Opinion / Columnist
Ye three Kings of Southern Rhodesia: are we now ready for Mfecane in Mathebeleland?
14 Mar 2018 at 19:48hrs | Views
There are very genuine questions we have to ask the Nguni ethnic group their audacity to revive their Kingdoms here in Mthwakazi: the lands of the San populations from the Zambezi escarpment right down to the ocean shores of southern Africa Cape now newly called Cape Town? In a nutshell the entire southern cone belongs to us the peoples of San ethnic. When they saw northern tribes: blacks and white alike invading their spaces, they must have said okay; the lands are big enough to accommodate all of us. But because our history is oral, we are really not privy about the raw truth of history: what really transpired. Why were the San populations treated like second class peoples, despised by so many ethnic groups tried to decimate them from the map of southern Africa altogether.
There were many kingdoms that ruled Zululand in the 18th and 19th century. The Kings were of several groups such as the 'Khumalos, the Mthethwas, the Ndandwes and several other royal clans. When one reads the history books of early colonisation of southern Africa and also the Wikipedia, one notices already the distortion of facts about this nation called the Zulus of southern Africa. However it is true that there was a lot of mistrust among the Zulu kingdoms that were somehow related to well knitted each other. Mzilikazi who is the only chief that defeated Chaka the king did not feel safe again in Chaka's Zululand: Mzilikazi fled northwards, he had a combat encounter with Kingdom under Moshoeshoe. They were defeated in detail but the Zulus left havoc, plundering and killings behind them: the Basuthu and Batswana called them Matabele.
Dear reader you need to page back the article written by Emanuel Mdzimu Unami, one not so long ago, alluding to the factuality of the coronation of Ndebele kings in our lands. Reading the previous article will assist me never to repeat facts already mentioned eloquently before me. Comrade Emmanuel Mdzimu Unami asked questions that need answers by those who think they have the right to impose their kingdoms on us: not only one but three kings in a time space of 12 months.
When did the Nguni ethnic group leave Zululand how many of them were there? Guessed its 100 t0 300 strong soldiers and many cattle
Where did they get their wives from to make a sound Ndebele kingdom of Mzilikazi ka Matshobana whose number rose from 300 to 20,000 in 1893?
How many Nguni peoples are in Mthwakazi region? Guessed its 5% or even less
How did the Nguni incorporate other tribes they found after crossing Ngulukudela (now called Limpopo) in Mthwakazi: by cohesion or coercing? No guessing here bitter wars were fought and Mzilikazi won almost all the wars and took with them cattle, women and children who were then subjects of the Kingdom of the Ndebele people.
Was the intention initially to subjugate them into the Nguni tribe or to decimate them and they keep the lands that historically do not belong to them?
One of the ethnic groups that were supposed to be decimated were the Khoi-Khoi and San populations who resisted being subjects to the Zulu/Nguni ethnic groups. The reason why Mzilikazi hated the San population was that the San resisted vehemently to be conscripted into Mzilikazi armies to wage wars against the surrounding kingdoms. The men were pushed to the deserts and connected with other san populations that were already arid and desert dwellers. The San women and children, who were not so lucky, were abducted and overnight became subjects of the new arrivals, colonisers, settlers of black origin: the Zulus. Mzilikazi and his tribalistic outfit: ethnic people subdivided everyone under his rule into hierarchical: the royals: (the Ngunis) amahole la betshabi. This outfit still exist till today. Anyone who has a royal surname: Khumalo, Mthethwa, Dlamini, Dlodlo, Mafu, Mkhwananzi Gasa, look down at those "less" subjects, feel automatically better/superior than Ncube or Ndlovu, Moyo, Sibanda Ngwenya it goes on: the surname determines which royal hierarchy one belongs to, to this day in 2018. To say Mzilikazi was not a tribalist is wholly not true. Back then in those days: kusabusa u Mzilikazi tribalism was raw and openly rude.
Currently we have three kings in Mthwakazi: what is next?
The first question we should all ask ourselves is: was there an opinion poll done to determine if the entire peoples of "Mathebeleland wanted a King? Were they asked which king of which ethnic group was going to be the rightful Kingdom for all the peoples of "Mathebeleland" How does it happen that a population of 5% can just over night force feed us through our throats on three kings all that happening in 12 months. What was this rush to impose on us kings and not even one but three of them Khumalo ethnic group. Did the Ngunis fear an opinion poll that was going to reject the imposition of their Nguni king in this region, a king from a small margin of ethnic groups in the region.
