WHO ARE ABATHEMBU AND WHERE DO THEY COME FROM?

Written by E G Sihele
Councillor of the Thembu King of Roda

( Translated into English by )

(
)
N C TISANI

ii

MISSING

PAGES

67 -- 99
153 -- 178

Pages and Headings

Page
Introduction
Acknowledgement
3

Information obtained through research

Events and Biographies
Njanya

1307

Bomoyi

1517

of certain

men

The word, -Lim

5-6

Diomo, the son of Nxeko

10-12

Ndaba son of Zondwa

12

Ndaba at Rarabe's place

12-13

Ngubencuka (Vusani) son of Ndaba

Ama-Bhaca of Madikane

14
15-16

AmaNgwane of Matiwane in Thembuland

The Battle between amaNgwane and amaQwathi
Tshaka

in Thembuland?

The Battle between amaThembu

17
18-19
19-20

(sic) and amaNgwane

20-21

The arrival of Missionaries in 1030

21-22

Mshweshwe and Ngubengcuka

Ngubengcuka and Hintsa

23, 24A
24B, 25
25-26

The end of Ngubengcuka

26-27

Fadana as regent for Mtirara

28-31

Mtirara's reign
An agreement between the Government and Mtirara

31
32-33

Sarili and Mtirara

33-34

Mtirara at Xonxa and his death

34-35

AmaMpondomise at Hala's place

35-36

iv

The southward migration of Matiwane Myeki

36-37

Joyi's fight with Gqirana

38-41

(Mditshwa)

Joyi's sickness

41-42

The reign of Ngangelizwe

42-43

Novili's wedding

43

Emma, Sandile's daughter is sent by the

Government to Ngangelizwe

43-45

Ngangelizwe and Matanzima

45-47

Novili's Punishment

47-51

Ngangelizwe reaches an agreement with the Government

51

Nongxokozelo

51-54

Ngangelizwe submits to the Government

55-58

Ngangelizwe

becomes stable-minded

The War of Ngcayechibi

1877

Ngangelizwe and Siqungathi

Ngangelizwe and Mnqanqeni
Ngangelizwe during the War of the Guns

58-61
60-61
61-62
62
63-66

WHO ARE ABATHEMBU, WHERE

DO THEY COME

FROM?

Written by E G Sihele
(Councillor of the Thembu King of Roda)
INTRODUCTION
The writing of this record first began in 1933, when Mr Mbombini,
who was a councillor of Falo Mgudiwa wished to know which was my
favourite newspaper.
My reply was; "I at times read Imvo ZabaNtsundu, though I have
not done so of late."
In his surprise he asked; "Do you mean to tell me that you are
living in darkness like me, an illiterate man, who relies on the
kindness of those who are ready to share some news with me?" He
continued;
"That is bad. Please go and get me a paper which you will read
to me. I would like to hear more about the famine that has been
talked about lately, as well as the problem facing Parliament."
I bought him a Bloemfontein paper called Friend.

This is the

paper that used to be read by the shop-keeper at Zithapile, at

Herschel among amaHlubi, where I once stayed.

Having come back

with the paper, I read to the old man.

One day he enquired; "By the way who is Jumba's father?" I could
not give an answer. He went on to say; "The fault with educated
people is that they are not able to retain anything in memory
unless it has been put down in writing." He then said/ "Take

your pen and record what/ever I shall be telling you."

When I picked up my pen I thought I was going to be told about
Jumba's genealogy, and yet the old man was going to be narrating
about

the history and the life of abaThembu

(ubuThembu).

Thembuism

That kept us occupied until the day the old man

returned home in Thembuland.

He exhorted me to keep a record of the stories so that they might
be preserved, he further advised me to contact Chief Falo, on
arriving at home, so that I could hear more about events which he
had personally been involved in, and those which he had been told
by Chief Mgudlwa and his father, Jumba. In addition, there were
those councillors who were always at the Great Place (Komkhulu)
where national affairs were discussed, analysed and planned.
During those days it was only a stupid man who could not give an
account of the events of his manhood.
This fellow was amazing in that he could relate an event long
after it had happened. Because of that special gift some would
accuse him of having supernatural powers, stopping short of
saying he was a witch (unomshologu). We cannot forget to mention
the fact that the said gentleman was also a gifted poet, he was a
recognised national poet (imbongi).
Since that day I have had a burning desire , to fulfil my Father's
wish although I was rather hesitant on the issue of writing a
book because Chief Isaac Bobo Mgudlwa had already told me that
Chief Jongilizwe, father of Jonguhlanga, had already asked him
(Mgudlwa) together with Chief Silimela a mThembu that he should

write a book on the history of abaThembu.

When I arrived at home I went to see Chief Isaac Mgudlwa. We
discussed this matter at length and the Chief ended by thanking
me warmly for this noble (beautiful) idea, the idea of writing
the history of our people. Even Chief Harold Guleni Mgudlwa was
encouraging, and he advised me about history books that could be
useful, so saying he let me have his.
It is through such efforts, my friends, that I present to you
this history of abaThembu, at the same time realising that the
history itself is much wider than what I have achieved because it
needs more time and an active mind. Again I realise that a
number of people have written on some aspects of the history of
abaThembu. Reverend J H Soga's book on the nations from the east
was particularly encouraging. We observed that in his narration
there are certain aspects which differ from the history of
abaThembu as you will notice when you read this record.
Writing a historical record is not an easy task because of the
following:
(1)

The record is not for the writer

(2)

Nor is it for the reader, but for future generations.

Most people fail to realise this. The problem with history is

that you have to tell all even though that may be galling to you.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the following friends,
in my research and enquiry on some of the historical events, many
of which had already been lost:

1.

Chief Falo Mgudlwa

2.

Isaac Mgudlwa

3.

Bungane Mgudlwa

4.

Bhokleni Langa of amaQwathi

5.

George Mnyande of amaQwathi at Mnyolo

6.

Dickson Mbekeni of Mgwali of Ngubencuka

7.

Harold Gubeni Mgudlwa

8.

Doctor D D T Jabavu who encouraged and referred me to

relevant books

9.

Mbombimi M Sihele, who really is the backbone in the

writing of this book, and who had a lot of information
which made our research much easier.

10.

Miss Tembeka Nomtandazo Mxutu who served as a recording

secretary.

Here are the books and newspapers that were helpful sources to me:
1.

Imvo ZabaNtsundu of 2/2/1926 about the life of Gqwetha Poswayo.

2.

Daily Dispatch of 1/12/47 No Xi. Background of to-day by Una

Long, field-worker in Historical Research, Rhodes University
College.

3.

Umthunywa Nos 7-8: Early Footsteps by the Umtata River, by Rev

Basil Holt, MA PB.

4.

Olden Times in Natal by A T Bryant.

5.

History of the Basuto, Ancient and Modern by D Fred Ellenberger

V D M.

6.

Ama-Mpondo: Ibali neNtlalo, by Victor Poto Ndamase

7.

South African Native Policy, by E H Brookes

8.

Amabali emfazwe zakwa Xhosa, by B J Ross

9.

Ityala lamaWele, by S E K Mqhayi

10.

Zemk'inkomo Magwala ndini by Dr

11.

The South Eastern Bantu, by J H Soya

12.

The Ama Xhosa Life and Custom, by J H Soga

13.

Intlalo Ka Xhosa, by T B Saga

14.

The Autobiography of Major Hook, by Major Hook

15.

Lovedale South Africa, by Rev H W Shepherd, D Litt

16.

UMqhayi waseNtabozuko by S E K Mqhayi

17.

uManyano lukaNtu lommandla waseKapa, by Mr M Pelem in 1919

18.

All Saints Parish, by Rev Brownlee

19.

The Study of South African Society by Godfrey Wilson and

Monica Hunter

20.

uTshaka, by J B Ross

21.

Black and White in South East Africa, by Maurice Evans, MG

B Rubusana

The Government Commission on Native Life and Customs in 1880-83

23.

The South African Native Affairs Commission, 1903-05 Volumes 1-5

24.

The Black Man's Burden, by John Burger

25.

Education Commission in East Africa, by Thomas Gease Jones,

PhD 1924

26.

Kuphilwa Phi! by Benjamin A Bangeni

27.

Compendium of Kafir Laws and Customs by Colonel Maclean CB

28.

Amanqakwana ngeminombo yezizwe zaseMbo, by K K Ncwana

29.

Ibali labaThembu, by W D Cingo

30.

History of South Africa, by Dr G McCall Theal

(a) Vol I 1652-1795,
(b) Vol II since 1795-1872
(c) Vol III before 1795 (d) Vol 10

31.

Maynier and the First Boer Republic, by J S Marais

32.

The Settlers and Methodism, 1820-1920

33.

Christian Students and Modern South Africa

34.

Settlers and Methodism - Eveleigh

The Story of Methodist Union in South Africa

36.

Methodist Missionaries by Gordon Mears, D Litt

37.

Methodist Missionary Society - 1836

38.

The Spread of Christianity and Civilisation in the Transkei

by Anglican Africans, Missionaries, Government Officials and
Traders

39.

Great Men and Great Deeds, by Mary W Waters

40.

Three Hundred Years - A History of South Africa, by Mnguni

41.

Reminiscences of Kafir Life and History, by the late Hon

Charles
Brownlee

42.

Izibongo zeeNkosi zama-Xhosa Zabuy'iindlezan'entlazaneni, by

Yali Manisi

43.

Amavo

44.

The Bantu Tribes of South Africa by A M Duggan

45.

Social Organisation and Ceremonial Institutions of the

Bomvanas, by P A W Cook, MA B Ed

46.

The Transkeian Natives Territories Historical Records, by

Frank Brownlee

47.

The Bantu Tribes of South Africa, by N J van Warmelo and W G

Bennie

48.

Correspondence of Lieut-General the Hon Sir G Cathcart

49.

uMshweshwe - by H M Ndawo

50.

Imibengo - by W G Bennie BA

51.

Jolobe

Clarkeburg Centenary, by Rev C Harris

52.

The Magistrate D S Stofile who has been of great help in the

research for genealogy

53.

Dr Mbekeni was equally of help as well.

WHO ARE ABATHEMBU, WHERE DO

THEY COME

FROM?

Obtained through Research

Intensive research shows that abaThembu are one of the nations
that come from central Africa. It is clear that they had been
independent long before the White man came to this country.
AbaThembu were the first to migrate prior to other black nations
that come from the centre of this (sic) Africa. They lived for a
long time in that area now occupied by amaBhaca. To confirm this
point one will notice that a large number of their place names
are similar to those of Thembuland. Even the place where they
are settled today, they have occupied for ages as we shall notice
as the story unfolds.
Isaac Mgudlwa tells us that Nkahla, his father's eloquent
councillor, on being asked about the origin of abaThembu, would
reply as follows: "They were created by God." It is true they
were really created by God; but these days such a statement does
not make sense.

It is Zwide who is well known among all Black

nations. Even Nkala would trace (the genealogy) as far as him

(Zwide), where the ancestor-praises (unqulo) of all the Ntuspeaking nations come to an end.
No one has ever written a history that goes beyond Zwide, all
that historical information was kept in the minds of the senior
citizens who had a strong love for the history of the nation.
During the days of yore they would gather at the great-place and
exchange ideas.

In those days there was no such thing as

employment as is the case today.

People lived on cattle-keeping

and hunting. That meant that a nation had to settle in one place
so that it could defend itself against another nation which would
attack while raiding for cattle.
The Reverend Rubusana in his book also ends with this Zwide of
Nkahla.

Read his book, which is about the history of abaThembu,

r''`' in page 282.

Anyway he has not delved into the matter as

Reverend J H Soga has done who makes mention of such figures like
Sithole and Mvelase.
Thembu.

Even Reverend Soga merely goes as far as

According to his version, abaThembu are the descendants

of Thembu, and he does not go beyond that. Read for yourself in

Cles

his book in page 466.

I therefore

wish that the reader should take note of the

difference between my version and that of Reverend Soga.

Our

people are of the mind that the reverend gentleman's book is the
best on the history of the nations of the East. Yet there are
certain points

in

the reverend gentleman's history of abaThembu

that are far from satisfactory, in addition it is clear that his

knowledge of the nations was limited.

I for one would like to

correct those mistakes that pertain to abaThembu.

(1%

Chief Victor Poto in his book "The History of amaMponda has this
to say: "(sic)

The first chief of amaMpondo who can still be

remembered as far back as possible is Sibiside father of

Dlemini, who in turn begets Njanya, from whom amaMpondomise,
amaXesibe and amaQwathi come."
Ours is to pay special attention to this Njanya, although the
chief and the Reverend Rubusana differ greatly, but they do agree

with the Reverend J H Soga on Njanya. Under those circumstances,

we shall take Chief Poto's version on amaMpondo as being the most
forthright and outstanding. We too an our part shall try to find
where we meet with the lineage of amaMpondo.
Mr W D Cingo in his book on the history abaThembu does mention
Zwide, Mbulali and Njanya. We differ when he traces the lineage
of aba-Thembu.

But, old chap, half a loaf is better than no

bread. We are greatly indebted to Nyawuza. Compare the lineage

of abaThembu in this version, with the one in W D Cingo's book,
you will then see the difference.

The well-known historian, Doctor Theal in Vol III, page 157, when
writing about the Xhosa lineage ends up with Ngconde. He is of
no help to us because he does not pass on to Njanya and then to
Zwide

in whom we are interested. Even the Doctor, just like

Reverend J H Saga, merely goes as far as Thembu on the Thembu

lineage, he goes no farther.
It is the Reverend B Warner whose version on the genealogy of
aba-Thembu is almost similar to mine.
Mbulali, Malandela, Njanya etc.
does not even have Dlomo.
Customs," in page 169.

He does mention Zwide,

Somewhere we part, because he

Read "Compendium of Kaffir Laws and

We shall make use of his ideas as we

search for the Zwide we are after.

Magistrate Stanford, when trying to draw up the genealogy of
abaThembu in the report of the Commission on Native Life and
Customs in 1880-83,

Cv

page 412, fails dismally.

It will be a

10

waste of time to refer to Messrs Gladwin and Driver, who also

draw up their genealogies that appear in page 412 in the same
report of the Commission on Native Life and Customs. The reason
why we bother to mention these people is because they also have
put something on record, having obtained information at the time
when there still were oral historians who were keen to share the
information they had.

There is only one reason why they did not

hear the whole truth, it is that people were reluctant to take a

European into confidence.

To mislead a European was regarded as

proper and amusing. Up to this point in time, all researchers

relying on tradition, have failed to uncover who Zwide's father
was. When we come up to him, we fall back on Nkahla, saying: "He
was created by God." "He was created by God." We, on the other
hand, are reconciled to the fact that Blacks can go back that
far, not further, in remembering and knowing the names of his
forebears.

It is clear therefore that we (abaThembu) broke off from the rest

of the Black people with Zwide who left the people in central
Africa, where they still are even today. Zwide's progeny split
and divided as it moved southwards along the seaboard, with their
herds of cattle, in search of livelihood.

AbaThembu broke off

from Zwide's descendants when they moved ahead.

At this point we'll notice that the majority of nations split
during Njanya's time. For that reasons let us make Njanya to be
our starting point (as the person from whom we originated).
According to our version Njanya is the son of Mbulali.

And yet

11

J P

Soga contends it is Sibiside.

Let's accept that one as

well. It may so happen that Sibiside's other name was Mbulali,

because both amaXhosa and abaThembu agree that formerly they were
one (nation), they only split because of wars and hunting.
The saying that: "Experience is the best teacher," is applicable
here, and for that reason, we accept what the sage Rubusana has
to say: "Njanya begot Malandela, the first born, followed by
Malangela." Again I wish to quote Vethe, the son of Mziziba, a
sage, and an expert in the history of the Mpondomise wars, who
says that they origi-nated from Malangana or Malangela already
mentioned of Njanya I am further confused, when he says:
"Malangela begot Njanya, instead of saying Njanya begot
Malangela. That comes as no surprise to oral historians, because
sometimes the people forget. It may so happen that that was the
case with our forebears. For that reason, we present this
genealogy after a painstaking research from people and books in
order to obtain the true Thembu genealogy.
If we follow David's observation about the life span of man, a
person is meant to live for seventy years, or because of good
health he may make it to eighty years, with a lot of difficulty
and pain. If then we give each person a life span of thirty-five
years (35), we may roughly calculate that the Zwide we are
talking about lived in this country roundabout 1237 after the
death of our Lord Jesus Christ (sic). The reader should
understand clearly that our Zwide has nothing to do with Zwide of
Langa, a Ndwandwe, from Natal. That one belongs to a nation that
was once mighty in Natal.

12

EVENTS AND BIOGRAPHIES OF CERTAIN MEN

NJANYA 1307
According to the Reverend Rubusana in his book "Zemk'imkomo
Magwalandini", in page 281, you'll notice that Malandela is the
first born, then Malangela comes after him. At this juncture we
wish to clarify the fact that abaThembu are senior to amaXhosa
by birth because they (abaThembu) are the descendants of
Malandela.

BOMOYI 1517
It is said that when Bomoyi died/ he left two sons, Zima who was
already a man, and Ntande the one from the great house (wendlu
enkulu) who was still a boy. When it was time for Ntande to take
over as ruler, Zima refused to vacate the throne, to everybody's
surprise. The chief councillors pointed out that there was no
sense in thrusting aside someone known to them, for a stranger
just because he happened to be the heir to the throne!

They

insisted that they were only interested in someone who was

experienced in exercising power.

In accordance with tradition,

Ntande's uncles would not agree to such an arrangement,

complaining that refusal to hand over power was contrary to
custom and it was being encouraged by people who had lost their
senses.

A majority of people sided with Zima.

crisis.

There was no one who was prepared to stand publicly for

That was a real

the truth.
In the midst of all that confusion there came a stranger from
Mbo, a gentleman with a smooth tongue though he could not master

13

the

language of abaThembu well.

This foreigner arrived,

pretending to be a doctor (ixhwele) at Ntande's great place.

really had supernatural powers.

He

He was heard saying: "This is

just a trifling matter which I can settle if only you can give me
some cattle in return". He was encouraged to get on with the
business. Then he said: "People at Mbo do not play games anymore
by fighting with sharpened sticks, instead iron weapons are used,
a weapon made of iron is very effective.

It penetrates into a

man easily."
When the people wanted to know where they could get a smith who
could forge such weapons, he replied: "That is why I'm asking you
to give me cattle, my home, where there is an ironsmith is some
distance away." He was encouraged to fetch the ironsmith, and he
would then be given cattle on his return.

The stranger duly

left. Then one day he re-turned together with Khume and Nune of
the Xesibe clan, with their councillors, besides the usual
entourage which normally accompanies the traditional doctor.
They introduced themselves as traditional doctors who went about
healing the sick. They were then invited to Ntande's homestead,
with Ntande playing sick. It is said that the most senior of the
doctors requested to have a hut specially set aside for him
alone, so that he could find time to talk with his medium spirits
from time to time. Because it was the chief himself who was
physically indisposed, he (the doctor) forbade anyone from
entering the cattle kraal during the day except himself and his
initiates.

In addition, the kraal in which the doctor was going

to be working, in a bid to cure the chief, had to be fenced in in

14

a most secure manner.

All these instructions were carried out at Ntande's homestead
without anyone daring to oppose the doctor from Mbo. During
those days traditional doctors from Mbo were held in awe because
of their magic.
Soon, our friend was through with making the weapons. He began
by teaching the young man how to throw a spear, to stab and how
to break into the cattle kraal at night, the very kraal that had
been declared to be out of bounds to people, rumour was further
spread that anyone who did enter the kraal without proper
medication (immuned), he would die instantly. The fencing had
been constructed for a day when special ceremonies would be
conducted right inside where beer would be served, a sacrifice be
made to the ancestors accompanied by pleas that they should endow
all with peace and quiet.
Then one day Khuma ordered that ceremonial beer be prepared and
that all kinsmen should be in attendance.

Zim, as head of the

family, was called to come and lead the ceremonies. On his

arrival everybody was invited into the kraal where beer and
sacrificial meat was to be consumed in accordance with custom.
All along weapons were hidden among the bushes.

As for Khuma,

the respected doctor, he could not hold himself with excitement.

All of a sudden, someone heard Mayemane, a well-known cow,
lowing. Some people started wondering why Mayemane was lowing.
Others, in disbelief asked: "What would Mayemane want here? Let

15

us continue drinking, chaps, Mayemane is miles away? By the way,

Mayemane was Zim's cow.
To everybody's surprise all the cattle arrived at the homestead.
At the same time the young men surrounded the kraal ready to deal
with anyone who attempted to escape. Inside the kraal Khuma went
straight for Zim, stabbed and killed him instantly. All hell
broke loose, with the poor defenceless people being killed
mercilessly. By the way, in accordance with the doctor's orders,
people had had to leave all kinds of weapons outside, before
entering the kraal.

The few who escaped were saved by their

ancestral spirits (yiminyanya yakomawabo). All Zim's followers

were thus expelled from the land of abaThembu. That is how Chief
Zim met his end, and Ntande was then able to take his rightful
place.
When it was time to divide the spoils Khuma was invited to choose
any cow he fancied. Without much ado Khuma went for Mayemane.
That meant the end of Zim's property.

16

THE WORD ZIM

It is not clear whether this word (zim) came into use since that
historic day. During those days the world was a beautiful place.
The huts were built in traditional architecture, with walls made
up of intertwined sticks and then plastered with mortar, with
thatched roofs. Because of the lowness of the huts, snakes could
easily crawl in. For some reason snakes frequented a place where
a nursing mother was. Fortunately no matter how vicious a snake
was, it would never bite a nursing mother. It simply lay, as if
dazed, in her presence, a snake would appear completely drugged
if a nursing mother squirted her breasts in its direction.
Because of such a queer relationship between snakes and nursing
mothers, women were accused of bewitching people by using snakes.
When a woman was "smelt-out" ,
she would then flee and join the
refugees living in the forest, in that way saving herself from
certain death. Children would be kidnapped for two reasons. The
first one was to eat them, and the second one was to take them to
their parents.

For that reason neither a child nor a woman was

allowed to wonder about at night.

The men who lived in the

forest would snatch him/her, thrust a piece of cabbage-wood* into

his/her mouth, and then take him/her away. A child who
misbehaved would be threatened that he would be thrown outside to
be eaten by the giants or amazimhlahlazo (amaZim).
When peace was restored amaZima (Zim's followers) later returned
and led a normal life. They were skilled and wealthy people
among ama-Thembu. That is Bomoyi's family.
* Probably to gag the victim - Translator's note.

17

DLOMO. THE
SON Hlanga
OF NXEKWA
ORMpondo
NXEKO woman of the Mqiha clan, and
Nxekwa
begets
by a
begets Dlomo who is the eldest in another house (another wife) as
well as Balisa and Ndungwana, twins, in the third house.

All

these women had not been classified into different ranks

according to tradition. But it was clear that Hlanga, whose
mother was a princess, was most likely to be the royal successor.
Nxekwa had a queer habit of sharing his bedroom with calves,
which by the way was the room of Dlomo's mother. Nxekwa was told
that it was high time the different houses were classified into
ranks so that his sons would be able to know how to address and
salute one another, also the future chief had to be known.
Ntande's son replied: "How many times must this home be
classified, didn't my father's cattle do that when they were
sharing a bedroom with me?"
Clearly, competition was tough among the wives over looking after
cattle and caring for calves. The issue remained unsolved, with
the four sons all grown-up men. But real competition was between
Hianga and Dlomo, and there was a possibility of trouble because
Dlomo was more popular with the people.

AbaThembu continued to

be unhappy about the state of affairs. They said: "Let the

daughters then be given their positions according to their
ranks." Nxekwa adamantly refused, and the people gave up.
In the past the huts of the homestead would be built close to
each other because of the dense vegetation. Then Nxekwa began to
divide the stock each house was allocated a kraal of its own.

18

Just at that time amaMfene came asking to be incorporated into the

Thembu nation.
been accepted.

They were duly received after their tribute had

Ndungwana was instructed to allocate sites to

them.
Ndungwana never returned from his mission, instead he remained
with the strangers, enjoying all the respect that was accorded
him, and he installed himself as their chief. He completely
forgot that when he left home the question of seniority had not
been sorted out. Whenever Dlomo slaughtered a beast, he would
send inxaxheba* to Ndungwane (sic), the junior twin, and then it
would be inxaxheba of Hlanga's beast that would be sent to
Balisa.
One day beasts were slaughtered in the homes of both Dlomo and
Hlanga.

Cooked meat was soon ready at Hlanga's home and people

were served.

Then people proceeded to Dlomo's home. Even there

people were served.

Then Dlomo decided to share his meat

(waqomela) with Welangaye, a maiden who was resident at the Great

Place, belonging to the Mpemvu clan.

The maiden burst out in

praises: "Dlomomdlanga! Sokhawulele! You who installed himself

before such an honour was bestowed upon you.

I very well knew

that since you were having a feast in your homestead even

nonentities like us, poor orphans, would be fully fed."
saying, she left, shedding tears of joy.

So

As she resumed her

seat, the rest of the womenfolk, filled with jealousy, grumbled

in protest, asking who she was to be given so much meat.

Some

*Inxaxheba is the right hindquarter of a slaughtered animal sent

by a senior chief to a junior - Translator's note.

19

women started throwing insulting and belittling remarks at her,

while others simply continued to enjoy the feast.
As the incident had caused unhappiness among the women, the
situation was worse among the men in the kraal.

The men started

asking one another about the remarks of the maiden. Even there,
some men started passing derogatory remarks, forgetting that some
men will not tolerate a situation where someone speaks badly
about their chief.

Others could not take it any more, they

simply attacked those who openly sang praises of Dlomo.

was cast!

The die

Hlanga and Balisa's adherents easily drove back a

handful of Dlomo's followers, who had to sleep out in the open.

Then Nxekwa sent for Ndungwana who duly arrived accompanied by
amaMfene.

On seeing corpses lying all over, Ndungwana wanted an

explanation for that. Nxekwa replied: "Your elder brothers have

been killing each other, they would not listen to me. They fell
on Dlomo because of a joke passed by a woman, I could not pacify
them.

I blame Balisa in particular for stoking the fire, and I

hope his fingers will be burnt in the process.

Why would he

continue fighting Dlomo even though I was urging him not to?
The old man was obviously moved and he wept bitterly. Ndungwana,
at a loss, tried to calm down his father. When the old man was
composed he proceeded to ask: "And what are you going to do in
all this?" The reply was: "Father, Hlanga and Balisa do not care
for me.

They never share any of their possessions with me.

have no option but to support Dlomo, I'll fall where he falls or

flee to whatever place he shall seek refuge in should we be

20

defeated."
Nxekwa then replied: "You go and fetch him then, my son, may your
ancestors guide you and protect you, for if you are successful
today, you and Dlomo have a bright future."
Ndungwana and Dlomo met, the latter and his councillors were
still stunned. When Dlomo had related all, he (Ndungwana) called
out: "Arise!" Fortunately he was with his men of Suthu origin,
amaMfene.

They set out to attack.

The skirmish did not last

long. Hlanga's followers were forced to flee. Because the bone

of contention was succession to the throne, it was generally
said: "They must be expelled completely from this country!"
Balisa on his part was dead. It was Hlanga and his followers who
were pursued all the way to his mother's place, Mqihazana, that
is the reason amaQihala of Hlanga are referred to as the
Mqihazana's cattle.
Consequently, Dlomo remained the ruling force among abaThembu
together with his younger brother Ndungwana up till today. Dlomo
was reputed to be generous, quick-witted, and fearless, features
that helped him obtain a position which at one time seemed
unattainable.
of

really helped him was that he was the apple

What

his father's eye,

Biblical
mother,

him.

The

father

and

your

your days may be long in the land which

the

Lord

teaching
that

his mother was equally fond of

which

goes,

"Honour your

your God gives you", was without any doubt fulfilled that day.

21

NDABA, SON OF ZONDWA

Zondwa was the first born of Tato. Unfortunately Zondwa was

inflicted by a disease and he died while Tato was still alive,
living sons whose mothers had not been classified into rank.
Just at that time Rarabe, the son of Phalo came to condole them
on their bereavement. Rarabe's mother was a Mthembu (sic), while
Rarabe himself had married a Ndungwana girl, thus he was closely
related to abaThembu.
After comforting the family, Tato and Rarabe began to converse
about other things. Rarabe then asked Tato: "Tell me, my lord,
of these sons of the deceased, which one will become a chief?"
Tato replied: "The family has not been classified into rank: but
it should be the one with a M-Egebe mother were it not for the
fact that he is very naughty." Rarabe: "0 yes that one is the
chief.

He is still being childish, which also is a good sign of

bravery, he shall soon outgrow all that.

I offer to bring my

daughter to him." Rarabe departed soon after that conversation.

Ndaba was truly installed as Tato's eldest son, with a M-Egebe
mother.

say that the man was wild, athletic, mischievous

and in no position to build a nation.

That eventually was the

reason for his expulsion from his country. Rarabe did send his
daughter, Bede, when she was of age, and she became the accepted
or recognised wife.
Even in former times there were unfortunate incidents which
caused a lot of misunderstanding.

One day Ndaba sent for the

22

Ndungwana girls: that was a popular custom in those days. But

those nations that were under his rule, especially amaQwathi,
detested it.
AmaNdungwana who were opposed to the abhorrent custom appealed to
Rarabe for help against Ndaba because they did not have enough
people to put up a fight against a powerful chief like Ndaba.
Ndaba was subsequently defeated by the armies of amaNdumgwana and
Rarabe.

Ndaba fled to Gcalekaland.

headquarters were at Zeleni.

At that time Gcaleka's

Ndaba with Rarabe's daughter put

himself under the protection of Gcaleka.

flight,

At the time of his

the whole territory along the sea at

Willowvale

stretching to Centani was under the rule of abaThembu, amaQiya or

AmaQiha.

On his way to Gcaleka's place Ndaba traversed the area

belonging to them (amaQiya).

But he could not stay with that

group of abaThembu because he had no cattle, besides he could not

submit to his younger brothers. Ntlanzi took over as ruler
during the absence of Ndaba who had had to flee because he lacked
diplomacy.
When Rarabe heard that his son-in-law, who had married his
beloved daughter, had sought refuge at Gcaleka's place, he was
moved with pity.

Rarabe was particularly hurt by the fact that

Ndaba had fled to Gcaleka.

He sent messengers inviting him

(Ndaba) to join him (Rarabe) at his place because he had forgiven

him.

Ndaba was thrilled by the invitation because he believed

that he would be happier with his in-laws.

4 ./

He then proceeded to

submit himself to Rarabe who at that time resided on the other

_
-r -

23

been confiscated from Ndaba were given back to him.

Now that I have come this far with my narration, I wish to move
on to a controversial issue nowadays, the issue of the land of
abaThembu. The crux of the matter is to determine -where the
boundary was at that time.
The Reverend Doctor George McCall Theal, in Vol III, relating
about events that took place before 1795, in page 146 says: "When
amaXhosa crossed the Kei, and were on the eastern side (sic).
AbaThembu cultivated the whole area west of the Kei during the
0"
time of Ndaba".
Again the Reverend gentleman in page 140
proceeds: "AbaThembu claim that they prece ded amaXhosa in coming
to the country which they now occupy.

That is hard to believe

because there is nothing to confirm such a claim."

The Reverend Soga also confirms this observation.

We again have

differences of opinion on this issue. He claims that Sikhoma

(sic) reigned roundabout 1660-1670 and he died at Ntabankulu.
Reverend J H Soga makes this claim in his book "Intlalo
yakwaXhosa" (sic) in page 18.
been in Thembuland.

