Northern Ndebele people

The Northern Ndebele language spoken in Zimbabwe by the Ndebele people of Zimbabwe, is not the same as the Northern Ndebele language spoken by the Ndebele people of South Africa. Northern Ndebele spoken in Zimbabwe and Southern Ndebele (or Transvaal Ndebele), which is spoken in South Africa, are separate but related languages with some degree of mutual intelligibility, although the former is more closely related to Zulu. Southern Ndebele, while maintaining its Nguni roots, has been influenced by the Sotho languages.[1]

The Northern Ndebele, the Khumalo (amaNtungwa), people under Mzilikazi were originally named Matebele in English, a name still common in older texts because that is the name the British first heard it from the Sotho and Tswana peoples.

In the early 19th century, the Ndebele invaded and lived in territories populated by Sotho-Tswana peoples who used the plural prefix "Ma" for certain types of unfamiliar people or the Nguni prefix ama, so the British explorers, who were first informed of the existence of the Northern Ndebele people by the Sotho-Tswana communities they encountered on their trip north, would have been presented with two variations of the name, rather, the Sotho-Tswana pronunciation (Matebele) and second, the Ndebele pronunciation (Ndebele or amaNdebele). They are now commonly known as the "Ndebele" or "amaNdebele" (and were officially known as the Matebele when under British rule[2]).

A chief and his wives, c. 1909

The Khumalos were caught between the Ndwandwe led by Zwide and the Zulus led by Shaka. To please the Ndwandwe tribe, the Khumalo chief Mashobane married the daughter of the Ndwandwe chief Zwide and sired a son, Mzilikazi. The Ndwandwes were closely related to the Zulus and spoke the same language, Nguni, using different dialects.[3]

When Mashobane did not tell Zwide about patrolling Mthethwa amabutho (soldiers), Zwide had Mashobana killed. Thus his son, Mzilikazi, became the leader of the Khumalo. Mzilikazi immediately mistrusted his grandfather, Zwide, and took soldiers to join Shaka. Shaka was overjoyed because the Khumalos would be helpful to spies on Zwide and the Ndwandwes. After a few battles, Shaka gave Mzilikazi the extraordinary honour of being chief of the Khumalos and remaining semi-independent from the Zulu, if Zwide could be defeated.

This caused immense jealousy among Shaka's older allies, but as warriors, none realized their equal in Mzilikazi. Mzilikazi collected all intelligence for the defeat of Zwide. Hence, when Zwide was defeated, Shaka rightly acknowledged he could not have done it without Mzilikazi and presented him with an ivory axe. There were only two axes, one for Shaka and one for Mzilikazi. Shaka himself placed the plumes on Mzilikazi's head after Zwide was vanquished.

The Khumalos returned to peace in their ancestral homeland. This peace lasted until Shaka asked Mzilikazi to punish a tribe to the north of the Khumalo, belonging to one Raninsi a Sotho. After the defeat of Raninsi, Mzilikazi refused to hand over the cattle and land to Shaka. The history of the Ndebele of Zimbabwe began through that refusal and attempt to create a rival nation. Mzilikazi and his allies continued on to raid and occupy the chiefdoms of the Sotho people and the Southern Ndebele who had been significantly weakened by the Dutch-Afrikaner settlers (Boers) from the Cape Colonies.

This happened during a turbulent period in Nguni and Sotho-Tswana history, known as the Mfecane or "the crushing" or "the scattering", Mzilikazi's regiments moved north-west to areas currently known as areas that Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North-West, and Limpopo. Mzilikazi was a skilled tactician, both militarily and politically. Mzilikazi attacked or subjugated the local tribes he found along the way, including the Khoi, Batswana, Bapedi, and the Ndebeles of Mpumalanga. In their land, between 1827 and 1832, Mzilikazi built three military strongholds. The largest was Kungwini, situated at the foot of the Wonderboom Mountains on the Apies River, just north of present-day Pretoria. Another was Dinaneni, north of the Hartbeespoort Dam, while the third was Hlahlandlela in the territory of the Fokeng near Rustenburg.