Mfecane time: Mthwakazi does not seem to see the imminent danger in our midst! The three kings!
How are the three kings going to sort this already a big mess that can lead to internal fightings inside Mathebeleland itself without Zanu PF or the peoples of Mashonalands interfering into the conflicts? The serious and deadly conflicts are there for all to see, it's now a question of time, a conflict that can even dwarf war conflicts in South Sudan. U Mfecane is the war term the Zulu use to square up who can be king? In those days of Chaka and Mzilikazi and many other Kings and Chiefs, there was selling and counter-selling of one another to get the upper hand of either chiefdom or Kingdom. There was total mistrust of all of them chiefs and to-be kings then. It is not surprising that there are three kings in total conflict with one another in such a small place like Mthwakazi with a population of less than 4 million. This new development is a repeat of history of what it was during those days before Mzilikazi left Zululand going north. There will be combat action no very long in 2018 a repeat of how kingdom-clichés were solved. Iqhude elikhulu ngubani? Here in "Mathebeleland" there will be real fighting and internal displacements of communities that are still have not recovered from the Gugurahundi atrocities. Women and children will be the greatest casualties in all this potential mess before us. It is this small group of people of Nguni: (mostly men) tribe who will suck the entire western region of southern Rhodesia into serious political instability.
It is mostly the Nguni men pushing this agenda very hard because it serves them. The Ngunis in Mthwakazi have realized how innovative it is to have a monarch. All they need to do to demand royal taxies to 4 million people in Mathebeleland; they will have yearly tax returns of $4,000,000:00 tax free. You did not need to work again if there are revenues that can be generated without working. All the money will be shared among those dignitaries surrounding the royal Kraal.
Three kings and the cessation of Mthwakazi from Zimbabwe
Can the region be trusted with cessation and independence of separate state if already bitter lines of has been drawn that have the potential to destabilize the whole of southern Africa. I wonder still if the people of Mathebeleland see the danger we are in because of self imposing of kings on other ethnic groups without any opinion polls that will give them a clear mandate to have kingdom(s). I am nowhere provoking the peoples of Mathebeleland,, in retrospect the Nguni peoples are insensitive to many other ethnic groups in western Rhodesia. It is inconceivable how they can impose three kingdoms on us without any prior consultation by way of a slender survey in the region if the people wished for a Nguni Kingdom in the region.
We feel as people of this area that UDHLAKELA has been used all over again to subject us to a kingdom that does not belong to us rightfully. They imposed their kingdoms on us and not only one but three of them. We shall never remain silent on this time round in as much as we rejected the British Crown to reign over us. We reject the kingdoms from minority group to subject us on their traditions that have nothing to do with us. We feel we have assimilated enough of the Nguni culture and traditions. The Kalanga people have their culture and traditions, so are the Nambiya, the Sothos Tongas, Chewas, the Venda, the San peoples and, the ethnic groups and all of us in the region. For example, for argument sake we could reject it equally if the white population in Zimbabwe overnight declared that King Charles Winsor is now the bonfire King of Zimbabwe as Rhodesia was once a colony of Britain.
The best way forward is for the Nguni people to recognise their King Zwelithini of the Mthethwa ethnic group as the sole King of all the Nguni peoples in southern cone of Africa. They could make pilgrimages to see Nyambosi; bayekotha imililo lama langabi omlilo we nkosi u Nyambosi and bahabule imihabuliso relating to the rayal traditions of the Zulus, and come back to their place of birth that rightly belongs to them by birth: nobody will take their right of birth because they are of Zulu origin, those times have gone.
It is also very important to note that the name Ndebele is really imposed on us, we are Abathwa: the name Mthwakazi comes from the San population of this region. It is said that when Mzilikazi had made truce with Mambo (our history is indeed oral,) Mzilikazi asked King Mambo: What is the name of the place they found themselves in by name. Mambo because of his large wisdom: he told King Mzilikazi that the whole land is called Mthwakazi a name coming from the San Peoples who were called Abathwakazi: the original dwellers of the region. The rest of us peoples from this region are not Ndebele people by any stretch of imagination. Amatabele are of the Nguni peoples AND NOT THE ENTIRE ETHNIC GROUPS FOUND IN THIS REGION. The name they got from the Sothos and Tswanas under King Moshoeshoe the Second after a bitter mountainous war of the early 1800.