At that time, abaThembu had long

He further admits this point in the book

entitled "The South Eastern Bantu" in page 469. In that book he

has this to say, "Nxeko or Nxekwa resided there before 1600, and
he died at Msana, a tributary of Mbashe River.
If the Reverend gentleman had compared his own writings, he would
have realised that if Sikhomo was at Ntabankulu when Nxeko was at
Msana, he was in a way confirming a claim made by abaThembu that
amaXhosa

only followed in their tracks in the

southward

24

migration, and that they (abaThembu) gave them a passage along

the sea until they crossed the Kei, thereupon abaThembu started
cultivating their land once amaXhosa had passed by.

That is

exactly the reason why it was easy for Ndaba to flee to Gcaleka's
place.

25

NDABA AT RARABE'S PLACE

One day Rarabe contracted a fever.

During those days no one

could just catch an illness without a particular reason.

The

people then set out to consult the doctors and specialists (those
who know) as to the cause of the sickness.

The doctor enquired:

"Where have you ever seen Kings staying together?

One must be

adversely affected by the presence of the other." Then Rarabe's

people started designing ways of disposing of Ndaba. In the
meantime other members of the royal family were continually
afflicted with sickness, and the doctors were generally all
agreed on the cause.

That was an insurmountable problem.

The

councillors, having met in camera decided to get rid of Ndaba

secretly.

The problem was how such a task could be carried out

considering that he was always surrounded by councillors.

Then one day, to everybody's surprise, Ndaba's ox went straight

to Bede, Ndaba's wife.

It started licking her whole body while

she stood dazed with shock. Even with that incident it was felt
that only the doctors could unravel its meaning. It was the turn
of abaThembu to set out to consult a highly skilled doctor
interpreting the mystery that had brought them. By the time they
were finally seated, the doctor had skillfully analysed and
diagnosed their troubles. All were dumbfounded. They could only
say: "what exactly is the cause of this mystery, doctor?"

* Some doctors were said to have supernatural spirits or spirit

mediums that could help them diagnose sickness or interpret
incidents - Translator's note.

26

The doctor answered: "Oh leave me alone you people, you do know.
Have two horns ever existed side by side without sharing the same
head? Exactly what are you trying to cure? Please go back to
your country, otherwise your chief will die."
Thereafter Ndaba was disgracefully ill-treated by amaXhosa. Bede
advised that they escape, having got wind of the fact that a plot
was being hatched against Ndaba, her husband.

Messengers were

sent to Fubu asking him to please fetch the chief.

Fubu in turn

notified Ntlanzi about messengers from Ndaba and the latter's

ctee
request to be fetched.
Ntlanzi conceded to the request, and he
sent messengers to join Fubu's (messengers) in the mission to
steal Ndaba. Among the messengers there were Gamagama, Mbangula,
Mcubeni and Msindindi a mQwathi together with Fubu himself. When
they got near the Hoho forest, Fubu sent the afore-mentioned
messengers to go and acquaint Ndaba about the arrival of Fubu and
other abaThembu for the purpose of fetching him, he (Ndaba) had
to find his way to the forest secretly.
The next step was to try and help the rest of the family escape.
Then one day people noticed that Madame Ndaba's hut was on fire,
a sure sign that people had moved (left).

When Ndaba joined

Fubu, both men were thrilled. Young men were then sent out to
fetch cattle from one of Rarabe's cattle-stations, so that the
royal family could be fed well during their travels.
It was extremely cold, which condition was aggravated by winter
rains; nevertheless they were not in want of food as they
slaughtered cattle and they also had plenty of amasi. Eventually

27

they arrived at home.

Fubu placed Ndaba at Zigubudwini where he

(Fubu) built him a kraal.

Then he asked each Qwathi man to

donate cattle to the royal kraal.

That made Ndaba to come to

possess a large herd of cattle within a day.

Ntlanzi who had been regent during Ndaba's absence abdicated.
They say Rarabe was greatly disturbed by Ndaba's lack of
gratitude; worse still that on his departure, he should snatch a
large herd of cattle!

Rarabe then ordered that his cattle must

be fetched from Thembuland.

He was also informed that the great

place at Zigubudwini was teeming with cattle.

Rarabe started in

the territory occupied by amaQwathi to collect any cattle he came

across. That resulted in the outbreak of hostilities between
Fubu and Rarabe at Nxogi. On that day Rarabe himself was stamped
on (killed), and he lies buried across Xuka river, up to this
day.

Then abaThembu fell on the rest of amaXhosa wanting to

drive them out completely from their territory.

When they were

at Luhewini, Mlawu the eldest son of Rarabe, was fatally wounded.

A large number of Xhosa men remained (died) in Thembuland on that
day. The rest returned home in disgrace, leaving their (dead)
chiefs behind. That's how Rarabe lost his cattle to Ndaba.
According to the Reverend 3 H Soga, in his book, The South
Eastern Bantu: "Rarabe died at Mabhele near Dohne, at Mgwali in
Ngqikaland.
an untruth.

No battle was ever fought there, that is blatantly

At the time of his death Ndaba was in his country

having once again donned his mantle as King of abaThembu.

28

NGUBENGCUKA (VUSANI) SON OF NDABA

We are told that Ngubengcuka went to the initiation school

together with Jumba as well as Phala, the younger brother of

Jumba, because he (Ngubengcuka) was younger even that Phala
himself.

The two had to wait for him (Ngubengcuka) until he was

of age. Those people who maintain that Jumba is younger than

Ngubengcuka should bear in mind this fact about initiation (of
the boys) because that stage is significant to the Black people.
It was not long before the new chief revealed that he had taken
after his father in athletic prowess and quick-wittedness; but it
was soon clear that he was much braver than his father and was
also better at moulding the nation. The times were hard when
Ngubengcuka began his reign, because the people had got used to
enjoying a lot of freedom and doing what they felt like.
AbaThembu

were

well-known

for being

consequently looked down on them.

cowardly. AmaQwathi

So much that they began to

think that they should take over the leadership of aba-Thembu

because they were the brave ones.

They pointed out that they

were the ones who had defeated Rarabe, a mighty chief indeed, who
had even defeated Gcaleka. It was clear to everybody that the
fellows were being blatantly disrespectful and had no respect for
the chief.
One day some Qwathi boys as they were standing at the boundary
between the territory of amaQwathi and amaHAla, started chasing
and playing with Thembu calves. Some boys even started
slaughtering the calves, and others drove the calves some
distance away playing, and at the same time watching to see if

29

they would be fetched. Thembu boys did fetch the calves, only to
be given a thorough thrashing by the Qwathi boys. These boys
were in the habit of saying: "Chithi, chithi, gxothisa buHala."
Which meant that if one were chasing an opponent, one had to do
it in such a way that the opponent fled like a mHala. That is
how the misunderstanding started, until men felt they had to take
sides. Even there, amaHala were forced to flee.
Then Ngubengcuka sent a word to Fubu, asking him to bring his
(Fubu's) people under control otherwise they were a nuisance to
his subjects. Ngubengcuka went on to complain that some calves
belonging to amaHala had been killed while grazing in the
commonage. Fubu did not pay enough attention to the matter, but
the misunderstanding deepened, until the men could see no other
solution other than by resorting to fight the matter out.
One day someone declared that there was no alternative but war.
People were told to get their weapons ready. New assegais were
made and different types of weapons were fashioned from available
material and were ready for use.
Here is a list of some of the weapons that were made.*
isinkempe

a short assegai for stabbing, also for cutting meat

intshuntshe - a long spear for throwing

isigixi

- a kind of assegai with a longish blade and a short

neck

irwantsa

- a spear whose head is angular with sharp corners

used for cutting and scrapping

izaka

- a barbed assegai

* The translator is indebted to Kropf's Dictionary for meanings

of most of these words

30

ingcola

- a spear with a short blade and long neck

ingqanda

- a small thin four-sided assegai used for boring

holes when sewing a milk-sack

ifozi
irwana
The son of Ndaba could not but offer words of encouragement to
all those who were under his rule. They say men were deeply
moved and on that day they wept openly, when they left the great
place they had made one resolution, and that was to defeat
amaOwathi. When the two armies eventually met, amaQwathi gave in
and they were pursued down the valleys of Qhaga. Herds of cattle
belonging to amaQwathi were captured in large numbers. AmaQwathi
then launched another attack. Noting the new threat Ngubengcuka
then said to Jumba: "My brother, drive away the cattle and I'll
remain behind with the army in order to attack these people once
more.

Please take note of the fact that should you run away and

leave these cattle unattended, your fate will be sealed."

Jumba then left with a handful of men driving the cattle.

went on until he crossed the Xuka river.
distance

He

While still a short

the river, the sons of Ndaba and Mtshaba were once

again locked in battle. Ndaba's army withdrew for a while,

feeling the pressure while Dikela's army, pressed on. This time
amaHala . gave in and they were pursued down into the Xuka river.
In their haste they missed the ford and they simply threw
themselves into the deep.
day.

Only one thing saved abaThembu that

Seemingly Ngubengcuka had realised the danger that faced

his people and he was one of the first people who managed to

31

cross the river. In that way he was able

effectively

to

stand his ground and

stopped amaQwathi from crossing the river.

sides suffered heavy losses.

Both

AmaQwathi stopped for a while to

take breath, but once again had to continue with the pursuit of
their cattle saying: "Have cattle ever been captured while there
were men around, cattle belonging to Lutshaba son of Noni!"
At that moment the Thembu army was at the siThebe commonage. The
grandson of Zondwa was once more uttering words of encouragement.
It was clear that day that the fighting would be decisive, and
whoever was defeated had to submit to the victor.
Once again the armies sprang at each other like two lions.

On

that day, at that particular moment, abaThembu, always regarded

That was the day the brave

as cowards, attacked viciously!

Qwathi soldiers fled in panic

Although they had always given

the impression of being undaunted, yet they could not withstand a

concerted attack. Fubu submitted to Ngubengcuka. Through that
victory Ngubengcuka amassed a lot of power. Fubu simply said: "I
am pleased we have had a day like this, so that I had an
opportunity to experience your manliness, because your cowardly
father never gave me enough support against other nations."
On that day Marongo, a mQwathi took it upon himself to point out
the following: "I would like my honourable lords to bear the
following in mind. We need a hundred

cattle

to

give to

those who

32

are bereaved,* this has been the practice for years.

Now, when

there has been such a high loss of life, where are we going to
get all these cattle from?

There are our young men being

devoured by the hyenas and vultures, the people who could fight
and capture cattle with which we could pay our debt."

After a long discussion, Ndaba (sic) agreed that the paying of

such a fee should desist from that day henceforth, among
amaQwathi, he further added that he was abolishing it among all
those who were under his rule. Ngubengcuka however pointed out
that although the paying of the "bereavement" fee had been
abolished, the nations under his rule had to remember that unity
is strength, that meant that not a single nation in his dominion
would stand aside and watch if he was enganged in war.

That

marked the end of the strife between amaHala and amaQwathi.

Apparently this was the practice in the event of someone

dying for a national cause. Translator's note.

33

AMABHACA OF MADIKANE
At one time there was strife among the people of Mbo.
ama-Bhaca and amaMpondomise.

It was

Vethe the son of Mziziba who was a

Mpondomise councillor during the wars against amaBhaca, gives us

a clear account about the arrival of amaBhaca.

Vethe gave this

account to the Commission of 1880-1883.

According to Vethe amaBhaca found amaMpondomise resident at
Bhencuthi.*
ama-Bhaca.

After a skirmish, amaMpondomise were defeated by

But the former would just not submit to the latter,

because amaBhaca were rather a backward sort of people, almost in

everything.

Most hateful was their gruesome custom of killing

everything they came in sight of when fighting.

Faced with such a crisis amaMpondomise appealed for help from
abaThembu, wanting to resist by all possible means the people who
had such barbaric habits. There were also rumours that amaBhaca
had no qualms about making a stew out of a human being, as for
beef, it was said they could eat up a whole ox while still being
slaughtered, its natural heat being sufficient to make it edible.
On receiving such a request, Ngubengcuka agreed to join hands
with amaMpondomise against amaBhaca. The son of Ndaba crossed the
Tsitsa river and joined amaMpondomise.

AmaMpondomise were once

again driven back by amaBhaca.

AbaThembu however turned the

tables by driving back amaBhaca.

But it was not an easy victory

as the army of amaBhaca had not been broken.

* The present day Shawbury. Translator's note.

Then they

34

(amaBhaca) skirted round the edges of the Drakensberg mountains,

until they arrived at Cala near amaGcina, on the Tsomo river.
When they passed near amaQwathi, the latter did not even put up a
fight, they simply went to inform Ngubengcuka. Then Ngubengcuka
sent a word to Hintsa, inviting Hintsa to come and expel amaBhaca
from the country.
As for amaGcina, when they saw the large herds of Bhaca cattle,
they hoped for an easy find.

They decided that they would

slaughter one ox after another of the Bhaca cattle.

They would

steal herds and herds of cattle and slaughter them mercilessly.

By such actions amaGcina had stirred up the hornet's nest!

Poor

amaGcina were pursued for the whole day by amaBhaca from Cala in
the morning up to Ngqaba!

AmaGcina almost flew down the Qaqane

mountains with amaBhaca breathing down their backs. Some managed

to escape from that deadly pursuit.

When they returned from

Ngqaba , they settled their families at Dungeni.

Once again, the menace of amaBhaca was brought to Ngubengcuka's
attention. Yet again Ngubengcuka sent a word to Hintsa inviting
him to join him in taking a close look at the threat of amaBhaca
together.

On this occasion Hintsa gave a specific date on which

to expect him and on which to tackle amaBhaca.

At this juncture, Ngubengcuka informed all the communities and
nationalities that were under his domain that the day given by
Hintsa was the day to fight against amaBhaca. At this time
amaBhaca had gone as far as Lahlangubo.

35

Just a day before the appointed (one), Bawana a Chief of

amaTshatshu, wanted to test the strength of amaBhaca on his own.
So saying, he charged with his men, in the belief that even an
ant is capable of accomplishing great feat/,
sometimes.
grandson of Xhoba* attacked bravely in search of spoils.

The
He

found amaBhaca a wild lot, who appeared to be jumping about

playfully,

and

yet were delivering devastating blows

on

amaTshatshu. They had no alternative but to flee for their

lives. Bawana was seriously injured in that battle and was saved
by his Mfengu man, Bungane of the Miya clan, who continued
fighting until he was the only one remaining.
amaTshatshu returned to rescue their chief.

That is when
Ngubengcuka was

informed of Bawana's injury. They found Ngubengcuka's army on

the mountain ridge, south of the present day Engcobo, waiting
there for Hintsa.
When the news about Bawana was delivered Ngubengcuka said:

"I

cannot wait any longer, my brother has been injured, it may so

happen that amaBhaca launch another attack and deliver him a
mortal blow." Then Wonceya, Hlaba lamaHlathi Goje-msila of Nqadu
burst out singing praises of abaThembu. On the night that
Ngubengcuka was to attack amaBhaca the following day, amaBhaca
were not aware that Ngubengcuka was coming and that he was
actually at Ngcobo.

That morning Madikane seems to have sensed

that something was amiss because he is to have said: "Why do I

A
think I can smell the presence of Ngubengcuka?" The reply was:

* By the way ixhoba is a victim. Translator's note.

36

"Nothing of the sort, my lord, Ngubengcuka is miles from here,

far at Njwaxa!"
It was not long after that conversation when
appeared with his army.

Ngubengcuka

It was such a big army that it appeared

to be crawling all over the place. And yet, who were waiting for
such numbers!

AmaBhaca never gave in an inch.

were soon locked in each other's arms.

The two armies

AbaThembu attacked in

large numbers because all men had been called out to battle, with
only the women and children remaining at home. That was the
first and the last occasion when abaThembu set out in arms in
that manner.
It was not long before amaBhaca, overcome by sheer numbers, were
seen

to be retreating.

They fled to a nearby

Ngubengcuka gave orders "Flush them out!

forest.

I don't want ever to

see a trace of a Bhaca in this country!" AmaBhaca were

relentlessly flushed out of the forest, and they scattered
helplessly in all directions.
One Bhaca man held up his arms begging for pardon and asking that
his life be spared, promising to divulge the place where his
chief was. He then led the men to where the Bhaca chief was.
When they reached the chief, Ndaba's men said: "Get up you
bastard, Ndaba's son is here." The poor chief had simply hidden
his head under a shrub.
A terrifying figure stood up.

He was hefty with a heavy chest,

the hair as long as a horse's mane, he obviously was well-fed

with a presence!

As they were still cross-questioning him, at

37

the same time the Chief of amaBhaca being admired by other

chiefs, a young man, of the Gcina clan, went for his heart with
his spear. Madikane fell down and died. While the men were
still puzzled by the sordid act of the killing of the chief by
the young man, the young Gcina man himself fell down dead.

He

simply died without anyone touching him. He only uttered a few

words just before he stabbed the chief saying: "You people still
find time to converse with a creature that has seen to the
destruction of my home!" Those were the last words of the young
man who assassinated Madikane.
Senior Bhaca chiefs were left lying at siGqutyini (sic.)
Madikane; Matomela; Mqukumbeni; and Vatshile, Madikane's mother,
who was killed because it was said that she had caused and
encouraged the wars.

Ncapayi, the eldest son of Madikane,

survived and he was later to be a real nuisance to abaThembu.

After the events of that day a lot of mythical stories were
spread.

In Reverend Bryant's book on Zulu history there is this

observation: The sun hid its face

in

broad daylight. A second

observation that is made is that Madikane's spear that had been

'doctored' did not burn up when his house was destroyed by fire
according to tradition. Such stories made amaBhaca to be greatly
feared in future. They submitted to abaThembu, and they produced
the cattle they were supposed to in the act of submission.

They

were told to go to Rode at Mbo and Bhencuthi. After dividing the

booty Ngubengcuka

returned home. When the herds of cattle

belonging to amaNdungwane and amaTshatshu were at Mgwali, up to

38

Nkomo-yeyele, Hintsa with his subjects, amaGcaleka arrived,

according to plan.
Ngubengcuka then sent a word to Hintsa informing him that the war
was over, apologising that they had had to fight before his
arrival. Having received the report, Hintsa then simply gathered
all the cattle he could see, and he drove them home. AmaTshatshu
and amaNdungwane hurriedly went to inform Ngubengcuka that Hintsa
had driven away all their cattle. Ngubengcuka simply said in
response: "Let him take them away, you have forestalled him in
what you had invited him for." They were greatly disturbed by
the fact that they had to let their cattle be taken away by the
people of Ngubengcuka's mother. In their anger they had this to
say to Ngubengcuka: "Let it be known by you, my lord, that we are
leaving, should war break out once more in these parts, you shall
have to face them on your own."

Not long thereafter amaTshatshu and amaNdungwane left Thembuland

and moved eastwards. The rift was complete, and Ngubencuka died
without having made peace with AmaTshatshu and amaNdungane.
It is not true that the war between Madikane and Ngubengcuka was
fought in 1836, as recorded in reverend J.H. Soga's book "The
South Eastern Bantu" in p.443. At that time, with Ngubengcuka
long dead, it was Ncaphayi and Fadana who were fighting. The war
with amaBhaca, was even before the war against amaNgwane which
was fought by Ngubengcuka in 1828.

39

AMANGWANE OF MATIWANE IN THEMBULAND

In order to be able to pick up the trend of our story, about
amaNgwane and abaThembu well, we shall have to begin at the time
when amaNgwane were still in Lusuthu (sic.).

We are told that

amaNgwane resided in Lusuthu in a place called Senyotong, near

Mrugari river. They were set at loggerheads with Tshaka by
Moshide, famous for his diplomacy. After a major battle that was
fought where Ladybrand and Modderpoort stand today, herds of
cattle belonging to amaNgwane were captured as booty by Tshaka's
followers.

It was then that Matiwane started looking around for people he

could fight and defeat and then be able to get a fresh supply of
cattle.

His scouts informed him that abaThembu had large herds

of cattle.

Matiwane then decided to send his army to capture

cattle from the said place.

He elected Jozana to lead that

regiment.

It is said that that army headed for Roda where Maposa of

amaTshatshu and amaNdungwane resided. Thembu scouts were able to
see amaNgwane from afar, so they managed to drive away their
cattle, and also they were able to raise the alarm back at home.
Young men hastily drove the cattle away down the Cacadu* and
Nciba* valleys. AmaNgwane only took notice of the cattle just as
they disappeared in the forest at the confluence of Tsomo and Kei
Rivers, by that time it was too late. Dispirited, they sat down.
* Cacadu is the White Kei River and Nciba is the Kei River.
Translator's note.

40

After deliberating for some time, they decided to return home.

AmaNgwane had failed dismally to capture cattle that had oxen
that had been trained to be part of a fighting formation (ilieqe).
On their way home, the men were tired. Some died of starvation.
When a man realised that he was in difficulty he would give a
message to others: "Don't give up, fellows, please give my
regards to our Chief, and tell him that we lost our lives here
because of our obedience to his orders." Some of the men died of
dysentery. When they were in the middle of nowhere these men
found about 30 cattle that had just been stolen by abaPuti of
Magorosi (sic).
When the survivors reached home Matiwane instructed that they be
kept in quarantine until they were cured of the disease they had
brought back from Ngubengcuka. When their health improved they
were released to join their families.
After that disaster, Matiwane convened a Council meeting, where

hp informed them that he was of the opinion that they should

migrate towards Thembuland. He told them that he had been
informed that there were large herds of cattle in that part of
the world, and abaThembu were not renowned fighters except for
the fact that their chief was said to have supernatural powers.
Matiwane assured the Council that his scouts had brought back a
favourable report, and further they knew the best way to get
there. It is said that he delivered a memorable speech in that
council meeting.
His younger brother, Phehle was however opposed to what Matiwane

41

was suggesting.

He also very eloquently put his reasons for not

supporting him. In conclusion Phehle said: "There is no reason

for us to go, because our enemies know where we are. Tshaka was
here, and he left us here. Mzilikani also came here, and he also
left us here.

We live here together with Mshweshwe; he knows he

can't move us.

How can we move to a new area where we shall

acquire fresh enemies?

How can we fight Ngubengcuka, the very

man who wiped out a whole army with his magic?

It would be

better if we submit ourselves to Mzilikazi."

Phehle's line of reasoning was popular to a large number of
people.

Matiwane had to use his royal authority.

to submit and Phehle had to keep silence.

Men then had

Even though the

matter was referred to Matiwane's mother, who normally was able

to change her son's mind, she failed to do so then. In the end
she said: "Submit to his suggestion, do not oppose him, he knows
that he is going to kill us all." In that way the decision to
migrate to Thembuland was taken.

The exodus began.

Some time

later Mshweshwe's army overtook them in a bid to capture some

cattle.

On that day he was beaten and chased by amaNgwane.

Mogorosi, the great Chief, had an easier way of getting cattle.

He sent young men, not an army.

They approached stealthily and

managed to escape with about thirty or so cattle.

The loss of these cattle was the second misfortune after the
dysentery disaster.

AmaNgwane, however, continued with their

journey. When they crossed the Tele River, when some were
approaching Landin's Nek, they came across a swarm of locusts.
Because they were starving, they roasted the locusts and made

42

utshongo.* All of a sudden a gust of wind blew sparks into the

long dry grass, setting it alight! The reader must remember that
in those days the country was thinly populated and the grass was
thick and long, a person of a short stature could hardly be seen
in such long grass.

The fire that broke out killed a number of

people and cattle.

Phehle once more sent a word to Matiwane saying: "You can see for
yourself, my lord, that our ancestors are not with us in our
journey. Let us go back, we shall just meet with more misfortune
in future".
Matiwane simply zipped his mouth and he moved on.

He said that

he knew no nation that did not experience disaster at some time

or another.

The people moved on until they reached the ridge of

mountains facing the present day district of Elliot.

that point, it began to snow.

Just at

There was no shelter for the

people, nor was there grass for the cattle. The cattle began to
die from cold and hunger.

As for the men, they died like flies

from the cold, with hardly any wood for fire, they simply froze
in the caves.

When it stopped snowing, Matiwane descended, and

reached the territory of amaQwathi. This man began to slaughter

cattle and make shields from the hides, and his army was once
more in good shape.

Utshongo - normally it is roasted maize that is then

Because it is dry, it keeps well and is suitable
grounded.
as provision for a long journey.
Translator's note.

43

THE BATTLE BETWEEN AMANGWANE AND AMAQWATHI

One day after the son of Masupha had prepared his army for
action, he directed them to charge amaQwathi. While they were
still marching stealthily, they accidentally came to a homestead
where women and girls were at iNtonjane.*

For some unknown

reason amaNgwane adopted the barbaric manner familiar to the

nations that come from the north.

They fell on those poor souls

killing all of them mercilessly.

They spared neither a child,

woman nor a girl. They returned with the booty and for the first
time they had reason to celebrate. AmaQwathi wanted to avenge
themselves by putting up a fight, but they were easily defeated.
Thereafter Fubu sent a ward to Matiwane and amaNgwane telling
them to be in no hurry he would meet them the following month.
Fubu also tried his luck with amaNgwane, after he had also
appealed to his neighbours for help. That was in vain. Fubu was
again defeated by amaNgwane. He gave up. The Reverend D Fred
Ellenberger, whose book "The History of Basutho" we consulted
extensively, says that one mNgwane, who was there in person on
that day of the battle against Fubu, personally related to him
the events of the day: "After we had defeated and killed people
like locusts, then we realised that ours had been a good move
because the people there were not as good fighters as people in
the north were.
crops.

We then decided to settle down and cultivate

We were so relaxed that we did not even bother to send

out scouts and spies. We simply had a good time."

* Ntonjane - is a teenage girl's initiation school. Translator's

note

44

While amaNgwane were relaxed and enjoying themselves, amaQwathi

were far from doing so.

They prepared for a counter-offensive.

Ngubengcuka once again appealed for help from Hintsa.

turn

Hintsa in

appealed for help from Whites who were resident in

Grahamstown at that time.

45

TSHAKA IN THEMBULAND?
Out there in Zululand Tshaka, the son of Senzangakhona and his
mother Nandi, was steadily growing in strength. Initially, his
government had trouble in acquiring enough food. Tshaka's policy
was to keep all his regiments at the Great Place so that he would
have no difficulty in warding off an unexpected attack.

That

meant that there was forever a need for cattle in order to feed
those regiments.

He therefore had to send the regiments to

different places in order to capture cattle for food.

From him

they left with this instruction: "You must fight, do not be

defeated, never return without capturing cattle.

That will

always be the sign of victory."

In the meantime they were waiting for White soldiers to come and
fight Matiwane in the territory of amaQwathi, Tshaka's regiments
were criss-crossing the territory belonging to amaMpondo. They
were experiencing a lot of difficulty in capturing Mpondo cattle
because their territory being near the sea, tended to be steep
and strangers found it difficult to traverse. Although amaMpondo
were defeated several times in pitched battles, amaZulu were only
able to capture a few cattle from some cattle posts.

In that

confusion Faku appealed to Ngubengcuka and Myeki, asking him

(sic.) to send a word of appeal for help to Hintsa. Hintsa
immediately got in touch with Grahamstown, saying that the Tshaka
problem needed immediate attention, because if neglected it
appeared as though he would take over the whole of South Africa
(sic). He felt that the grave danger needed immediate action.

46

Some regiments of our friend are said to have penetrated as far

as Ngcobo (sic.), the territory of amaQwathi, and in Bomvanaland
where abaThembu had settled during those days, whilst amaBomvana
themselves resided at Ngqeleni in the present day Mpondoland. Mr
W.E. Cingo in his book "Ibali IabaThembu" says, "Tshaka was
present in person, he actually went as far as Ngcobo, the
territory of amaQwathi."
Unfortunately in my research I have not been able to obtain
information that corroborates the argument that Tshaka was truly
there in person. What I have found out is that Tshaka sent an
army of more than 4,000 men to attack and destroy amaMpondo and
then to capture all their cattle. That is the army that
penetrated the territory of amaMpondo and even went beyond its
boundaries, to the areas occupied by amaBomvana, amaGcaleka,
abaThembu and amaQwathi; strutting boldly across these
territories because the son of Senzangkhona had taught them a new
and effective method of fighting, to stab the opponent at close
range rather than throw an assegai from a distance. It is said
that the army had just returned home with numerous herds of
cattle when Tshaka briefly thanked them and once more sent them
out to look for some more cattle at Sotshangana's place.

The

dissatisfaction of the army with that order was a cause of the

assassination of Tshaka. The men were actually tired of running
up and down in Mpondoland and the other places mentioned before.
The plot to assassinate him was easily executed because the
people who should have resisted all attempts to assassinate him
were the very people who were dissatisfied with their treatment.

47

I have given the fore-going explanation to make it clear that

Tshaka did not go in person with his army during their visits in
Mpondoland and Thembuland.

48

THE BATTLE BETWEEN ABATHEMBU AND AMANGWANE

We have already made reference to the fact that Tshaka's army
returned home.

A regiment of Whites arrived soon after the

departure of Tshaka's army.

charge at amaNgwane.
charge of Dundas.

They were at once instructed to

That regiment of Whites was under the

The regiment was together with abaThembu

amaGcaleka and other neighbouring nations.

Major Dundas was

in attendance on the 24 July 1828.

Of all records of this event, we prefer the one by the Reverend
D.F. Ellenberger because he got his version from a mNgwane who
personally witnessed the happenings. This is how he put it.

"We

got wind of the fact that Whites were coming. At that time they
were at Bhaziya, and they decided to climb higher on mountains.
By dawn the foot of the mountain was full of people.

It was our

first day to see Whites and horses and another strange animal
with a big mouth but with no horns being pulled by oxen.
is a waggon with a canopy).

(That

All of a sudden there was a sound

like thunder coming from it (waggon), there was something like a

lightning, which seemed to fall among the cattle a distance from
us.

Then the cattle started bellowing and running towards us in

confusion. Fighting had not started as yet. For a moment we

forgot about the enemy and our attention was drawn to the cattle,
in the meantime the enemy wasted no time in advancing towards us.
On that day we fled without putting up a fight.

As for our

cattle, they were all captured. The Whites also left."*

* I am wondering if there is no misprint here. It could be Bemka
nazo abeLunqu which means - The Whites left with them (cattle).
Translator's note.

49

"Since we had scattered all over the place, we re-assembled. We

again attacked hoping to capture some of the cattle of abaThembu,
because their country still had large herds of cattle.

That was

the reason why we had migrated to their territory. For a month

we were happy and relaxed. On the morning of 26 August 1828 once
again we noticed a large number of people advancing towards us.
On closer observation we found that there were Whites as well.
They shot directly at us this time, and we, on our part, were
ready to put up a brave fight.

But that never helped because we

fell in heaps. In vain did our poor soldiers charge with their
shields and spears. AmaNgwane died in large numbers on that day.
When we tried to fight, we were shot dead, when we attempted to
escape we were caught by those many people.

They chased us

relentlessly wanting to expel us from Thembuland.

We became

refugees hiding in the mountains."

"As for the cattle, on that day they swept the place clean, there
was not even a calf remaining. They left us in peace,
dumbfounded. Thereafter we also dispersed. Some of us submitted
to abaThembu, others went to join amaMpondo and other chiefs."
That is where the man ends his story.
The second army to attack was under Colonel Somerset. He was one
of those who had been invited to give help against the Zulu and
Ngwane armies.

On the day when the war booty was to be divided

something we cannot forget happened.

Ngubengcuka took all the

cattle even those that were supposed to be given to amaGcaleka.

50

When amaGcaleka complained that abaThembu were taking all the

booty, Ngubengcuka answered, "Please go home. Let them enjoy the
cattle, they, also, are my children. By the way you enjoyed a

similar favour in the past."

