Barbeton - Swazi

Swazi During the middle of the eighteenth century the Swazi occupied the, present Swaziland. This group came from Embu (Embo), a mountain range some 110 km northeast of Nairobi and 42 km south of Mount Kenia in the central part of Kenya. Known as the Bembo-Nguni, they moved south under Dlamini, whose name means 'he who eats in the middle of the day', and settled near the Maputo River in Mozambique (Dube: 1993). The MaKomati were still in the area and according to oral tradition these Hindu mixed with some of the Nguni and even founded their own kingdoms. The linguistic influence of these inter marriages resulted in many siSwati words today being of Indian origin.

The Dlamini group (emaLangeni) and their neighbours, the Ndwandwe, started moving to the south of the Pongola River. The Ndwandwe, under their leader Langa, crossed the Pongola River and settled at the Magudu Mountains. Here Langa died and was succeeded by his son Zwide. The Dlamini group moved into present day Swaziland during the middle of the eighteenth century, and named themselves bakaNgwane (the people of Ngwane) and where they settled (now Swaziland); they called KaNgwane (the place or country of Ngwane). The name KaNgwane has remained and is the one by which the Swazi people usually call themselves.

The history and sequence of these events is derived from the traditional historians, who in default of a written record learned and passed on the history by rote. The chronology is vague, for there was no method of recording dates and years. It therefore appears that during the same time as Ngwane moved into Swaziland, Sotho speaking clans, living in the area Ngwane occupied, moved to the north of present Swaziland and combined under a fighting chief named Simkulu. The tribe so formed became known as the BakaNgomane whose earlier chiefs recognised no overlord and may be called kings, as were the earlier chiefs of the Zulu and the Swazi.

The area occupied by the BakaNgomane was bounded roughly by the Mlumati River! in the south, by the range of the Rooi lebombo (which runs eastward of and parallel to the main lebombo range) in the east, by the Sabie River in the north, and by the foothills of the Drakensberg, along a line running north and south through Pretoriuskop, in the west. The principal settlement of Simkulu was in the vicinity of the confluence of the Crocodile and Komati Rivers. It is believed that the BakaNgomane chiefs are buried here.

In the earlier days of these three concentrations of the Zulu, Swazi and the BakaNgomane, the leaders were too occupied with their own local operations to come into conflict with each other, but conflict was bound to come, and also the first recorded historical record.

During the reign of Sobhuza I, he sent some of his men to Zwide Mkhatshwa, chief of the powerful Ndwandwe tribe in Natal, with the request that a girl be chosen whom he could marry and make the mother of his heir. Having put the matter before Zwide, the royal messengers asked him to allow them to make their choice of the bride-to-be according to Swazi custom. Zwide reluctantly gave permission and his daughters were called into the cattle-kraal and lined up according to their age groups. The leader of the Swazi delegation came to the lines carrying the Swazi royal special staff (umgobo or imbonda). He moved slowly up and down the line, looking carefully at each girl. Finally he stopped in front of one of the girls in the youngest group and told her to touch the umgobo. Immediately she had done so there was a shout of 'Bayethe', a royal greeting, from all the Swazi men. This was the signal that this child, whose name was Thandile (who became laZidze), had been chosen as Sobhuza's wife. She became the mother of Mswati II (1840-1865) (Matsebula 1976:19).

During the reign of Sobhuza I (1815-1836), who laid the foundations of the Swazi nation, the people, of what is now known as Swaziland, were known by the Bapedi (Sotho) as 'bakaSobhuza', meaning: 'the people of Sobhuza', or as the 'Zulas', and his

country as Baraputsaland. But it was Mswati II who succeeded in uniting the various clans, whether they were emalangeni, Maseko, Shabalala or Maziya, into one nation and under one ruler. His people, therefore, began to be known as 'bakaMswati', meaning: 'the people of Mswati', while among the Whites; who had by then moved into the Transvaal, were known as the Swazis, and their land as Swaziiand.

After succeeding his father in 1840, Mswati II commenced a career of large-scale raids and adventure. He selected, as his hunting ground, the prosperous tribal lands of the various groups to the north of Swaziland. He became rich and his crack regiments, such as the Nyatsi and the Malalane, brought terror to African homes as far afield as Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Mswati was known for his cruelty and lust for murder and this made his subjects and people near and far tremble.

The foothills of the Drakensberg, westwards from Malelane and low's Creek to the Barberton Mountain land, were occupied by Mbayi, also known as the Maseko people, who were held in subjection by, but were not incorporated with, the BakaNgomane.

They were driven out of this area in cl850 by the Swazi-regiments. They fled north and occupied the area between the Crocodile and Sabie Rivers.