There were many kingdoms that ruled Zululand in the 18th and 19th century. The Kings were of several groups such as the 'Khumalos, the Mthethwas, the Ndandwes and several other royal clans. When one reads the history books of early colonisation of southern Africa and also the Wikipedia, one notices already the distortion of facts about this nation called the Zulus of southern Africa. However it is true that there was a lot of mistrust among the Zulu kingdoms that were somehow related to well knitted each other. Mzilikazi who is the only chief that defeated Chaka the king did not feel safe again in Chaka's Zululand: Mzilikazi fled northwards, he had a combat encounter with Kingdom under Moshoeshoe. They were defeated in detail but the Zulus left havoc, plundering and killings behind them: the Basuthu and Batswana called them Matabele.
Dear reader you need to page back the article written by Emanuel Mdzimu Unami, one not so long ago, alluding to the factuality of the coronation of Ndebele kings in our lands. Reading the previous article will assist me never to repeat facts already mentioned eloquently before me. Comrade Emmanuel Mdzimu Unami asked questions that need answers by those who think they have the right to impose their kingdoms on us: not only one but three kings in a time space of 12 months.
When did the Nguni ethnic group leave Zululand how many of them were there? Guessed its 100 t0 300 strong soldiers and many cattle
Where did they get their wives from to make a sound Ndebele kingdom of Mzilikazi ka Matshobana whose number rose from 300 to 20,000 in 1893?
How many Nguni peoples are in Mthwakazi region? Guessed its 5% or even less
How did the Nguni incorporate other tribes they found after crossing Ngulukudela (now called Limpopo) in Mthwakazi: by cohesion or coercing? No guessing here bitter wars were fought and Mzilikazi won almost all the wars and took with them cattle, women and children who were then subjects of the Kingdom of the Ndebele people.
Was the intention initially to subjugate them into the Nguni tribe or to decimate them and they keep the lands that historically do not belong to them?
One of the ethnic groups that were supposed to be decimated were the Khoi-Khoi and San populations who resisted being subjects to the Zulu/Nguni ethnic groups. The reason why Mzilikazi hated the San population was that the San resisted vehemently to be conscripted into Mzilikazi armies to wage wars against the surrounding kingdoms. The men were pushed to the deserts and connected with other san populations that were already arid and desert dwellers. The San women and children, who were not so lucky, were abducted and overnight became subjects of the new arrivals, colonisers, settlers of black origin: the Zulus. Mzilikazi and his tribalistic outfit: ethnic people subdivided everyone under his rule into hierarchical: the royals: (the Ngunis) amahole la betshabi. This outfit still exist till today. Anyone who has a royal surname: Khumalo, Mthethwa, Dlamini, Dlodlo, Mafu, Mkhwananzi Gasa, look down at those "less" subjects, feel automatically better/superior than Ncube or Ndlovu, Moyo, Sibanda Ngwenya it goes on: the surname determines which royal hierarchy one belongs to, to this day in 2018. To say Mzilikazi was not a tribalist is wholly not true. Back then in those days: kusabusa u Mzilikazi tribalism was raw and openly rude.
Currently we have three kings in Mthwakazi: what is next?
The first question we should all ask ourselves is: was there an opinion poll done to determine if the entire peoples of "Mathebeleland wanted a King? Were they asked which king of which ethnic group was going to be the rightful Kingdom for all the peoples of "Mathebeleland" How does it happen that a population of 5% can just over night force feed us through our throats on three kings all that happening in 12 months. What was this rush to impose on us kings and not even one but three of them Khumalo ethnic group. Did the Ngunis fear an opinion poll that was going to reject the imposition of their Nguni king in this region, a king from a small margin of ethnic groups in the region.
Mfecane time: Mthwakazi does not seem to see the imminent danger in our midst! The three kings!
