Excluded from office of Chief: Why women were marginalised within the Ndebele State

WHEN dealing with chiefly succession among the Ndebele the first thing to consider is gender. When a chief died he was succeeded by his eldest qualifying son. It is important that we differentiate between the eldest son and the eldest qualifying son. For the Ndebele, this was an important consideration as will become apparent in future instalments. We shall also deal with the issue of age and its basis and ramifications when it comes to chiefly succession.

In this article therefore, we deal with girls and women and seek an interpretation of why they were disqualified from chiefly succession.

This is because discussion of succession was a matter for men. However, it is important to unravel why this was so. We have often stated in this column that cultural behaviour has something more fundamental and seminal that underpins and foregrounds it.

Societal goals and objectives sometimes colour people’s perceptions. Societies undergo changes in their worldviews and values and the new situation is reflected in emerging governance patterns and behavioural pursuits.

In southern Africa militarily powerful nation states emerged during the second half of the 19th Century. Examples that come to mind include the following: the Ndwandwe State under King Zwide kaLanga Nxumalo, abaThethwa under King Dingiswayo kaJobe Mthethwa, the Zulu State under King Tshaka Zulu, the Swazi State under King Sobhuza Dlamini, the Sotho State under King Moshoeshoe, the Ndebele State under King Mzilikazi Khumalo and the Gaza State under King Sotshangane Nxumalo.

Military exploits came to play an important role in the creation and defence of these emerging nation states.

Women were not part of the celebrated new political dispensation. It was only men who became associated with the new political and military order. Young men of the same age were drafted into military units that built a strong esprit de corps characterised by, inter alia, praise poetry for each man of valour. A man’s accolades were based on his military exploits and accomplishments. Military regiments raided neighboring tribes and brought back cattle and captives ( abesihlangu).

As a result, men gloated over their new-found roles which gave increased attention and impetus to masculinity. The new nation states owed their birth and continued existence to men folk.

Chiefs were chosen from among men who distinguished themselves in war fronts. Such military considerations marginalised women who then played a subservient and secondary role to the creators and defenders of the nation state.

The militarily-induced low perceptions of women saw their lot being excluded from chiefly succession. Their marginalisation manifested itself in other social and political spheres too.

It was men who raided for cattle, seen as a source of wealth. Women were then prohibited from entering the cattle byre where cattle were penned. Essentially therefore, women were being excluded in terms of wealth creation and possession.

They were thus being debarred from the office of chief, meaning that they were not appointed chiefs in the first place and would not succeed their fathers who were chiefs.

What that meant within the Ndebele State is that the eldest child of a chief did not succeed her father when he passed on. There are many instances of such taking place. This consideration equally applied to the office of king. Ndebele society came to accept that practice as their royal and chiefly succession procedure. We can cite King Mzilikazi Khumalo as an example. His senior queen, iNdlovukazi, was Mwaka Nxumalo the mother of Prince Nkulumane Khumalo. Prince Nkulumane Khumalo was not Queen Mwaka’s eldest child as Princess Zinkabi was older than him.

When King Mzilikazi Khumalo was separated from the other group led by Khondwane Ndiweni, following their defeat by the Afrikaners in Transvaal, it was Princess Nkulumane Khumalo who was installed king rather than Princess Zinkabi Khumalo who later got married to Mbiko kaMadlenya Masuku the chief of Zwangendaba. Princess Zinkabi Khumalo knew that her disqualification was based purely on her being a woman.

She was later to incite her husband to take over the royal throne when her eligible brother was nowhere to be found. She was rabidly opposed to Prince Lobhengula Khumalo taking the reins of power.

At eSizindeni the successor to Chief Mdilizelwa Fuyane, the son of Chief Maphisa was Mayenga. He married two wives with the senior wife, ( umdlunkulu) being MaKhumalo, okaLopila. The other wife was MaNdiweni whose father was Gijimani, a son of Chief Faku Ndiweni. Her mother was MaSithole the daughter of Chief Matshe of eMatshoveni.

The senior wife’s eldest child, a girl, was Lina while the next child was Fokisi, a man who died in a car accident in South Africa. Dansi was the third female child, who together with Lina would not succeed their father. Instead, it was the fourth child, a son, Herben Fuyane who succeeded his father.

It is important to note that even if the junior wife’s son, Victor was older than Herben he did not qualify to be the heir.

The mother’s seniority, not her age or that of her son, is what mattered. This is to say age alone was not a qualifier. Where a qualifying son had not reached the age of majority, a regent was appointed to stand in for the qualifying son till he came of age. Benson Mpungazathi Fuyane, our informant, belonged to Chief Mayenga Fuyanes’s junior house.

When Dumezweni Ndiweni was still a minor, Marahwana, a son of Faku, and younger brother of Gjimani, stood for him. Dumezweni was the son of Siqalaba umfokaNyangazonke. Marahwana died at a time before Dumezweni was ready to take over. As a result, Marahwana’s son, Sinti took over as chief of eZinaleni/eZisongweni ( KoNdiweni).

We also need to pay attention to another consideration which influenced chiefly succession. Sometimes sociopolitical measures were considered when in actual fact economic interests were at play. When daughters got married their fathers-in-law brought cattle to their fathers as amalobolo.

However, when a daughter possessed her own cattle, it meant that upon getting married she would take them with her to her husband. That was seen as enriching the son-in-law something that the Ndebele were not keen to do.

The way inheritance was shared pointed to this consideration. A woman generally did not receive cattle as her share of her deceased father’s inheritance. Instead, all she got were “tears of her father” ( izinyembezi zikayise). It certainly was worse with the daughters who were already married.

We hereby furnish an example given by Mrs. Elda Fuyane, nee Khumalo. Elda’s father was Bhanka Khumalo the son of Ziqwana, son of Gqugqu, a brother to King Mzilikazi Khumalo. Bhanka had seven children, among them only one son, Malinganiso.

Their mother was MaGwebu a daughter of Fish Gwebu. MaGwebu’s mother was one MaThebe. Four girls, namely Sikhonzephi, Ntuwokufa, Sigitshiyana and Bekiwe were older than the only son and heir, Malinganiso.

The youngest daughters were Mayina and Elda, both not married then. Upon the death of Bhanka the married daughters did not get any cattle as their inheritance. The two unmarried sisters got one beast each. All this was done to avoid cattle passing on to the married daughters’ homes.

Being a royal Khumalo, Bhanka was not a chief but the same principles of succession and sharing of inheritance applied.