AmaGcaleka left empty-handed, without a single cow. Ngubengcuka
at last got the opportunity to hit back for the treatment he once
received in the hands of amaGcaleka after he had fought against
amaBhaca of Madikane. On that occasion amaGcaleka had taken all
the booty including the cattle that belonged to amaTshatshu and
amaNdungwane (sic.).
Ngubengcuka lived with his people abaThembu for a long time and
he ruled with a firm hand and he was greatly loved and respected.
He patiently waited for a response to an application he had made
for missionaries and Whites to be sent to live among his people.

51

The arrival of Missionaries

Thembuland - 1830:

and

the Introduction of Education in

In a passing reference to Shaw and his subordinates we must make

special mention of the Reverend Richard Hardy who was sent to
open a school at Mgwali, in Ngubengcuka's territory in 1830. The
school was named after Doctor Adel Clarke, a pioneer in the
translation of the

Bible into

Xhosa.

People who had to look

after Haddy (sic.) were Councillor Ndlambe and Mhata, they had
been with Jumba for some time, the latter had been a kindly man
who would have got along well with the missionaries.

52

MSHWESHE AND NGUBENGCUKA

One day, while Mshweshwe was relaxing at home

listening

to

traditional stories told by his councillors, he overheard his

younger brother, Makhabane complaining to the people saying:
am a very poor man, I do not even have a calf I can call my own."
Mshweshwe then replied: "Then let us go and look for cattle in
Thembuland." Soon, they were on their way to Thembuland. They
went along with Moorosi,

Mshweshwe's friend and chief of

abaPhuthi. The army was directly under the control of Mshweshwe.

He then instructed Makhabane to go and raid for cattle at Nywara,
Ngubengcuka's great place. Others were dispatched all over the
territory of amaQwanthi as far as Gqaga. As for the Big Two,
Mshweshwe and Moorosi, they simply relaxed in a convenient place,
on a mountain near Engcobo.
I refute a suggestion by Mr Henry Masila Ndawo, where he says,
"Mshweshwe, Moorosi and Mokoayane descended with only a handful
of selected men." That means that was not a full army. Nobody
can believe that great chiefs like these would do such a foolish
thing, putting their lives at such a risk.
Makhabane's grandson contends that the whole venture was a ruse
to get Makhabane, with whom Mshweshwe had family differences,
killed. Generally Mshweshwe never wanted to kill anybody with his
hands. So he went along with his younger brother to Thembuland so
that he would not have to rely on hearsay, but that he would
witness his death himself.

That is why he gave him the kind of

instructions that he did.

Regiments from different directions

kept on returning with cattle they had managed to capture. Some

53

regiments were not so lucky though. Days passed by without a word

from some of them and that included the regiment that had been
sent to the great place at Nywara.
When Makhabane was still far, returning with some cattle,
Vusani's regiments gave him a tough time, they kept on asking:
"What is it that set you against us, gentlemen from Lusuthu, why
do you take even those cows that have been put aside to feed the
children? In any case, go on, but the cattle you have taken have
never left these parts."
AbaThembu gradually built up their regiments as more and more
soldiers, responding to the war-cry, kept on joining them. From
time to time, when they felt strong enough they attacked, but
were repeatedly repulsed by abeSuthu. Just as Makhabane was about
to ascend the Luhewini Mountain with the cattle, a joint army of
amaHala and amaQwathi of Fubu arrived. Makhabane soon realised
the dangerous situation that faced him as he noticed that the
army of abaThembu was becoming stronger and stronger. Then he
said "Let us appeal for more men from Mshweshwe. We do have a
fair supply of cattle, only we are just tired of fighting, and
yet abaThembu are still reinforcing their army." Yes, it was
true that they had collected a large number of cattle, but also
it is true to say, "There is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the
lip."
To Makhabane's request Mshweshwe replied scornfully; "Tell him to
leave those cattle behind if he does not want them. Otherwise he
must fight. That is how one gets cattle."

54

And yet abeSuthu still had a long and difficult way to go. They
still had to go through Mgwali, cross Goboti and travel along
Manzana before reaching the place where the chiefs were relaxing.
Situated at Manzana was the great place for amaQwathi of Fubu.
The son of Ndaba was there in person when his soldiers charged
the enemy. The two Titans met at last. The regiments of Zondwa
attacked in full force, wielding their spears in search of the
enemy.

AbeSuthu with their small axes played havoc with the

limbs of the enemy.

AbaThembu enjoyed a number of advantages

over their opponents.

AbeSuthu were thrown into confusion as

abaThembu attacked from behind. After some time, abeSuthu gave

in. They sought refuge in a forest on top of the hill.
Ngubengcuka together with Fubu said "Drive these dangerous people
from the north out! We must expel them from our territory
otherwise we shall never have peace. Remember the trouble we had
with Madikane and Matiwane?"
Someone replied,

"My lord,

we are without weapons now."

Ngubengcuka then answered, "Get yourselves knobkerries and sticks

from the forest."
At once the orders of the chief were carried out.

AbeSuthu were

driven out of the forest with sticks. That is when Makhabane

fatally wounded.

was

The rest fled towards the mountain where

Mshweshwe and Moorosi were waiting.

At this juncture I wish the reader to take note of the fact that
we made mention of the death of Makabane, not Molapho, the son of
Mshweshwe as one of our experts on Thembu history contends for

55

want of serious research. When the combatants reached Mshweshwe,

he put up no resistance, he simply joined in the flight into a
nearby forest. Ngubengcuka then ordered his men to surround the
forest. On noticing the danger that faced him it is said that
Mshweshwe then sent his councillor, Makoanyane, to abaThembu
saying, "A chief who is not in combat is never killed. Please
give me a free passage." It was clear to everybody that the
chief was in trouble.
His councillor bravely fought his way through in an attempt to
reach Thembu chiefs. When he had delivered his message they
opened a passage for him to pass through. That is how the son of
Mkhatshani and his army got away. Although abeSuthu had been
given a safe and open passage there were some die-hards who could
not check themselves who repeatedly attacked them (abeSuthu). But
the order of their complete expulsion from the Thembu territory
remained. Still faced with danger, some returned to the safety
of the forest in the evening and because of darkness, abaThembu
could not get in to drive them out. By the following morning
there was not a single mSuthu in the forest, they had escaped.
In that way Mshweshwe was vanquished by Ngubengcuka.
Naturally abaThembu were exhilarated by their victory. When they
got home they made sacrifices of thanksgiving to the ancestors
because, through them, they had attained victory. The forest in
which Makhabane died was renamed Nduku.* This was because it was
* A nduku is a stick. Translator's note.

56

in that forest where sticks were picked which were used to drive
out abeSuthu who very nearly perished in Thembuland. The brave
Moorosi, the renowned thief, returned home with his tail between
his legs.

57

NGUBENGCUKA AND HINTSA

We are told that before Hintsa went to give help in the battle
between Ndlambe and Ngqika over the Tutula debacle, he (Hintsa)
took his cattle to Ngubengcuka for safe-keeping, asking him to
look after them until his return from war. But, it is against
convention for a chief of one nation to send his cattle to a
chief of another nation; and therefore such an action attributed
to Hintsa is an untruth.
At the time Hintsa is said to have done that, relations were
rather strained between himself and Ngubengcuka. The tension had
been caused by Gambushe who, because he wanted peace from all
angles, had given cattle as tribute both to amaGcaleka and
abaThembu. In the end Ngubengcuka had to fight Gambushe.
AmaBomvana were not defeated (sic). They however submitted to him
once more.
Read Mr Cook's book on amaBomvana from page 4 to page 5.
We are further told that Hintsa, on his return from Ngqika's
country, asked Ngubengcuka to let him have his cattle back.
Ngubengcuka flatly refused with them. The messengers returned
home empty handed. Thereafter Hintsa asked Gambushe to act as
mediator as well as try to retrieve his cattle from Ngubengcuka.
Even that plan met with no success because the son of Ndaba was
just in no mood to co-operate, what made matters worse was the
fact that his (Ngubengcuka's) councillors went so ar as to beat
up Gambushe's messengers. This ill-treatment of Gambushe's
messengers aggravated the ill feeling that had been caused by

58

Ngubengcuka's refusal to return Hintsa's cattle. Thus amaBomvana

also became alienated from abaThembu.
Hintsa and Gambushe are then said to have launched an attack
against abaThembu because of the issue of cattle and the illtreatment of messengers. AbaThembu were taken by surprise by the
attack so much that they hardly found time to mobilise. Just as
they started calling out the soldiers, Hintsa was already driving
the cattle away.

All this resulted in a simmering tension

between Hintsa and Ngubengcuka. .Nevertheless they did help one

another whenever they were faced by an enemy from afar. One
thing they observed until death parted them was that if a need
for the defence of their country arose, they forgot their petty
differences.

59

THE END OF NGUBENGCUKA

It is a fact that a warrior dies by a sword and a swimmer, by
drowning. That was the case even with the son of Ndaba. Any
threat facing a brave man is more treacherous when it comes from
within his own circle. In saying that we are reminded of the
fact that even the brave Tshaka, son of Senzangakhona was
assassinated by his brothers. Gandhi was killed by a fellow
Indian (sic). There are many others who were killed by their own
people because of bravery; this will always be the case. The
brave are not necessarily popular with all.
inflicted by jealousy.

Man has long been

Such a tragedy also befell the son of

Ndaba. At the time everything was under control in his country.

There was no nation that dared to touch him. He was happy,
savouring power, and his sovereign power was accepted and
recognised.
On a certain day, which will not easily be forgotten, a clash
broke out between the regiment at the great place and that of
amaMaya. The cause of the clash is not clear, but the fact is
that no one is allowed to attack the people at the great place,
because they are the centre of power.

If they are defeated it

means the centre of power will move to the victors. That is why
the Poqo group is so much hated in the country. They say they
want to eliminate all paramount chiefs or chiefs who are in fact
their kings. That is seen as an unbelievable insult to those who
are in attendance upon chiefs.
So when the clash broke out, the son of Ndaba joined the fray. By
the way amaMaya also belonged to the great place.

All in all the

60

regiment at the great place was divided into two hostile camps
and were fighting each other. In that confusion, where no one
knew who was fighting who, a young mMaya man went for the chief
and stabbed him with a spear, and he fell down.

He managed to

get up and bravely pushed amaMaya back. When the majority of

abaThembu heard that the chief had been injured by amaMaya, they
renewed their attack and they captured all the cattle that
belonged to amaMaya. They were driven away and they sought refuge
in Gcalekaland. They are still at Willowvale up to this day. In
vain did Ngubengcuka try to argue saying, "AmaMaya must be
allowed to remain because domestic fights are a reality no one
can deny." AmaHala would not hear of such a thing, so strongly
did they feel about the injury of their chief.
Ngubengcuka died of complications that developed from the wound.
That marked the end of the great man, a brave man indeed. A dark
cloud descended upon the whole Thembu nation.

Gone was the

leader who could not easily be replaced in Thembuland. It was

during the reign of Ngubengcuka when amaNdungwane and amaTshatshu
left Thembuland, not because they had been expelled, but because
they had grown jealous of Ngubengcuka's political status. They
also suspected that he might take the opportunity to avenge his
father Ndaba, who had once been mercilessly expelled by them.
When the missionaries arrived he (Ngubengcuka) was still in
power.

He received them well and he set about laying the

foundation of the new order.

Only a little remained to complete

the work that Ngubengcuka had begun.

But the growth of any

61

nation is a gradual process. We do hope that abaThembu will some

time get a leader who will have outstanding leadership qualities
that will be similar to those of Ngubengcuka.
What is outstanding about Ngubengcuka are his achievements which
were attained after the unfortunate period when his father and
abaThembu had placed themselves under the wing of Rarabe.
AmaQwathi gallantly stood in and defended the country from its
enemies, in the mean time the head had wandered off aimlessly.
Ngubengcuka's wisdom is on par with that of Mshweshwe in Lusuthu
(sic).

It was a tragedy that he died young when he could still

have accomplished greater deeds. Ngubengcuka unceasingly

cautioned people against provocative behaviour directed against
whites, so much that Fadana, who was regent for Mtirara, was a
successful ruler and beloved by the nation because he adopted
Ngubengcuka's

philosophy

unnecessary wars.

of not involving his people

in

A wise ruler is the one who protects his

people and avoids needless killing of the people. Above all a

chief must be where the people are perishing, and the people in
turn will not desert him.

62

FADANA AS REGENT FOR MTIRARA

When Ngubengcuka, the eldest son of Ndaba, died, because his
children were still minors, it was necessary to appoint a regent.
The woman who is the support of the great wife (iqadi lendlu
enkulu) had borne Ndaba, Coto and Phitsho. Coto, a daughter was
born before Ngubengcuka's birth, for that reason Ndaba was
nicknamed "Socoto" i.e. Coto's Daddy. Phitsho who came after
Coto soon died. Ndaba again took another wife of the Mpinga clan
to be yet another support to Ngubengcuka's mother, coming after
Coto's mother who belonged to the Mncotsho clan.
woman bore the same Fadana under discussion.

The Mpinga

In short Fadana

belongs to the house of the second support wife to Ngubengcuka's

mother.
Ngubengcuka had no issue in the great house of Nonesi, Faku's
daughter, so then Mtirara was made an heir by being 'adopted' by
Nonesi. Mtirara was really the son of the daughter of Vazi who
(Vazi) was the eldest son of Mlawu, who also bore Joyi, Shweni
and Ngxinto, the last born.

Our main concern is to give enough

information about Mtirara, for whom Fadana was regent.

We do

not want to branch off from Ngubengcuka's progeny. Mtirara was

not yet a man* and therefore it was found necessary that his
paternal uncle, Fadana, should be the regent. According to the
law and custom of abaThembu Fadana had to rule in consultation
with the councillors, his paternal uncles and his brothers. That
accounts for his wise and democratic rule although he was far
less brave and judicious then his elder brother.
He had not been to the circumcision school - Translator's
note

63

In the first place Fadana took special care of the missionaries

at Mgwali School of the Methodist Church. The people themselves
realised that for him to have a successful reign he must cooperate with them, and present a united front. Fortunately the
son of Ndaba had actually experienced the power of whites on the
day of the big fight at Mbolompo.
So Fadana actually began to encourage children to attend school.
Mgudlwa, the son of Jumba was one of the first children who
started schooling them. The children would dress up in school
uniform only when they were at school, then after school they
would undress and leave the clothes at school so that they could
use them again the following day. Just at that time the clothes
were burnt down during some of the disturbances of the time of
iMfecane, the poor pupils were still ignorant.
Then one day Gqobhozithole, a traditional doctor of amaHala,
visited amaBhaca on the business of his calling.
informed them of the recent death of Ngubengcuka.

He also
Ncapai was

shocked to hear that the country had lost a respected and

outstanding leader.

Thereafter he asked if the deceased chief

had left an heir.

The other replied, "0 yes, there is a young boy from the
'support' house as Nonesi has no issue whatsoever."
Ncapai asked, "What is his name?"
Gqobhozithole, "Mtirara."*

* Mtirara - literally, it means a bitter tree. Translator's note.

64

Ncapai then asked, "Who will not eat it, who will be frightened
off by its bitterness?"*
Again before Gqobhozithole had time to respond he said "Just give
me an answer, who will not eat

if?"

Gqobhozithole replied, joking, "You, of course, Ncapai."

The fat was in the fire!

The chief was aroused to great anger

and he threatened to beat Gqobhozithole up. When he let him go

he said, "Go and tell them at the great place that I am coming to
fight, protesting against the name, again why are we being
treated like children, and not officially told about the death of
the chief, we also regard ourselves as abaThembu because we paid
cattle, as tribute, in an act of submission."
After a few days amaBhaca crossed Umtata River under the
leadership of the brave Ncapai, the son of Madikane. AmaBhaca
were still the wild bunch we know. They began fighting with
amaQwatni then they proceeded to amaHala at Qwebeqwebe where
there was no clear outcome of the fight.

It was where amaBhaca turned back and went

is called Bhacaland.
home after the battle.
booty on that day.

Even today that place

We are told that they left with a large

The son of Ndaba did not bother himself so

long as they had left his country.

In March 1835, Sir Benjamin D'urban, commander of the army,

entered Hintsa's territory under the pretext that he had come to
---------------* In other words, who will be frightened off by the name?
Translator's note.

65

fetch stolen cattle whose tracks he had followed across the Kei
River. When a word was sent to Fadana he said, "I and abaThembu
made an alliance with Whites on the day Matiwane was expelled, it
would be unfair of us to start giving excuses and refusing to
give help when invited to render some help."

Thus Fadana

promised the Whites that he would not give any help to

amaGcaleka, but he would look after the Whites, provide escorts
when they wanted to travel, he further promised that he would
always provide help and protection to Whites in his territory.
He immediately took precautions to protect the Whites at Mgwali
(Clarkebury Institution), amaLawu* and amaMfengu.
Fadana fulfilled his promise to protect the whites when he put
all the white missionaries of the Methodist Church across the Kei
River under his protection when they sought refuge in his place.
Here is the list of missionaries that were protected by Fadana.
W.Satchell from Buntingville, T.Palmer from Morley, W.J.Davis
from Clarkebury and J.Ayliff from Butterworth together with their
followers. When they realised that the war was raging, once
again they left for Bede (Shiloh) a Moravian Mission Station, in
Mapasa's territory among amaTshatshu.

A regiment under Captain Henry Douglas Warden was assigned the

task of supervising and protecting the families of the
missionaries as they journeyed to safety across the Kei. We are
told that in all there were sixty-five whites; twenty-four were
amaLawu;* four hundred and twenty-five were amaMfengu. All those
* People called Coloureds. Translator's note.

66

people had been protected by Fadana at Clarkebury Institution.

Read the Reverend George McCall Theal's book, History of South
Africa from 1795 - 1072 on page III.
At the same time the army of Tshaka, to which we referred
earlier, had left amaMpondo of Faku impoverished, they were at a
loss and did not know how they could replenish their empty
kraals.

They could not possibly get them from amaXhosa because

they were afraid of abaThembu and amaBhaca of Ncaphai. Then one

day Faku thought of a plan.

He asked Ncaphai to join him in a

raiding party to capture cattle from Fadana. The plan was well
executed because they were able to drive away a lot of cattle
Help from the whites was too late to prevent a high loss of life.
One of those who died was Robert Rawlins who was a trader across
Umtata River. After further skirmishes amaMpondo gave up and
consoled themselves with the large booty that they had managed to
get.

AbaThembu were left starving.

There was famine all over

the country.
Then it was decided that an army which would launch a sudden
attack should be sent to Ncapai.

The attack was successful and

they swept the territory of Ncapai clean.

That incident is

recorded in the Reverend A.T. Bryant's book. He says, "AbaThembu

even captured Ncapai's wives.

They did not only burn down his

homestead but they took away his whale family." A painful

incident related by the Reverend gentleman is when abaThembu
could not take out bangles from the wrists of one of Ncapai's
wives, they cut the hands off so that they could get the bangles.

67

They captured the wives and very many cattle as well.

When abaThembu were just beginning to take rest, Mtirara
instructed them to move on to Roda, in order to be as far away
from Faku's subordinates as possible. Immediately Nonesi's house
was burnt down, and the great move to Mvane, where it was
rebuilt, began. At this time Mtirara, the rightful ruler, was on
the throne. He left Transkei territory, Sarili and his maUcaleka
followed and they settled at Hohita. The way Fadana conducted
his affairs resulted in a strong alliance between whites and
abaThembu which still exists even today.
Before we close the chapter on Fadana, we must make mention of
the fact that we have come across a lot of material written by
historians on the events we have just narrated, but the truth is
that they have merely presented a tasteless stew whose many
flavours spoil the appetite.
What I wish to point out is that the Reverend Theal, a renowned
historian in South Africa, and I repeatedly differ on a number of
occasions. Sometimes it does come out that we have a common
story, but he confuses and mixes up events.
The Reverend J.H. Saga is guilty of a similar crime. The reader
must please consult their works and note that there are some
sections we have omitted because they are not true. That is why
there are such differences between us or at times we part and
later we follow similar paths.

68

MTIRARA'S REIGN
When Mtorara (sic) reached Mvane he took full control of the
reigns; from now he will be known as Mtirara, in any case it is
the same name as the first one (Mtorara). Because the second
name has been used extensively by white writers, we shall also be
using it.

When abaThembu had left their original territory, amaGcaleka felt

exposed to the dangers of iMfecane and they also decided to
migrate so that they could be nearer abaThembu. They established
their great place at Hohita, then spread all over Qamata,
Sidutyini, Ntlonze up to Mcambalala. When they reached Mcambalala
amaGcina stopped them from expanding further, reminding them that
that was their country. That ended in a skirmish in which
amaGcaleka were defeated, they then fled to Sarili, who decided
to send out his regiments. The poor regiment of amaGcina was
surrounded, with Sarili's regiments approaching from all sides.
A large number of amaGcina were killed on that day. Sarili went
home driving cattle as booty like all victors. The place where
amaGcina were slain is still called Mcambalala* even today.

* Ukucambalala is to lie stretched out - translator's note

69

AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND MTIRARA

Just at the time of the dispute between amaGcina and amaGcaleka
word came round to the effect that a government representative
wished to meet all chiefs in Xhosaland, at Fort Beaufort, the
place where there is a mental hospital today. The first attempt
that was made in 1844 was not successful because the government
became suspicious and the whole thing appeared a fake. The
government representative was once again sent out in March 1845.
On that day certain points were debated and then stipulations
were drawn up. The gist of that agreement is as follows:
i)

The chiefs should take note of the fact that they would
protect missionaries, traders and all those people who were
subject to (colonial?) rule who had settled among them,
including travellers from the colony.

ii)

They would protect postmen all over Xhosaland.

iii)

They would return to the colony all criminals who sought

refuge in their territories, they would also be compelled to

produce people who could give evidence that could lead to
the conviction of such criminals.
iv)

They would return all the stolen cattle that were in their
territories.

If they failed to do so, they ran the risk of

having to produce a payment that was of equal value to the

cattle that they had got into their territories.

v)

Sarili as well as any other chief would prevent any people

from overseas from carrying on trading activities.

70

vi)

Chiefs had to bear in mind that they would live in peace,

and that there would be no wars among them.

vii) All government representatives would be treated with respect

and peace.
viii) The government on its side was taking upon itself to give
each chief ruling over some people, a salary of one hundred
pounds a year, if the chiefs kept the stipulations mentioned
above.
These are the stipulations that were given to our chiefs some
time ago.

The reader should take note of the fact that the

fourth stipulation is about cattle.

This stipulation could not

easily be honoured because in those days it was a sign of manhood

to go cattle raiding.

That was not such a serious offence,

because if one lost his cattle today, he in turn could capture

some the following day. These stipulations were really
burdensome to amaTshatshu because they were coming into contact
with whites for the first time, unlike abaThembu from the south,
where they had got used to working with whites.
Then a war broke out between amaNgqika and Mapasa threw in his
lot with amaNgqika, forgetting the stipulations which he had
agreed on, moreover, he was not quite experienced in dealing with
whites. He returned home with a large booty. The son of
Ngubengcuka, fully knowing white people, took three hundred oxen
and went to make peace with whites at Seymour according to the
version of abaThembu, but he went to Alice according to history
books, and gave them to the general in charge of the government

71

forces, Sir Peregrine Maitland.

Mtirara went further to express a wish to be incorporated under
the wing of Queen Victoria, under the British flag. While
Maitland was still involved in the delicate negotiations he was
transferred elsewhere as it usually happens to civil servants. He
was replaced by Sir Henry Potgieter (sic).* In that way a new
Pharaoh who did not know Joseph had come. The request came to
nought on that day.
Mtirara's health broke down.

He told abaThembu what

he

considered would be of help to them, and he also was aware of the

root cause of the complaints of whites. Whites complained about
the daily stealing of the cattle and the ultimate end of that
would be a loss of land that abaThembu would suffer. He
therefore suggested that abaThembu should once more migrate to
the south so that they could keep a safe distance from whites who
were quarrelsome people.

* Most probably Sir Henry Pottinger. Translator's note.

72

SARILI AND MTIRARA

Although there was a simmering tension between abaThembu and
amaGcaleka they never came to blows. One day Sarili incited by
his followers made a challenge to Mtirara. At that time the
great place of abaThembu was at Mvane.
We are told that on the appointed day the equally powerful
adversaries almost clashed on the plain at Mvane. On the day
previous to the appointed one amaGcaleka had camped overnight
across Cacadu (White Kei River), not far from the present day
Bram Nek. Mtirara sent out scouts among whom there was Maguda of
the Ndlane clan, whose descendants are resident at Goso* today.
When they were at the Bram Nek pass they came across Sarili's
scouts, who had alighted from their horses.

Maguda without

wasting a minute, attacked these men who were busy roasting meat.
He took them unawares.

The men ran for their lives.

Maguda

brought their horses to Mtirara saying that Sarili had camped on

this side of Cacadu, and he was coming. The proof of his
advancing march were the horses which he had managed to capture.
On the following day, Mtirara sent Ncambaca, the son of Mkentane
of the Cwera clan, to Sarili to ask him to delay his attack after
crossing Bram Nek, for a whole day, in the meantime he (Mtirara)
would go to fetch some fatted oxen from Nkonkobe+ to present him.

f**

* St Albans Mission - A Kropf, Kafir-English Dictionary p.500

+ The Great Winterberg Kropf

73

The son of Hintsa waited. On the following day amaTshatshu and

amaNdungwane were seen approaching from the pass at Ndimangeni.
The majority of the people were on horseback. There were
multitudes of people stretching from the great place. The son of
Hintsa simply decided to return home without putting up a fight.
That showed abaThembu respected Mtirara as their father, more so
that amaTshatshu had responded to his call.

74

MTIRARA AT XONXA AND HIS DEATH

When Mtirara was at Xonxa below Qqebenya his state of health
deteriorated, he then remembered what he had once said before,
that abaThembu should return to the territory across Mbashe
River, so as to keep a safe distance from the whites.

Having

expressed that death-wish he passed away. When Nonesi was told

of the death of Mtirara, because, by the way, during those days a
man was nursed by other men; she said:

"0! Happy are Shweni and others because they shall be getting
chieftainship."

And yet she knew that Shweni was very fond of

Mtirara. Shweni, mourning his loss, wailed in grief, and was

further hurt by Nonesi's words. When everybody thought the
mourners had been comforted, a gun report was heard coming from
behind the house. The person who went to investigate found
Shweni stone dead. Everybody was stunned. And Joyi on the other
hand was inconsolable. Although eventually he was comforted. On
the other hand Nonesi was not bothered about them.

She was

simply grieving for her child Mtirara and did not even know who
was next in in the Chieftainship line. At that time Matanzima
was already a man, while Ngangelizwe was still a boy. Nonesi was
quite clear in her mind that she would not allow Matanzima to be
regent.
The Thembu nation was cast under a dark cloud by the loss of two
chiefs in one day. The nation mourned. No boys were circumcised
that year.

75

After that tragedy it was decided that the chief's death-wish had
to be honoured by returning to the territory across Mbashe River.

Nonesi adamantly refused,

saying that she would not take

abaThembu away and leave her child's grave still fresh.

Eventually abaThembu together with Mtirara's great house left,
leaving Nonesi, Matanzima and some of abaThemhu behind.
Joyi first went to settle at Nxankolo, later he moved on to
Malepelepe, again he moved to Baziya where his descendants can
still be found even today.

Jumba, the chief who left with Joyi

settled at Tsitsa stretching as far as Nxu.

there and settled at Mhlwazi.

He later moved from

His son, Mgudlwa, settled at

Qhumanco, another called Mdukiswa setted at Tabase.

left with Joyi.

Mnqanqeni

76

AMAMPONDOMISE AT HALA'S PLACE

We first hear of an alliance between amaHala and amaMpondomise
on the arrival of amaBhaca.

We are told that on their arrival

amaBhaca attacked amaMpondomise.

At that time amaBhaca had

settled at Bhencuthi, while amaMpondomise were resident along the

Thina and Tsitsa Rivers.

At that time amaMpondomise were often

engaged in civil wars, and for that reason they became a very
weak nation.

When amaBhaca noted this, they felt that they had

to press on with their attack. AmaMpondomise lost a lot of

cattle, but that was after a very heavy fighting which left many
dead. AmaBhaca had come with a new method of fighting which they
had copied from Tshaka. A man would advance at great speed to
his opponent, and when at close quarters, he then would stab and
kill him. And yet down south the competition was on the skill of
throwing the spear. A warrior had to carry a lot of weapons and
would then throw a spear whenever he was within distance of the
enemy, at the same time shielding himself with a small or big
shield.
It is that style of fighting that broke the fighting power of
amaMpondomise and they ended up appealing to Ngubengcuka. Vete,
the son of Mzimba together with four men went to see Ngubengcuka.
The son of Ndaba is said to have taken only three days to
mobilise the army that was to relieve amaMpondomise.
certain

day the adversaries clashed.

AmaMphondomise

On a
and

amaQwathi were once more beaten in their division, while amaHala

were able to drive off the enemy.
short respite.

But the victory was really a

As amaHala were returning home amaBhaca were

77

right on their heels following them up to the Tsomo River

stopping where the present day Cala village stands.
When amaGcina saw them (amaBhaca), they charged at them thinking
that they were going to have an easy time saying, "Here is prey
for us." By so doing they had stirred a nest of hornets. The
wild Bhaca warriors charged and mauled their hapless Gcina
counterparts. AmaGcina ran for their lives with amaBhaca, fit as
fiddles, following closely behind. They ascended the Qaqane
mountain within no time and under the cover of darkness they
found safety in the Ngqaba forest which was very dense during
those days. AmaBhaca then turned back, on their return they
decided to build their new homes on the sour-grass pasture of
Gqubu.
There were many other wars that were fought by amaMpondomise
following that one with amaBhaca. One day Faku appealed for help
to Myeki to come and help him against Tshaka's regiments. Tshaka
had overrun the whole Mpondo territory. Myeki, knowing that
Tshaka was famous for his bravery sent Sothuka and the son of
Qwilikana to go and invite Ngubengcuka once more.
He made a further request to the effect that when he came, he had
to bring Hintsa as well. Fortunately for Tshaka's regiments,
they returned home before the arrival of Ngubengcuka, amaGcaleka
and whites.
No real peace was restored among amaMpondomise because they
started fighting among themselves. The situation encouraged
further attacks from refugees from Tshaka's wars who badly needed

78

cattle.

Truly, life during these days was a dangerous game.

Because of the shortage of cattle, no cultivation was done, even

those who possessed cattle, were always in danger of losing them.
Only those who could defend themselves survived.
It was amaMpondo and amaBhaca who caused further suffering by the
their savage attacks with spears, and they were responsible for
the flight of amaMpondomise to the territory of amaGcina at
Cacadu in Thembuland.

The relationship between abaThembu and

amaMpondomise was a good one indeed. There was mutual respect

for one another. They intermarried. There was close co-operation
whenever there was an unexpected attack from cattle rustlers.
Then Myeki, who was advanced in years, sent messengers to
Mtirara, telling him that his son, Matiwane had taken the unusual
step of demanding chieftainship while he (Myeki) was still
living, and further adding that he had tried to dissuade him for
such a demand. This had met with no success. Myeki felt that
his son was being incited by those who were keen on sowing
discord.

When abaThembu had heard both sides of the dispute,

their verdict was that Matiwane should let Myeki exercise his
chieftainship until his death. It is not the custom in
Thembuland for a chief to vacate his seat in order that his son
can take over. If then that is the custom as amaMpondomise
maintain, it is the custom of the people from the East (eMbo)
and we know of no such here in Thembuland. So amaMpondomise had
to give up. But they were offended all the same, because some
amaMpondomise returned to where they had come from, leaving Myeki
with just a handful of followers.

79

THE MIGRATION OF MATIWANE MYEKI

There is a suggestion that there was a secret involvement of a
white man who invited amaMpondomise to go and Join him. That was
a certain Mr Hulley who had settled next to the Thina River
together with the Reverend Gladwin.

