About the Hlubi people
The Hlubi (amaHlubi) are a Nguni people historically centred on the upper Thukela and the Drakensberg foothills, with communities today in KwaZulu-Natal (around Estcourt and Ladysmith), the Eastern Cape (around Matatiele and Herschel) and the Free State. The principal Hlubi clan name is Hadebe (Mthimkhulu, Bhungane) – recorded in some sources, including an 1908 chief list, under the variant spelling Radebe.
Origins
Hlubi tradition holds that the nation is very old and that it moved south from the north long before the other Nguni, settling along the Lubombo range and then in the Thukela basin. Their king list runs deep – Mthimkhulu, Ncobo, Hadebe, Dlomo, Mdodolo, Bhungane – with Bhungane II remembered as a great unifier who ruled until about 1800. In izibongo the names Mthimkhulu and Hadebe are used almost interchangeably for the royal house.
Scattering during the Mfecane
In the 1810s the Hlubi were among the first nations broken up in the wars that preceded and accompanied the rise of the Zulu kingdom. After the killing of King Mthimkhulu II, the Hlubi split: some fled west over the Drakensberg under Mpangazitha, carrying the difaqane into the Caledon valley; others were absorbed into the Zulu, Swazi or Basotho; and a large group moved south into what became the Eastern Cape, where they lived among the Xhosa and are still Xhosa-speaking today.
Langalibalele and the colonial confrontation
A Hlubi community re-established itself in the Natal Colony under Langalibalele I (“the blazing sun”). In 1873 the colonial government’s attempt to disarm his people led to the Langalibalele affair: a brief clash in the Drakensberg passes, the king’s capture, a widely criticised trial, and his exile to Robben Island. The episode became a well-known example of colonial injustice and was condemned even by some officials of the day.
Identity today
The Hlubi have campaigned since the 1990s for official recognition as a distinct people with their own king. A commission on traditional leadership disputes (the Nhlapo Commission) did not recognise a separate Hlubi kingship, a finding the community has continued to contest through the courts and public advocacy. The question of recognition – and of siPhuthi and siHlubi as languages – remains live.
Related peoples
The Hlubi are closely connected to the Bhele and Zizi (together sometimes called the Mbo group), to the Bhaca, and to the Phuthi of the Lesotho border. The Hadebe surname is also common among the Zulu.
What the government commission found
In its determination on the amaHlubi kingship claim, the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims recorded the royal house’s history (a migration from Central Africa, a move to the uMzinyathi region around 1650, and the name amaHlubi arising from a daughter of a Bhele leader named Hlubi) and the scattering of the nation in the Mfecane. It found that the amaHlubi are scattered across several provinces, that many of their senior leaders in the Eastern Cape fall under other kings, and that they no longer share one language and culture, and it concluded that the amaHlubi do not hold a kingship. The claimant was Muziwenkosi Johannes Radebe, Langalibalele II. See our Langalibalele, Hadebe and Mpangazitha pages.
Sources and further reading
- S. B. Hadebe, “The history of the amaHlubi tribe in the izibongo of its kings” (MA dissertation, 1992; in the UCT eMandulo / FHYA collections).
- Jeff Guy, The View Across the River (2001) – background to colonial Natal and the Langalibalele affair.
- Norman Etherington, The Great Treks: The Transformation of Southern Africa 1815-1854 (2001).
Help us improve this page. The amaHlubi carry a long and contested history. If you can share royal izibongo, clan praises, or family history – in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape or the Free State – send us a WhatsApp on 065 138 8213 or use our contact page. We credit contributors who wish to be named.