Mzilikazi and his allies also conquered and occupied the BaHurutshe, whose capital Mosega became their military headquarters. They also built a military stronghold at Tshwenyane, Great Marico River, and eGabeni (Kapain), where they also built a sizeable settlement. When the Voortrekkers (Boers) in The Great Trek of 1836–1838 arrived in Transvaal, they found Mzilikazi there as the King of the region, and he was considered a threat to their advancement. They fought with him, losing in the first battle. In the second battle in 1837, the Boers led by Potgieter, Maritz, and Uys, launched another attack on Mzilikazi's military stronghold at eGabeni at dawn. In a nine-day battle, they destroyed eGabeni and other Matabele camps along the Marico River.

Mzilikazi, realizing that the Ndebele like the Sotho did not stand a chance against the heavily armed Boers with guns and rifles, he decided to retreat with his regiments and loyalists from the Marico Valley.

Mzilikazi moved to present-day Matabeleland South where the amaNdebele people overwhelmed the indigenous Lozwi people and Kalanga people, who were already crumbling due to leadership squabbles after the death of Changamire Dombo, eventually carving out a home. When Europeans arrived in the area, they found Mzilikazi settled with his people. Thus, they called the area Matabeleland, which encompassed the west and southwest region of the country. During the migration, numerous raided indigenous clans and individuals were absorbed into the Ndebele tribe, adopting the Ndebele language and culture.

Historically the assimilated people came from the Southern Ndebele, Swazi, Sotho-Tswana, and Lozwi ethnic groups.

A Matebele kraal, as depicted by William Cornwallis Harris, 1836

Mzilikazi chose a new headquarters on the western edge of the central plateau of modern-day Zimbabwe, leading some 20,000 Ndebele, descendants of the Nguni and Sotho of South Africa. He had invaded the Rozvi state and raided some of the Rozvi people (mostly women). The rest became satellite farming communities and were forced to pay tribute to the Northern Ndebele language Kingdom.

Mzilikazi called his new nation Mthwakazi, a Zulu word which means something which became big at conception, in Zulu "into ethe ithwasa yabankulu." Europeans called the territory "Matebeleland." Mzilikazi organized this ethnically diverse nation into a militaristic system of regimental towns and established his capital at Bulawayo.

In 1852 the Boer government in Transvaal made a treaty with Mzilikazi. Mzilikazi died on 9 September 1868, near Bulawayo. His son, Lobengula, succeeded him as king.

Matebele warrior in dancing dress, by Thomas Baines

In exchange for wealth and arms, Lobengula granted several concessions to the British, the most prominent of which is the 1888 Rudd concession giving Cecil Rhodes exclusive mineral rights in much of the lands east of his main territory. Gold was already known to exist, so with the Rudd concession, Rhodes was able to obtain a royal charter to form the British South Africa Company (BSAC) in 1889.

Lobengula established a state that held sovereignty over the region between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers to the north and south and between the desert of the Makgadikgadi salt pans to the west and the realm of Shoshangana to the east, the Save River. Rhodes negotiated a territorial treaty with Lobengula, known as the Rudd Concession of 1888, which permitted British mining and colonisation of Zimbabwe, and prohibited all Boer settlement in the country. As part of the agreement, the BSAC would pay Lobengula 100 pounds a month, 1,000 rifles, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, and a riverboat. Lobengula had hoped that the Rudd Concession would diminish European incursions. Still, as white settlers moved in, the British South Africa Company set up its government, made its laws, and set its sights on more mineral rights and territorial concessions.

The social organization of the Northern Ndebele language people was rigidly controlled by rules of service and hierarchy inherited from Shaka's reforms among the Zulu. Other subject peoples, such as in Mashonaland, were treated harshly; their lives and property were subject to the King's control and could be disrupted at any time by raids or exactions of tribute. This scene was presented to the British Pioneer Column when they arrived in Mashonaland in 1890.

