Chronicle Editor
Simbarashe Murima, People & Places
In today’s edition of People and Places, we visit the Ndau people of Zimbabwe. The Ndau are of the minority natives found in Chipinge District, Bikita and Chimanimani areas in south-eastern Zimbabwe.
The Ndau tribe are predominantly Bantu people that ascended from and within the Zambezi valley, in central Mozambique to the coast and eastern Zimbabwe into other parts of Southern Africa.
The name Ndau means “land”, either meaning the place or the country in their local language. Based on some sources, the name Ndau is derived from the Nguni words amading’indawo, which literally means “those looking for a place”.
According to statistics, the population of the Ndau people is estimated around 558 000. The Ndau have five main groups namely the Magova, the Mashanga, the Vatomboti, the Madanda and the Teve. Also, the coterie is composed of a variety of dialects such as Chiqwaka, Chidanda and Chigova.
History of the Ndau
It is historically postulated that in the 1820s, the Ndau came under control of the Nguni chief, Nxaba and Soshangane. Soshangane Nxumalo also known as Manukuse, was a powerful Nguni rival conquest who was the Ndwandwe general who fled from Zululand (presently known as KwaZulu-Natal) after his defeat at the hands of Shaka during the Zulu-Nguni wars notoriously known as the Mfecane.
Together with his troops, they traversed the Limpopo into the south of Mozambique, where they created the Gaza state or the Nguni Gaza Empire. According to history sources, Soshangane and his Nguni militias ravaged and slayed a lot of the Ndau men and took their women as captive wives.
As a result, this led to plentiful intermarriages between the Nguni and the Ndau clusters during and after the invasion, which later added flavour to the language and culture of the Nguni community. Hereafter, the Ndau ancestry developed the Nguni bloodline and lineage.
In the present day, the Ndau are believed to be related to the Shona (Karanga) of Zimbabwe and Shangaan tribe in South Africa. This is because during the empire formation, the Tsonga, Shona, Xhosa, Zulu and other ethnic groups were incorporated into the kingdom.
This is evident in the wealth of Nguni words in the Ndau language, Nguni names and surnames such as Sithole, Gumede, Mlambo, Mthethwa, Mhlanga, Nxumalo Hlatshwayo etc, which are common.
Ancestor worship of the Ndau people
The Ndau are animistic, meaning that their religious life involves attributing sentience between the living and the dead. Thus, the traditional Ndau recognise and regard Musikavanthu/Mlambo (God) as their common ancestor.
Likewise, the Ndau people belief in ‘Mudzimu’ which is a family or ancestral spirit that is similarly significant to the Shona spirit beliefs. The mudzimu manifestation and influence is so potent and physical to the Ndau progenies that they remain part of them.
According to the Ndau credence, anyone who dies and joins ancestral spirits becomes a mudzimu. So, a mutual relationship exists between the spirits and the living who are always inseparably and lucidly integrated in a single ether.
Intriguingly, it is said that when the mudzimu spirit manifests, it speaks the language of the deceased, for example if my mother dies speaking Ndebele, then the spirit will also speak Ndebele. That spirit is believed to guide and protect its descendants.
Interesting facts about the Ndau
The Ndau people are known to be very good herbalists as they are openly acknowledged and respected by Mozambicans to be the most feared black conjurers.
In the same manner as some BaTonga people, the Ndau are very cordial, humble and non-violent people but are known to use sorcery methodologies and supernatural powers when offended, as a ‘solution’ to fight injustices or dealing with wrongdoers. As a disclaimer, not every Ndau practices necromancy and wizardry.
The Ndau beads represent different ancestral spirits. The red and white represent the Nguni spirits, while the white and blue represent the Ndau or the Nixie (water spirits).
Ndau cuisine
The Ndau people are famous for having very healthy diets and delicious recipes. The type of food they consume include: koroni (wheat), guku (blackjack), mutikiti (pumpkin leaves), and uninga (sesame seeds). The Ndau women cook the traditional meals made up of zviyo (rapoko) or pearl millet with gusha (okra) soup using a nhamba (clay) pot.
Rich in magnesium, fiber and antioxidants, okra is the most popular and favourite vegetable among the Ndau as they regard it as an essential medicine that contains healing properties that can heal people with arthritis and relieves the pain from stiffness or inflammation.
Okra is believed to be good for men as it enhances a man’s stamina and when consumed by pregnant women, it helps them in the delivery of the baby.
*Simbarashe Murima (PhDc) writes in his own capacity as an education, tourism and hospitality expert in Namibia and Zimbabwe.
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