Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni an illegitimite Chief?

On Monday 19 August the people of Bulawayo have been asked to demonstrate against a court ruling on Chief Ndiweni.  Chief Nhlanhla Ndiweni has been sentenced to 2 years in prison. However, is he really the rightful Chief Ndiweni? Is he the real heir to the Ndiweni throne according to Nguni custom and is he worth marching for?

The late Ndebele paramount chieftainship, which falls under the Nhlambabaloyi clan has been a Contentious chieftain since the death of Paramount Chief Khayisa Ndiweni. Chief Khayisa Ndiweni was loved and respected by the Ndebele across Mthwakazi and even internationally.

 Chief Khayisa Ndiweni's eldest son Joram Khayisa Thambo  filed an urgent chamber application at the High Court in Bulawayo 5 years ago seeking to block his brother Nhlanhla Felix, from being installed as substantive chief.

In the application filed by a very senior and leading legal mind in Bulawayo lawyer Sindiso Mazibisa formerly of the then Cheda and Partners Legal Practitioners, Umguza District Administrator Ennety Sithole, Nhlanhla and the former Minister of Local Government Public Works and National Housing Dr Ignatius Chombo were cited as the first, second and third respondents. Thambo Joram, who is based in the United Kingdom, was seeking an order stopping the installation pending determination by the courts on who should be substantive chief Ndiweni.

Thambo was not the only Ndiweni sibling challenging Nhlanhla's installation as Chief Ndiweni. Douglas Dumisani Ndiweni also challenged Nhlanhla's appointment and submitted summons calling for the nullification of Nhlanhla's appointment as heir on grounds that proper procedures as stipulated under the Traditional Leaders Act were not followed.

How did Nhlanhla usurp the throne?

Chief Ndiweni's widow, Agnes, is alleged to have crossed swords with Joram and Douglas when she convinced the Government to install her last born son, Nhlanhla, as chief.

Thambo Joram Ndiweni still maintains that the Ndiweni chieftainship is hereditary and Nhlanhla's appointment was in violation of Nguni custom, practice and norms.

Thambo Joram Ndiweni the eldest son of Khayisa Ndiweni said following Chief Ndiweni's death in 2010, Sithole, acting in connivance with his young brother and various other persons, chose Nhlanhla two years later as substantive chief in violation of the law and Nguni practice and norms.

He said the move was followed by the "unlawful and unprecedented" appointment of Nhlanhla by Sithole in his capacity as Umguza DA, Dr Chombo and President Mugabe, as substantive chief. Thambo Joram said his family was of Nguni origin and he was the eldest son of the late chief, married with children, the eldest being 27-year-old Mhlambezi.

Thambo Joram said in terms of the law, appropriate persons in the community were supposed to be consulted.
"This was not done by those who appointed Nhlanhla. If anything, the appointment was done arbitrarily and unilaterally outside the parameters of the enabling statute," he said.

Joram said his younger brother Nhlanhla was the 11th born in a family of 12 and his appointment is an abomination in Nguni custom and culture as well as untenable legally.  "No lawful impediment exists against my appointment, failure to which my eldest son Mhlambezi is alive and fit to assume the chieftainship.  This is in accordance with our culture and customary traditions. It is not foul of any statute and does not offend our traditional systems. It is a system that has been in place for generations and generations and cannot be questioned by those who appointed Nhlanhla ," said Joram.

"For the record, the appropriate persons, being family members, were not consulted in the appointment process."
Joram said Nhlanhla's appointment was not done by the Ndiweni family in terms of Section 3 of the Traditional Leaders Act.

"In terms of the Nguni custom, a chief is appointed once all customs and rites have been followed and in consultation with the clan of Nhlambabaloyi. The family and community members were not interviewed and that renders the process defective," he said.

Having heard others speak on the claim to the chieftainship and Nguni custom it is clear that Nhlanhla Ndiweni is not the heir to the Ndiweni throne. King Bulelani  who assumed the position of Ndebele king should not recognize Nhlanhla Ndiweni as chief and neither should the people of Mthwakazi.  Nhlanhla is an illegitimate chief who carved his own chieftainship and charmed the masses with his acquired English accent. Nhlanhla is not worth marching for and not worth the chieftainship.

If you are a true Ndebele who is just and true to out customs and traditions as the Nguni then you will agree that Thambo Joram Ndiweni is the rightful Chief Ndiweni.  Nhlanhla is a Chombo and Mugabe puppet who needs to go and make way for the real heir to the throne.  

I stand with Thambo Joram Ndiweni the real heir to the Khayisa Ndiweni throne.