In August 1893 Lobengula sent warriors down to Fort Victoria to raid cattle from the Shona people. The armed Lobengula's warriors won and brought back home the cattle. The British South Africa Company took this as a good opportunity to attack King Lobengula in the disguise of protecting the Shona. During this confrontation, a fight broke out between BSAC and Matebele and thus began the First Matebele War. Hoping for a quick victory, Leander Starr Jameson sent his BSAC forces to attack the capital KwaBulawayo and capture Lobengula. But rather than fight, Lobengula burned down his capital and fled with a few of his elite warriors. The BSAC moved into the remains of koBulawayo, establishing a base, which they renamed KwaBulawayo, and then sent out patrols to find Lobengula. The most famous of these patrols, the Shangani Patrol, managed to find Lobengula, only to be trapped and wiped out in battle.

The British were vastly outnumbered throughout the war, but their superior armaments, most notably the Maxim gun, proved too much for the Ndebele. In an attempt to reach a peace accord with the British, a band of Lobengula's warriors brought a large sum of gold to two BSAC soldiers to be delivered to their superiors. The two soldiers instead decided to keep the gold for themselves, and the incident went undiscovered for many months. Lobengula chose to escape the last time he was seen crossing the Shangani river.

In March 1896 the Matebele revolted against the authority of the British South Africa Company in what is now celebrated in Mthwakazi as the First War of Independence. After a year of drought and cattle sickness, Mlimo, the Matebele spiritual leader, is credited with fomenting much of the anger that led to this confrontation. An estimated 50,000 Matebele retreated into their stronghold of the Matobo Hills near KwaBulawayo, which became the scene of the fiercest fighting against the white settler patrols, led by legendary military figures such as Frederick Russell Burnham, Robert Baden-Powell, and Frederick Selous. Hundreds of white settlers and uncounted Matebele and Mashona were killed over the next year and a half. The Matebele military defiance ended only when Burnham found and assassinated Mlimo. Upon learning of Mlimo's death, Rhodes boldly walked unarmed into the Matebele stronghold and persuaded the leaders to lay down their arms.[4] This final uprising thus ended in October 1897 and Matebeleland and Mashonaland were later renamed Rhodesia.

During the Umvukela wesibili, the main rebel group, Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), split into two groups in 1963; the split-away group renamed itself the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU).[5] Though these groups had a common origin, they gradually grew apart, with the split away group, ZANU, recruiting mainly from the Shona regions. In contrast, ZAPU recruited mainly from Ndebele-speaking regions.[6]

The Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was a primarily Ndebele anti-government force, led by Joshua Nkomo, and the ZAPU political organization. Nkomo's ZIPRA trained and planned their missions in Zambian bases. However, this was not always with full Zambian government support. By 1979, the combined forces based in Zambia of ZIPRA, Umkhonto we Sizwe (the armed wing of the African National Congress of South Africa), and the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) fighters was a major threat to Zambia's internal security. Because ZAPU's political strategy relied more heavily on negotiations than armed force, ZIPRA did not grow as quickly or elaborately as the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), but by 1979 it had an estimated 20,000 combatants, almost all based in camps around Lusaka, Zambia.

The Gukurahundi (Shona: "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains"[7]) refers to the suppression by Zimbabwe's 5th Brigade in the predominantly Ndebele speaking region of Matabeleland, who most of whom were supporters of Joshua Nkomo and ZAPU.

Robert Mugabe, then prime minister, had signed an agreement with North Korean President Kim Il Sung in October 1980 to have the North Korean military train a brigade for the Zimbabwean army. This was soon after Mugabe had announced the need for a militia to "combat malcontents." Mugabe replied by saying Matabeleland dissidents should "watch out," announcing the brigade would be called "Gukurahundi".[7] This brigade was named the Fifth Brigade. The members of the Fifth Brigade were drawn from 3,500 ex-ZANLA troops at Tongogara Assembly Point, named after Josiah Tongogara, the ZANLA general. The training of the Fifth Brigade lasted until September 1982, when Minister Sekeramayi announced training was complete.

