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Mzala Tom Profile picture
@RealMzalaTom
Jun 15, 2021 • 10 tweets • 4 min read • Read on X
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1. MEMORABLE POLITICAL SCANDALS IN NDEBELE HISTORY 🇿🇼

Umnxeba... ✍🏾

Political crimes/amacala ezombuso often resulted in the capital punishment of those found guilty. The political elite in the Ndebele had to be shrewd & be on good terms with iNkosi for their self preservation.
2. The Ntabazinduna treason trial of 1840-42 is perhaps the most well known political crisis of the Ndebele state. This is when some chiefs installed Nkulumane as the second Ndebele king when his father was still alive.
3. Mzilikazi descended heavily on the chiefs, military leaders, his wives & close relatives who endorsed & or participated in the treasonous exercise of installing Nkulumane as King. All those found guilty were executed.
4. The Zwangendaba rebellion of 1870-72 against the coronation of Lobhengula after the death of King Mzilikazi is another memorable political scandal. Mbiko the son of Madlenya Masuku with his wife Zinkabi the sister to Nkulumane attempted a coup against Lobhengula.
5. Lobhengula responded swiftly by confronting Mbiko & his Zwangendaba regiment. This was after they boycotted the first inxwala ceremony presided over by Lobhengula after being installed as King. Mbiko & his regiment were executed. Those who survived fled to far away lands.
6. There are other prominent political leaders in the Ndebele state who were executed after accusations of political ambitions & seeking to eliminate political rulers through witchcraft. Accusations often came from their political rivals.
7. In 1880 Lotshe Hlabangana a close advisor & confidante of King Lobhengula survived witchcraft allegations by his political opponents.Witchcraft was a capital offence punishable by death.
8. However, in 1889 he was accused if misleading the king in the signing of the Rudd Concession of 1888. This time around Lotshe did not survive the plot to eliminate him. He was found guilty of treason & was executed.
9. The prominent and powerful members of the Ndebele society tended to manipulate and
abuse their power and positions in the umphakathi and izikhulu to eliminate one another by
accusing each other of witchcraft and plots against the king.
10. One of Mzilikazi’s closest confidants, Manxeba Khumalo
(the son of Mkhaliphi) was executed in 1862 on a charge of witchcraft by his rivals in the umphakathi. In 1854 Mpondo, another of Mzilikazi's confidants
was executed on witchcraft accusations as well!

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More from @RealMzalaTom

Mzala Tom Profile picture
Sep 21
1. THE CORONATION OF KING LOBHENGULA 👑🇿🇼👑

The contested coronation of King Lobhengula around 1870 was done in three phases over a period of about three months. This was in line with Nguni customs . The first stage was the welcoming of the new king at his father’s old capital, eMhlahlandlela where his ordination would commence.Image
2. On his arrival at the eMhlahlandlela town gate, he was welcomed with a black ox and invited to enter through the north gate.  There were around 15 000 soldiers to welcome him at eMhlahlandlela, singing, dancing and parading. Image
3. From the gate he was ushered to the goat kraal, where he was welcomed by a senior inyanga yomuzi who,cleansed and purified him as part of an elaborate purification ritual for kings. The vessels to be used in the festivities for his coronation were also purified. Image
Read 15 tweets
Mzala Tom Profile picture
May 26
1. THE PRE-COLONIAL UKUCHINSA - FIRST FRUITS CEREMONY OF THE NDEBELE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE 🇿🇼

Thread..

After the conclusion of the Inxwala national ceremony , people went back to their respective villages. After a week or two, the king performed the ukuchinsa /dolo qina ceremony. Image
2. Citizens of the Ndebele state were prohibited from harvesting their crops until the ukuchinsa ceremony was conducted. This was usually around January or February, when the first crops started to appear. Image
3. The king was the first to partake of the first crops in the kingdom. Anyone who broke this rule was punished by death.Izinyanga -traditional doctors gathered the first crops like amakhomane, marrows and mixed them with medicines. After that the king would eat the first fruits. Image
Read 19 tweets
Mzala Tom Profile picture
May 23
1. QUEEN NZINGA MBANDE OF ANGOLA (1583-1663) 🇦🇴

The first Portuguese explorers arrived in present day Luanda around 1500s. By 1575 Paulo Dias
de Novais arrived with a hundred families of colonists and four hundred soldiers. They set up a fort at present day Luanda. Image
2. The Portuguese gradually took control of the coastal area by a series of treaties and wars throughout the 16th century, and their interest in Angola quickly turned to the slave trade.
Image
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3. With the capital at Luanda on the coast, the Portuguese struggled against the kingdoms of Kongo, Ndongo, and Matamba to gain control of the interior. Image
Read 11 tweets
Mzala Tom Profile picture
May 3
1. THE PRE-COLONIAL INXWALA CEREMONY OF THE NDEBELE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE 🇿🇼

Inxwala was a national ceremony for spiritual renewal and thanksgiving for the first fruits in the Ndebele kingdom. The main Inxwala came a lunar month after the conduct of the minor inxwala. Image
2. Once the date for the main inxwala was set, a clarion call was
was made at all kraals in the regions of the kingdom for people to attend the big ceremony. ‘Umthwakazi kagcobe!’, ‘Let the nation dress up for Inxwala!’ the town criers would announce with great excitement. Image
3. All roads would then lead to the capital. The people brought with them food, beer and oxen for slaughter. There were special oxen known as amamvubu, the hippo oxen. These oxen were regarded as sacred animals. It was believed that the king’s ancestral spirits lived in them. Image
Read 11 tweets
Mzala Tom Profile picture
May 1
1. TIME - ISIKHATHI IN NDEBELE 🇿🇼

Ancient Ndebele people used celestial knowledge to chart seasons, regulate agricultural cycles and ritual calendars. Celestial bodies determined healing rituals, divination, social and political decisions. Image
2. The sun, ilanga, the stars, inkanyezi and the moon, inyanga, are the most significant celestial beings that affected several aspects of the Ndebele community. One day is known as ilanga or usuku and a month is known as inyanga. Image
3. One moon cycle makes up a month and thirteen moon cycles make up a year, umnyaka. Daily time is measured in relation to the movement of the sun and the stars. Different measures of time are divided as follows : Image
Read 6 tweets
Mzala Tom Profile picture
Feb 21
1. KING SOBHUZA'S KINGDOM🇸🇿

King Sobhuza I was born around 1788. He is considered as the founder of modern Eswatini. His father was King Ndvungunye Zikodze ruler of the Ngwane kingdom. Sobhuza I was also known as Somhlolo. Image
2. The name Somhlolo ('man of mysteries') is in reference to the mysteries, uncommon wisdom and prophetic gifts that were associated with his life. It is said that on the day that he was born his father was struck by lightning.
3. His reign in the early 1800s marked an important phase in the history of Eswatini. As Sobhuza began his reign, the Ngwane kingdom territory was centered along the Phongolo River to the south of modern ESwatini, and it's northern boundaries covered today's southern ESwatini. Image
Read 18 tweets

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