On his Journey Matiwane was

tempted by the sight of the cattle belonging to amaQwathi. There

was a belief that one of the factors that encouraged Matiwane in

his action was a rumour that amaQwathi would soon be migrating to

Lusuthu because they were tired of engaging in wars singlehanded, while abaThembu, the actual owners of the territory, were
absent. Matiwane and his adherents stopped over at Baziya. It
was then that Matiwane was tempted to capture the cattle
belonging to amaQwathi of Fubu.
Their attempt to drive away the cattle was resisted by amaQwathi.
In the fighting that ensued amaMpondomise were easily defeated,
they scattered all over the place, during which confusion
Matiwane was captured. AmaQwathi then declared that according to
their custom and tradition they could not kill a chief. Matiwane
therefore had to be released. Among amaQwathi, there were
amaMpondomise who belonged to the Velelo clan, they said: "You
may go maQwathi, and leave him with us, we are going to kill him
because we are used to killing chiefs".
AmaQwathi were Just a few paces away when amaVelelo accomplished
what they regarded as their task, that of killing chiefs. That
is how Matiwane, the son of Myeki met his end. When the news was
broken to Myeki, he blamed Mbali, who was later to be regent for

80

Mhlontlo, for his son's death. AmaMpondomise then proceeded to

the Mpondomise territory after their return from Cacadu among
abaThembu of Roda.
There is a suggestion that at this juncture it is the Reverend

Gladwin who invited amaMpondomise to join him along the Thina

River. Another suggestion is that when amaMpondomise returned to
their original home because they wanted to live in peace they
asked for Faku's protection. Faku advised them to return to
their place of origin, because he did not want to bring up
another chief's son.
It was during that time that abaThembu decided to migrate
eastwards (to eMbo). The reader must remember that abaThembu had
been driven away by the excesses of amaMpondo together with
amaBhaca. But they never submitted to them. On their return
therefore, they were free to settle where they felt like, without

having to ask for permission. Proof of this is that Joyi settled

at Nxankolo,and when he felt like moving he moved to Malepelepe,
and later to Baziya. Jumba settled at Nxu while the other
abaThembu belonging to his group proceeded as far as the Tsitsa

River. In the history of abaThembu we are ignorant of the claim

made that abaThembu at one time went to ask for protection from
Ndamase, nor do we know of an instance when Ndamase ruled them as
his subjects, as there is a theory to that effect. AbaThembu
lived together with Mhlontlo, fighting many wars with amaMpondo.

Mhlontlo at that time would strike at amaMpondo, by using his

additional forces that were held in reserve, amaJumba.

81

It must be clear therefore that the territory that amaMpondo

claim to be their own which stretches from Umtata up to the Zulu

border, they got when they were drawing up stipulations at the

time of their incorporation into the British Government, and were

assisted by missionaries who wanted the whole eastern territories
(eMbo) to belong to Faku. AbaThembu have a bigger claim than
that of amaMpondo on the territory of amaMpondomise of Mditshwa
because they are on the land belonging to Joyi and Jumba, to
which they went through defeat.

82

JOYI'S FIGHT WITH GQIRANA

It was Joyi who was regent for Ngangelizwe.

While still regent,

he contracted a disease of the lungs. Although he remained in

power, most of the work was done by Mnqanqeni. It was during this
time that Mnqanqeni fined a Mpondomise man belonging to the
Ngxabani clan. At that time amaMpondomise of Mditshwa also known
as Gqirana, had settled at Tabase stretching up to Xhwili and
reaching Zimbane.
AmaHala and amaMpondomise often exchanged social visits. They
used to enjoy their feasts together. One day soon after the
Ngxabani man had been fined, which thing appears to have offended
amaMpondomomise deeply, Gqirana's poet was heard sayings
The son of Dike with two teeth
Were they to be three Mtiki would die,
The strong one like a vulture in flight
Who sent Ndamase cowering below the mountain
Instructing them to leave the cattle of amaGobo alone.
Ndamase loads Noqingatha with presents
He sleeps at the back, while the great one sleeps in front.
He is the long grass that refuses to burn
Ndamase tried but it grew again
When Qakaza farts, Ndlebe is astounded
It is my first time to see princes disrespectful to one another
He is the preserved food of Ndamase the son of Faku
Which they enjoy and are later constipated.
And yet Nongemane has had enough of Mngcamlo

83

And you Mnqanqeni, where have you ever fought?

How come you fine Ngxabani a cow
It is a cow that lows for a limping calf
That was carried on horseback to the homestead
Of abaThembu and told the news
It is Joyi who does not wipe himself on the Xhwili
He is scared of being hurt by the grass on the scab
I wonder how he was when still a child?

As the poet continued with his praise singing, Tembu councillors

threatened to beat him up, saying he had insulted both their
chiefs.

Repeated attempts were made to cool the tempers in the

ensueing chaos. AbaThembu dashed off in anger. On their arrival

at home the matter was reported to Chief Joyi who responded by
suggesting that messengers should be sent to Gqirana to enquire
the reason why he let imbongi insult him the way he had done.
Gqirana's reply was that he does not normally interfere with the
affairs of iimbongi because iimbongi have a (poetic) licence to
insult anybody.

AbaThembu then made it clear that there should

be no repetition of the incident.

Another circumcision ceremony was held. The imbongi repeated his
previous performance. AbaThembu were thunderstruck. Then it was
suggested that diviners should be consulted over the matter.
At that time Joyi's war diviner was Mbombo, who advised against
the war because his divining powers revealed that amaMpondomise
would defeat abaThembu. Mnqanqeni instructed him to strengthen or
eliminate any signs of weakness so that they could go to war, he

84

should not infuse them with his cowardice. Mbombo then withdrew
in order to work on his magic.

He again told the chief that

abaThembu would meet with no luck, and victory lay with

amaMpondomise, he strongly advised against war. Nobody took him
seriously. Warriors were mobilised and set out to war despite the
fact that the doctorhad warned them against such an undertaking.
AmaMpondomise on the other hand, for some unknown reason, were
quite confident that victory would be theirs in the forthcoming
conflict. Their war diviner went to enchant (cast a spell) the
pool at Xhwili where the fighting was to take place. At daybreak
the powerful armies were facing each other ominously. Imbongi of
Gqirana was heard saying:
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Young Thembu man.
The bulls are facing each other, the one of Majola and that of
Tato;
The bull of Majola has never been gored by another".
It was not long before the adversaries mat. Initially it
appeared as though abaThembu were gaining the upper hand, but
they were troubled by a persistent thirst, and they repeatedly
went to the pool for a drink, and amaMpondomise would come and
stab them whilst they were still drinking, in a kneeling
position. 0 yes! charms do have an effect sometimes. By the way
this was the pool that had been charmed by Gqirana's war doctor.
Suddenly the Thembu line broke, and the Thembu warriors fled. In
those days a soldier in flight would be made to sprint faster
than a cheetah.

When the runners took a breath after that wild

85

chase, Mbanga, imbongi of Ggirana was heard saying:

"I warned you young man of Hala,
I said, "Make peace the chiefs are staring at each other",
So, there you are!
What have you have to say now?
The bull of Ngwanya son of Majola
Gored with the right (horn)."
AbaThembu were at a loss when they heard the words of imbongi.
Then they remembered what Mbombo and their chiefs had said. They
were too embarrassed to go home. The news of the death of many
warriors was sent to chiefs like Dalasile and Jumba blaming
Gqirana for that high loss of life. Jumba sent Mgudlwa to go and
express sympathy for the loss and bereavement. With his mission
accomplished Mgudlwa then wanted to know what was to be done.
Joyi's reply was to the effect that his army had been decimated
by amaMpondomise and he was ready to submit to them.

Dalasile

and Mgudlwa having talked aside announced their decision,

"Fighting must resume, now that we are here, we shall surely kill
a large number of amaMpondomise, to the extent that we may even
surpass the losses that have already been suffered by both
sides."
When Mgudlwa had a meeting aside with Dalasile, the problem
raised was the fact that amaJumba resided among the eneymy. How
could they fight them? Dalasile then suggested that amaJumba must
withdraw from the area that they shared with their enemy. He
(Dalasile) would given them land. From that day mobilisation

86

began, and a day was set on which the army was to assemble. When
Mgudlwa left the great place he went straight to the cattle-posts
where he gathered all the cattle belonging to amaJumba and drove
them to Dalasile's place. Dalasile suggested to Mgundlwa that he
should stop over at Qunduvana, he further promised that a
permanent site would be chosen after the war. Jumba and Mdukiswa
also went over to amaQwathi thereafter.
All the regiments of the communities under the rule of abaThembu
assembled at the great place on a certain day. The way cry was
raised repeatedly so was the sound of the horn. At dawn, day
before the big fight, bonfires were seen all over the territory
of amaMpondomise. By morning all that was remaining were ruins,
amaMpondomise had left. They were chased and were overtaken just
as they got to Mjika, having taken the route that passes through
Khambi.

They were heading for Tsolo and Xhokonxa. AbaThembu

returned after having got some cattle as booty.

That is how Gqirana left Thembuland. He took the territory that
had belonged to Jumba, and amaJumba were given theirs at Tabase.
We shall return later to the story of the departure of another
branch of amaJumba when we shall be focussing on them.
Chief Poto's argument that appears in his book which says, "Joyi
who was resident at Xhwili became regent, this is the same Joyi
who once resided at Tsitsa having been given the place by Faku on
his arrival from Hewu", is not known in Thembuland. Read the
history of amaMpondo written by Victor Foto Ndamase in pages 26
and 27, where he again says "Ndamase and Joyi reached an

87

agreement whereby they drove amaMpondomise up the Mtata River up

to Sinxaku". Even this point is not known because there was never
any alliance between abaThembu and amaMpondo during those days.

By the way it was Ndamase who assisted Ncapai's Mfecane which

caused abaThembu to immigrate further north. Whatever the
position was, Nonesi was at that time not on good terms with Joyi
because of a claim on chieftainship and also because she wanted
to bring Ngangelizwe up herself.

AbaThembu claim that Ggirana refused to submit to Mhlontlo, when

the latter offered help instead he argued that he would rather
submit to abaThembu because they would make him a chief again. So
saying, he gave out an ox as tribute. Joyi, with the consent of
abaThembu, accepted Ggirana's overtures for peace. But Gqirana
had to keep all the territory that had belonged to Jumba, while
Jumba would then take over what had been his (Ggirana's). The
reason why so many abaThembu had died was because his people
(jumba's) were too far to get help, moreover Jumba had resided in
their (amaMpondomise) midst.

88

JOYI's SICKNESS
We have already made reference to the fact that Chief Joyi was a
sickly person, then the councillors felt that they had to consult
traditional doctors and diviners about the chief's state of
health. That was normal procedure because the belief at that time
was that anyone who was sick had been bewitched by someone else.
AbaThembu, like other nations, held similar beliefs.
The elders and Chief MNqanqeni then secretly went to consult a
renowned diviner who had spirit mediums. He was a resident in
Gcalekaland. His name was Ziduli. He was an expert at reading
people's minds.

So when abaThembu consulted him his diagnosis

hit the nail on the head. The listeners were , just dumbfounded,
at the same time each man was wondering if the doctor was not
going to smell him out. After some time however they asked for
the root cause of the whole problem saying, "Doctor, can you tell
us what the cause of the problem is?"
The doctor replied, "The fault is with you, councillors.
compete for the chief's favour.

Even now, there is a man who is

the chief's favourite who is not here.

to the river for a bath,

You

Daily, at sunset he goes

there he really bathes in a

"strengthening" potion. It is the power of the potion that

softens up the chief even if there is a cause for a quarrel with
this man."
Someone said, "Doctor, we have come to you for help, do tell us
who this person is, even if he is one of us. We cannot let our
chief die through a deliberate act."

89

Ziduli's reply was "It is the man whose name is the same as the
word that refers to a head without hair on the crown."

They all answered "0 you mean a head with inkqayi

(baldness)."

The doctor said, "Yes, you have said it." One of them, "0! that
is Nkqayi. We thank you and we accept your explanation. We
shall get him (Nkgayi). We have long told him that he is a
wizard."

It was true that there was a councillor named Nkqayi which Joyi
was very fond of. It was equally true that he was in the habit
of going to the river for a wash every afternoon, because he was
rather particular about his appearance. The whole misfortune of
being "smelt-out" was disgraceful, moreover his life was in
danger. Joyi had never, as a person, participated in the killing
of witches and wizards. Mnqanqeni,

who was in power then, had

previously persecuted those who had been accused of witchcraft.

When these men reached home one of them went to warn Nkqayi,
saying, "You are gong to be killed by Mnqangeni."

At once Nkqayi sought protection from Qeya at the palace. He told

Qeya all what he had heard. Qeya sided with Nkqayi and therefore
protected him. He ordered that Nkqayi's cattle should be brought
to the great place so that they could be looked after together
with his. That is how Nkqayi was saved by Ngangelizwe, who then
was known as Qeya. In the end Joyi who had a chest disease died,
and his sickness could not even be cured by burning sacrifices.

90

THE REIGN OF NGANGELIZWE (1863)

During the time of Joyi's sickness, Qeya, the son of Mtirara and
Notasi in the great house, was quickly sent in for circumcision.
When Joyi died, Qeya was already a man, and he therefore took
over the throne and was given the new name of Ngangelizwe. At
that time the government already had representatives who looked
after its interest. On the day abaThembu presented him with
tributes, the government also presented him with fifty pounds or
one hundred rand. The government went on to add that in order to
prove that he intended to live peacefully with abaThembu he would
give their chief a sum of fifty-two pounds or one hundred and
four rand a year for his own use. AbaThembu on their part
encouraged the new chief to take over because in their tradition
a person who reaches the stage of manhood is fully-grown, and is
ready to attend to whatever his duties are.

That is how

Ngangelizwe got into power.

They say he was an outgoing, talkative person. He was equally

witty. He could be as mischievous as a boy. He was a chief who
believed in consulting his advisors on state affairs, so much
that there were advisors he could not do without.

Among those

who deserve to be mentioned are Xhelo, the son of Gubanca of the

Mvundle clan, Cuthalele and Nkqayi, the one who had been accused
of bewitching Joyi, was also a trusted one.

91

NOVILI'S MARRIAGE

It was not long thereafter abaThembu got Ngangelizwe a wife, who

was Sarili's daughter. Her in-laws called her Novili. Life
continued peacefully. At that time there was a government
representative among abaThembu, he was Joseph Cox Warner who had
arrived with the Reverend Haddy in 1830. They were from overseas
and they settled at Clarkebury institution. According to the
language used those days he became the Commissioner-General.
There had been an attempt to get Ngangelizwe to attend school,
but the move was disrupted by the Mfecane wars, after he had
attended for just a short while. Then one day abaThembu got to
hear that the government intended giving Sandile's daughter,
called Emma, to Ngangelizwe. This girl had been to school and she
was also a Christian.

Warner (A! Jongilanga) was the chief mover in the whole scheme.
Anyone involved in a scheme must not relax but should be on the
look out for any eventualities. We are not sure if that was the
case in Warner's case. We shall soon know as we proceed with the
story.
Sandile's daughter arrived on an appointed day. She had her
waggon

with its team of oxen. She had also brought along lots of

European finery. Word was sent to Ngangelizwe that the bride had
arrived. Moreover he was expected to marry according to the
western rites. When abaThembu arrived many were fascinated by the
waggon and its span of oxen, as well with the caravan draped with

92

a white cover. In all the hustle and bustle, there was somebody
who was very unhappy - that was Ngangelizwe. He could not find a
way out of the maze in which he found himself.
It was suggested that the bride and the bridegroom should first
meet before proceeding to church.

All Ngangelizwe's councillors

and advisors were there. Even Xhelo the cripple of Thembuland,

having been put on horseback, was there, involved in the
deliberations.
"Then the hairy puffadder of Mtirara
which was sighted by the Mbanga women going to work"
was shown in where the bride was. He was in there for rather a
long time, and people were beginning to wonder as to what was
actually happening. At last, out he came. Notasi's son came out
shouting saying: "Saddle the horses, saddle them and let us go.
I don't want that girl at all."
"What now! what is the meaning of all this?

Someone asked.

A second one remarked, "I wonder what has Emma done to His Royal
Highness?" Several people were sent to him to try and persuade
him to change his mind. But met with no success! His Majesty was
clearly upset and would listen to no one. Even his trusted
adviser, Mgudlwa, who was really their last restart, failed. As
for Warner, he wept bitterly. Then, abaThembu in large numbers,
went away. Only those from Rode remained.
Here is what was upsetting Warner most: According to tradition a
princess offered for marriage could not be refused and driven

93

away even if she was not fully accepted. Instead lobola would
still be produced and the princess would be given to one of the
young men in the royal family; when a princess was sent back home
that was a sign that her father was an enemy, and the girl was
herself insulted. In that case the bride's people had enough
reason to go to war with the bridgegroom's people. Thus, it was
highly likely that amaNgqika would follow that course if they
were forced to return with their princes. The whole idea was

painful to Warner because he was the person who had arranged the
marriage. We are told that after weeping for a long time he then
asked, "Didn't Mtirara have another son, so that she will not
have anything to do with Ngangelizwe?"
A plan was then devised for the princess to marry one of the
princes. Stokwe, the son of Ndlela of the Qwati clan was chosen
as the most suitable prince. That is how Emma became the wife of
Stokwe.
While we are on this topic, I wish to point out that actually
Stokwe already had a wife who was Sarili's daughter; she is the
mother of Mnyamakulu who is now at Nqhuqhu. Thereafter amaQwathi
were then assembled in order to come and classify the wives
according to rank. AmaQwathi wanted Sarili's daughter to be the
chief wife. At that moment Stokwe came up with the idea that he
would get Warner's views on the matter.
When they met,the son of Ndlela then briefly told Warner what his
problem was. The white man's response was this:

94

"By the way Stokwe, according to your tradition, is the great

house not supposed to be that of the chief's daughter ?"
"Yes."
Warner: "And who gave Emma to you?"
Stokwe: "The Government."
Warner:
"Tell me,
government?"

who is senior between Sarili and the

For a moment Stokwe was shocked into silence by the question, then
he replied "It is the government."
Warner: "That's it! That is a wise reply. Now you go and make the
government's daughter your great house," said the son of Warner.
That is how Emma became the great housewife although she was not
the daughter of a senior Xhosa chief. It is possible that
Ngangelizwe was given a similar answer in his first meeting with
Emma. That explains his behaviour after the meeting, when he left
the people in a latch. Ngangelizwe himself had married Nomfakulo,
Sarili's daughter, the one who was given the name Novili by his
in-laws. Let us end the story about Emma and Ngangelizwe.

95

NGANGELIZWE AND MATANZIMA (1870)

When Mtirara died his son, Matanzima, of the right hand house
(wasekunene) was already a man. He, with Nonesi, went across
Mbashe River during the War of Mianjeni. On the day Nonesi and
Joyi were separated by Ngangelizwe, Matanzima decided to return
to Roda, and not remain at the great place. Whites acted contrary
to the tradition of Blacks. Nonesi was given a senior status to
Matanzima. They were simply instigating conflict. Perhaps they
were influenced by the fact that at that time Queen Victoria was
in power - and to them that was conventional. We shall be
returning to the story of Matanzima and Nonesi. For now let us
take a look at Matanzima and Ngangelizwe.
Baas, the son of Falo hen narrating the quarrel between
Ngangelizwe and Matanzima over Mali Mbutu's cattle of the Ngxongo
clan, says:
Gecela fined Mali some cattle as punishment for a bloody crime.
Mali appealed to Matanzima to arbitrate. Matanzima then sent a
messenger with authority to confiscate the cattle. But because of
the crime Mali had committed, Matanzima did not give him back
those cattle. Mali then crossed Mbashe River to Ngangelizwe where
he lodged a complaint that the Ruda chiefs Gecelo and Matanzima
had confiscated his cattle. He further pointed out that as a
councillor he expected to be fined by Nganqelizwe himself.
Ngangelizwe was not satisfied with the situation. He sent his own
messenger of court to go and fetch Mali's cattle from Matanzima's
kraal. The latter refused with them, saying that the people of

96

Rods fell under his family's domain, he therefore could not allow
somebody from the great place to come and enjoy favours within
his family's sphere of influence. The messengers had to return
bare-handed. They soon returned, with a special message for
Matanzima; "You are being instructed to release the cattle.
Should you refuse we have been asked to warn you that: This
instrument kills a person." So saying, they lifted a spear.
The son of Mtirara gave no response to all what they said, but he
continued to refuse to release the cattle. After the messengers
had left Matanzima went to inform E J Warner at Lubisi that
Ngangelizwe had come to confiscate cattle paid as fine in his
territory. After hearing the report Warner resorted to a scheme
that is recorded by Mr Brownlee in Historical Records pages 26 to

27 where Brownlee says: "In 1872, boundaries separating the

chiefs were drawn up there and thereafter they observed and
respected the boundaries."
We are told that on the day the discussion on boundaries was
held, Ngangelizwe turned back at Tyelimhlophe across Qhumanco
River and he sent Xelo to represent him. This happened when the
emigrant Thembu of Rhoda had already settled where they are now,
where they had been promised a long time before that they would
become independent, and would not fall under anybody's
jurisdiction. The idea that the great house of Mtirara could
wield authority over the territory that belonged to the right
hand house was defeated during Ngangelizwe's time, a time when
tradition was still respected.

97

Xelo, speaking on behalf of Ngangelizwe is said to have said on

that day, "0 yes!!," he said clapping his hands. "This is
surprising indeed! Now that the Roda chiefs are rich, they will
not listen to anybody! We shall see who will lose their territory
first." Xelo's speech in a way signified that the boundary had
been accepted, and respected by abaThembu generally.
AbaThembu who refused to follow Joyi are the following: It was
Mfanta the support house to the right hand house of Mtirara;
Gungubele the head of amaTshatshu; Gecelo the head of amaGcina
and Stokwe the head of amaQwathi of Roda and Matanzima.
The reader should also please note that in all those lineages,
Matanzima is the most senior. besides the fact that the right
hand house normally is a branch that is independent and different
from the great place. It was impossible for Joyi and Nonesi to be
regents for one person. If Nonesi was a regent, then Joyi should
have just been an ordinary chief.
All in all, readers should take note of claims made by some
people, that the house of Ngangelizwe has authority at Roda, this
is because (these people) they lack the details fo the whole
matter. When Ngangelizwe died he knew the real situation, and he
did not bother himself about it, as we shall soon learn further.

98

NOVILI'S PUNISHMENT
Many narrators including some famous writers like the Reverend J

H Saga and Mr W D Cingo have this to day in their narration:

AmaGcaleka went to war with abaThembu over Nongxokozelo who was
Novili 's maid. And yet that is not the case. The war between
abaThembu and amaGcaleka broke out because Novili had been beaten
up. On this point Bhokileni Lange says: "Yayiligxiza likallovili."
That means she was assaulted with sticks on her legs so much that
she broke her shin.
A true account has been written by Mr Brownlee in his book
"Historical . Records from page 28 to page 31, where he says:
Ngangelizwe had a misunderstanding with his wife Novili, and he
beat her up and broke her shin, and she also had a wound on her
head. Because the councillors feared that she would not pull
through from her injuries unless she was properly attended to,
they secretly sent her to Menziwa, who was requested to send her
to her home at Sarili's place which at that time was at Ohara.
Menziwa however sent her to Sigidi who resided at Ngxakaxha and
it was Sigidi who brought her safely to Sarili. When Ngangelizwe
realised that his actions might bring trouble, and his fears were
further confirmed by rumours that all was not well, he applied to
the government for his own resident, because Mr Warner who served
abaThembu as a whole was at Rode and yet the country had been
zoned already. He wanted his own resident who would have nothing
to do with Rode. His application was approved by the government.
He was given Mr E 8 Chalmers, whose office was set up at
Mjanyana.

99

Before he had even established himself in his office he received

a complaint from Feni (Fynn) Sarili's resident, complaining about
the assault on his (Sarili's) daughter by Ngangelizwe, and was
asking that he (Chalmers) should arrange a meeting where the
matter would be discussed. It was then decided that each chief
would send four representatives to deliberate on behalf of the
chief in that meeting. By the way it is not proper for chiefs to
exchange words.
As it happens even in other cases, this case was time and again
remanded in order to consult the chief participants. That meant
that people would meet for a session, and then break again.
While the deliberations were going on amaGcaleka asked
representatives of abaThembu whether they were aware of the fact
that as the discussions were going on, amaGcaleka were at the
same time, arming themselves. AbaThembu did not take that remark

seriously,

because they said that Sarili was an old and

experienced chief, he couldn't possibly start arming while the

case was still be deliberated. Then one day judgement was
passed. Ngangelizwe lost the case. He was ordered to pay a fine

of forty cattle. After judgment was passed Ngangelizwe's mbongi

said:
'Just take a look at one who roasts fishes
That crackle and once exploded on to Hintsa's son.'
Imbongi of the great place went on with his praise songs. Imbongi
is one person whose poetic licence gives him freedom of speech.
The whole thing did not go well with amaGcaleka because they
still nursed the grievance of their loss of their land, Rods
which had been given to abaThembu. The majority of amaGcaleka

100

strongly felt that there was no alternative but to go to war with

abaThembu. The reader should remember that there were already
some traders in these parts, who read newspapers often, while our
Fathers were still living in darkness. They relied on what the
traders told them. Even if they (the traders) were simply
stirring up conflict, they (fathers) were not really averse to
that, so long as there would be a bit of a fight, and someone
would have an opportunity to distinguish himself in the battle
field and further prove how he had taken after his father.
On this occasion we are told that Sarili's councillor Maki
together with Kwaza stood up and delivered a very good speech,
which should have cooled down the tempers of amaGcaleka, and made
them reason a little. Maki is said to have warned:
"Let there be no fight over a trivial matter like this one.
Please remember that Ngangelizwe is Sarili's son, and he also is
the son of a chief. It is almost conventional behaviour for all
chiefs to be mischievous. Moreover Ngangelizwe has taken after
his father who was mischievous. Through his action he has shown
that he is nothing. It must be borne in mind that childishness is
a common feature. Even a chief's child is just like other
children. Therefore the son of Mtirara himself is in no way
different from other children.

Let him be forgiven.

The

punishment that has been meted out to him suffices."

It was as though Maki had just been blowing bubbles, amaGcaleka
did not heed all what he had said at all. All they wanted was
war, hoping that they would be able to regain some territory.

101

That was their only aim. There is reason to believe that even
some senior officials were aware of the real situation, but made
no attempt to stop it. The point is that they exercised no real
authority over the territory of abaThembu. That is why they
experienced a lot of difficulties when the case was being
deliberated, and the chiefs, the main participants, were absent.
Moreover they could do nothing to them (the chiefs). Another
difficulty was that abaThembu had always been in alliance with
the government. It was thus difficult for the government to fight
against them. But a way of getting them into the ambit of the
government had to be found. The problem was who would break the
regulations first. The issue of amaGcaleka provided an excuse for
their interference under the pretext of making peace.
Information was spread among amaGcaleka that Ngangelizwe had a
ready army of amaNgolothi* at his great place, which wore pairs
of trousers just as white soldiers did. AmaGcaleka in turn bought
all pairs of trousers they could lay their hands on for
themselves, so that they also could have some of their people
dressed up in pants. On the 30th September amaGcaleka crossed
Mbashe River with the sole intention of punishing Ngangelizwe.
They were led by Sarili himself together with his son Sigcawu,
who was the same age as Ngangelizwe.
It was only then that abaThembu believed the information they had
been given by representatives of amaGcaleka on the day of the
* Ingoloti - this word was used of a member of chief
Ngangelizwe's regiment of uncircumcised young men K ropf p 263

102

trial of the chiefs' case. AbaThembu without wasting time,

appealed to the neighbouring nations. Many were however
despondent, and saw no way of succeeding in a war they had not
prepared for. They were further surprised by the fact that there
were strong ties that existed between amaGcaleka and abaThembu
because of inter-marriages.

Sigcawu, the eldest son of Sarili

had married Dalasile's daughter. Dalasile himself had married

Gcaleka girls.

Mgudlwa had married Sarili's daughter, so had

Mdukiswa. It was an intertwined relationship. Daughters of

amaGcaleka were in Thembuland, and those of abaThembu were in
Gcalekaland. It was worse with chiefs of amaQiya, amaNgabe,
amaTshomane and amaTshezi. When war was declared, many announced
that they would remain neutral. Some sent messages to Sarili
declaring that they disapproved of Ngangelizwe's behaviour. Thus
they would maintain their neutrality. Ngangelizwe realised that
there was no time to spare, amaGcaleka were almost upon them.
Moreover he did not have time to inform Rode. He just managed to
collect a few chieftains that he could reach easily. All those
at Mqanduli remained neutral. As for Mankunzi, he went out and
out to side with amaGcaleka. Imbongi had this to say about him
later on.
"He is one, when engaged in war
May lead some to believe that Mankunzi is on their side
And yet he has long defected to Xhosaland."

After several days in Thembuland the son of Hintsa on a

particular day ordered that the great place, which was Novili's

103

homestead, be burnt down. The diehards were excited. Already

Sarili's regiments had been posted to various quarters, some went
about attacking, others simply just captured booty, without any
opposition. AbaThembu fled to all directions. The great place was
thus captured. In all that confusion shots from Menziwa were
heard. AmaGcaleka responded quickly and put out any resistance
from that end.

Ngangelizwe then convened a meeting of all the chiefs that were

under him.

He noted that three of the chiefs that he had relied

on had not taken part in the war.

amaQwathi.

These were amaJumba and

He rallied them on to war because amaGcaleka were

invading the country. We are told that his councillors took

advantage of the situation and they answered back. Then
Ngangelizwe said, "I am not referring to the councillors, I am
talking to the chiefs."
Off the councillors went, saying, "Well stay with your beloved
chiefs. We cannot accept a situation where we are in danger of
losing our lives and yet we are told to keep quiet." They waited
at a distance for their chiefs. So Ngangelizwe gave up. He fled
to Hagile at Clarkeburg for safety.

In order to realise the

situation on that day fully, not a single mQwathi or mJumba died.

Both chiefs of amaJumba and amaQwathi did not engage in any
fighting. It was just a small band of scouts of Sarili that
attacked

Mdukiswa and shot his horse.

councillor's horse.

He was given a

And the regiment of amaQcaleka returned to

give the report that there was still an army of abaThembu in

104

tact. They found Sarili assembling his regiments in accordance

with Hague's request.
The bearded puff adder of Mtirara noted that amaQcaleka were over-

running his country while he was engaged in endless discussion.

He went to Hagile as we have already stated. When asked what his
business was, he immediately outlined his problem. Then Hagile
cooly remarked, "Oh no, that is easy. I'll persuade Sarili to
desist from giving you anymore trouble. But my advice to you is
that you hand over your country to the Government for protection
against an invasion by amaGcaleka.
Ngangelizwe agreed. The following morning Hagile went to dissuade
Sarili from launching further attacks on Ngangelizwe. He came

to

that crowd of people who were after Ngangelizwe's blood and who
were also excited in anticipation of victory. The white man
remained calm. Speaking to Sarili in a low voice he said,
"AbaThembu are the government's children, the government will not
fold its arms and see them impoverished. And further, they had
reached an agreement with them of mutual co-operation. And you,
Sarili, you cannot take a foot more of the land and stock except
what you have already captured. Those cattle on the mountain top
were already mixed with the stock belonging to whites and thus
amaGcaleka

could not easily distinguish those that belonged to

ahaThembu from those of whites.

All in all, son of Hintsa my

chief, I say go home. You have punished your child."

This caused a general dissatisfaction among Gcaleka men, that
they should be ordered to return home without capturing cattle

105

and land.