The Mbayi left a Curious souvenir of their occupation, which has now almost entirely disappeared in the lowveld, but is still very much in evidence in the Songimvelo Game Reserve, south of Barberton. Along the gravel slopes below the mountains from Barberton down to Hectorspruit, a distance of over 80 km, all loose surface stones were gathered and stacked in neat piles of about two metres in diameter and about a metre in height. The amount of labour expended on this must have been prodigious and indicated a numerous population, for there were hundreds of these heaps per acre. Many of the early settlers believed that this was done in the course of cultivation of the land, for similar heaps of stone are always in evidence in gardens. But this could not have been so, for the soil is too gravelly to permit cultivation and there were no signs of bush clearing. Older Blacks offered an explanation that the chiefs of the Mbayi instructed the young men to collect these stones, on the pretext that it would enable the cattle to walk and to graze more freely, but actually to keep them occupied and to restrain their fighting ardour.

(Webb 1954:15).

Mswati continued his attacks on the Bapedi tribes living south of the Crocodile (Mgwenya derived from the Sotho word Mokwena) and the Kaap (Umlambongwane) Rivers, who fled into the present day Kruger National Park and into the mountainous area of Crocodile Gorge (Mphakeni) and the Three Sisters mountains (Mbayiyane). But as soon as the Swazi army had retreated, the Bapedi returned to their old haunts and reoccupied them. Again the Swazi regiments drove the Mbayi from this area. The battle, which took place near the creek, today known as Low's Creek, west of the hill, was so fierce that the creek ran red with the blood of the slain. After this battle the Swazi named the creek: the red (or blood) river (Mantibovu) and the mountain Mbayiyane, meaning the 'mountain of the emaMbayi', but the diminutive suffix YANE is used in a derogative connotation.

Mswati built a line of military outposts from west to east along the 'Little Crocodile River' (Kaap River). At each outpost he stationed some of his regiments to watch and stop the Bapedi returning to their old haunts. The posts were Mbhuleni, on the upper Komati River, at the foot of the Mkingomo Mountains, south of Badplaas, where Ngcina Matsebula was the induna, and LaMagadlela Khumald the nkhosikati (chieftainess), and at Mekemeke, just east of the Mbayiyane mountains (Three Sisters), rd

situated east of Mantibovu (Low's Creek), where Mekemeke Lanyandza 3 was the chieftainess and Mhlahlo Vilakati the induna.

Mekemeke is situated high up on the eastern side of the Mbayiyane mountains, from where the drift in the Crocodile River near Malelane could be observed should the Mbayi return to the area.

Mswati moved his administrative capital and military posts to Hhohho, on the northern bank of the Mlumati River and continued his attacks on the various tribes, which include the Bapedi, the Baphalaborwa, the Lobedu near Duiwelskloof, the Venda of

Zoutpansberg and as far afield as the Zimbabwe Ruins and the plains of Mozambique. A T Bryant writes that 'in this way Mswati gradually extended borders, increased his subjects and added to the wealth and strength of his kingdom'. It is clear that he had a formidable army and Bryant calls him 'a veritable Shaka of the north'. th

The induna of Hhohho was Matsafeni Mdluli 4 , brother of Labotsibeni, who later became the mother of Bhunu (Ngwane V){1890-1899). Matsafeni moved to the Nelspruit area in 1888 and H L Hall named the station Mataffin, 5 km west of Nelspruit, after him. Matsafeni left the area in 1891 and was on his way to Mozambique when he was murdered by Nhliziyo Mdlove, near Pretoriuskop in the Kruger National Park. He was buried next to the Imagaroti Creek, south of Ship Mountain (Mhukweni).

Malambule, Mswati's half-brother, held the reins of government until the young Mswati became king of KaNgwane (Swaziland) in 1840. Malambule appropriated and hid some of the royal cattle for himself, colluding with his brother Fokotsi to commit an act that was tantamount to treason. When Mswati found out about the cattle, he sent his men to punish Malambule. Malambule fled with his brothers Fokotsi and Ndlela to the south of the country to seek refuge among the Kunene clan. They later fled to Zululand when Mswati sent his regiments to attack this clan for giving protection to the refugees.

After the attack on his half-brothers, Malambule and Fokotsi, his senior half-brother Somcuba defected and after a skirmish with Mswati's forces near the Mgwenyana (Queens) River, 9 km west of modern Barberton in the Tsibeni area, Somcuba and his following, numbering some 500 people, moved possibly in January 1850. After crossing the Crocodile River, they settled between present day Elandshoek and Schagen, near Sudwala caves. They sought and received protection from the newly established Boer settlement of Lydenburg.

Somcuba established his homestead on the western side of the Ngwenezi (Houtboshloop) River valley, backed by the rocky Mankelekele Range in which was an extensive cave system, now known as the Sudwala Caves. This impregnable position thwarted several attacks by Mswati as Somcuba would disappear into the vast underground caverns whenever danger threatened. On one occasion his enemies built a huge bonfire at the entrance in order to smoke Somcuba out, but a Lydenburg Commando came to his aid. The marks left by the fire are still visible, After the enemy had withdrawn, a company of Somcuba's warriors, under the command of a principal induna, named Sudwala, was left to guard the entrance to the caves.

One misty morning Mswati's spies led a regiment (impi) into Somcuba's homestead and he and many of his followers were killed. His huts were set on fire and the army returned south taking his children with them. When Malikalik, one of Mswati's halfbrothers, who also fled to escape the anger of Mswati and living near Low's Creek, heard that Mswati had sent men to kill him as well, he fled, joined by Ngulube, Sitorom and Nkhobe - all fleeing from Mswati, and sought refuge in Sekhukhuneland.

