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Mzala Tom

15 Jun, 10 tweets, 4 min read

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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Mzala Tom

@tlsibanda

6 Jun

1. SOBOHLA MANYOSI🇿🇼🇿🇦🇸🇿

Umnxeba....

The expression sobohla Manyosi is a proverb commonly used in the Nguni communities in the SADC region. It literally means : your stomach will shrink Manyosi. Manyosi is a person who once lived in the era of the emergence of the Zulu empire.

2. It is said that Manyosi lived during the reign of King Shaka.
He was the son of Dlekezele Mbatha. Manyosi was a brave and distinguished fighter in battle. King Shaka loved Manyosi so much and was very generous to him when allocating food portions to his soldiers.

3. It is said that Manyosi could eat and finish the whole carcass of a goat all by himself. Afterwards he would down large quantities of beer. Manyosi never shared his food with anyone. King Shaka indulged him because he put the food he ate to good use in battle! 🍲😂

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Mzala Tom

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29 Apr

1. HOW CECIL RHODES RELOCATED THE XHOSA (AMAMFENGU) & THE TSWANA TO MATABELELAND🇿🇼

Umnxeba...🧵

In the previous threads we discussed the role played by various African groups in aiding Cecil Rhode's Pioneer Column to defeat King Lobhengula and the Ndebele in 1892/3.

2. The three main African groups that assisted the Pioneer Column were the Tswana, Shona and Xhosa. The Tswana under Kgosi Kgama III raised a Tswana force of approximately 2 battalions equipped with superior weapons. The Shona also voluntarily joined the Pioneer Column forces.

3. After the defeat of King Lobhengula, Rhodes had an ambitious plan to settle pro-British Africans to act as a buffer between the Ndebele people and the whites who had established themselves in Bulawayo. It was his hope that these Africans would neutralise the Ndebele.

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Mzala Tom

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24 Mar

1. THE SOTHO PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE🇿🇼 (Part 2)

Umnxeba....🧵

The BaBirwa are Sotho people who came from Transvaal in present-day South Africa and settled in modern day Zimbabwe. The language spoken by the Babirwa people, seBirwa, is a dialect of Northern Sotho.

2. The Babirwa in Zimbabwe are found in the South West of Gwanda District, in the villages of Gungwe, Ntalale, Tlhakadiyawa, Kafusi, Mawaza, Mafukung and surrounding villages.

3. When Babirwa moved into the area which is today known as Gwanda (a corruption of the Ndebele word Kwanda, increase),it was inhabited by Jahunda (Kalanga dialect) speaking people & a group of Ndebele who moved southward from the northern side of precolonial Matabeleland South.

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Mzala Tom

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7 Mar

1. THE PRINCESS AND IMBULUMAKHASANE

A Ndebele 🇿🇼 folk tale....

Long, long ago when stones were still soft such that one could pinch them, there was a young, beautiful Ndebele princess.

2. One day during the Inxwala ceremony a young handsome prince from a far away kingdom was dazzled by the princess's beauty during the maidens' parade. He then asked his father to send a delegation to arrange a royal wedding.

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Mzala Tom

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1 Mar

1. KING MZILIKAZI'S GOVERNANCE STYLE🇿🇼🧵

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2. King Mzilikazi's government hierarchy was as follows :
1. Inkosi (King)
2. Indunankulu Yesizwe (Prime Minister)
3. Umphakathi (Inner advisory council)
4.Izikhulu (Outer advisory council/council of prominent men)
5. Izinduna zezigaba (provincial chiefs)
6. Abalisa (headmen)

3. At the bottom of the hierarchy were ordinary men who were aptly called abamnumzana (heads of homesteads). From these you could still find izikhulu who were rich and influential. Eventhough they were not chiefs or military leaders, they had the ear of the king.

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Mzala Tom

@tlsibanda

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2. The moon:inyanga was the most significant celestial being that affected several aspects of the Ndebele community. One moon cycle made up a month (inyanga) & thirteen moon cycles made up a year (umnyaka).

3. The emergence of a new moon called Kholiwe, symbolised renewal, restoration and revival of people's lives. Ndebele people would direct a prayer the new moon by chanting 'Kholiwe hamba lomkhuhlane!' Asking the new moon to take away all diseases.

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