The Ndebeles are an ethnic group in southern Africa who are particularly popular for their art.
They are also known as Amandebele, Matabele, Ndzundza Ndebele and so on.
The Ndebeles can be divided into three main groups; the Southern Transvaal Ndebele (now Gauteng and Mpumalanga), the Northern Transvaal Ndebele (now Limpopo), and the Ndebele people of Zimbabwe, who were called the Matabele by the British colonizers.
There are many legends about the origin of the Ndebeles in southern Africa. They are part of a larger ethnic group called the Nguni in southern Africa and speak the isiNdebele language.
However, the Transvaal and Zimbabwe groups speak slightly different languages as they are geographically separated and use similar languages as their new neighbors.
Republic of the South African Ndebeles
The Ndebeles of South Africa can be categorized as the Southern Transvaal and Northern Transvaal. These groups, like all Ndebeles, came from the Ngunis. They speak Bantu and live mainly in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces.
They trace their story to King Musi, a descendant of King Ndebele, who made the son (Ndzundza) king during his second wife’s lifetime, instead of giving him to the first son (Manala) of the Great Woman.
Ndebeles from Zimbabwe
The Ndebeles of Zimbabwe live in the western region of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city. It is believed that this group was formed when a Nguni military commander, Mzilikazi , had a dispute with Shaka, King of Zulu.
As a result of the conflicts, he fled to modern-day Lesotho and eventually settled in Matabeleland – what the British called modern-day Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwean Ndebeles were ruled by Mzilikazi and then by his son, the popular King Lobengula.
Ndebele tribe
As previously mentioned, the Ndebele tribe consists of those in the northern province, the southern Transvaal Ndebele, and the Ndebele of Zimbabwe, who were called the Matabele by the British colonizers. The history of the entire Ndebele tribe dates back to the Mafana, who are recognized as their first chief. The war of 1883, which broke out during the reign of Ndebele chief Mabhogo and lasted eight months, shattered the cohesive tribal structure after Mabhogo’s defeat. Their tribal lands were confiscated, but the people were able to hold on to their rich cultural heritage.
Ndebele culture
There are similarities between the Ndeele governmental structures and those of their Zulu cousins. A tribal chief, called the Ikozi, was endowed with tribal authority and supported by a family council known as the Amaphakathi. Next to them were the izilindi districts, which were overseen by the community heads, and the family groups within the districts were in turn directed by the family heads. Umuzi is the name used to denote the dwelling unit of each family and it consisted of the head of the family, his wife and any unmarried children. Sometimes the head of the family had two wives and the umuzi was split in half, a right half and a left half, to accommodate the different wives. The umuzi could expand into a more complex structure,
Ndebele language
The Northern Province of Ndebele people who are the BagaLanga and BagaSeleka tribes adopted the language and culture of their neighbors in Sotho. The southern Transvaal Ndebele speak the isiNdebele language.
Ndebele Art Patterns, Houses
The Ndebeles are popular for their house paintings, which are precise and perfectly done. This type of artwork is said to have started after the Boer War when the Dutch-speaking settlers were victorious.
Forced into oppression and slavery, they learned to communicate with the image. Different painting patterns and colors are said to have different meanings.
The Boers saw it as a decorative art instead of a secret mode of communication and therefore allowed it to be promoted. These images were mainly performed by women and passed on to their daughters. The images with straight edges and symmetry were drawn by hand without rulers and squares.
The Ndebele women are also known for making sculpture, pottery, beadwork, woven mats, etc.
Did you know?
Esther Mahlangu and Ndebele was commissioned to paint their designs on BMW and South African Airways jets.
Ndebele traditional clothing
The Ndebele paintings may be colourful, but so is their dressing. Ndebele women are known to adorn themselves with a variety of ornaments symbolizing their status in society. They wore copper and brass rings around their arms, legs, and necks to symbolize their bond with their husbands as their house was being built. These rings are said to have been provided by their husbands, and the rings are said to have possessed ritual powers. Rings are still a part of Ndebele jewelry today, but they are no longer expected to have a lasting effect on the woman’s body.
The rings were also paired with neckbands of grass (called isigolwani) twisted into a spiral and covered with beads. These chokers were mostly worn on ceremonial occasions. The isigolwani was sometimes worn alone by women who were not yet married but were of marriageable age after completing their initiation ceremony. They could also be worn as neck pieces and as leg and arm bands by newly married women whose husbands have not yet given them a home
Another symbolic attire for the Ndebele women was the five-fingered apron (called an ijogolo). The ijogolo could only be worn after the women had given birth to a first child. A wedding quilt called a nguba was also decorated with beads to record important events during the woman’s life.