In 1864 Mswati's armies attacked the maPulana living next to the Blyde River. The maPulana retreated to the top of the mountain (Mariepskop), some 1944 metres above sea level, which towers over the magnificent Blyde River canyon, nearly 1,5 km deep and at least as wide. The maPulana piled up rocks along the top edge of the mountain in readiness in the event of an attack by the enemy. The mountain could only be reached by a single footpath of about 2 km in length. The Swazi were aware that they could not attack the maPulana without any danger on top of the mountain and bivouacked on the mountain north of the Blyde River and waited for misty weather.

It was summer and in cloudy weather Mariepskop is usually covered by thick mist. The Swazi did not wait long. One evening the clouds started rolling in from the south and covered Mariepskop with mist. The Swazi left their camping site and started moving, approaching the mountain from the south. The mist was very dense and they had to move with their hands virtually on the shoulder of the person in front to remain close together. Zimase, the younger brother of Mswati II, was amongst the first group to ascend the mountain.

The maPulana were ready and when the first Swazis reached the top the maPulana rolled the stacked rocks down onto their enemy. While the Swazi were in turmoil, the maPulana swarmed down the hill and started attacking those down at the river on

the southern side of the hill. To this day the bones of those who were killed by the rocks may still be seen in the inaccessible rock crevices of the mountain (Dube: 1993).

The maPulana named the mountain Mogologolo, which means 'the mountain of the wind', because the Swazi only heard the wind of the rocks before they were killed. The river, where the final attack took place and where the Swazi was annihilated, they named 'Motlasedi', which means 'where the big battle took place'. Today the river is known, from Mariepskop to the dam in the river, as the Motlasedi and then as the Klaserie, which is an Afrikaans distortion of the word Motlasedi. The mountain where the Swazi camped was named Swatini, which means 'the place of the Swazis'. The resort at the foot of this hill is incorrectly named Swadini.

As a result of this defeat, and the death of the King's brother, the remaining Swazis refused to return to Swaziland for fear of death. Most sought asylum in Sekhukhuneland. Others found refuge between the mountains in the southern part of the present Kruger National Park, which was free of Tsetse fly, and named the area Khandzalive, which means 'they found a settlement'.

Another group found a new living place known as Selephi (Selapi) (today known as the farm Sassenheim 5,10 km south-west of Barberton). They named this area Mjindini, meaning 'so far and no further' as they were also afraid that Mswati would kill them if they returned to Swaziland.

Yoyo, the young wife of Zimase, went to Mjindini to 'raise up seed’ (ukuvusa) 6th. A following accompanied her and she settled on the present farm Sassenheim, where the Mjindini Stream joins the Queens River.

LaHanyamba (only child of Yangase) 1st, with Vimba Msitsini as the induna, was sent to Mjindini to act as regent for her younger half-brother Matsafeni (son of Yoyo), and handed over to him in c1886, when the first gold mines came into operation at Moodies. The diggers renamed the Mgwenyana River the Queens River in honour of Queen Yoyo when Matsafeni Nkosi was invested as Chief of Mjindini.

Matsafeni was born c1867 and reigned for a short period, died in c1892 and was succeeded by his wife Lukhambule who acted as regent for her son Mhola, born in c1889. She reigned until 1923 when Mhola took over from his mother. The township of KaMhola, also known as Mjindini, northwest of Barberton, is named after Chief Mhola. He died in 1965 (age 76 years) and was succeeded by his son Funwako (1937-1994), who was officially known as Chief Mveli Philemon Nkosi.

Mswati died at his royal residence at Hhohho in July 1865, aged about forty-seven. He was buried at the royal burial hill at Mbilaneni, next to his father and great-grandfather. The death of Mswati II ended the era of Swazi conquest, territorial expansion and unification of various peoples into one nation. (Matsebula 1976:44).

Mswati's successor was the eleven-year-old Ludvonga. He died in 1874 without issue and Mbandzeni became the new King in June 1875. He was known as Dlamini IV (1875-1889). Ludvonga's older halfbrother Mabhedla was regarded as a threat to the crown prince and had to flee from Swaziland. He fled Swaziland in approximately 1872 or 1873 and lived for a while on the farm Stonehaven, some 8 km northwest of Low's Creek, before moving on until he settled at the Leolo mountains, near Steelpoort, west of Burgersfort. He died in 1895 and is buried on the Leolo mountains.

When Mbandzeni died, he left as his heir a lad of about fourteen called Bhunu. He became Ngwane V (1890-1899). He died during the night of 10 December 1899 and left a four-month-old son Nkhotfotjeni, who was declared heir to the throne: He became Sobhuza 11(1921-1982), the longest reigning Swazi monarch. He died in 1982 and was succeeded by his son Makhosetive, which means: king of nations, and given the official title of Mswati III at his coronation in April 1986.

Information supplied by Hans Bornman.