How are the three kings going to sort this already a big mess that can lead to internal fightings inside Mathebeleland itself without Zanu PF or the peoples of Mashonalands interfering into the conflicts? The serious and deadly conflicts are there for all to see, it's now a question of time, a conflict that can even dwarf war conflicts in South Sudan. U Mfecane is the war term the Zulu use to square up who can be king? In those days of Chaka and Mzilikazi and many other Kings and Chiefs, there was selling and counter-selling of one another to get the upper hand of either chiefdom or Kingdom. There was total mistrust of all of them chiefs and to-be kings then. It is not surprising that there are three kings in total conflict with one another in such a small place like Mthwakazi with a population of less than 4 million. This new development is a repeat of history of what it was during those days before Mzilikazi left Zululand going north. There will be combat action no very long in 2018 a repeat of how kingdom-clichés were solved. Iqhude elikhulu ngubani? Here in "Mathebeleland" there will be real fighting and internal displacements of communities that are still have not recovered from the Gugurahundi atrocities. Women and children will be the greatest casualties in all this potential mess before us. It is this small group of people of Nguni: (mostly men) tribe who will suck the entire western region of southern Rhodesia into serious political instability.
It is mostly the Nguni men pushing this agenda very hard because it serves them. The Ngunis in Mthwakazi have realized how innovative it is to have a monarch. All they need to do to demand royal taxies to 4 million people in Mathebeleland; they will have yearly tax returns of $4,000,000:00 tax free. You did not need to work again if there are revenues that can be generated without working. All the money will be shared among those dignitaries surrounding the royal Kraal.
Three kings and the cessation of Mthwakazi from Zimbabwe
Can the region be trusted with cessation and independence of separate state if already bitter lines of has been drawn that have the potential to destabilize the whole of southern Africa. I wonder still if the people of Mathebeleland see the danger we are in because of self imposing of kings on other ethnic groups without any opinion polls that will give them a clear mandate to have kingdom(s). I am nowhere provoking the peoples of Mathebeleland,, in retrospect the Nguni peoples are insensitive to many other ethnic groups in western Rhodesia. It is inconceivable how they can impose three kingdoms on us without any prior consultation by way of a slender survey in the region if the people wished for a Nguni Kingdom in the region.
We feel as people of this area that UDHLAKELA has been used all over again to subject us to a kingdom that does not belong to us rightfully. They imposed their kingdoms on us and not only one but three of them. We shall never remain silent on this time round in as much as we rejected the British Crown to reign over us. We reject the kingdoms from minority group to subject us on their traditions that have nothing to do with us. We feel we have assimilated enough of the Nguni culture and traditions. The Kalanga people have their culture and traditions, so are the Nambiya, the Sothos Tongas, Chewas, the Venda, the San peoples and, the ethnic groups and all of us in the region. For example, for argument sake we could reject it equally if the white population in Zimbabwe overnight declared that King Charles Winsor is now the bonfire King of Zimbabwe as Rhodesia was once a colony of Britain.
The best way forward is for the Nguni people to recognise their King Zwelithini of the Mthethwa ethnic group as the sole King of all the Nguni peoples in southern cone of Africa. They could make pilgrimages to see Nyambosi; bayekotha imililo lama langabi omlilo we nkosi u Nyambosi and bahabule imihabuliso relating to the rayal traditions of the Zulus, and come back to their place of birth that rightly belongs to them by birth: nobody will take their right of birth because they are of Zulu origin, those times have gone.
It is also very important to note that the name Ndebele is really imposed on us, we are Abathwa: the name Mthwakazi comes from the San population of this region. It is said that when Mzilikazi had made truce with Mambo (our history is indeed oral,) Mzilikazi asked King Mambo: What is the name of the place they found themselves in by name. Mambo because of his large wisdom: he told King Mzilikazi that the whole land is called Mthwakazi a name coming from the San Peoples who were called Abathwakazi: the original dwellers of the region. The rest of us peoples from this region are not Ndebele people by any stretch of imagination. Amatabele are of the Nguni peoples AND NOT THE ENTIRE ETHNIC GROUPS FOUND IN THIS REGION. The name they got from the Sothos and Tswanas under King Moshoeshoe the Second after a bitter mountainous war of the early 1800.
Source - Nomazulu Thata
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