And Maki kept on saying, "There you are!

that we should go back.

told you

Now you stand a chance of losing the

place on which you are if you continue to press forward." After

a beast had been slaughtered for Hagile, Sarili gave an order
that people should return home. So, the war of Novili ended.

106

NGANGELIZWE MAKES AN AGREEMENT

On his return to Clarkebury institution Hagile prevailed on
Ngangelizwe to make a decision. He wanted to proceed to Chalmers
at Mjanyana to tell him that on that day he was bringing a
hostage which was Ngangelizwe, and that he had won all his
territory for the government without any stipulations. Then
Hagile, Chalmers and Ngangelizwe met and drew up their own
stipulations which would later be ratified by abaThembu. After
they had finished all those preliminary talks, a day was set for
a national meeting where the whole matter would be reported.
In the meantime they were waiting for the national meeting of
Chalmers and Hagile, abaThembu met aside. When Ngangelizwe had
briefed them on the latest developments, abaThembu said, "Never!
we are not submitting ourselves to the government. We have not
even fought against amaGcaleka. Sarili had come to punish you as
his child. On that day you must leave the matter to us, we will
give the whites our views.
The awaited day came, the 30th of November in 1072. Dalasile
intentionally did not come.

The discussion went on in the

meeting. AbaThembu adamantly refused. It was a tough meeting,

more so that both sides were shrewd people, abaThembu and the
British. Then,
"The bitter aloe that weans children,
because it weaned Mbanga and Gqirana"
intervened, hoping that the whites would withdraw from their
proposal, he said, "You have heard what abaThembu are saying. As

107

for me, I am merely their child, I cannot press on against their

proposal. All in all I am telling you that my statement with you
is not valid any more. Let it be no more."
The whites, disappointed, blushed red. What was to be done?
AbaThembu had reached their decision and were not to be moved.
Hagile tried to sound a warning saying, "I have seen who is
bearing the brunt of war, it is the sons of Jumba." AbaThembu
were steadfast to their decision and would not allow themselves
to be intimidated. But they did not fully understand the depth
of the shrewdness of the white man. Negotiations on submission
after the war of Novili came to an end.

108

NONGXOKOZELO - 1875
I must, right from the start, ask the reader to pay special
attention to this article about Nongxokozelo. Nongxokozelo was
Novili's cousin, in that Nongxokozelo was the daughter of
Novili's aunt.

It seems she was a fully grown maiden.

In an

inexplicable way she became one of the mistresses at the great

place. When Novili departed, on the day she was beaten up, this
lady stayed on 'to look after her sister's house', and also she
had to see to it that the 'vessel' at the great place did not dry
up.
No one knows the cause of the misunderstanding between her and
the bearded puffadder, but one day things seem to have come to a
head.

We are told that the assault of the lady was so severe

that there were fears for her life. His Highness, at a loss as
to what to do, asked Ndevu, who was one of the councillors, to
finish her up. That marked the end of the name Nongxokozelo.
Immediately Ngangelizwe sent a message to Wright, the magistrate,
because Chalmers had left already, reporting that Nongxokozelo
was suffering from a severe head-ache. Again after four days, he
sent another message reporting that she had passed away. Having
heard some rumours about Nongxokozelo's well-being Sarili sent
messengers to ask that Nongxokozelo be released to come home for
a sacrificial ceremony.
The messengers were told that the person for whom they had come
was no more. She had suffered from a headache for four days. The
magistrate had been told about her sickness when still alive. In

109

the end, however, she had died - AmaGcaleka asked to be allowed

to see the remains of the deceased, although she had been buried
for some time. AbaThembu would just not concede to that request.
The messengers then went home. Sarili then went to lodge a
complaint with his magistrate, J Ayliff.
People were generally disgruntled with the chief's brutal action,
though they could do nothing about it. Once more representatives
of the two chiefs were assembled in order to deliberate the new
case. This time amaGcaleka were in a very ugly mood. It was soon
clear that the representatives themselves were not going to be
soft peddling. The case was deliberated for several days, except
for short recesses. Mbande the son of Menziwa was overheard
saying that if another war broke out between amaGcaleka
abaThembu, he would side with amaGcaleka. Ngangelizwe then gave
orders that if that was the case, then he should be attacked then.
AmaZizi fled, and went to seek help from the whites at Idutywa.
The verdict of the councillors on the case was that Ngangelizwe
was again found guilty. It was decided that because of the
seriousness of the crime Ngangelizwe had to pay his fine on his
own, without getting help from abaThembu as it usually was the
case. He was ordered to pay two hundred cattle plus a hundred
pounds as compensation to Sarili. Ngangelizwe had no problems
meeting the sentence because he was fairly comfortable. Even the
government those days had something to fall back on to.
The next problem was Sarili, he refused to accept that money. He
said, "Ngangelizwe has committed a disgrace to his in-laws, to

110

whom he was sun-in-law, and also being the head of a nation. In

addition, he is said, as head of the nation, to have passed
derogatory remarks about me, Sarili. Now my people are suggesting
that we go to war so that they can acquire more land, just as
they had previously been robbed of their land in episodes like
that of Nongqawuse. Even this incident was as tragic as that one
already referred to."
The whites refused saying, "The sentence had been passed. He had
to accept the compensation offered or he had to know that if he
refused to take it, nothing else would be offered to him." The
whole thing was somewhat delayed. The whites constantly enquired
from abaThembu as to what the position of amaGcaleka was. Then
(the whites) would remind them (abaThembu) that they had long
advised them to hand over their country to the government because
Sarili

was comin g . While abaThembu were still confused, not

knowing which way to go, the government quickly posted its

regiments all over Thembuland, under the pretext that the
regiments were for their protection, and at the same time telling
abaThembu that they should submit on their own terms. They also
brought Menziwa back to the territory of Ngangelizwe at Tyalara.
It was at that time, and under those circumstances of white
regiments that abaThembu gave in and started drawing up
stipulations of an agreement of submission to the government.
The prime mover in the whole agreement was Hagile, who repeatedly
said, "Oust remember this, we are at your service. You must say
that it is you who are asking to be put under the wing of the

111

government. Sarili will confiscate your land. All this army you
see has come to your aid."
0 what a pity about abaThembu who read no newspapers and who wore
also ignorant of the trickery of the whites, (they) , saw the
advice given by the servant of God as being a sound one. They
then asked the man of God to draw up the stipulations for them.
Thereafter they asked to have a meeting with the government
representatives, magistrate and the commander of the army, Bokolo
at Clarkeburg Institution. That meeting was held on 28th October
1875.
The outcome of the meeting was the acceptance by the government
representative of a request by abaThembu that they be put under
the wing of Queen Victoria in accordance with the stipulations
drawn up by Hagile. The government representatives promised to
present the request to the government on their behalf, abaThembu
would then hear from them.
On this particular day Dalasile did not turn up for the meeting.
He was strongly opposed to the whole move. The reader must again
take note of the fact that in the stipulations which can be found
in page 425 in the book on the Commission on Native Law and
Customs of 1881, Matanzima and all other chiefs at Rode were not
present. It was proper that he was absent because the request by
abaThembu of Ngangelizwe for submission under the government was
made long after the separation. Ngangelizwe too, knowing that
Roda was not under his jurisdiction, (he) never bothered himself
about them on that day.

112

The regiments of the government were then withdrawn having

obtained what had been so strongly desired - the incorporation of
abaThembu under the wing of the government without shedding
blood, since they were allies of the government.
Again, the commander of the army Bokolo, arrived at Mjanyana. He
convened a meeting of abaThembu on 10th December 1875. On that
day he gave a report saying the government had accepted the
request of abaThembu that they be incorporated under his wing for
protection. He went on to say a certain Mr S A Probert would be
sent later, to come and finalise the agreement, except for just
one issue that Ngangelizwe would be suspended from his position
for a period of more than six months, after which time, if his
conduct was satisfactory, he would again be restored to his
seat of authority.
AbaThembu agreed, but not really meaning to, to the suggestion
about their chief, because they did not know that an outsider
could come and tell them that their chief was no longer one.
In that same meeting at Mjanyana there came the Reverend Gordon
who was called Sidubi by Dalasile. He came along with amaQwathi
although Dalasile in person was not there. They had come to
present their application for incorporation under the wing of
Queen Victoria. We are told that one mQwathi wished to question
such a step, but to no avail because the whole assembly requested
that, since abaThembu had come under the sway of the government,
amQwthi

should do likewise because in reality they were under

Thembu rule, and they would be exposed to all kinds of danger if

113

they were independent. Gordon, who had come along with amaQwathi,
was then told that their application would also be referred to
the government. They would be contacted the day they received a
word from the government.
It was not long thereafter, still in December, that the son of
Probert arrived reporting that the government had re-affirmed the
stipulations drawn up by abaThembu.

But the suspension of

Ngangelizwe would remain for about six months or more. On the

24 December 1875 abaThembu were annexed by the government, and to
confirm the reality of the new English regime, the "Union Jack",
the British flag was hoisted in Thembuland.

As for Ngangelizwe,

he was stripped of his kingship.

In due course the application by amaQwathi to be annexed by the
government was granted.

114

NGANGELIZWE BECOMES SUBJECT TO THE GOVERNMENT 1875

As

we

said

earlier,

Chief

Ngangelizwe

approached

Hagile

requesting to be incorporated into the Government.

Except

for

some

problems

encountered earlier

magistracy of Chalmers when the Chief,

his

councillors,

incorporated
this

move

regiment

soon

that

think,
had

during

government

was instigated by the

asked

to

be

unconditionally;
presence

of

that

(sic)

and

At Dutywa it is where he

had

brought Menziwe back from Dutywa

placed him at Tyhalara in Mthatha.

the

Ngangelizwe, and a few of

after the Novili debacle,

under the wing of the

we

on

fled to because of threats levelled against him for having helped

Novili
to

to escape.

the

move

In short the majority of amaHala were opposed

arguing

that there

had

been

no

fighting,

and

therefore there was no reason for them to submit to anybody; when

this thing happened

(annexation) it had long been deliberated and

desired by whites who felt the strain of trying to govern

who

were

whites
way

of

allies.

otherwise independent and paid no

who paid taxes did so to Ngangelizwe.

taxes.

people

Even

those

This in all was a

annexing abaThembu without any bloodshed

as

they

were

Sarili was used to facilitate the plan, the very Sarili

who had as good as committed suicide by the Nongqawuse tragedy_

On

the

28th

October

1875 there was a

Institution which was Hagile's home.

Bowker

were representatives of the government,

as

all

terms

meeting

the Thembu chiefs from the south,

at

Clarkebury

(8okolo) and

Wright

there was Hagile as well

Dalasile.

The

of the incorporation of abaThembu into the government

are

except

115

as follows:1.

Ngangelizwe
in

was to be regarded as the king of all abaThembu

general and

would be

given a sum of two hundred pounds

( 200) per annum.

2.

When

his

son

reached the age of twenty (20) he

would

be

given a hundred pounds ( 100) per annum.

3.

That Mgudlwa be given fifty pounds ( 50) per annum.

4.

That Mdukiswa would receive the same

allowance

as

Mgudlwa

( 50).

5.

That
The

Bacela
same

and Mhloba would each get thirty pounds (

amount would be given to Bandile

of

30)

Mzolisa

as

wello
6.

The following would each get twenty pounds ( 20) per annum:Sidike,

lsompa,

Ndwanyaza,

Mthiyedwa,

Dubul'ekhwele,

Stokhwe, Tyali, Ngonyama and Maramncwa.

7.

That

all

the

abovenamed chiefs were heads of

their

sub-

nations and should be recognised by the government as chiefs

and should be paid the salaries mentioned above.
8.

That

tax

paying would only begin three years

since

then,

that is, it would be started in 1878.

9.

That the boundaries of Thembuland should remain as they were

before and be final.

10.

That

chiefs

would

exercise no

authority

over

the

land

116

belonging to educational institutions.

12.

That

amaMfengu

of Menziwa be removed and placed where

the

chief would allocate land for them.

13.

That the sale of liquor be prohibited among blacks.

So Mr Probart

(sic) was sent on the twenty-fourth (24th) December

to announce in a meeting of abaThembu that

1875

had

agreed

to

misconduct,
money

the move except

was

being

that

the

government

Ngangelizwe,

because

suspended from chieftainship.

which was two hundred pounds ( 200) he would

But

of
his

continue

to

get from the government.

The

people expressed their thanks to the government and even the

other

matter

prepared

that the government had referred to,

to

understand

take
how

the

it seriously because people

government

would make

no

could

the

one

was

just

not

people

to

be

disloyal and disrespectful to their chief.

From

there

they followed Ngangelizwe and not one made

that he was not subject to him.

to

informed

abaThembu

claim

The government was at a loss as

how best he could make the suspension

government

effective.

that Ngangelizwe's

Soon

the

conduct

was

satisfactory and therefore the punishment had been withdrawn,

could exercise his authority once more.
mThembu
that
was

Even then the individual

took no notice of the withdrawal of suspension

so

there are many people in Thembuland who dispute that

any

such

occurrence.

he

They actually became hot

under

much
there
the

117

collar

when we make any reference to the suspension although

tell them that we got it from historical records which we

we

cannot

overlook because the written record cannot be wished away.

NGANGELIZWE BECOMES STABLE

Ngangelizwe then began to be stable and mature and he became very
popular with the people because he generously gave people cattle.
We

are told that all those who went to serve him loyally

became

rich within no time.

I shall never forget a story Mr Mbombini used to narrate whenever

he

felt like telling stories about his chiefs.

that

once

mOr"lli

where
liAs

ng,

Ngangelizwe
when

was

walking alone,

was

relate

just

The stranger then asked

he met a stranger.

Ngangelizwe's great place was.

~:;c)on

it

He would

The other then

late
him

answered,

as you go beyond that hi 11 you'll see a homestead wi th a

lot of people about, you will not miss it.1I

The

stranger

asked

for

tobacco

and

Ngangelizwe,

laughing,

apologised having none to offer.

When

the stranger was some distance away from

His

Majesty,

he

said,
cne!

What is one to do conSidering the reports about

the

crouelty c)f this chief?"

The othero 1 augh~d and asked the stroanger why he botheroed to vi si t

118

him when he had heard about his cruelty.

II

No,

but.

chief

I"'umourhis

also heard that he is a very generous

who St-=rve hi m

tI'10Sf?

The

I've

II

The stranger then said,

then

chief

II

said,

II

Hey fellow,

are you telling

me

about

As he was saying this he {;.,dvanced towar-ds him tying

kar'oss,

and

t.o

getting ready for a fight.

The

up

stranger

was

lashed

out

puzzled by the behaviour of such a tall and big man.

Then
'f toW i

the

big clash began!

Oh!

the poor

stranger

Then the chief jumped aside because it all had been a

C)U~S 1 y.

joke.

Then

would

be

he

wished the stranger well,

able to cope with life at the

assuring him that

great

place,

he

because,

there, a man survived by being able to defend himself.

The

stranger then proceeded to the great place where

for

wa,s

he

long time without seeing Ngangelizwe for whom the

w<:t.i t i ng .

arriving.

Representatives

After a long time,

When

surprise

when

he

he

of

the

sub-nations

waited
meeting
kept

he heard the people saluting,

took a

glance,

you

can

discovered that it was the same

on
IIA!

imagine

his

man

he

had

help

him

encoutered on the way.

In

that

e'scape.

instant

he

could only rely on his legs

He started to run.

must be caught.

to

The chief gave instructions that he

Then sprinters flew at him not even knowing what

he had done to the chief.

One of the athletes at the great place

managed to catch him and bring

him back.

He was brought before

119

the

chief and he was assured that no harm would befall

him,

it

was just that the chief was worried that he would leave for good,
when he saw him running.

So saying, he instructed one of his men

to give the stranger a heifer to take away adding an

explanation

that

very

he

citizen,

was

certain that the stranger would be

from

the

very fact that he (the stranger) had

loyal
had

liking for him not knowing who he was.

There
hlS

are many other humorous stories that he says he heard from

father and Faio,

people who frequented Ngangelizwe's

great

place together with his father Mgudlwa.

Ngangelizwe also tended to draw closer those councillors who

had

Especially Xhelo, who is said to have been born

deformed, with limp legs, and had to be carried on to a horse and
when in a national assembly he would
eloquence. That is

II

It

Who

J. S

co~"J

tt-,at

surprise everybody with his

why imbongi of Gqirana said:

IOv-JS

Ot-

c\ cr i pp 1 e of Thembul and

is put on horseback and when he gets to the meeting he leads

the del ibe.rations.

Because
little
bright.

it

II

is said he was a convert,

education

that

I take it that he

sharpened his mind which

was

had

naturally

We have already made mention of him when we talked about

the day boundaries were drawn at Rode (sic).

120

THE WAR OF NGCAYECHI81 1877

Just at the time when Ngangelizwe was ,becoming a wise and
the
brooke

out

Then

stable

war of Ngcayechibi between amaMfengu

and amaGcaleka

The white man came to the assistance

of

amaMfengu.

the white man reminded Ngangelizwe of a promise he had made

that they would help each other in the event of war.

The day had

come and the white man appealed to Ngangelizwe for help.

The son

of Mthirara then convened a meeting of amaHala and informed

them

about the white man's request.

At this juncture I must mention the fact that when abaThembu were
incorporated into the government, Dalasile was also incorporated,
but

on

his

own,

clearly breaking away from the main

body

of

abaTh?mbUn

On

the day approval to the application (for help)

Dal,asi 1 ?
agreed

looked
to

incorporated
his,

hE'

some

He claimed that he

dissatisfied.
of

the

stipulations.

He

into the government on his own.

argued.

had

Magistrate

was simply there to assist him in his

ThE?

had

wanted

never
to

had nothing to do with

his

people.

were

The son of Probert (sic) would not agree,

They can't t-ever-se it.

The

administration
he said:

f i r'st app I i cat:i on is the one that has b?en appr'oved by

gover"nmf::~nt.

be

And all the cases of his subjects were his. The

therefore

II

brought,

His subjects

government

of justice.

was

the

II

After a long discussion the son of Fubu gave in.

He submitted to

121

an

act of folly such as tying a rock around one s neck.

In that

way his authority over his people was no more as it was said that
100) a

he would be given a salary of one hundred pounds

year.

The son of Fubu died without having ever fetched that money - not
That

once.

marked

the

end of the problem that was

caused

by

Nongxokozelo's death.

THE WAR OF NGCAYECHI81 1877

Because

of personal tragedies which in a way also

affected

He resolved

Ngangelizwe decided to turn over a new leaf.

nation~

to consult his councillors in all matters of importance.

point

the

War

fighting against amaMfengu.

government
whenever

where

of Ngcayechibi broke out,

then

the

At that

amaXhosa

were

The whites sided with amaMfengu. The

reminded abaThembu about

their

the government was fighting an enemy,

promise,

that

they would

join

in. The government then on that day was inviting them to join the
war

against

changed
time

amaGcaleka.

his

to

He would have

protested

mind and agreed but asked that he be

but

quickly

granted

some

convene a meeting of abaThembu in order to inform

them

about the request. AbaThembu reluctantly agreed to fight with the

government

against

Ngangelizwe

circumstances.
under his sway.
It

is

only

categorically
provoc~tion"

out

amaXhosa.
sent

But

they

were

forced

for all those chiefs who

They all turned up on the day of the

Dalasile
that

who

was

not

there.

He

by
were

departure.

stated

he would never fight amaGcaleka without

quite
any

He was fined a hundred cattle for refusing to carry

an order of a Senior Magistrate and his

king,

Ngangelizwe.

122
The son of Fubu paid out the fine.

AbaThembu

did

amaGcaleka
flight.

not

because

They

rushed

have

much to say

their

they came when amaGcaleka

were

to help their families who were

from

starvation and exposure.

able

to take Novili

the

about

It was the time

fight

with

already

in

suffering

Ngangelizwe

was

again and return her to her homestead.

All

Thembu maidens who had married amaGcaleka returned to

their

homes.

The

whole

episode provided Ngangelizwe with an

opportunity

prove to the government that he was in full control of

to

abaThembu

especially since he had mended his childish ways.

NGANGELIZWE AND SIQUNGATHI

Ngangelizwe had a younger brother called Siqungathi. When he grew
up

he was given the name Mengami.* It appears as if when Mengami

reached

the

stage of manhood he became more

elder brother.

popular

than

his

Then envy set in. The question asked was whether

there ever were two bulls in one kraal.

One
that

day as Siqungathi was approaching,

Siqungathi

should

not be saluted.

Ngangelizwe gave
Then

one

councillor,

fearing that he would be punished for being discourteous,

*The name Mengami is derived from the verb

means to rule over - Translator's note.

orders

'ongama'

jumped

which

123

on

his

feet and saluted

taking
I01ave

offence,

pa~"I(~7.'roo?iI

conf USE".:-d.

If

c\sked

hc~

And

IIAh

saying,
You. say

~"dvanci

l"1engami.

i"'lengami;

?~h

ng on the

ms:~l

By

the

over whom does he

II

If

he asked

way the two were siblings,

other

grievances that had caused tension between

events

of

that

refuge

at

his

f cwo

aware

sister's

the

But

could

at

Dutywa

the

not

that his life was in danger,

place

one

brothers.

instance.

day had caused a wide rift that

Siqungathi,

mendf?d"

be

SeJLlghto

(sic).
of

land.

is why one never finds the name of Mengami among the

names

Matanzima
That

differences over cattle,

ha~

powet-

moreover they came from

They were both ready to spring at one another.

had

Mengami

they sc:'ty you an? l"lengami do you have

':5ire.

They

Z lrJG,

His Majesty did not only qUEstion his councillors

sayi ng

man.

P(JOt-

on the love and respect they accorded Mengami,

hi

Ng~~ongel

II

fetched him and allocated him his own piece

that are mentioned with that of Ngangelizwe.

NGANGELIZWE AND MNQANQENI

I"inqaonqeni

whose

other name is Mpendukana is of the

house of Ngubengcuka.
off

He lived at Quluqu.

right

hand

It is he who triggered

the second incident between abaThembu and amaGcaleka when he

hOI'"ses,

conof i seaoted

belonging to Sarili,

from a thief who

had

stolen them.

They were unexpectedly caught by amaGcaleka who had

gone to fetch

the horses.

pr- i

SOn0r

O
"

It

They then captured Joyi and kept

is that incident that caused Mbanga,

him

when singing

124
Pt- ..:llses of

Gqiran,,::\, to say "Wher"e has ,...1nqanqeni a'v'st .. fought? Then

v-J h Y doe she c: enl of i sea t. e

One

day

it

so

t h 1:= N 9 >: a b i:l. n i

happened

that

belonging to a Mfengu,
Ngangelizwe
Makala

because

/I

conf:i sc:at~d

Mnqanqeni

He was punishing him for i5iz1.*

orders that the cattle should be sent back

he

was a

Mfengu~

and amaMfengu

were

Mnqanqeni refused to carry out the orders.

people.
then

gave

0 >: ?

sent

Matanzima

out
had

his

regiment.s and

Mnqangeni

compassion for Mnqanqeni

t.o

come

to

his count.ry

in

where

his

Ngangel i

to
own
z~'-Je

fled

t.o

Dut.ywa.

e:.: i 1 E~.

He

invited

Ngangelizwe

He returned and was settled at Qhitsi.

had

no

His grave lies

at. the Main Mission station at Qwebeqwebe.

Ngani;l~?liz\l'Je's

the

mbongi shouted sa.ying,!

dE~stl"'uc::tiDf'i

This

at

Tatc)'s'~'

placE~n

"It is l'1akala

caused all

~'lJho

II

is where we end our story of Ngangelizwe and Mnqanqeni

who

had to leave his birthplace and went to settle at. Rode.

NGANGELIZWE DURING THE WAR OF THE GUNS 1882

There
that

was

peace and quiet when the whites caused a

could lead to war.

that any black person

A law passed in

Parliament

provocation
stipulated

in possession of a gun, had to hand it. in.

*isizi
- A fine
paid to a chief by man
convicted
of
criminal offence, especially murder - Translator'S note
*amaTato -

amaHala

125

This instruction did not differentiate between friend or foe.

The

pity lay in the fact that even those people who had loyally

l'-e~:l.l

served and defended the government, by the new law,they were made
to

be in no way different from the enemy,

since the

government

then felt secure enough.

At

that

imm~:?di<:tte

wasted

wise Mshweshwe of abeSuthu was still

timE~,

l"E'spon~:;-?

no t i

to thf=:: ol'"der" IrJaS l

"Th~~t

IrJ:i 11

nev~~r

ad ive.

h.::\ppen.

He immediately sent out messengers to

m~,:..

natives he knev-.J,

His
II

Hf?

all

instigating them to resist the order, to refuse

to hand the arms over.

Here in Thembuland Ngangelizwe was mature and stable.

en

the day amaGcaleka were dispersed in the War of

Ngangelizwe
eyes.

By the way
Ngcayeclihi,

acted in a very honourable manner in his

followers'

He secretly sent messages to Sarili advising him to disband

his regiments and to go into hiding with a few bodyguards because

he

was

possible
time

for

they

him.

Sarili to travel through Tembuland during all

were
and

popularity

not keen to capture

after

him,

visiting

the

even reaching Dalasile's.

even

among

homesteads

the

of

his

That act revived

his

those followers who had

begun

to

have

doubts about him.

On

the occasion of the War of the Guns,

there were once

again~

problems from all angles. The people were informed that blacks up
to

L.usuthu

(sic)

had

rebelled

against

the

government,

and

abeSuthu could be seen in action. Wild stories spread allover to

126

II

form an alliance,

People

II

vJf.?ll

Iof on l'y' abefJut.hu, amaMpondo and

n0

t h (0:

VJ hit

e m,':\ n

v-~ Cl u

1d

started misinforming one another.

WE':'

'J

sh c:'\11

hl::\nd in

the truth.

speaking

01...\1"" S.

II

ThE'r'e

\.'-J-:~re

f1

~~,maXhDsa

e \I ere Cl P E~.

cOLll d

II

shall

JlWe

SomE'.:' sai d,

thoSE who lJer' e f 2I,r' 'f rom

They simply were taking others for a

ride.

Regiments were

sent.

out t.o collect guns from those who refused to hand them in.

This

Then

the white man began to apply t.he law.

operation was also launched even in LU5Ut.hu.

thi~t

~Ih

Chief of amaMpondomise

1 OfIt 10,

It was at that time

and the son of

Matiwane

He f], oat.s wi th c\ t'\lhi p on the convert.s

Ears of Ludidi and the likes are hollow
Mandondo growls like his dog
Bolokodle12 survives by doing it on his own
The
horse of Matiwane refuses to be brushed
Hope once tried to brush it
And it threw him to the ground till today
Nobody knc)!t'Js ~4Jhe,..-:~ it went to.
II

II

Hope

had

the government forces in a war that had been

assist
1"1001"" os i

asked the Magistrate that amaMpondomise should go

1"1h 1 on t.l

a great friend of Mshweshwe's.

still mourning the loss of my great Wife,

iE', 1 i

It.

kl?

death..

Eli

Vf."t

t- ~P

started
1 i ecl,

but. his people refused,

at the foot of a mount.ain,

guns t.o fight. abeSut.hu.

am

and he ignored

This is what happens to someone in the grip of death.

was

1I

certain day Hope and Mhlontlo agreed to meet at a certain

which

II

by

Ma-Sarili, but the war

us thE'? guns in ot"'!:.1et- to ar'm c\nd go.

is said Hope agreed,

t.hem.

and

On a

place,

where he would give

They arrived at t.he camp where they

them
had

127

ag'. .f:'?Ed

to

Hope was with three young men,

meE~t.

and he:: was

the

four-th onE'.

AmaMpomdomise

then started dancing their war dance.

Some bee am-:

emotional. Mhlontlo, noticing this called Sundiza, the son of the

Reverend Davis aside,
and

he was the secretary of Hope.

He sat dmm

crossed his legs and told him to come nearer.

between

the

legs,

r-linaMpondom:i.s~'

in

he
t.hf~ir

grabbed

him.

That

was

the

v-Jar da.nce had been movirlg

forv'Ji:\rd

In that instant they never moved backwards,

they

attacked with their spears.

Hope,

signal.

i nst(-;'?ad

Henman and Warebe

killed, with Davis witnessing all that gruesome act.

,-and

were

He was saved

by the prayer's of his for-i::?fathers.

When

the task was accomplished Mhlontlo went on to capture

(::;00 )

bU.llets orl that day_

guns

and

twenty-seven

thousand

(:~'7000)

He proceeded to give help to abeSuthu.

the focus was on abaThembu.

Ngangelizwe was at a loss.

over

Then

But. as we

he was already mature and stable. He decided to be

'rhat is when t.rouble

Matanzima

had

sta,~b::~cj

because

also decided not t.o fight,

but

ev~=n

the

almost

chieftains under their rule, decided to join the war.

amaQwathi fought,

all

fought.

all

one,
the

Dalasile of

so did Mpangele of amaGcina, Stokwe Ndlela also

Mr.?ngami
of amaHala,

wi~.;e

(Siqunqathi)

of amaHala y

Mbambonduna also

Langa Mgudlwa of amaJumba, Mdukiswa also of amaJumba

Mgudlwa

did

not

because Falo

Nomsengo, pleadEd with him not. to.

and

his

daughter

128

In

short,

all those chiefs were defeated and they

When it was time to distribute booty,

himself

as

refused

the

subjects.

to

interests

of

distinguished

He

abaThembun

land of amaQwathi arguing that amaQwathi

were

He asked for representation in a Commission

his.
divide

against

protector of the

Ng2ngelizwe

his

Moreover it was amaQwathi who had fought, but the land

remained
was

the

surrendered.

the

land of all those chiefs

the government.

that

had

that
fought

The reason given was that the land

was

being confiscated in order to pay for the expenses of the war.

Among

the

representatives

Ngangelizwe

of

Commission was one named Cuthalele.

councillors.

In

that

in

He was one of

Government Commission of

delivered a brilliant speech.

the

Government

Ngangelizwe's
Cuthalele

1882

So brilliant and important was the

speech that I have decided to present it as it is below:

"I

have

abaThembu

been

sent by Chief Ngangelizwe to come

and

represent

in this Commission concerned with the confiscation

of

the land of the people who were in rebellion. There is a practice

the government usually follows in such cases, where he divides up
the
chief

land into farms and distributes those among

has

practice.

categorically

stated that he is opposed

to

such

The

He asked that you should please adopt his plan which I

am going to present to you,

the

strangers.

alliance

between

which plan if the government adopts,

abaThembu

and

the

government

will

be

129

co-existence

HE' cont i Tlued ,

rebels

must

chi.ef

IITh~

s<..~ys

and

mutual

tlooo,at the 1.::\1"""1(:1 confiscated from the

be given to him to be an inheritance of

abaThembu,

and must not be put up for sale because big business will make
clean

sweep

of it

(land) should that be allowed.

"And even

land that belongs to amaQwathi it was annexed by the

and

binding

a
the

government,

decisions were taken that it would never

be

taken

unless he had fought with the government. His Majesty expressed a

hope

that

his request would be received

favourably,

hoped

that it would be presented to the government in a

mCHJd.

He

and

cd so

similar

made a special plea that the government should

please

We are the children of the government.

to

him

for

allowing

us

to

representives of the government.

request
referred
to

the

we

have

talk

to

you,

tl-Jho

aroe

We wish to remind you that the

presented to you is nat a

new

one.

lJ.Je

once

it to the Seni.or Magistrate so that he could pass it on

government.

But up to this moment we have not

had

any

response.

When he is talking about the depopulated land,

Hi s Hi grmess?

l 0'"

of Dalasile,
amaJumba

of Mdukiswa and the land of Langa and other chiefs

have rebelled against the state,

who

the rightful owner of

the land, was on the side of the government. Again, we would like

130

to

point out that no chief met with any injury on this land.

would

like to conclude by reminding the government that

tht-:

wars

that

have

been

waged

here,

Ngangelizwe have always fought together,

un til t h (;) end o f t h f?.:!