The first commander of the Fifth Brigade was Colonel Perrance Shiri. The Fifth Brigade differed from all other Zimbabwean army units in that it was directly subordinate to the prime minister's office and not integrated into the regular army command structures. Their codes, uniforms, radios, and equipment were incompatible with other army units. Their most distinguishing feature in the field was their red berets.[6]

After several Zipra forces in Lupane and Matopos refused their tools, the Fifth Brigade conducted public executions of ex-Zipra soldiers, families, and supporters in Lupane, Tsholotsho and Matopos, Matabeleland. Some victims were often forced to re-initiation camps, but those who refused were executed and buried in mass graves. The initial number of executed Ndebeles was 2800 in 1987. However, some recent politicians made estimates of 20,000. The largest number of dead in a single killing occurred on 5 March 1983, when 62 young men were shot on the banks of the Cewale River, Lupane.[8] Seven survived with gunshot wounds, the other 55 died. Another way the Fifth Brigade used to kill large groups of people was to burn them alive in huts. They did this in Tsholotsho and also in Lupane. They routinely round up dozens, or even hundreds, of civilians and march them at gunpoint to a central place, such as a school or a borehole. There they would beat the civilians with sticks and force them to sing songs praising ZANU. These gatherings usually ended with public executions. Those killed included civilians perceived as dissidents, ex-ZIPRA guerrillas, and ZAPU officials.

• Mthuli Ncube, Zimbabwean Finance Minister and politician.
• Sibusiso Moyo, former Zimbabwean Foreign Minister and 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état military leader (politician).
• Bulelani Khumalo, disputed and constitutionally unrecognised Ndebele King in Zimbabwe and in South Africa.
• Trevor Ncube, Zimbabwean digital and print news content publisher
• Khayisa Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni, Chief of the Matebele people of Ntabazinduna and Mbembezi, 1939-2010
• Nhlanhlayamangwe Felix Ndiweni, Chief of the Matebele people of Ntabazinduna and Mbembezi 2010–present and politician
• Mimi. M Khayisa (Mimi Ndiweni), actress
• Dumiso Dabengwa, politician
• Lovemore Majaivana, musician
• Lookout Masuku, leader of ZIPRA
• Alfred Nikita Mangena,first Zipra army commander
• Josiah Gumede, ceremonial president of Zimbabwe Rhodesia
• Mpumelelo Mbangwa, cricketer
• Jonathan Moyo, politician
• Busi Ncube, singer
• Pius Ncube, Archbishop of kwaBulawayo
• Welshman Ncube, politician
• Peter Ndlovu, footballer
• Mluleki Nkala, cricketer
• Joshua Nkomo, former Vice President of Zimbabwe and ZAPU leader (politician)
• Albert Nyathi, poet
• Gibson Sibanda, politician
• Jabulani Sibanda, politician
• Thenjiwe Lesabe, teacher, war hero, and political activist.
• Cont Mhlanga, playwright, actor, and theatre director
• Sandra Ndebele, musician and politician
• Albert Nyathi, Poet and musician
• Prince Dube, professional soccer player
• Tando Velaphi, professional soccer player
• Milton Ncube, professional soccer player
• Richard Hachiro, professional soccer player

• Scouting on Two Continents by Major Frederick Russell Burnham, D.S.O. (1926). LC call number: DT775 .B8 1926.
• Migrant Kingdom: Mzilikazi's Ndebele in South Africa by R. Kent Rasmussen (1978).
• Mzilikazi of the Ndebele by R. Kent Rasmussen (1977).
• The Zulus and Matabele, Warrior Nations by Glen Lyndon Dodds, (1998).
• Historical Dictionary of Zimbabwe by Steven C. Rubert and R. Kent Rasmussen (3rd ed., 2001).

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Northern Ndebele people.

• People of Africa