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Pathisa Nyathi
The narrative that we have pursued so far does indicate that the choice of chiefs was a balancing act between national and royal interests. It was some kind of constrained meritocracy. While royal dictates favoured the choice of close relatives as chiefs, as we saw in previous articles, merit was applied within that group of preferred individuals. We should never lose sight of the fact that it was not all the royal male relatives who landed the posts of chieftainship.
Royal interests had to be negotiated with national interests.
We see this sort of compromise within royal settlements. The king, his queens and close attendants lived within a Royal Enclosure. Chief Magwegwe Fuyana, who was chief of chiefs lived within the Royal Enclosure whose highest ground was occupied by the king. This was the physical expression of a socio-economic and political reality. Being one who epitomised the State, the king had to be protected and defended. Indeed, the Royal Enclosure at Old Bulawayo was a double palisade of wooden posts. However, the Royal Enclosure was not enough to cater for the defence and security needs of the king. The Royal Enclosure though provided the necessary privacy that the royal elite needed.
In order to enhance the security of the royals, it was necessary to have a fringing conglomeration of huts constituting the Commoners’ Enclosure which was less than a hundred metres away from the palisade of the Royal Enclosure. The Commoners’ Enclosure, occupying lower ground than that which was occupied by the king, served as a security belt that completely surrounded the Royal Enclosure — isigodlo. The open space between the two enclosures served as some kind of cordon sanitaire with a defensive element to it. Enemies intending to attack the king had to breach both the internal and external palisades of this Commoners’ Enclosure and then transverse the open space which made them very visible and vulnerable. This is how this Commoners’ Enclosure provided the necessary security to the king, queens and royal attendants within the Royal Enclosure. Distance between the two marked the negotiated position between considerations of privacy and security.
Beyond this Commoners’ Enclosure there were a number of villages that formed a hood around the neck that held the head, a metaphor for the capital town where the head of State resided. These are the villages led by appointed chiefs that provided security around both the Commoners’ Enclosure and the Royal Enclosure. Whenever the royal town relocated there was corresponding relocation of these villages that constituted isiphika, the hood around the neck.
For example, Old Bulawayo had the following as some of the villages that constituted isiphika: Intshamathe, Amatshetshe, Umzinyathi, Izinala, Umhlahlandlela, Inyanda, Isizinda, among several others. When the royal seat relocated to the present day State House in Bulawayo some of the villages relocated in response so that the new site was equally provided with isiphika, a belt of protective villages. Some of the villages that constituted isiphika for the new site were Imbizo (KoMasayiboko), Imfakuceba under Chief Ngqengelele Kheswa, Inhlambabaloyi under Chief Mhlambezi Ndiweni, grandfather to Chief Khayisa Ndiweni, Intemba under Chief Xukuthwayo Mlotshwa, Ilanga under Chief Silevu Khumalo, Isizinda under Chief Maphisa Fuyana, among several others.
We find the same set up when King Mzilikazi Khumalo lived at Emhlangeni. There were a number of villages that constituted his isiphika such as Amanguba under Khisi Khumalo, Inqobo under Mthini Mpoko Ndlovu, Ingwanga under Ngogodo Thebe, uZwangendaba under Chief Mbiko kaMadlenya Masuku, uJinga under Mletshe Ndiweni, inter alia. Considerations of security were important and compromised the privacy that the king needed.
Before going on with other considerations relating to chiefs in the heyday of the Ndebele State we need to deal with one aspect that was raised earlier on — that of bravery. While there was belief that “like father like son,” “udiwo lufuze imbiza,” it was true that “ukhuni luzala umlotha”; a burning wooden log ends up as ash. The former was the basis for keeping the chieftainship within the founder’s lineage. Be that as it may, young men had to prove their mettle. They needed to have proved themselves as men of valour.
One avid reader of this column supplied this writer with some piece of information regarding how bravery was tested. Indigenous knowledge posits that when a lion has made a kill of whatever game, it squirts around ball consisting of hairs from carcasses consumed during earlier kills. The panting lion moves a short distance from where it has downed the animal, digs a shallow hole in the ground and deposits the compacted hairy ball into it. The hairy ball is called ibhonga in IsiNdebele and is sold by traditional doctors as a formula to add awe, aura and respect to a leader such as a chief. The lion covers the hole where it has deposited ibhonga.
It then starts consuming the big meal, in the company of other lions of course. When the lions have had their fill the one that deposited ibhonga goes to retrieve it from the covered hole. It then saunters a short distance to lie down on the ground with ibhonga having been swallowed. The lion will roar and roar with contentment. Anyone experienced in this kind of lion roar will know that the lions have just had their meal.
It takes men of rare courage and daring to then advance towards the feeding lions with the objective of retrieving ibhonga from where it was deposited by the feeding lion. The man might venture towards the den of lions in the company of other men of equal valour. Those in the company of the man serve as witnesses of the young man’s bravery. Praises emerge from such actions of rare gallantry. Word soon spreads and will certainly get to the ears of the king who is the appointing authority for the chiefs. Such men could be relied upon when it came to the defence of both nation and king.
Ibhonga was then mixed with other medicinal formulations that were administered to the person of chief. The chief must send shivers of fear down the spines of ordinary man. He must instill fear and terror into the hearts of men, in the same manner that a lion frightens many a man. When he opens his mouth terrified men will think it is the lion roaring and will respect, honour and tremble before him. As we shall see in due course, the installation of a chief made sure he was given medicines that imparted honour, respect, fear, awe and aura to the person of chief. This was even more so with regard to the king. King Lobengula Khumalo underwent a protracted period of seclusion at his new royal town called Gibixhegu following his royal ascension. Those men, traditional healers assigned to him and the Khumalo house with the responsibility of fortifying the king, the House of Bhozongwana Khumalo, attended to the king. They made incisions on his body and inserted various medicines to fortify him and make him instill fear in his subjects.
A man underwent transformative rituals which imparted new qualities in him. He was transformed into a chief. His subjects were meant to find it effortlessly easy to submit to his authority. Witches and wizards were to find him and his homestead sufficiently fortified to the point where it was to be no meeting ground for men and women of malevolent intentions. Men would readily extol and pronounce his praises when they approached his premises. The chief was the ears and eyes of the king. He thus had to carry a bit of the aura and air of the king, but never to the point where he posed a threat to him. Prince Hlangabeza Khumalo, a son of King Mzilikazi Khumalo and so a brother to the new King Lobengula Khumalo had such a bearing that wherever he went he was greeted with the royal Bayethe salute to such a point where King Lobengula Khumalo grew jealous of him and had him eliminated.
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