After

such

W,J r.

Ngangelizws's

rebelled

should

be

in

all

government

and

each helping the other,

1\

brilliant speech

accepted

the

We

by

request,

returned

the

Cuthalele,

that all the

to their

chiefs

who

had

fklt

all

tht'?

places.

territory just along the Drakensberg Mountains,

gover'nff/ent

was

confiscated

and divided up into farms and sold in order to make good whatever
were
Ntshacile
the

incurred

by

the

government

during

Poswayo was given a farm because of the help

government

during

that war,

when he was

the

war.

he

gave

policeman

at

Ngcobo.

Please

take

advanced
with
wi t.h

note of the fact that at this time Ngangelizwe

in years.

Dalasile
him,

He was the one who was ready to

who had refused to go to the War

and

who

then

applied

to

the

of

given

peace

Ngc:ayechi td.

government

incorporation as though he were an independent chief.

the

make

was

1"11"'tqanqeni

one who had rebelled some time ago and ended up at Reda
a

warm

All

welcome,

it was the

in all Ngangelizwe

same

with

-for

Mbambonduna

was
of

became the beacon of hope te

the sub-nations just as his fore-fathers had done before. He also

managed to save the territory of abaThembu from being captured by
enemies, especially whites.

131

Those who criticise chieftainship claim that chiefs are despotic.

I

wish someone can point out from the report presented above just

an instance when Ngangelizwe acted on his own in an issue of

without

natlon,

the councIllors.

the

Even the issue of Novili

and

Nongxokozelo which was an entirely private affair, when it became

a natlonal concern,

Their advice was

the councillors took over.

followed.

The other point that is worthy of note is that Ngangelizwe handed

over' almost all important issues to councIllors who in fact
not

chiefs?

talent.

On

because
the

day

he respected and recognised their

natural

boundaries were

he

represented

by

himself

Sarlli in Bomvanaland,

Xhelo.

and

And

Xhelo.

were

On

drawn

at

the occasion of the

Roda,
border

was

between

he was again represented

yet on the day the issue of

by

amaQuathi

the land of

was discussed, Cuthalele represented him.

Ngangelizwe

showed his

diplomacy when the government

sent

its

regiments into Thembuland during the Nongxokozelo debacle. During

that

mission, fer no apparent reason they went to fetch

Menziwa

against his will. Menzima had fled to Tyalara. Even in that caSE,
prudence as far as Ngangelizwe was concerned,
day

prevailed.

the peace treaty was signed Ngangelizwe made his mind

Menziwa was sent back to where the ruler of the land

On the
clear.

wanted,

at

Mthentu, that is why imbongi had this to say.*

Pages
note.

67-99 in the original manuscript are

last.

Translator's

132

We

last mentioned amaTshatshu the day

after

so,

we

1 (2'ft

disgruntled

many

when we were telling the story of Mthirara (sic)

t.:?ven

should

out.

left,

We again heard about them on

the war with amaBhaca.

occasions

they

make some few final points which have have

When

they moved

w~stwards

they went

about

been

fighting

amaLawu and abaThwa, taking their land.

Briefly, the great historian G M Theal in his second book on page

"Colonel

~3mith

met I"lapasa at the

(Shiloh)

in October 1835. They entered into their first agreement

Mo;~avian

l'''lis~::,ion

Statton at Bede

which was to be respected by both sides.

During

that perIod territory belonging to Mapasa stretctled

the Mathole Mountain range on the northern side,

passed onto the

MountaIns up to Nontongwana+ and then joined

common

boundary

from

with Qhwesha of amaNdungwane who lived

up
on

a
the

Nkonkobe++ mountains at the source of the Nciba River.

Aged n,

in

the

following year in

October,

another

government

representative called Captain Stockenstroom came and he wanted to

know what Chief Mapasa's wish was.
The other one replied saying:

Intaba ze-Bukazana are two peaks between the heads of the

Tyumie and the Keiskama - Knopf p498
+
Nontongwane - The Katberg especially the Waterkloof there
Knc)pf p~:!04
++ Nkonkobe - the Great Winterberg - Kropf p503

133

have only one request to make to the government and that I be

"I

left in peace to rule my people as I wish.

be

protected by

In

order

to

tl1(~?

to

fr-om my enf.?mi es" "

~10VernmE:nt

confirm

Also I would like

their agreement

the

government

sent

representative called Henry Francis Fynn (Feni) to Maphasa during

the

It

month

last

was

of

18:36.

Maphasa

w~?l

corned

not long before there was a need to go out

cattlE~

as usual.

fight

amaLawu and capture their cattle.

(the

him

and

capture

AmaTshatshu then started, as they were wont, to

Moreover they were not

aware of the fact that their actions had anything to do with

gC)Velnme?nt
Whilst

Mapasa

chased

them (amaLawu) as far as

still there the government started attacking

the

Somerset.
amaTshatshu

from behind, having sent an army general called Karel England. No

of i t;Jh t i n9

took place and alllarshat shu r-E?tur-ned hc)(ne.

But the whole

experience was a painful one to abaThembu because they said:

"HO\l-J

c:oul d

thE~

gCJvernment bt'"e.!;:..k thE: ag!'-e(-?ment that:.

W-?

Ihloul d

not

except

that

the

f i gl,t one another'?"

There

was

government
AbaThembu
planned

no

to

answer

the

question

had laid claim to all the land belonging to

then

to

one

started

to complain

saying

that

amaLawu.

"The

whitE-'s

annex the land of the nations they defeated and

not buther about other nations who made a living out of the

did
land

134

The

reader
at

1837

must note the fact that Maphasa was turned

Somerset adjacent to Cradock,

he was on the

back

in

verge

of

taking up all the land that belonged to amaRanuga.

Again in the following year another government representative Sir

George
th<~~t

Napier

ml::;')E~t.

,"espected
cattle

visited Maphasa at the Bede Mission

i ng !\lap i ern

Clf

s.:~i

late

"{~grf.::ement~:;;

amaTshatshu

that have been

are in the habit

Station.

In

must

be

ma"d(~

of

stealing

belonging to the whltes,

concluded by saying "Such cattle must be br-otJg!"""it back"

II

It was agreed that a search for the cattle would be made and when
found~

they

would

be

returned.

That would not

be

difficult

because whites branded t.heir cattle on the hlpS.

called "Tshinyonga".

The

cattle

for

the cattle not be noticeable when they were among

abaThembu.

were never found and the figure given was very

Then

high

those

one day Colonel Hare was sent by the government

to fetch cattle belonging to whites from Mapasa.

In t.he event

Mapasa's refusal to hand the catt.le over Hare had to get them
force.
was

0+
by

Nevertheless, there were no cattle to be found, because it

a fact. that there were no cattle belonging t.o whites

even if there were,

hide

of

i t was easy for

those people who had them to

tht~m.

Literally -

branded hips -

there;

translator's nate

135

While

they

marched

In

were still relaxing the regiments of the

and collected all the cattle they

came

government
across

and

drove to Bede where Feni was. We are told that the regiments were
led by Armstrong and Greaves.

When the cattle arrived at Bede,

lay

their

Thereafter

claIms
the

50

that

whites were invited to come and

their

losses

could

be

refunded.

cattle were distributed according to the

claims

made,

no dIstInctIon was made whether the cattle were branded or

not.

Nor was there anyone who could be certain that the

had

been

other

stolen by amaTshatshu or they had been taken

people.

cattle
by

some

It was after their claims had been fully refunded

that there were just a few remainIng cattle for amaTshatshu.

AbaThembu
were

were dissatisfied with the way the terms of

observed whereby even if no stolen cattle were

them,

they
or

having

agreement
found

with

still were expected to repay any losses suffered

by

they would be attacked and accused

of

worse

stll1~

broken the terms of agreement.

A rift developed

between

erstwhile friends.

Again

the government drew up another list of

would

help

Rini

promote good neIghbourliness.

(Grahamstown)

stipulations

This was drawn up

that
in

in 1841. Even the new agreement was acceptable

to the son of Bawana.

He touched the pen

(symbolising the act of

signing his name). The reader must take note of the fact that the
new agreement was the fourth one)
The

reader

15

free

to

three had already been broken.

decide which

of

the

two

sides

had

136

transgressed

Tension

bearing in mind the circumstances we

have

already

between the whites and abaThembu remained.

recEIved that these newcomers were engaged in fights almost daily

with

the

other sub-nations in

wanted

to

cattle

al"e stolen de":"\:iolyn

they had lost.

It

II

at

arrIved;

o-f

t.aking

if they went out in search of cattle

They also regarded anybody different from them as

that.

t.ime when a new

governor

Peregrine

Maitland

he also asked for a meeting with Thembu chiefs at Sofolo

Beaufort)

in 1844.

By this time Mtirara had

suggested

arrived

taken

that a new agreement had to be drawn

note of.

and

after a few speeches it was

up,

though the fourth one which had been drawn up at Rini had
been

~-Jho

claim,

And they wel'-s in the habit

together went WIth Mapasa to Bofolo;

again

Anybody

who had to inform them where the cattle had been hidden.

was

(Fort

country.

know the reason slmply said that they

any cattle they came across,

a thief

Ngqika's

Once again another agreement was

"~ven

hardly
reached.

What else could they have done ln their fright? Moreover even the
new

agreement just made was the same as the first

c: on of i n11ed

in

the following year in 1845.

one.

It

We have written

was
down

-fully all those stipulations in an article about Mtirara.

Wp

must also bear in mind that

wife of Ngqika,
what
did

Suthu~

was Mapasa's sister.

whites were doing to Mapasa,

Sandile's mother and

So amaNgqika did not

conversely abaThembu

not like the unfair t.reat.ment meted out to

the

like

equally

amaNgqika,

also

137

they

were

neighbours,

Mapasa's boundaries.

as you may have noted when we

gave

out

The question of whites became widely talked

about..

MAPASA DURING THE WAR OF THE AXE 1846-7

There was a fight between amaNgqika and whites because of an
that
not

had been stolen by T5ili,

Mapas.::-:l. coul d

do otherwise but Join on the side of amaNgqlka wIthout

notifying

Mtirara.

unexpectedly

It

he

is

said that

attacked

the

with tradition.

he went to inform

Mtirara

thereof

<:":1.

nee,

he

f oi'cf.-?d by

consulted Mapasa on the matter and the

was that Mrirara had to return three hundred

Maitland, whom he found at Alice.

obtained

the cattle

from Mapasa,

son

and was returning them to him

Maitland wanted to protest saying,

of

Ngubengcuks9

to

He explained to him that he had

At

Ii

Dh

f'HJ:

t.his

the cattle

you have brought are far less than the cattle that were

The

result

cattle

because he was keen on keeping the terms of the treaty.

junct.ure

in

The latter was in a quandary because

he did not want to be involved in a fight with whites;

c i r' cum s t

whites

from him at Bede.

arrived with the booty,

a~cordance

he

even

and had the opportunity to recover his cattle which

had been confiscated

When

that ended in war.

axe

trying to avoid falling into

captured

trap

obtaine:~d

from

into?
calmly,

"Those

we!'""e the only cattle that he

hC"~"d

138

agreement they had both signed,

put.

Mtirara
I/"Jas

t.he gC)Vf:2t-llfTlent

und~I"-

fYl,::~pas.c.~

meantime

c<Jttlf:?,

II

returned heme having resolved the misunderstanding

betl;,H?en

the

but he was also requesting to be

and the

~~(Jver"rllnerlt

+or

at 1 ea':5t thE:l.t

the whites were pressing on

amaNgqika,

land and anything that was of value.

day.

that
In

c::aptLil"" i ng

The whites remained

dissatisfied because many of their cattle were still in the hands

of

abaThembu

but had no way of picking on Mapasa

and

avenging

themf::iel VE~S.

MAPA SA DURING THE WAR OF MLANJENI 1852-53

We are told that when Mtlrara returned from Alice, haVIng already
been

leading
"F'sopl e

from

sickly man,

he became worse and he called some

of

Thembu

to give his final

death:-

must. r"etu,r-n t-",ome

aCIr"o~::~s

message

I"lbashe Ri vet-

before

in or"der" to get alrJay

whites because they are forever complaining about

which

E~"nne:<

men

at:i on

of

the

loss

of

inevitably results in a war that ends up with the

the

1 and,

and the capturing of

mention the r"iigh loss o"f lift=n

cattle, not

to

II

his death and that of Shweni on the same day.

At about this time

amaNgqika were once again engaged in another war with the whites,
the war of Mlanjeni.

Mapasa who would not be dissuaded, once more

139

got

himself involved in the war arguing

ag.:3.i nst

j,

nv01 vement in the

people

II

At>,3, 'rh e:~mt:l u

because they wet-a cot'\l<i:ur-ds.

migrate in respect of the last words of

to

~'Ver

II

who were Thembu senior chlefs then advised

Jumb.=.~?

and

JO'li

wa,l~

that,

Mtirara.

the

In

short they did move and settled at Tsitsa and Nxankolo.

None~:;i

I~emained

lot of power;

bE~hind

WhICh

migrate with Joyi.

establj,shing

hf;~r-sel'f

a,::5 a Queen,

was obviously the reason why she refused to

At this juncture the government then requested

just a short

for
while,

A~

she

wielding

so that the government could have an opportunity to fight

last Ncnesi agreed to cross Mbashe River with her people

joined

giving

them

success

as

At this point Mapasa was

Joyi.
help.
he

amongst

Probably he was hoping he

had done 1n the past,

would

and yet

that

and

amaNgqika,
meet
would

with

not

necessarily be the case, moreover the cowardly have a happier and

longer time than the brave who must inevitably die in war.

On

this

particular occasion the Government

'T'illdini
was

(Tylden)

sent

Cathcart

to test the strength of the son of Bawana.

not long thereafter when Mapasa besieged them at

aJ most

~'Veek.

Hewu*

and
It

for

They experienced a lot of dlfficulties and were

in particular threatened by starvation.

Mapasa on the other hand

*Hewu
is the flat tract of country between Kamastone and
Marks. Knopf p.501

St

140

was

It just needed

keen to repeat his previaus successes.

one

brave soldier to break through the siege riding with his horse at
full

speed.

The African'::;

What could they do with a horseman in full gallop?

h~"?id

speal~s

and only shot the enemy by

qU.ns,

no

Such

"

gallopIng

stabbing

with

their

a form of attack was then useless in the face of a

hOt's!::: ..

"i6.'S '}

there were these who tried to

stop

the

horseman from escaping, but the horse had already bolted away.

The

brave one managed to ride to Queenstown and raise the alarm.

From

there an army was despatched to attack Mapasa

which

after

lnto two columns attacked Mapasa trom In front as

as

well

from behind and he had no option but to flee.

during

the war of Mlanjeni and thus abaThembu lost a hero and

tr"ul y brave man,

The

who dared situations that were normally avoided

loss of that man was a tragedy to them because

would not allow him to adopt a neutral

eloquent
terms
land"

speaker

..,,-c
(WI

that

stance~

is why he could go on

his

bravery

and he was also an

disregarding

agreement yet the whites, were not able

to

the
his

At last they found a weak pOint, and they annexed all his

territory as we have related in the story of Nonesi.

Finally

Cathcart established a town which was named after him in

We dId mention how far

the

141

territory
Tilidinl

stretched~

was

in

the

place

called

Daliwe*.

honoured by having a railway station

Captain

named

after

him, 'that was to make a commemoration of the men whp obtained the
land of

Of

amaTsh~tshu

all

today

the

for the Government.

nations

there

is

chieftainship.

no

that

fought

chief who has

against

been

Gover'nment,

restored

to

Tshatshu

We hope that it won't be long before Thembu senior

chiefs together with the Government focus their attention on

the

matter

are

and

grant

amaTshatshu chieftainship to which

they

entitled 8specially to the descendants of Gcuwa who have

settled

MNDANDENI WHOSE OTHER NAME IS MPENDUKANE

We

are

told

that when Ngubengcuka died he left four

boys

who

Mtirara, Joyi, Shweni, Ngxito as well as Mnqanqeni from the

were:

right-hand house.

After

he

suggested

had
that

been badly wounded by amaMaya

of

Magwa

he should lie on a blanket of one of

it

the

was
boys.

When Mtirara's blanket was brought to him, Ngubengcuka refused to

take

it because he said he could not lie on that blanket because

that

boy

(Mtirara)

would be his successor.

Daliwe - The Tho~n river,

a tributary
Windvogelberg - Kropf p 499.

Eventually,

it

was

of the Thomas near

142

Mpendukane's

blanket

that Ngubengcuka lay on until he

met

hlS

end.
When the boys were fully grown-up,
heir to the throne was to be.
on

this

matter.

Some

it was time to decide who the

There were dlfferences of opinion

preferred

Mpendukane

because

he

was

handsome, otherwise they said they had had enough of ugly chiefs.
Mpendukane

is

said to have been really handsome.

I t was

fel t

that advice should be sought from Ngubengcuka's SIster, Nomrinti,

who

was

married

Ngubengcuka's

to Sarili,

remark

she just reminded

that he would nat

use

the

men

Mtlrara's

about
blanket

because he was the one to succeed him.

After
word.

further deliberations,

they decided to take the princess

Mtirara was put on the throne and was 'given' Nonesi

in

was made the senior

hou:::ie;

and

Mpendukana

representative
support-house

of

t.. I

'eqadlni' -

was the senior in

,j..,~

qr' i::1.ndf ati',~2!"

fr:::

the

exhibeni

Ng:.: i

support-

-- i.e.

to

.L I I

of the daughter of Vazi of the Mntondo clan

None~:;i

to

whom

Mtirara

was

given

and

was

the
the
among

Faku's

d2H..lghter.

In

the

the house that came

past~

gl'-f.:?at",'tlouse was called

"e~<111b7ni'.

exhibeni as we have already

said~

r1nqanqeni

t)i::~c:arni!::~

after

the

t.he senior of

his other name was Mpendukana.

Ngubengcuka's daughter, who was also Mpendukana's SIster was sent

to Rarabe's place.

When the

'chaperons' were

asked~

IITell u.s?

The chaperons and the

elders asked for some time to meet and confer.

143

They

then

married

secretly

the karabe household.

~nto

"Here

The

woman

i :.: h i ba,

nor do

house that comes after the

r- i ght -hand

t.hE-.~

mThemou

hou:.~e.

who

had

Her reply ran lIke thIS

knolt-J nothi ng about

thE~y

call ed

consulted another

they

care

great-house

is

II

The following day abaThembu were ready with an answer,

"'fhey

hE:\d been sent t.o br i rig a

When

they

they

ha.d used,

the

daught.ei~

f rom the r- i ght. ---r\and

ret.urned home and gave a report. t.hey told

house.

including

We have already talked at

the

occasion

when

he

length

was

statIon of the Presbyterians.

'5

grave

15,

i:d:'') out

expelled

He settled at Qwebeqwebe where there is

where Mnqanqeni

terms

Mpendukana was henceforth known as the senior in

right-hand

Ngan!;;)el i zwe.

the

The place 15 called NeYInl.

by

mlSSlon
'fhat IS

whose other name is Mphendukana.

MBAMDONDUNA OF MNQANQENI
By

th~

wi th

way "a puff--a.dder beqets another' puff-adder" so

1"1nqanqen i

warlike
with

as he had been.

~alo

respect
therefore

who begot himself when he had a son who

over

because
he

was

was
as

It is said he was always at loggerheads

a boundary,
he

it

which was really due

had found Falo already

to

sett.led

lack
there

had no reason to be troubling him the way

he

of
and
was

doing.

Eventually he was forced by Matanzima to return to the land which

had

been

allocat.ed

to them.

Subsequently he

sought

ways

of

144

revenging himself by taking sides with whites,

Wl

th

':;;uc:cess,

become

he

independent.

would be able to break any

He did fight,

together

We are told
amaJumba joined in on their side,

hoping if he

met

restrIctIons

and

with
that

Siqungathi,
the

gallant

including Sihele and the likes.

short they took all Thembu soldIers and put them under

l t'~!

command.
came

their

Even people such as Nomantshani from across Mbashe River

over

to JOIn them.

l\!oman t. sh 2=1, Yi

is

Mdukiswa also took part

We

one and the same person as Nomant.shani.

a,':\

told that he was a first class marksman, the son of Joyi.

THE EVENTFUL DAY AT NeDRA

We
out

are

told that a skirmish between abaThembu and Whites

In the vicinity of the shop that stands on the

which in the past used to belong to Dlinkobe.

broke

Ncora

River

Siqungathi together

with amaDilatashe fought there and the shop was burnt down.
on

that day abaThembu killed the Commander of the army,

and more t.han

It.

is

:1 ac:kv,.Ia'/

thirty amaMfengu.

the day Mene of t.he Mpemvu

clan,

who

was

Siqungathi

'5

councIllor, outshone everybody on the battle-fIeld,

s,:..:.ying

HAma!"lfengu
not

do not need to be stabbed by young men,

It. does

matter how strong he is, he just needs to be beaten

up

with a stick."

So

sayIng he walloped them with a stick until he was killed

shop itself was burnt down.

and

145
THE MEMORABLE DAY AT NGQWARU
AbaThembu

re-organised

themselves and went to camp between

in Gusha's territory. They

mountains at Ngqwaru,

~ere

the

constantly

on the alert and were planning to burn down Bolitys's place where
another regiment was stationed.

On the 14 of the same month, the

comm2HldE'I'- by the name of Nonz i nyana

(\lon L.i nsi ngen)

1 e'f t

the

~:;hC1P

with his scouts wanting to locate the wherebouts of abaThembu. At

that time the army of amaMfengu had camped in Mabetha's territory
in

the valley of Xaba.

on

v,.lho,

It was under the renowned

seeing Nondzinyana setting out,

hldoncio.

man,

also followed with his

group, aImIng at reconnoitreing both mountains.

When

these

two

groups were almost on the crest

sameone shouted a
ants.
s~,:

'J

the

hill~

then abaThembu descended on them like

warning~

Confusion set in with each person running to save his

own

because when the son of Nondzinyana noted the large number

of abaThembu he shouted out,

When

of

IIEver-ybody for fll msel f

were on the plain that leads to

they

brought one White man

and

he

Ii

Xaba's

down~

his horse actually galloped

tried

to run on

foot,

crying

aImed

Nondzinyana

and

broke

hit
a leg,

the horse and

help.

(.~

Thi2mbu

down.

all

his son turned back to

but he couldn't because of a

towards

for

Nondzinyana turned back and managed to put on his back.

marksman

they

place,

bro~en

leg.

arrived and trampled on all three at the same spot.

pick

up

his

AbaTh~mbu

t.hen

146

At

same tIme the rest of abaThEmbu made their appearance near

t~le

Dyarani 's place.

They arrived at a Mfengu camp that was in Xaba's

Flghting
Marongo

ensued.

distinguished

It was in that battle where the son

himself.

"fhis ')

was told by

Mr

MthwaZl who said that he had actually taken part in that

he
because

cut

down

people

a number of

without

of

Valem
battle.

difficulty

hIs grey horse had got used to such warfare In the

wars

that were fought at Tsits2.

He would say about

We

hlS

horse

II"fhe gr"e'?, onE'S

~H-f?

ThE';> gr"f=y

hOt-SE~

g1 vi ng each other

The gr-ey

hor"sf.~

the gl"-(~~'y' t1ar-onqo

and t.he gr-eY i1ar"ongo"

are told that this man

who

r" i de

.c.".\r)(j

m~rcilessly

were running on foot in confusion,

wounded and killed

while on

people

horseback,

would approach from behInd and slash at the enemy

When

they were at Gqogqora t.hey came across Makeleni 's regiment

wh:l ch mur-" t ,:\1 .l y wound;;;?d I", :i" HI by

happened

to Nondzinyana.

Stloot: i

ng the i"lol""-;::;e,

At this juncture,

j ust

a~~,;

thad

there are different.

versions of what actually happened that day.

that someone invit.ed Sihele to come along on his horse, and he is
said to have replied,

;lHE~
could not leaVE? his saddle behind which would t.hen
up beir"iy u::;}ed by <3"maMff:nqu."

end

We do not believe that explanation, we think t.hat t.hat was simply

a

way the people who were there tried to absolve themselves from

being blamed by
even

Mgudlwa~

by Patsayo of

because t.he thruth is what. was confirmed

the Mpinga

clan who used to stay with us

at

147

Matsolo's

place and would tell us his war experiences

the events of that partlcular day.

including

He would say,

the horse had been shot,

he (SiheIe) unfastened
the
and put ]. t on hI s ;shoul d I2i'S,
when
the pet)pl e
dl~e~;;
se:H:Jdl e
ne':'~I'" he put i t down and resumed fighting.
People were afraid
so they r an ';~;.'''<:1.'l and ';:;hot him at.
co.
distance.
o-f
Ii lin

"A-ftET

II

The

narrator

would

go

on to say what

although he heard t.he shots,

Ndondo

The
would

<:":\

11

was

that

It was then

that

wounds

and

Sihele

lying

and

he

they were not able

to

when he had been shot at,

answer because he was found to have

an

he fell

came to inspect his body wanting to find out why

not fall

f1a"t:i or.

hE d :i. ci not. f

amazing

hit him on the brow with a butt of the gun,

whites

find

was

had

the Ndondo inflicted wound on his

there

wit.h

seven

bullet.

brow.

others who had also

died

0/-'

. . ne1. r-

for

If

battle he said?
on~
(Sihele)
"Be
comf or ted,
tha.t
especially as I shall not be ther-e ~

ItJ i

not

1 J.

!I

Nondzinyana
far

from the Bolititye's shop.

number
with

and others were buried next to Mbulali

of

g~aves,

marble stones.

'5

place,

not

lance went there to

count

the

I counted more than thirteen,

I

undt=?i'stand abe:I.Thembu. cat_lsed

all surrounded
ha\lc.IC

bec:au'!:;e

when they were being pursued, there were some who tried to ambush
the pursuers like Nomantshani who, to everybody's surprise, stood

and got his mark,

and then he (Nomantshani) fled.

148

While his people were trYIng to put him on a horse,

Joyi

again

fired and again hit his target.

everythlng and pursued him.

01'1

hi rn 1

qa 11 op.

back.

he

SDl d i

'fhF2

That

leavlng

rich

~';;,HlaDJ.

closing

at his pursuers while his horse was

E~r"s

came 'to a cjE.,:ad :5"i.:Op anlj they

hlstory

war,

J at<~-\she

tor us insofar

and

c.1,~\c

abaThembu
as

in succeeding to kill the generals.

,:;),OClut

droppped

They say just as they were

marked the end Df the

fortunate
end

shot

They then

full

l. ded tD tur-n

surrendered,

they

were

always

This is where

qr-oup -fir'om Nobopha' s

'tl",e

in

pl,::\(::e

we
at

They went to ask for pardon from Ngangelizwe, and he again

received them wl.th open arms.

I I'J L.USUTHU

NOiv!{H,rrSHAI\I I

When Nomantshani was pursued,

got

to

Lusuthu

he fled to Lusuthu.

he r2ceived reports that he was

because of his exploits at Ngqwara.

Even before he
a

wanted

It was also said that

man
there

were some people who had been locked up by AustIn who h~d been in
command of the army with him.

Therefore the son of Joyi could not waste any more time, he moved
on.

expecially

as he was aware of the fact that things were bad

for him back at home.

on

t~h~?

Uq 1

advised

to

IrJOul d

11

(Dr- ,';;I 1'1 q 8

He finally got to Lusuthu; and it was just

)

wher'e

approach

preceded

n had

bI2~':;;

i r:.::ged '''1Dr'os i .

station himself in a particular place

every

countryside and the army_

be

f~t.l,st,

by

time

he

wanted

which

Austin
the

to

Whenever i t was him in person he would

a spotted dog that would come

In

view

first,

149

snlttlng the tracks of birds and animals.

When he appeared he saw hIm and he put tlis hat on a stone wanting
to

mi slead

t tl ~=t''' E,:>af t

~'2r"

f,u'~tJ 1'1

hat ,fell.
C Dj'" P ~~3e

r,e hid undf:?t'"

i::i,nd

him~

::)"
..:..
.1.

med W:L th hl '~ t;ju.n

heard

mountain

~'\

'=:tI'lO't

It
wc;~nt

was

long

not.

0++ ,

arId

the

relaxed, he approached thinking he would find a

... ..c.
("I
I

the son

When he was short a dIstance away,

an aim and let go the trigger!

He

a shrub.

Down he fell,

~Joyi

took

ou.t of his view.

somebody ut.tering words of thanks from the top of

at the same time descending to t.he place

where

the

Austin

man was just leaving Austin's corpse, running away with the head.
He took i t to the chief.

At
Just

that

time it was the sons of Moshweshwe who were

as they were busy congratulating him

his br" a\/e deE':c.i,

(the mSuthu

power.

man)

Nomant.shani 's men came to give the report.

and It was soon clear that

telling

in

a pack of lies.

the

for
There

man

Nomantshani was given a place

to

was
live

after he had been presented with cattle.

He lived there happily for some t.ime,

but

soon

abaThembu

They
moreover
language,

and

were

fell

and was treated with great

fack to their old

would not leave the

they

were

in

the

agitating for war.

cattle
nabit

habit

abef.3uthu

of
of

of

us:i,nq

What increased

bad

tension

150

further was that every time there was Idabl* a skIrmIsh

abeSuthu

were defeated. The whole matter was reported to the Chief, and it
was

clear that they would be punished;

quite

moreover abaThembu

disrespectful even to him (Nomantshani).

were

The fact is that

having never met them before.

Then

he realised the danger that would befall him and thought of

t:.h(:-? li-J;3Y 1 am a -::;t:.ranqE-?I" and .;3 sojour-rlf.-?r :lrl

"By

-tor-eign COu.r1tr"'.,';

.L

must

return home whilst things are still in

That is how he went back home to Baziya.

the great hero there,

an accomplished marksman indeed.

I t is he

standard of abaThembu generally in that war of amaQwathi.

JUMDA THE RIGHT-HAND HOUSE OF NDABA

According

to the story,

Jumba's mother belonged to the Mncotshe

clan, the daughter of Ngcayiya. Jumba was a kindhearted, wise but

self-effacing

man.

Because of his humilIty he was well-liked by

senior chiefs in power.

For that reason he was a trusted advisor

at the great place. One other thing that he is famous for,

is the

when one realises that he was older than Ngubengcuka.

,

and

of that they all went to the circumcision school at

the

",.I:.
(WI

because

the same age as Jumba's

yDu.ngl:::r-

br'('Jthel~'

sante time.
*idabi is normally a boys' skirmish -

Translator's nate.

151

Ngubengcuka
that

time

therefore
f'1t i rara

grew up,
Mtlrara
Fadana

Fadana handed

whose chief advIser was Jumba.

became regent then he handed puwer over to

1 EJ6::::;.

.Jumba

are

a~'Vay

long at tel'--

r\j~1angf.~:11

over

power

;:"': we h<::\d

and
to

1'-J"';.I.

-, 01::,'-1

arit;

Ngangelizwe

in

be.~n

in pc)wer'.

told that when Jumba died he was already a very old

was troubled by a blocked gullet and experIenced

who

At

over

1'1t l. r- ar' 61 c.i l. ed

Jc)yi

We

C)-~-

was not yet In a position to take

became regent.

Pi::"\ssE~d

-:1 w,__o.

ascended the throne and died in

man

dlfflculty

in swallowing. He also suffered from asthma.

He fought in all the wars that Ngubengcuka was engaged in when he

was

still

when

a str-ong man.

It is he who was selected

the country was still in darkness.

15

the

reason

why

He never
his

from

other

misused

that

descendants

outstanding in the fields of education and theology.

