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Matabeleland Was Never a Land of Shonas.
16 Dec 2016 at 03:38hrs | Views
A political commentator Petros Joseph Dube has said that Matabeleland was never at one point be a land of the Shona people and those who only view Mzilikazi and his group is the people who came into this country were misinformed.
He said its a pity some people believe that Mzilikazi violently seized the land that belonged to Shonas in his arrival.
"That is a fallacy , when Mzilikazi arrived to what is now Matabeleland and some parts of Midlands he didn't find any Shonas in that area but Bakalanga or Bukalanga Kingdom. There is absolutely no time in history when that land belonged to them," he said.
"Mzilikazi peaceful settled in what was then called Thaba zikaMambo which later became Ntaba Zinduna and negotiated with Bukalanga Mambos.Since there was no doubt Matebele was much stronger than Bukalanga Kingdom, they voluntarily accepted to be ruled by Mzilikazi KaMatshobane and all Bukalanga chiefs were replaced by Ezansi or Nguni chiefs.Hence we have Ndebele song that says."
" kwakubusa uMambo loMzilikazi ".
He said up to this very day Ndebele culture is full of Bukalanga cultural practices for instance in their traditional dance they have dance styles called idzugwa, ishabi and intshomane which are undoubtedly of Kalanga origins.
"On the contrary Shonas also accepted to pay tribute to King Mzilikazi but they didn't change their chieftaincies or leadership structure .They remained in their land, practised their cultures all they had to do was to pay annual tribute to the King," he said.
"My point is they should stop reclaiming what is not theirs, Matebeleland was never theirs."
He said its a pity some people believe that Mzilikazi violently seized the land that belonged to Shonas in his arrival.
"That is a fallacy , when Mzilikazi arrived to what is now Matabeleland and some parts of Midlands he didn't find any Shonas in that area but Bakalanga or Bukalanga Kingdom. There is absolutely no time in history when that land belonged to them," he said.
"Mzilikazi peaceful settled in what was then called Thaba zikaMambo which later became Ntaba Zinduna and negotiated with Bukalanga Mambos.Since there was no doubt Matebele was much stronger than Bukalanga Kingdom, they voluntarily accepted to be ruled by Mzilikazi KaMatshobane and all Bukalanga chiefs were replaced by Ezansi or Nguni chiefs.Hence we have Ndebele song that says."
He said up to this very day Ndebele culture is full of Bukalanga cultural practices for instance in their traditional dance they have dance styles called idzugwa, ishabi and intshomane which are undoubtedly of Kalanga origins.
"On the contrary Shonas also accepted to pay tribute to King Mzilikazi but they didn't change their chieftaincies or leadership structure .They remained in their land, practised their cultures all they had to do was to pay annual tribute to the King," he said.
"My point is they should stop reclaiming what is not theirs, Matebeleland was never theirs."
Source - Byo24News
