 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.