Let

us

draw the attention of the reader to an

about his mai'"Tiage.

i mpol'"'tant

~:;tol~Y

It is sald that he first married Nkulu,

thE~

daughter of Mlawu, and because of his kindness, he never cared to

marry
-i::"tt

by

that_
a

another although he was supposed to have done

tlm!-?

so~

because

the son of the great-house had to be borne

princesss

from Gcalekaland or Mpondoland,

thf~

either

two gn::-?at

neighbourIng natIons.

At that point his younger brothers forced him to marry.

They were

152

not

on

900d

0+

accusf?d
appear

wi th

t.er'lT1s

Un:.~

hen-pecking

to

a9ree

on

WOmdi't

0+

the chief.

an Issue,

th~?

On

()W,:\ttH
occa~;i

but he would

1 d,n.

ons

be

was

She

-1:'

aumba
found

to

would
have

changed his mind the next day_

Jumba

paid

no

attention to the suggestion that he

should

get

another wife. His younger brothers, however, took the matter into
their hands. They got the daughter of Botomani, and even assisted
wi th 1 CJbul

i:\.

which was thE') SUppoF"t.--house (iqadi)

of Ndaba +or- lobola, and

~-,jhen

the bcaleka malden ar-rived, Jumba took her to the Cetho homestead
which had its own cattle.

Then

one

day someone suggested that it was high time the

wives

were classifed into ranks so that the great wife could be known.
Ndabi::\ 's

!::}C)f1

action

on

itself.

cool y

r-E~sponded

to the suggest i on

the occasion of the arrival of

this

by

s~-\yi

woman

ng,

II

My

explains

have made her to be the support-house (iqadi) of Ndaba,

This man had shrewdly Side-stepped the plans of his kinsmen.

the

-full

implications of such an action, simply appreCiated the fact

that

they

the

woman

had

on

ether hand,

been given inherit.ance

failing to

(by

see

The

being placed

Rather confusing considering that Nkulu was Tshawe,

Mlawu's daughter.
Translator'S note.

In

b{(~i

ng

153

with stock).

homestead

Despite the puzzling situation,

would not give in.

Ndaba 'so

The

that is your

want the women to be class:ifed into r-anks.

tJ.JE~

that

for

';1

replied~

other

one,

am through

should

remember that the classification

different ranks

meeting

public

ciassl-ficastion

to

~4,)ould

not

Then

the

not

the

whole

that

meetIng.
Wl, ves

of

into

to a

i t should only be taken

when everythIng has been ironed

of

out.

is usually done after the death of the

':U so

the

head

of

The people in this case then decided that they would

the 'fami 1 y.
attend

a famIly affair,

IS

men

II

with

he left that unfortunate

reader

wIfe,

of course if you want my custom and

15

the

the matter after the death of Jumba.

But Jumba

just

diE~.

day

came when Mgudlwa,

the son of the

Qwathi

womC',n

Joyi at the great place for the latter to present the former with
it is only that young man

(;pfts,

who will
i:!l,

later be a chief who is sent to the great place for such

pI" 8'::;21'1 t.

given

(ibutho)
presented

at i

then

Cln ,

name which

0+

that

with

the ox that is presented to him

(name) will also be used

for

the

is

then

regiment

partlcular young man.

an ox at the great place it was given

the

name

hlgoJi.

That is why a Thembu poet

peop 1 e of r"lgud 1 ~Ja. "

(imbongi) used to say,

lilt is Nqojini,

154

The

Gcaleka

woman

also had her eldest

son

circumcised.

Then

someone suggested to Jumba that he should instruct the young

on

dut 'j. e5M

hi s

being
him.

a refined gentleman,
All

The

The son of Ndaba simply zipped his

nobody dared to ride rough-shod over

was eased by Mgudlwa who stood up to

J!

aun t.

T
J.

counsel

don't know why you trouble the

son

1 personally do not begrudge him for

ther"efor-e present him v-Jith an

0'.'

of

custom .

Joyi

i:;'\sk h

sf~nt

my

II

the you.ng m<:'1n back sayi ng,

how many he1""s does he

j, in

h:l

anything and

he was then sent to Joyi for him to present him as it

Later

.;0.nd

?)nd,

mouth.

were in a quandary about what to do next.

tension

pc:\. t. (::~t- n a.l

man

hii:\VE-:.

il

was

HPI ease go to JU.mba

IJ.Jhen

thE-Iy g(Jt home

councillor could not but salute him because all along he had

not

yet

The

been

counc ill Ot-

given
sai d

chieftainship
11dukiswa

his tItle by which he would

had

I"!duk:i.:.;;;wa~

got

II

be

saluted.

Wltict", simply meant

lost or had

einded up belonging to iqadi

disappeared.

that

his

is

hOll-J

That

(suppc:wt.-house)

of

Ndaba.,

Moreover many councillors were on Mgudlwa's slde, those that were

with

Mdukiswa could just not resort to arms,

something that

is

usually done whenever there is a problem of this nature.

From that day henceforth Mdukiswa's adherents were referred to as

those

of Mngcangathelweni,

being named after the name of an

ox

that belonged to Coto's home.

We

shall

keep on going back to the topic about missionaries

who

155

were

put

under his charge.

It i s

Mission station at Ndlovukazi

Nkulu,

the

Dyumani.

beloved

~::;ai

d thi:\t v-Jl-ten the

(Lesseyton) ,

of Jumba,

donated a

I"'letllcKi i st

was officially opened,

cI(~!--

k br-Dvvn

0;':

Again, there is something we can't forget about Mgudlwa

although we have already talked about his circumcision at length.

While Jumba's homestead was still at the Bolotwa,
he

sent

this

Schooling
covered

very Mgudlwa to school

those days was not easy.

with their

would begin to wash,

A~ter

that is

blankets.

(C 1 aT k E~I:Jl..lI'- y)

Children would go to

It was only at school

school

that

thf?Y

comb thelr hair, and then be given pants to

the school was over they would undress,

clothes up in a

south~

bundle~

and then hang them on the

tie

rafters;

thE~ir

the

same process would again be followed on the following day.

We

are

schoDl

told that when the destruction of

the

the people dispersed and moved

westwards before he (Mgudlwa)

THE DAY elF ?\ DISptrrE O\JER

marrying

came,

In that way the chances for schooling met an

abrupt end for them.

the

'l

house was burnt down together with the clothing belonging

to the school boys.

On

"mfeci.-l.ne

INX(:lXHEBA

day of the wedding

the

daughter

had managed to learn anything.

of

festivlties,

when

amaJumba

Ngangelizwe

was

quarrelled

over

156

'in:-:a:-:beba' ,

t.hat.

is

the

Jumba,

adherent.s of

oof

-"Just t.ell

i'"ld 1...1 k i sw<;:\.

us,

thosf::

and

which

0+

r'iduk i svva rep 1 i ed

is the pa.r-amount chieof'?"

yO!...t

course I am because I am the son of a prIncess,

DotDmani,

"CH

the daughter--

of

according to an undiluted custom of

a mGcaleka woman;

it is the daughter of a senior chIef who is given the

(seat of authority).

If my position is being contested, does t.hat

mean that the anc8,,;t.r"al

Mgudlwa

Then

pract i c.:e :l s

bel n(;) char)ged today'?"

an opportunity to ask

stood up and asked for

some

questIons.
way

the

1 S

after which you

0;':

"Yes,

0+

not th(;:? name

" It_

Coto

1.
'5

the suppor--t---house
is

sui!

home::;tead ?
r

II

-The r-epJ.y

when Mdukiswa's mother

from

Coto

homestE'<!.~d

to,

cloes

cJ o E:') ':s

~.:;he

h Cl ve :L

have a

t.. "

III

named

been
IS

~30.

0+

(i qadi),

Ndaba?1I

"Do

II

was marrIed,

YDU

0+

st iII t-emembel'"

this mGcaleka woman you keep r-eferring

hOfflE-?st-?';:l.d of

mean her

Olr-vf"l

her'-

cH-vn?"

site which

The r-ep 1 y,
~'Jas

"Yel.::i ~ she

macle for-

her

on

not that one she

Into WhIch is in reality Coto's heme, and the homestead

The r-eply,

"1+

that is your ar-gument,

the

Mngcangathela homestead the one that the Gcaleka

to

not

IIYes,

the suPPOt--t--hoLlse (iq-:::\di) o{ Ndaba?"

taken

Ndaba

Jumba obtained cattle

which she built her- own house as other women do;

was taken

The r-eply,

a support-house of

"It is so.

called

not

t-lngc:anQath~l

" 1s

iI

]. obo:!. a?"

f or--

118y the way,

thi;\t

(lqadi)

that

'5

have

on arr- ivai '?"

Th 1:0

"lI-Je arE? ncw-.)

who benefitted from the property

Jr- ep 1 y ~

lilt was Mclukiswa."

woman
f.'~t.

of

was
t.hat

157

point

Mgudlwa addressed

heard

that the person who is contesting my right to seniority is

in tact the son of Ndaba.

His Highness

Hi s

sayIng~

mDthf.':.'t"' was

. br-'ouq!'lt in' by

JlHnba

to replace the mother of Phitsha who had died, leavIng a daughter

called

Coto

mother

to

which daughter was then given by Ndaba

bring up,

together with her inheritance

Ngubengcuka become entItled to it.

belonging

was

Jumba,

Jumba's

which

to

knowing that the stock

fhat

15

why he even brought in a

Uqadj,)

see to it that the support-house

should not die ou~.

?H l i n all,

the

he sat down,

great place,

still
also

0+

present

point
at

Ndaba

who wishes to see me

this one,

house

opinion was divided among the councillors

some were fuming with anger,

keen to get more information from both

the

did

woman,

punished by your Majesty for claiming to be the right-hand

When

then

to Coto"s homestead was likely to be contentious,

not include lt to his.

it

to

and others

were

sides.

that Mgudlwa had been the first to be

the great place,

o'f

and the great place

had

given

actually

refused to present Mdukiswa when he reached manhood.

It was clear that the one on whom a favourable judgment would
pa:;;sed,

would

be

get a treasured prize because a solution that had

long been awaited would have been reached.

aside for a private consultation,

The councillors

went

the chiefs remained behInd and

were also ruminating over the matter,

after Mgudlwa and Mdukiswa

had been asked to leave them for a while.

158

When both points of view had been considered as well as the views
of the sage, Xelo Gubanca of the Vundle clan, who was renowned
for eloquence, the son of Mtirara stood up and said, " We have
heard both view points and this council here sympathises with you
in your dilemma, house of Jumba, because you have had this
problem for a long time without finding a solution. Even today,
it is still beyond us, there are questions that need to be
answered by Jumba himself, who is not here now. So here is our
judgment. Please bring Jumba here so that he can enlighten us
about the problem of his house. We also echo Joyi's question
which he once asked, "How many heirs does Jumba have?" For the
time being, Mgudlwa may take 'inxaxheba' from the kraal and eat
it as our judgement stands until Jumba comes. Mgudlwa then left
having been tentatively given seniority until such time as Jumba
came to solve the riddle formally.

When Mgudlwa returned from the great place he asked for

permission from Jumba to settle among amaQwathi where he had seen
a place he favoured. Jumba in turn indicated that he also wished
to join him and not remain there.

Then one day Mgudlwa drove out all that belonged to Ngojini, at
the same time Jumba was reluctant to go to the great place to
help settle the question of seniority of his sons in accordance
with the judgment passed at the great place. So they left, and
when they had gone far, Jumba indicated that he was diverting and
he went to settle at Mhlwazi. Mgudlwa went to settle at Qumanco,
the place where Uagawuli is today.

159

MGUDLWA MARRIES
On a certain day two maidens were brought to Jumba's place for
his son. It was pointed out that the prince was still young to
have 'isithembu' (more than one wife). In that case the maiden
he would not choose would then be taken by his father Jumba.

That meant that Mgudlwa had to go and see the girls and take the
one he preferred. This proved a difficult problem and he then
asked his friends to come and help him choose. It was soon known
that the Mpondo maiden was a beauty. There also was Nqhola's
(sic) daughter, of the Nqhosini clan, a dark beauty, who was
stable in mind. Then Mgudlwa was asked which of the two did he
prefer. By the way, in the past, one would be given a girl even
if one did not necessarily love her. Actually he could not say
which was the one that he loved because he was just ready to take
any that was given to him. The daughter of Nqhola was slow in
speech and one could notice that she choose words with care, and
she obviously had restraint and did not have a loose tongue.

When the family chose the Mpondo maiden because of her beauty,
Sihele chose the maiden of the Nqhosini clan saying, "She is
stable-minded, mature and you are in no doubt as to how she will
turn out to be."

There was disagreement; some protesting, said, "Mgudlwa must not

listen to Sihele, he is misleading him." As his final word the
son of Marongo said "It is alright, Jumba you may take the Mpondo

160

maiden for Mgudlwa, but personally I shall always be associated

with that maiden who will be your wife, no matter how junior you
make her."

At this juncture it was necessary to have a private meeting of

seniors, that is, Jumba and Sihele. Jumba then asked Sihele what

exactly had he noted in the girl that he should speak the way he
was doing.

The other one explained this way, "This girl is

brilliant indeed. ' The truth was that the old man had had an
opportunity to question the girls and they had given differing
responses. Jumba then said, "I am changing my opinion, now. Let
Sihele's point of view prevail. If it so happens that Mgudlwa
marries another girl later who may be senior to this one by
birth, Mgudlwa will have to see to it that she retains a

respectable status because she is favoured by a member of the

family who otherwise cannot be associated with lowly positions."
That is how Falo's mother was married. She is Mgudlwa's first

wife and yet she was not a princess, she obtained her status
because of Sihele who was given that honour by Jumba himself. To

sum up, even today the Sihele family is inseparable from the Falo
family because of that bond that was tied by our forefathers on
that day."

Now we have come to the end of the story about Jumba who is said

to be buried in that forest called Mbinini which is at the source

of the Mhlwazi and Khowa (slang) Rivers.

Whenever amaJumba are determined to take a particular line of

161

action on an issue one will hear them saying "I swear by Jumba,
lying at Mhlwazi I am not changing my mind."

MDUKISWA SON OF JUMBA

Mdukiswa, throughout his youth, was in the care of Mgudlwa until
they parted at Tabasa (sic) in the vicinity of Mtata. He also
took part in the battle the time amaJumba were at Tsitsa, and
were helping Mhlontlo. He was there on the day of Novili. We are
told that amaJumba got involved in the fighting on that day only

after amaGcaleka had shot his horse and he fell. The

Mngcangathelweni regiment sent a report to Mgudlwa and Dalasile
to the effect that the chief's horse had been shot, at the same
time amaGcaleka were approaching at full speed. Mgudlwa felt
obliged to go and help his brother, Mdukiswa, who on seeing him
burst out in praises saying, "Now that you have come, you fair
son of my father, I am well-protected." Finally, amaGcaleka who

had been fighting against amaJumba, had to turn back. AmaJumba

fought very bravely to avoid the disgrace of fleeing and

deserting their chief. That is how he (Mdukiswa) escaped.

When Ngangelizwe was drawing up the terms of his incorporation

with the government, the name of Mdukiswa was the third on the

list, following Mgudlwa who in turn came after Ngangelizwe and

his son who was still a minor at that time.

Unfortunately Mdukiswa fought against the government in that war

of amaQwathi. By the way there was a general rebellion all over

stretching from Lusuthu (sic) among the sons of Moshweshwe;

162

general confusion reigned, with fighting scattered all over. That

is why so many government offices were burnt down.

Again, there were rumours that Mgudlwa had rebelled as well, that
made him to join the rebels and fight together with Langa who was

with his father Jumba. In that way we appreciate the reasons of

his involvement in the rebellion which action unfortunately led
to his loss of chieftainship. All the chiefs who took part in

that war were demoted and made headmen thereafter. That is why
amaJumba at Tabasa were regarded as headmen until they regained
chieftainship recently under King Jonguhlanga.

MGUDLWA, THE SON OF JUMBA

Mgudlwa was an outstanding and brave young man indeed. His shorttemperedness is very much like that of Aleni's. That is why Aleni
has been promoted to be a sergeant of police because he has got
both char a cteristics in him, eloquence and bravery, because in
reality one can expect nothing from a coward. Because of that
his father gave him charge over the army while he was still alive
as he had noted that his love for the people was much stronger
than love for himself. We have already referred to several
incidents in which he was of great help, now we shall briefly
mention those events that have escaped our notice.

MGUDLWA AND ABATHWA (SAN)

The history of the abaThwa is never mentioned by It
was only brought to my attention by Professor Brookes in his
book. When I consulted abaThembu on the subject wanting to

163

ascertain the facts, they had this to say.

One day abaThwa stole a horse belong to Mpambani younger brother

of Jumba. Mgudlwa, then in power, ordered abaThwa to release the
horse.

AbaThwa replied saying, "Please stop worrying about an

old horse

That was provocative enough, and the war-cry was

sounded! The challenge was picked up by the sons of

Sandlalancha. Just before the two sides clashed, out jumped a
gallant mThwa soldier saying
"Take care Mgudlwa, son of Jumba
Today you have encountered the sons of Sandlalancha
The arrow is here, and the spear is here
We shall see."
So

saying he ran off, then peforming antics he started singing

his praise-songs.
"Here stands Nonqonqotho,
The one who puzzles tigers
Come and we shall see"
Those were the last words he spoke and the two adversaries
clashed. What a surprise! The fellow could not fight at close
range, they were happier when shooting with arrows or guns or at
times throwing the spears.

Yet that style of fighting was ended

by Tshaka regiments who believed in stabbing at close quarters.

AbaThwa fled into the forest and abaThembu followed in close
pursuit. Now you must remember that a chief did not usually
pursue the enemy and that was the case even on that day.

There was a noise coming from the centre the reason was that the

164

stupid abaThwa had run back to their families. AbaThembu would

not stop and they killed all that they came across. When an order
-from Mgudlwa arrived to the effect that they should not kill the
women, but must capture them, only a few had escaped the
slaughter. That marked the end of abaThwa at Mbo that day. Among
those who survived was a mThwa who was very close to Falo, who
taught him how to prepare an antidote against a snake bite, even

an antidote against a bite by a python. Qaqawuli still has the

knowledge of that antidote.

MGUDLWA AND ABESUTHU

At Tsitsa Mgudlwa had settled next to amaMpondomise who at that
time were under Mhlontlo. While there was peace and order there
came to Mgudlwa messengers from abeSuthu who had settled at Mbo
who had been sent by their chief to complain that Mhlontlo
refusing to release a race horse that had been stolen by his
(Mhlontlo's) people; the horse was well known and was called
Ramatsiliso. The Suthu chief was simply asking Mgudlwa to be
neutral
promised

in the event of an attack

on amaMpondomise. Mgudlwa

that he would not take sides when they

fought

amaMpondomise.

On a particular day abeSuthu arrived at the place of the son of

Matiwane coming to fetch their horse. The new style of fighting
of soldiers on horseback was known to both groups especially the
regiments that had come from Rhoda; abeSuthu however, were
experts in that kind of fighting because they had many horses.

165

AbeSuthu would charge in full gallop into the ranks of opponents,

and, passing next to the enemy, would slash with an axe and kill
him. AmaMpondomise were thrown into confusion, then they gave in
and fled. AbeSuthu mercilessly cut many down. Mgudlwa then said
to his people, "Charge at them, what will you do if abeSuthu
aftering fishing off amaMpondomise fall on you?"
AhaThembu then attacked from the rear and there was utter
confusion. Yet, they had played with fire. When abeSuthu

returned in full force, they were in real trouble. Remember that

many were waddling on foot.
In the encounter that followed, it was soon clear that abeSuthu

were stronger, Sihele, noticing that the people were cut down in
large numbers, then said to Mgudlwa, "Let us withdraw, chief,
today, the people are dying." As he was speaking, they were
almost alone, the

foot-soldiers were already a distance away

running down hill to a stream. Mgudlwa then instructed them not

to flee otherwise they would be eliminated but to retreat while

at the same time resisting the attack. He then spurred his horse
and went to stop those who were running and crossing the stream.
We are told that when he turned back amaJumba of his father, they
immediately fell into line like the brave soldiers they were. He

then went on to advise them that they must not run away again,
abeSuthu were dangerous to those in flight. He assured them
saying, "In order that you can believe that I don't want you to
run away, any coward is free to take my horse and escape. I will
die with you here today." He then alighted from his horse and
handed it over to one of his councillors.

166

In the meantime Sihele and others, who had been ordered

to

retreat while still fighting, kept on moving backwards and

forwards, on the look-out for any who fell behind.

But they

could not prevent one or two horsemen from breaking through and
attacking the defenceless who were on foot. When they delivered
their blows they would be heard singing their praises saying,
"Take a look at Masokwenjica
A cap of a hide of an elephant
An elephant that bewitches"
Eventually his (Mgudlwa's) group arrived and the gentlemen from
Lusuthu launched a fresh attack. Then Masokwenjica went straight
for Mgudlwa, obviously he knew who he was. Just as he was about
to strike with his axe, the other ducked on the other side of his
horse which was in the care of someone else. When Masokwenjica
was trying to bring his horse to a halt in order to deliver
another blow, amaJumba all fell on him.

It is said that he

sustained so many wounds from spears that it is not possible to

say who got him first!

People just made claims at random that

they had been the first to inflict a wound on him. In that

manner the outstanding mSuthu, the Elephant that bewitches, died.
One of his people was heard crying,
"Kgele banna, Tlou ea loya bambolaile"
(0 people, they have killed the Elephant that bewitches.)
Just at that time the son of Matiwana had also launched another
attack from the rear. Then pandemonium broke out, with the spear
wreaking havoc among abeSuthu. They (abeSuthu) gave up and took
to flight; they took off in a disorderly fashion with nobody to

167

direct them as their general lay dead. Just as they were

ascending the mountain, many cowards acted foolishly. They
alighted from their horses and preferred to run on foot. Such an
act actually encouraged the enemy to pursue them futher in the
hope of getting more horses which they had left behind.

That is how the alliance of Mgudlwa and Mhlontlo brought success,

but at a very high loss of life. Among the chief councillors who
fell in that encounter on that day were Mbexe the son of Limba,
Sende of the Mpinga clan who resides among amaJumba of Tabase and
Khafu Sizani another of the Mpinga clan. When they reached home
and gave the report, Jumba wept bitterly, saddened by the death
of so many people.

When he lifted up his head after weeping for

a long time, he asked Mgudlwa,

Mgudlwa

"How many of you are dead?"

"Fortunately, we are all safe." "Where did you hide

yourselves when others were engaged in battle?"

The response,

"It was just by God's (Qamata) grace."

After talking with Chief Jumba who was enquiring about his people
who had fallen in battle, there followed a very important speech
which is usually delivered by a chief to his men before they
disperse, returning to their homes. The chief usually pays
tribute to the fallen, and consoles those whose loved ones have
fallen in battle, and further asks them to go and break the sad
news to those who remained at home.

It is a day when the chief

shows his leadership qualitites.

When he recounts how his

councillors lost their lives for his cause and that of his
country;

and

when he recalls events where the same men

168

distinguished themselves in earlier battles.

In fact he does not end there, he goes on to honour the valiant

by bestowing the feathers of the blue crane on those men whose
valour had been outstanding in that particular war. It usually
was most embarrassing to those men who had been stopped running
away for safety in a thicket. They would hide their faces in
shame. Those fit for promotion would be given cloaks made of
leopard skins which are in practice a preserve for royalty.

What was most admirable was that one should face death rather
than flee and leave his chief behind.
like a cowardly chief either.

And yet people did not

If it proved impossible to kill

him, the people could desert him. Mgudlwa became even more
popular to his councillors because of the brave deed of alighting
from his horse and facing death together with those who were on
foot and who were more vulnerable rather than be safe on
horseback.

THEREAFTER MHLONTLO FOUGHT WITH NDAMASE

We are told that amaJumba in fear of Jumba (sic) went out in full
force.
After some time Mhlontho's regiments were put to flight by those
of Ndamase.

Mhlontlo happened to know where amaJumba were, and

with amaMpondo not fully aware of what was happening, they found
themselves under attack by Matiwana's reserve army. In one day
four of Mbuthu's sons, who was Ndamase's senior officer, of the

169

Xesibe clan, died.

Up to the departure of Mgudlwa from Tsitsa and Nxu where he had

established himself, Mhlontlo was never defeated by any nation.
Our history on Mgudlwa and the life of amaJumba at Mbo will end
here. We will not mention anything about Mgudlwa when residing in
Thembuland because everything about him appears fully in the

articles on Ngangelizwe and Lange.

LANGA, THE SON OF MGUDLWA

Mgudlwa in his great-house (senior) begets Mabala, Adam and

Gqorolo as well as Cesi. Lange grew up at his grandfather's place

at Mhlwazi. His real name was Nkwenkwezi, and he was just as
brave as his father.

When the war of ameQwathi broke out, Lange asked his father
whether he would take up arms or not.
would fight.

The other agreed that he

During that visit whose purpose had been to

consult his father about the war, Lange noted that Falo was
vehemently opposed to participation.

He then went to Sopili,

Falo's younger brother, who was the same age as he (Lange), and
persuaded him to take up arms and not listen to what Falo was

saying, that "Let us not fight" - that was cowardice. Then Sopili
said, "Yes, brother, it is kind of you to tell me that Falo is a

coward, in that case, he will always need somebody to defend and

look after him."

In that way Sopili's argument was convincing.

Falo on his part

170

had to bear the heavy responsibility of dissuading his

councillors, among whom was Sihele, on one hand and dissuading
Mgudlwa on the other. Mgudlwa himself had explicity stated that
he was taking up arms. Eventually, by the mercy of God something
unexpected happened. That was the arrival of Nomyengo, Mgudlwa's

sister, from Ngqikaland.

When she was informed of Mgudlwa's

military plans, she cried bitterly, dissuading him saying, "In

order to convince me, dear brother, that you are brave and
strong, stab this stone with a spear. If you are successful, you
must know that you are a man, and you will defeat the White man,
but if you are not, don't even worry about going to war; do not
bother Falo anymore; you will be defeated by the White man, and
you will get killed, moreover chieftainship for your children
will also die, just as that of amaNgqika, I am talking about what

I have witnessed and what I know."

The lion-like Mgudlwa calmed down,

and he started crying

bitterly. Falo, realising the danger of military involvement,

earnestly tried to show him the folly and danger that would
befall him.
The next problem was to find a suitable person who would be sent
to dissuade Langa from fighting.

Several names were suggested,

but it was felt that they would meet with no success.

would not even look at them, let alone listen.

Langa

At last it was

decided that Gqorolo, with whom he was on good terms and he was
likely to heed what he had to say, should be sent.

We are told

that Mgudlwa was grievously hurt by the fact that he had to break

his promise, something he regarded as a sign of weakness.

171

Nevertheless, it is only a fool who, if he had a particular point

of view, will not change even though new facts which were not
considered before are brought to light. At this juncture, we
give credit to Mgudliwa for that and we grant that he was a true
leader.
Mgudlwa's son then left with these councillors who were to
accompany him to the mission of trying to dissuade Lange, even in
that case, they were just trying their luck, because they knew
Lange well. When he got to Mhlwazi, Lange started singing his
(Gqorolo) praises and his brother (Gqorolo) immediately broke
down in tears, and handed over his weapons. By the time he asked
what his mission was, Gqorolo had changed sides and was ready to
fight. That marked an end of an attempt to dissuade Lange from
joining the war.
When the army was fully mobilised and assembled at the great
place, a war-doctor by the name of Sakathi, of the Nywabe clan,
who had been consulted by Lange, started doctoring the army. A
bull belonging to the great place was slaughtered according to
custom. lokushwamisa*.

To everybody's consternation, the bull

would neither fall nor did it bellow. A sacrificial ox is

supposed to lie on its left, and to utter a bellow when it is
being slaughtered. The elders then asked the war-doctor, "What is
the meaning of all this?" The war-doctor answered saying, "Today
Lange will disperse the (white) soliders and their tiny bullets
will be harmless."
*Such a bull would be killed with bare hands and certain
practices had to be observed - Translator's note.

172

All that was possible to make the soldiers invulnerable and

strong was done.

Then the army left after being counselled by

the chief. When they started driving out cattle that would feed
the army, Lange's ox refused to leave home; at times it even
threatened people when they tried to force it. The elders once
more felt obliged to ask Sakathi, "But what does this mean now?"

The war-doctor,

rather flustered, re-assured everybody and

promised nothing but all that was good for the army.

At last,

the ox gave in and moved. All the Boers were harassed and
attacked, those who were below the mountain range, as well as
those who had settled in the territory of Stokwe Tyhali of the
Vundle clan. Later on they decided to spend the night in a Boer
homestead that had a kraal made of stones. Stock was slaughtered
and the regiments were fed well. The general discussion was about
which regiment was going to strike first. The chief himself
moved from one sub-division of his army to another giving words
of encouragement.
In short, soldiers do not sleep because they must always be ready

for action, all the time. They also kept busy by giving shooting
lessons to those who could not use guns, those who simply carried

guns in order to frighten others off and had bought one simply
because he could afford to do so.

Others, especially the young

men were given lessons by one specialist on spear-throwing, and

were also shown different weapons which could be used effectively
when the enemy was at a certain distance. A complete weaponry
for each man consisted of eleven spears each with tips shaped

differently and with a special name of its own.

173

It was at dawn on the day following the harassment and attack of

the Boers below the mountain range, and the army had also settled
down comfortably, when someone heard a sound of hoofs made by
galloping horses. When a question was asked as to what that was

the reply was, "Those are Mpangele's sentries which by the way we
saw at sunset below that slope, and they spent the night in a
cave; even at night we did see their light," said the scouts.
Even though this assurance was given, someone said, "Let's tie up
our bundles, it is time to get up."
There was silence for some time, yet they were waiting for day-

break. Then a sound of gun-fire broke the silence. The men ran
for cover, hiding behind stone walls while bullets were falling
like hail stones. AmaJumba immediately returned fire because
there were some among them who were armed with guns as well. The
soldiers soon realised that they were in mortal danger as their

opponents were well protected by the stone walls, they then

withdrew, luring amaJumba away from their fort.
When they were some distance away, out jumped the gallant son of
Mgudlwa himself, and headed for the opposite direction. He had
actually chosen the place for the night because he had foreseen
how he would arrange his army for defence in the event of an
attack, but that was not be the case, the white man was better
equipped; as he was heading for a ridge of stones protected by a

high boulder, they (the whites) rushed in with their horses and
successfully forestalled him, for amaJumba were running on foot
because they had not had a chance to mount their horses. Just as

they were halfway between the ridge and the stone walls, the

174

descendants of settlers fired a shot. The very cliffs resounded

in an echo, and the great hero fell on his face, the bullet
having found its target with ease as he was in the forefront. He
quickly got up and, surveying his men, he called out, "Get

on

with it, I am alright." And the white man persisted with his
order, "Fire - Fire - Fire!" They would fire and only stop to

reload and fire again. AmaJumba realised that they were in

danger of being totally eliminated and they decided to pick up
their chief and retreat.

That is what really made them easy

targets because they were forced to group together.

was then carried on an ox hide held by four men.

The chief
The white man

repeatedly shot those who were carrying the chief. There was no
alternative but to put him down and retreat. Just then someone
approached at great speed wielding his sabre in the air, the
gallant ones turned to face him. The whites remaining behind
continued shooting, it was at the time when the men began to

doubt the wisdom of continuing with the resistance. Some started

running away. The son of Mgudlwa continued to call them by name

as they passed by saying, "This is the day about which you have
always talked, saying that you were ready to die for your chief,
here am I, dying, you also must do the same."
Then the fellows shot down the general of the soldiers the very
one who had been approaching wielding his sabre.

