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Pathisa Nyathi
Once Mzilikazi Khumalo was in power and elevated to status of king his new task, among several others, was to appoint chiefs (izinduna). We shall, in subsequent articles, deal with the criteria that he used to appoint these important state officials. Before we get to that we need to appreciate that the choice of chiefs was done in accordance with national goals. There was clear correlation between selection criteria and some critical goals of the state and nation.
Almost from the outset the Ndebele State had its existence threatened in more ways than one. There were hardly a thousand people that left KwaZulu-Natal with Mzilikazi Khumalo. In terms of defence requirements this figure which included women and children was critically below the threshold necessary to ward off military threats from other nations. It was critical that measures be taken to ensure material survival of the state, albeit a migrant one that sought protection from King Tshaka of the Zulu by keeping long distances from him.
Everywhere the nascent state went it faced military threats from neighbouring groups such as the Griqua of Barend Barends, the Sotho/Tswana and later the Afrikaners. It was inevitable that King Mzilikazi gave great emphasis to attaining high military capacity to ensure defence of the state and at the same time acquire striking prowess to incorporate new members into the state to attain a required threshold population to defend his state and generate an economy to sustain it. Indeed, King Mzilikazi had by 1822 built a fairly formidable force that could guarantee security to incoming groups fleeing from Mfecane upheavals.
Population figures were boosted by arrivals of groups such as the Dlodlos and Mafus among several others that voluntarily joined the Ndebele nation when the King and his followers were domiciled at Ezinyosini near the Vaal River (uLikhwa). King Mzilikazi stayed at Ezinyosini from 1822 to 1827 when he relocated in response to harassment from the Griquas who possessed guns and rode horses. However, his nation had markedly increased in terms of population figures through voluntary incorporation of the Ngunis who followed him and the Sotho/Tswana groups that were forcibly incorporated and assimilated. It came as no surprise that military considerations were important and the choice of chiefs was based on their military genius, including bravery and leadership skills.
Requisite skills were identified at a tender age when boys’ hunting skills, speed and fighting capability were observed. Even the games that they participated in identified good marksmen. Ukubhaqa insema was one such game. When boys reached puberty they were subjected to hardships so that in future they faced difficulties with stoicism and resilience, all calculated to ensure they withstood military attacks. At that tender age they were introduced to very strict deference to older members — ingqwele. The society required people who would take orders from the military commanders. It was men who went to war and that excluded women from selection as chiefs as these were expected to lead their amabutho to war.
As we shall see later there were capable men who gallantly defended the state during the days of its infancy. Initially, it was the forces sent by King Tshaka once Mzilikazi Khumalo left KwaZulu-Natal with cattle that he should have surrendered to his king. His forces managed to repel those of King Tshaka. Following the assassination of King Tshaka in 1828 by brothers Dingane and Mhlangana with the complicity of Mkabayi okaJama, more forces were sent against King Mzilikazi at the time when he was living at Mhlahlandlela on the Aapies River near the Magaliesberg Mountains (present day Pretoria) between 1827 and 1832.
King Mzilikazi earned himself praises for standing up against King Tshaka and King Dingane:
Kwash’ uShaka, Kwash’ uDingane, Wadelel’ uShaka, NoDingane futhi.
King Mzilikazi’s repulsion of the Zulu armies is immortalized in more of his praises:
Inkom’ ezavul’ inqaba ngezimpondo, Ngoba zavul’ iNgome zahamba kithi kwaZulu, Inyang’ abath’ ifil’ uZulu kant’ ithwasile, Ithwase ngoNyokana kaMpeyana.
We do have some examples of chiefs that excelled at war and earned themselves chieftainships within the Ndebele state. One such notable military genius was Mahubo Mafu who later became known as Dambisamahubo the son of Mkhatshana. Dambisamahubo earned himself the post of chief of uGodlwayo, uMahlabayithwale.
His chieftainship, earned by virtue of heroically defending the nascent state, has been retained to this day. He passed the baton to his son Mthikana who in turn passed it on to Maduna who fought gallantly during Imfazo I (1896). Jim took over from him and the incumbent is Chief Vezi Maduna. An example of another man who fought bravely in defence of the Ndebele nation was Mehlomakhulu Mkhwananzi. He distinguished himself to a point where he earned himself the chieftainship of Intunta. This son of Mzana was later to be better known by his heroic name of uMhabahaba waseNtunteni. There are thus many men who became chiefs on account of their bravery during war. Military defence of the state thus influenced the choice of chiefs as this was an important national goal.
For a people that were later vastly outnumbered by their incorporates there was constant threat to their cultural identity including their language. There was no way the Nguni language that they brought out of KwaZulu-Natal would not be altered. However, it was a question of degree of alteration. We should never lose sight of the fact that King Mzilikazi was the only leader that left KwaZulu-Natal and managed to retain both his culture and language. King Sotshangane and Zwangendaba failed dismally. In the case of King Mzilikazi his strategy was to control the marriage institution. By and large, Nguni men were discouraged from marrying the Nyai women and other women of indigenous stock. A strong stigma was placed between them and potential lovers from across the ethnic barrier.
The chiefs were important in ensuring that men under their jurisdiction were marrying appropriately and correctly, which is to say they married ladies that were acceptable to the Nguni section of Ndebele society. This was an acknowledgement of the critical role of mothers in socialising the young. Spiritual dimensions were brought into picture to reinforce the strategy. It was said ancestral spirits were not going to leak ethnic strangers, kabayikukhothwa yizinyoka. The goal here was to maintain cultural identity including language. Indeed, Nguni chiefs were appointed and their brief was the preservation of the culture of their forefathers. That was indeed one of the roles of a chief-the preservation of culture and the inculcation and sustenance of cultural identity.
Online Reporter