Online Reporter
Mzala Tom
The Ndebele combined military, civil, political and social ideologies, institutions and ethics for the purposes of nation building and social cohesion. It is submitted that the system of regimental towns was uniquely Ndebele.
This system was a showpiece of the Ndebele creativity and their answer to the perennial problems of detribalisation and assimilation. This is because the regimental town became a multifunctional institution. It was a training camp, a public boarding school, a chieftaincy, a residential area and a retirement town.
Each province, umkhono, was made up of districts, imizi or izigaba, with each district having a quasi-military regiment (s) ibutho. Only the king had authority to create, augment or disband a regiment. He assigned its name, location, its commander, its shield colours, and its weapons, along with its wives and cattle.
During the reign of King Mzilikazi , each district had a population ranging from five hundred to a thousand (500 to 1 000) people. There were about forty-three (43) regimental towns.
King Lobhengula added about ten (10) more during his reign. The regiments in the province made up a provincial division. The name of the province emanated from the name of the provincial division. The provincial division was headed by a chief (induna) who acted as the general of the provincial division. He was also the governor of the province, in terms of civil administration.
The large military regiments were positioned at strategic points throughout the kingdom. The road to royal capital of the kingdom was well guarded. The traveller entering Matabeleland was first halted at the Mangwe Pass by a regiment posted to guard the frontier.
His progress was watched from the tops of the hills and as his ox-wagons reached the foot of the Pass an induna came down to ask him his business. The traveller was often forced to camp there until permission was granted to proceed by a runner from the capital.
The chiefs had great powers and responsibilities. They were directly accountable to the king. They were charged with maintaining law and order, administering justice, collecting royal revenues in the form of taxes, tribute and court fines through abathelisi, the tax collectors, supervising the construction of new regimental towns, overseeing allocation of land, and promoting the general welfare of the civilians and the military.
The district where the chief lived was the provincial capital, ixhiba elidala. It had a regiment which he led and was sort of his bodyguard. The capital came about in the sense that it was the first district at a point in time and then produced satellite districts as the population grew.
These satellite districts, when combined, made up a province that was headquartered by the parent district, ixhiba elidala. Within the province were also districts made up of civilian chiefdoms of indigenous people groups who had been conquered and integrated into the Ndebele nation.
As a basic unit of the state system, a regimental town became a vehicle for both detribalisation and development of Ndebele identity. It was the school of militarism and patriotism.
A member of the regiment was indoctrinated in the Ndebele ideal of a soldier and citizen who combined militarism with utmost allegiance and loyalty. It is for this reason that the regiment was populated by the soldiers, veterans, youths, women and children of the Zansi, eNhla and Hole origin.
The regiments were thus progressive institutions which were highly liberal and progressive. They were what may be called a democratic militocracy. This is because military careers were accorded to the most able, skilled, vigorous and loyal citizens. The regiment allowed the Zansi, eNhla and Hole to elevate themselves and win honours and rewards.
The regiments thus helped to enhance Ndebele militarism by enabling the army to participate in nation building and acculturation.
Chief Tategulu Moyo of the Inyoka regiment was of non-Zansi or eNhla origin but was of Kalanga origin. His elevation by King Mzilikazi to become a chief is an excellent example of the effectiveness of the democratic militocracy of the regiment system. Thus, the regimental system was indeed a non-ethnic institution of common allegiance, tradition and destiny for a people of broadly diverse origins and customs.
During the reign of King Mzilikazi, to the North and East of Bulawayo was the Amakhanda Province. To the South-East was Amnyama Province. Extending from Plumtree going northwards was Amhlophe Province The wedge between Amnyama and Amhlophe, extending far north to include Bulawayo was Igabha Province. King Lobhengula later added a fifth province, Bulawayo, which covered present day central and greater Bulawayo province.