Down he fell,

not far from Langa and his men who were lying next to him.
That signalled the start of the actual battle because the

soldiers then put up a concerted attack in a bid to retrieve the

body of their general even if he was dead, because had they dared

175

to leave him behind, they would have never got much of his
remains. By the way in the olden days whenever a man of position
was killed, pieces of flesh would be cut from his body, as for

his blood, it would be drunk to the last drop.

The belief was

that partaking of the remains of a person of power would embolden

one and one would not fear death.

For amaJumba the situation was different, their chief had just
been injured, but was alive, and there was no way he could be
left behind. The two groups then started advancing on each
other, leaving the cover of stone walls and the ridge of stones.

Once again the White man opened fire, abaThembu broke in disarray
again.

Just as they were fleeing, Dolophile the son of Jezile

ran past Langa who then said to him, "Who are you leaving behind?
You coward! Take this gun and fight, but don't let whites capture
it, give yours to me."
To everybody's surprise, Langa was still shooting! The Whites

realised that it would be difficult to break the defence that had

been formed round the chief. They also retreated and took cover
beyond the cave. The conflict continued for the whole day without
any side giving in.
Once again the whites launched another attack, and now they came

in big numbers.

They were met by amaJumba and were once more

locked in battle, then the son of Mcwakumlana by the name of

Ncwashu and Dyavu the son of Mdalana, both of the Mpemvu clan,
both said, "Fellows, let's fall back on our traditional weapons,
get on them with your short assegais". Then they rushed forward.

176

The encounter was just for a short while and the whites turned
tail, then it was suggested that they should keep close to the
whites to deny them any opportunity to reload and shoot at a
distance.

They followed them in close pursuit over the ridge of

stones, down and across the river. By that time Langa was up and
shouting words of encouragement to his people because the plan of
the big man was to pretend to be dead whenever he noticed that
amaJumba were taking to flight, and when it was the turn of the
whites to flee, he would get up and sing praises of his men.
This he did repeatedly.

"Chase them up to Bakili"*, he kept

saying. Someone who was there in person has this to say, "Whites
are good marksmen, but they have problems with fighting amaXhosa
at close range. Their sabres are more effective cutting down
somebody in flight." That is how the whites were defeated that
day.

But a white man is the type of person that, if you defeat

him today, he wants to continue the fight the next day. That is
exactly what they did.
Almost all the officers of Lange fell on that battle field that

day.

Among them was Thulani, the son of Kopolo of the Dlomo

clan; and Ganyethi the son of Sizani of the Mpinga clan, a great
mThembu indeed, whose grandchildren still take after him. Lange
was taken in a Boer cart and they took him to a Boer homestead
where they spent the night. Then they looked for his injury, and
they found a bullet wound

in

his thigh, with the bullet still

lodged in. He was operated upon, the bullet was taken out and he
was in great pain.

*Possibly Barkely - Translator's note.

177

You can imagine the discomfort of a person in that position,

being far from home, without any proper bandages, and . without any
proper facilities to stop bleeding.
On the following day he was taken and hidden in a thick forest
called Didwayo, just north of the Bashe River.

He was left in

the care of three councillors. He then gave instructions that

Xhalanga should take charge of the men, in his place, and should
be assisted by Mabubulo, his younger brother, the very one who
had been sent to dissuade him from taking up arms, and had
instead joined the army.
When he was recuperating, after the terrible pains that he had,
he started walking about without help, until one day he felt
strong enough to go out of the forest to get fresh air. His men
heard him calling out, limping towards them saying, "Saddle them
up, saddle them, let's go, I actually heard a sound of shots
hitting some people."

The councillors tried to convince him

otherwise, he would not listen.

Then after giving one another

a sign, they met aside. One is said to have said; "You people
are wasting time in trying to dissuade Nkwenkwezi, he will not
change his mind, I know him well, he is my age mate. I've got
marks all over my body because of the trouble he often gets me
into.

Even this wound I have today, it is because of him, I got

it the other day. I cannot in my present state go out to fight,

he is exposing us to danger because when we come out we shall not
know whether we are delivering ourselves into the hands of the
enemy or we are joining our people.

The only thing remaining is

to throttle him, and we shall then say he died of his wound."

178

Then the men got behind him, got hold of him and twisted his
neck and the sun set for the son of Mgudlwa. Those men hoped that
their secret would never be known, yet the true facts did become
known because, three is a crowd, and therefore no secret can be
kept successfully.

THE DAY AT ZADUNGENI

So Xhalanga and Gqorolo left with the army of amaJumba. When
they were at Ladungeni, at the place where Tshezi of the Mngxongo
clan has a farm, they came across a regiment of soldiers and
their volunteers.

No questions were asked, instead amaJumba set

their horses on the people.

Someone, who was on the side of the

whites has this to say, "We thought it was part of a plan to get
away because we never thought that they would rush in and attack
us in their small numbers.

The son of Mnyambu Mlenze went

straight for the commander of the regiment, pierced him with his
spear and he died instantly. The whites were again dispersed, and
were scared to even hear the words, "We are amaJumba."
The Whites made a come back when they realised that there was no
reason for panic. AmaJumba were this time dispersed, that was
the day they gave up fighting and thereafter surrendered as they
were informed that fighting in other places had also come to an
end.

FALO THE SON OF MGUDLWA

Falo was the son of Mgudlwa of the right-hand house; his mother
was the Nqhosini maiden we talked about on the occasion of her
marriage to Mgudlwa.

179

He was rather dark in complexion, with a striking birthmark. The

fact is any well-to-do person has good looks even if he actually

is plain.

He was extraordinarily strong with a well-developed

The force of his blow was also unusual. He would strike

chest.

a person only once, and the victim would faint.

In a way his

unusual strength turned out for the better because that is what
prompted his conversion. He felt that he would injure a lot of
people whenever he was cross unless he succumbed to be 'tamed' by
conversion.

We have already made reference to him at length when we were

dealing with great men like Matanzima, Ngangelizwe as well as his
father, Mgudlwa. He is well-known for his kindness and meekness.
He is one person who took after Jumba, and, as if to confirm that
he had really taken after him, he almost equalled Jumba in the
number of years he lived.
old.

He died when he was ninety-five years

And yet it is said he was still far from the years that

Jumba lived.
He became the first chief to be converted and with the assistance
of the Reverend P. Sihlali, he succeeded in educating several of
his sons. The name of Mgudlwa was highly respected at Alice,
those days more especially because of the good conduct of his
children.

He was a great friend of Dalindyebo and was like a father to

Ngangelizwe.

He was man of great insight in the Transkei when

the Bhunga was founded and also when the Fort Hare College was
established at Alice, he was of tremendous help because he

180

appreciated and admired any step of progress taken and, if he

happened to be convinced and associated himself with an idea,

nobody and no excuse would be good enough to influence him to

change his mind.
His sons - Matsolo, Guleni, Colenzo, Attwell, Isaac, Cecil,

Stormont, Buller - all have been to Alice, and they also in turn
educated their children at Alice.*
He was a man of good influence.

Sabata was sent to him in order

to put him under his guidance and he (Falo) gave him his daughter
Khatshwa to 'feed' him. Daliwonga himself also came under his
influence and so did many children of his councillors, including
the writer. Just at that point I wish to make reference to an

advice he once gave me, which I'll never forget.

When I got a

post at Herschel he asked me to pay him a visit before leaving.

When the time came I went to bid him goodbye. He was alone and he
said, "Listen Sihlali, a wise man once said, for a man to reach
maturity, he must leave home and make a name for himself far from
home, among different nations and tribes. You are fortunate
because you now have this opportunity of learning hard. I am
delighted although I know that you and your family are upset,
because you wish you had got a post here at home. Again, you are
a Christian and a communicant, but I want to instil this in you.
You must be a truly converted person, and fear God. Your faith
must not be childlike anymore, a child who is secure because
people will not dare touch, out of respect for me.

Now you are

* Which included both Lovedale and Fort Hare - Translator's

note.

181

going to where I am not known, and it is God who will help you.
Lastly, listen carefully, my son, you must exercise your wisdom
in humility. A person must realise the depth of your wisdom when
in close contact with you, not through an advertising campaign
where you go about boasting about your abilities, because people
can easily use the very words that come from your mouth to do

harm to you.

You must remember the words of our Lord Jesus

Christ who says, "Do not cast your pearls in front of swines, in

case they trample on them, and turn to devour you." You must not
misuse your wisdom by getting involved with people who will use
it against you."
The old fellow then prayed, and thereafter left me alone.

This

advice, I think, is an inheritance to be enjoyed by our children

as well because it came from someone who was indeed great. He

was one of those men who are greatly respected by the Government.
There is the progeny of the maiden that Sihele chose.

MGUDLWA AND LIGWA, THE SONS OF LANGA

When Mgudlwa returned from Mjanyana he was presented with a vast

farm which was about 3000 morgens on the Qhumanco River; he gave

it to Langa's son, Ligwa who was the heir, and Thobigunya from
the right-hand house.

Sihlali persistently sent all the children to Alice even if the

child was still in the lower classes, because he wanted them to

be educated, and to hate backwardness. Ligwa was one of those who

was sent to Alice by Sihlali in that manner. Was there anything

182

in short supply? As far as school fees were concerned, there was

enough wealth.

All the school fees that needed to be paid were

in the hands of Sihlali and he was the only one who knew all the

fees that needed to be paid.

Even Alex was one of the children

who was educated by Mgudlwa and Sihlali in that way.

Then one day the daughter of Sigcawu Sarili arrived at Mgudlwa's
place. Mgudlwa said to the bridal party; "I have no son because

the one for whom you have brought this maiden is still at school,
also he is a civilised Christian young man, who cannot marry an
illiterate girl." In response amaGcaleka said "We have brought
the daughter of the chief in accordance with the custom of
royalty, all these points which, baThembu, you have raised, we
can still iron them out in a harmonious way." It was decided
that the prince and princess should be married as Sihlali
advised,:

Material was bought and a trousseau and

other

accessories were sown and the couple was married according

to

Christian rites.

After some time, Sigcawu's daughter discarded the 'western'

dresses and she put on her traditional attire.

She applied red

ochre (imbola) liberally on her shawls and used her cream for her
facial make-up.

The shirts and pairs of trousers of the prince

soon lost colour.

When Ligwa's first child was born, he named him Tshabalele*,
because as lt was, the marriage had come to an end, and he

*Tshabalele

literally

Translator's note.

means - has been

destroyed

183

(Ligwa) was

going to be like another mThembu young man, he was

going to be a polygamist. We do not blame the Gcaleka lady for

resorting to her traditional way of life so quickly because the
three weeks during which the marriage banns were called were not
long enough for someone who came from a backward place like
Gcalekaland to have learnt the ways of the civilised to the
extent that she could be a suitable marriage partner for someone
who had been educated at Alice, especially the kind of place
Alice was, during those days. She realised it would be better to
be known as the illiterate she was at the great place, rather
than learn a new and strange way of life at the great place.

Ligwa married another wife, who was a Ngqika maiden, and made her
the right-hand house. He named his son (in that house) Sazingam,
that is to say We know through my experience that someone who
married according to the western rite can still be a polygamist.

Ligwa, like all other maJumba, was a respectable and humble

person. A rather wild one, who had taken after his father was
Notshe Thobigunya, the one of the right hand house, in any case
he had respect for his older brother. Ngubesizwe who is now in
power, in the place of Mgudlwa is the grand-child of Ligwa; He is
the one who is regarded as the paramount chief of all amajumba.*

* This is up to page 152 in the original manuscript.

Translator's note.

184

ADAM KOK AND STOKWE IN THEMBULAND **

We are told that at Roda there came a stranger Adam Kok, a Lawu.*
It is not clear whether he paid the customary cattle tribute that
was expected from a newcomer, but it is clear that the whole
territory of Mhlanga along the Lundi was his residence. On the
day Stokwe was driven back from Tyumbu, he (Adam Kok) had
already settled there, and he (Stokwe) was promised the land in
which he (Kok) lived.
It is said that initially he had settled in the Furismit area up
to Filipoh's. When the Boers arrived, they bought their land and
were consequently without an area of their own, by 1857 it was
clear that they were landless hence they moved southwards.

Kok was expelled from Mhlanga as well as from that place of entry
of the Tsomo River into Mbombo Mountains in 1859. After he was
successfully driven away by Stokwe, he (Kok) was then fetched
by his friend Smit Pommer who showed him the area at Mbo to which
he later migrated where there is a town that was named after him
up to this day.

We have already referred fully to the circumstances that led to

his departure when we discussed Mathanzima. That is the time when

* The term 'Coloured' is a new one. Lawu was once an

acceptable term referring to some Khoi. Translator's note.
** This begins on page 179 in the original manuscript.
he and Stokwe fought because he was tired of being asked for

185

cattle.

We wish to complete this picture because we have found that a

number of nations, when they are dispersed, were obstructed in
Thembuland in their search for land, because they could not
withstand their (abaThembu) strength. That is why they gave up
and opted for Mbo.

MBOMBINI OF SIHELE
We conclude our series by looking at the ideas of the brave one
mentioned above. Firstly, when Mbombini's father, Sihele,
decided to go war, he first spoke to Nowisile, Falo's wife and
daughter of Sarili and said: "I am going to take up arms, even
though Falo and Mgudlwa are opposed to it, so Falo should please
educate his son Matsolo well, together with my son Pafulu, who is
Matsolo's age-mate. When the light of civilization comes to this
land of abaThembu, it will be brought by them from the West.

As for Mbombini, he must never be educated, because should that

happen, he will leave; she (Nowisile) must keep very close to him
(Mbombini). As for me, you must know very well that I shall not
be coming back." Just at that point Nowisile could bear it no
longer, she wept bitterly. Then the other said; "Oh no, now you
have spoilt all that I have been telling you.'

186

When Sihele passed away amaNtondo proceeded to Mbo at Matatiele.

They then asked Sihele's wife what was to be done since they had
been defeated. The other said, "By the way my children were put
in the service of Faln as long ago as the time of the marriage of
Falo's mother. And even before the death of Sihele, he reminded
me of that fact.

I am going to submit to Mgudlwa." The

councillors then said, "Yes, we understand very well, but there

are, among us, people who cannot return to Mgudlwa because he

will lay the blame for the death of Sihele on them, accusing them
of having misled him (Sihele).

Some finally joined amaVundla, while others did return and were
not at all welcomed, as we have already made reference to that

when we mentioned G waqase. Both boys were there.

When Falo was

giving a hand to Gwaqase when the latter sent Mbombini for

circumcision, imbongi, had these unsavoury remarks to say about

him

(Falo);
"It is the spirit of the bull of Ntondo
Which we brought back from Mbo
So that we could get service from amaTato."

Incidentally, when this very Mbombini grew up, he became Falo's

best trusted man. During the Boer War Falo was asked to supply
men who would help at the East London port to off-load horses and

food from overseas and elsewhere.

Even on that occasion, he put his chief's name on the map, so

much that he was given charge over a camp of blacks, and he had
learned people over whom he exercised authority.

He came after

187

the fall of a leader who had succumbed to liquor.

When Falo fell ill, he was advanced in years, Falo sent for him

and said

"The day that Sihele mentioned has come. He ordered us

to keep together. Now, why, do you keep away from me, when I am
so ill? Who will close my eyes?"
And, surely, the other remained with him (Falo) until the last
hour.
While he was still with Falo, the latter asked for Q aqawuli and
No-Indiya.

Whey they came, he asked to have a meeting with the

three, then he said: "Qaqauli, I am leaving, please look after

this councillor, do you understand?' The other responded: "Yes."

"Amongst councillors sometimes there is one who is hot-headed,

who usually is a threat to the chief if he is not careful enough.
You must be on the look-out for that. I must tell you that things
are going to go wrong."

It is said he repeated several times the warning that, "things

were going to go wrong." Then he turned to No-Indiya and said:
"Do you hear that I say things will go wrong?" No-indiya agreed.

Then he said, "Here is the homestead, you and Qaqauli should

look after it well." Then he turned to Molteno and said, "Do you
understand me Molteno?" This is how he called Mbombini.
Mbombini concurred. Falo again said, "You know, things will go
wrong, but you and your descendants should be the last to desert
Qaqauli."

188

Then the great man passed away. Truly, things did . go wrong after
his death. Mbombini, throughout, faithfully stood by Qaqauli
according to the 'death-charge', until the day he was afflicted
with pneumonia while still engaged in the business of helping

When recalling the events he said that

on that day there was to

be a meeting with the magistrate in the shop of Manini; Mbombini

left his home at Ngqwaru to attend the meeting. To be discussed,
on that day, was the issue of the expulsion of Q aqauli. After
that meeting the magistrate proceeded to Ncora where he was to
study a claim on the site of Zenzile Falo.

They went there on

horseback to make sure that they would meet the magistrate.

Thereafter he returned to Ngqwaru

The day was windy and cold.

When he was near Magila's shop he realised that he was ill, and

noted that the nearest and best place he could spend the night in
was only at Guleni s place, the home of Xashimba's daughter, who
was the pride of the family of Falo, and who also looked well

after councillors.

He spent the night there and proceeded home

the following day, at the same time he was feeling somewhat

better than he had been the previous day.

That is how his

illness started, and not long thereafter, he passed away.

When he realised that he was seriously ill, he did what he had

promised to do, he sent me a telegram.

When I got there he was

in a critical condition, he could neither speak nor open his

eyes. I just took a glance at him and I wept bitterly thinking
that he was already gone.

189

After I had been calmed down, someone went to shout at his ear
"Goduka has arrived!" The patient then opened his eyes and, as if
shocked asked, "What?" He again told him of my arrival. He
tossed about until he was able to take his hand out and I greeted
him. He held my hand for a long time without speaking, then at
last he let it go. Then he starting talking about his state,
taking short rests here and there. All of a sudden he began to
speak clearly. Just as we finished talking about family affairs
he said: 'Here is what I wanted you for. Please, do what you can

to settle the diferences between the chief's children before

they hurt one another. Remember that I told you what Falo said.
Now it appears as

that is going to be fulfilled. So I want you

to interpose between the chief's children before they hurt one

another. Go to Qaqauli and Daliwonga and tell them ',hat I advised

you to bring them together in order to thrash this matter out.

You are the only person they can listen to, because they both
love you dearly.

That is the main reason why I called you. Now

you may go".

What

actually transpired after that 'death-wish' will

be

explained when we are writing about Daliwonga.

After he had passed away, his family was given counsel by friends

and kinsmen who spoke highly of the deceased. We shall just

quote only one of many speeches, this one was made by Basi, the
son of Falo, he said:

"Mbombini was a brave, open-minded and respectable man who then,

190

because of his gifts could be called upon to mediate in

situations where many had failed to bring about peace and order.
Almost all the families that knew him preferred to refer their
problems to him because his voice could calm down even those who
tended to see violence as a means of settling differences, he
would not refrain from soothing a raving man with his voice.

addition to all this he also distinguished himself by his

ability

447_

mix with all classes of people.

If he was sent to

whites, because of his humility, he fared well. Among the chiefs

he was also at home.

Even among the illiterates he was at ease,

just as it was the case among the westernised people as well as

the councillors.

In conclusion, the son of Falo said, "The Words that were spoken
by our Lord Jesus Christ, I think are applicable to him. 'Well
done you good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in a

few things, I shall put you in charge over many; Get in the joy
of your Lord."

LUDIDI IN THEMBULAND
While abaThembu were still at Rhoda, there came at Nkosiyane's
place Ludidi, who, on applying for a place for himself and his
people, paid an ox as tribute according to custom. Nkosiyane then

allocated him a place at Ngqungqu, along Mthatha river, in what

is the district of Mqanduli today.

When Joyi arrived, he was

told that a certain chief by the name of Ludidi had been given

191

permission to reside within Thembu territory during the time they

Ludidi was also informed about the arrival of

were at Rhoda.
Joy

and he requested that the chief should visit , him so that he

could have a chance to meet him.

Ludidi

was duly informed about the date of a visit by His

Highness. He then instructed his people to prepare (gifts) to

welcome the chief.

When the son of Mthirara arrived, it was clear that a royal

personage had come from the multitudes of people who turned out
There was enough tor everyone because the beer

to welcome him.
that

had been brewed by women from Mbo was strong

intoxicating.

and

Happy laughing voices filled the air, and the

people were particularly intrigued by the Hlubi dialect.

Late in the afternoon Joyi was invited to go to

homestead which was not far from the great place, and which had
been asked earlier to

to keep its beer and not send it to the

chief's residence.

That is where Joyi and his councillors spent the night and
fattened ox was slaughtered in his honour. The maidens from Mbo
were also invited to join and entertain the royal party,
something which they reluctantly did because that was a strange
custom to them, but that didn't matter because in reality that is
just light talk which nobody takes seriously.

192

On the following day Joyi informed his hosts of his intention to

return home.

That was received amicably and nobody could guesss

that theirs was the last meeting, because we are ignorant of the
future, and this is without exception.

Joyi went home.

When

they were far, someone noted that the dog of Chief Joyi had been
left at Sothwili's place.
it.

Two young men were sent back to fetch

Nobody knows as to when exactly did the misunderstanding

begin, but the two young men received a thrashing instead of a

dog. They returned home bloody.

When they reached home they

reported the ill-treatment they had received; soon a rumour

spread through Thembuland that Ludidi had beaten Joyi. Ludidi on
his part made no attempt to calm the troubled waters by punishing

the people at Sothwili's place as well as returning the dog.

abaThembu then decided to arm themselves and to find out more

about the matter by fighting. Nobody knows why Joyi allowed such
steps to be taken before getting a word from Ludidi.

When they were ready some people were sent to amaHlubi to a beerdrinking party; they went along with women among whom was the
wife of Nkosiyane, Nohute.

By midday the hut was full of people

and it was necessary to let some out.

then said; "MaHlubi,

The head of the homestead

will the women please go outside and give

room to the men." The women quietly went out except fur Nohute

and her councillor in attendance.

The fellow again stood up and

said, "MaHlubi! You must get used to the name "MaHlubi', this is
my house and anyone who is at my place is a Hlubi, I say
out!"

Women

193

Just at that moment the woman took out her long pipe fitted on
its tip then stuffed it with tobacco and cooly asked for a live
ember to light her pipe. In her anger she forgot to remove the
live ember from her pipebowl and she started inhaling the smoke.
Soon a thick smoke was coming out and the pipe itself was not
different from a steam-engine.

The reader should remember that amaHlubi preferred using the

snuff to smoking, they hated the habit of smoking especially
indoors because it caused them a headache, more especially when
smoking was done at a large beer-drinking session. This was known
by abaThembu who did not like the idea that they were forbidden
to smoke, even if they craved for one, whenever they were with
amaMfengu

in a beer-drinking sessions.

While they were still

puzzled, the woman came up with something else they did not like,
she spit. That was the last straw, they fell into the trap.

The head of the homestead in his anger went for Madame Nkosiyane,
grabbed her pipe broke it into two and threw it away.

The

watchdogs (men) from the great place fell on him. Already some
men had gone outside as if to pass water, yet it was part of the
plan that they would close the door as soon as a fight broke out
inside the hut.
That resulted in very serious injuries because whoever tried to
escape was immediately attacked by those who were outside, 'Inside
there were two tall fellow who simply felled their opponents with
sticks.

Believe me, those people were in trouble.

There were

194

some who tried to bring an end to the fight, but they got beaten
up too. At long last there was not a single Mfengu in the hut.
AbaThembu then left, leaving the head of the homestead stone
dead.

in the meantime someone had raised the war-cry saying,

"AmaMfengu were killing the people; they had even beaten up

Madame Nkosiyane."

It did not take long for Thembu regiments to mobilise and fall on
amaHlubi;

resistance on their part was of no use, they were

easily dispersed because Joyi had an army that was far stronger
and bigger than theirs.

They were driven to a cliff that is at

the confluence of Ngqungqu and Mtata Rivers; the writer went to

see the cliff personally.

Ludidi left Thembuland since that day, and thereafter he got the
land which he now occupies at Mbo.

AMA-BOMVANA
The history of amaBomvana has been written with great skill by
Mr P A W Cook MA, B.Ed of Cape Town.

We very much regret

fact that a book that has been meticulously written as this one
is only available in English, because we believe it would be a
treasure and of great benefit to amaBomvana if their children
could get to know the history of their nation while still young
scholars.

195

Concerning amaBomvana, therefore, we shall not delve into their

history, we shall lay emphasis only on those sections where our

views differ from his; whereupon we hope that the reader will
apply his insight, because this issue on amaBomvana is one of the
reasons that prompted us to put down our views in writing. When
we are speaking about amaBomvana that does not refer to the
nation at large, we are simply referring to the family tree of
Moni which is in the district of Mqanduli.
That group of amaBomvana who were Gambushe's adherents was driven
across Mbashe River to join their chief Hintsa, who then settled

them at Nqabara and Shixini. Mr Cook expatiates on this point in

his book in page 5; "In 1837 amaBomvana were driven across Mbashe
River by abaThembu and they put themselves under the wing of
amaGcaleka."

While they were still there the Nongqawuse tragedy took place,
and amaBomvana then asked to be excused and were accepted once
again by abaThembu because they did not want to involve
themselves in the Nongqawuse issue.

At that time the most senior chief of amaBomvana was Ntshunqe.

is said because of that fact, as well as because of his request,
he was again accepted and he was placed along the sea and shared
the territory with another group of amaBomvana who were also
along the seaboard in the Mqanduli district.

is the argument then true that. claims "AmaBomvana were never

196

under the rule of abaThembu?" How could it be then that when

they wanted to flee from amaGcaleka they would run into a
territory that still belonged to amaGcaleka, because the way
things are put, it is as though it was land that belong to
amabomvana which they had been given by amaGcaleka, which meant

that they were under the rule of amaGcaleka and could therefore
not disobey the law. Which is where we differ. In the first
place, read Mr Cook's book page 5, you will notice that Mbelu the

chief of amabomvana of Tshezi clan crossed Mthatha (River) after

Gambushe, and submitted to Hala who was then chief of AbaThembu.

That event took place when Gamhushe had already established a

settlement along a tributary of Mbashe called Ntlonyane (sic) on
the northern side of Mbashe. And yet Gambushe had been fetched by
Hintsa during the reign of Ngubengcuka. We refute Mr Cook's
observation mentioned above because:

He links Hala with Ngubengcuka yet the two are five

generations apart. That means Hala's name cannot be given

as

being the person under whom amaBomvana of the Tshezi clan

submitted.
2.

2.
A

According to J H Saga in his history book, page 370 the

territory between Mthatha and Mbashe Rivers was occupied by noone, that is to say it was no-man's land. Again he gives further
explanations by adding that Ngubengcuka was still a minor, which
then clearly means that it was Ndaba who was in power.

197

Please take note therefore that Mr Cook's argument differs from

that of Reverend hogs on the point of the crossing (of Mtata) by
amaBomvana. The Reverend gentleman misleads us further when he
says that at that time Ngubengcuka was still a minor and yet
these people were helped to cross by Hintsa who was of the same
age with Ngubengcuka by birth and predeceased him (Hintsa).
Hintsa

was left to fight it out with Fadana who was the regent

after the death of Ngubengcuka.

3.

This is what we are told about the past. Amabomvana

submitted to abaThembu after producing the customary tribute of

cattle and they were then given land at

Ngqeleni where the

battle of amaBomvana was fought over the chieftainship of

Ngezana. It appears as if their time of arrival co-incided with

the period when Ndaba was in exile in the land of Rarabe, and
they then submitted to Ntlanzi who was in the territory that is
now occupied by amabomvana. That is why the Reverend hogs is of
the opinion that he was regent in place of Ngubencuka who was
still a minor. During the reign of Ndaba nothing of importance

took place between abaThembu and amabomvana.

During the War of Ndlambe amaGcaleka sent their cattle to

Ngubencuka for safekeeping. At that time amabomvana resided at
Nggeleni. We are then told that on their return amaGcaleka then
sent for the cattle they had requested him to look after.

Ngubengcuka refused with them, saying that he knew nothing about

those cattle.

198

Hintsa then sent a message to Gambushe who was his father-in-law

asking him (Gambushe) to try and persuade Ngubencuka to hand his
cattle back. We must then take note of this. If Gambushe was
independent, what made Hintsa to ask him to mediate between the
two of them? Messengers were then sent to Ngubencuka by Gambushe
including those two who had come from Gcalekaland.

They never got any cattle because abaThembu simply denied knowing
anything about them; some historical events are difficult to
unravel, in this case no-one knows whether the issue of the
cattle was not merely a ruse to cause a misunderstanding between
Ngubencuka and Gambushe.

In short, a war broke out over the matter. When Hintsa came to
fetch his cattle, he also captured some that belonged to Ngaleka
of amaNgcengane clan, and he did this jointly with amaBomvana.
Thereafter Ngaleka went to fight against amaBomvana and he
captured some cattle replacing those he had lost previously.

That is when Gambushe decided to ask to be protected by Hintsa

and to help him cross the Thembu territory. All along abaThembu
were not aware that Hintsa had given amaBomvana their (Thembu)
land. Even when they settled along Mbashe River there was no-one
in the south because Ntlanzi had moved northwards after some
time, hence amaGcaleka regarded the area as belonging to nobody.
Then they claimed it to be theirs. Thus they gave it to
amaBomvana after they had requested to be submitted under their
(Gcaleka) wing.

199

Things did not work out well for amaBomvana in that they
submitted to amaGcaleka and yet occupied land that belong to
abaThembu; furthermore, Mbelu of the Tshezi clan submitted
himself alone to abaThembu after fleeing from the wrath
amaMpondo who wanted to avenge the death of Ngqiingqushe

0.f:

hey

were then settled along Mthatha River, stretching up to the sea,

where they are still living even today.

AMA-NDUNGWANA
Idiomatic expression: "Nyeke amaNdungwane" (sic)
We

last

made reference to amaNdungwana when

Ngubengcuka's domain,
amaTshatshu.

disgruntled,

they

left

they left together with

They wandered about for some time not far from

amaTshatshu. AmaNdungwana are a peace-loving people. Even the

occasion when they were engaged in a war, it had been through an
invitation by Maqoma who had asked for their help in his fight
against the White army which was keeping everybody on tenterhooks
those days, nevertheless there was always a hope that it would
eventually be defeated.

It is said that Qwesha then went along with a large crowd of

people which was further joined by amaLawu. People who saw
Maqoma's army which then included abaThembu and amaLawu never
forget the bravery that was shown by that army. We are told that
they made a fort on a mountain that is not far from Fort
Beaufort, and fought all those who attempted to ascend the
mountain. The white man then worked out a plan, when he realised

200

the strength of Maqoma and abaThembu, he simply descended and

laid siege at the foot of the mountain, waiting for the day they
would come down.

Then, because of starvation people began to

surrender, one by one.

That is how Maqoma Qwesha and amaLawu

lost the battle.

Qwesha then returned home and that is the reason why they also
lost their land and were all dumped at Nonesi at Cacadu.
According to Cathcart it was the son of Buller who led the army

that dispersed amaNdungwana. Again, as we have mentioned this

before, Ndarala was one of the people who agreed to settle on
Sarili's land, and he even went to Hohita where Sarili's great
place had been.

In all this, amaNdungwana were found to be people who ponder over

an issue before taking any form of action, although we are not in
a position to mention particular.individuals for bravery and
eloquence, but generally they are not impulsive people. Even
today, they still are retaining and enjoying chieftainship which

they founded together with Dlomo, ages ago.

As we have already heard, Ndungwana, a twin with Balisa are the

sons of Nxekwa, as for Ndungwana he gets Diya, who begets Lange

who begets Khono who begets Bhejula who begets Nene, who begets
Qwesha who begets Ndarala, who begets Tshaka who in turn begesty

Mvumbi. He is now settled with his descendants along the Nciba

(Kei) River

in Sarili

Mzuzu's territory.