LUCY MPILI, BINAMU YAKE GOODMAN MANYANYA PHIRI: DAR ES-SALAAM

Goodman Manyanya Phiri (in black)
and a prominent South African
maternal second cousin once removed, Roman Catholic Church's
Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa.
Mkhatshwa's maternal great-grandfather (Swazi Prince Khenkhana Nkhosi-Dlamini WeKunene of Emjindini/Barberton's Royal Residence is also but Phiri's maternal second-great grandfather).  And the said common ancestral prince Khenkhana and sons (Prince Mfolozi who is Mkhatshwa's maternal grandfather together with Mfolozi's younger brother Prince Sigeyeza who is Phiri's maternal great-grandfather) was a pioneer in the 19th Century founding of the Swazi Royal Residence of Emjindini/Barberton during the military conquests of both Prince Khenkhana's monarchical  father-cum-Shaka-Zulu ally and equally Khenkhana's potentate half-brother  i.e. , respectively His Majesty Swazi King  Somhlolo/Sobhuza I, and Sobhuza's successor son: King Mswati II.  The name "Emjindini" for modern-day Barberton was christened by King Mswati seeing that "jinda" can be used as Swazi wording for "abandon".  The fiercely-conquest-hungry  King Mswati trying to fit into the shoes of his father, King Somhlolo, had harboured prospects of crossing the Limpopo river and conquering present-day Zimbabwe in that self-same 19th century, but alas, his crack force to bring down the great walls of Zimbabwe was nobody else but the troops that had travelled from present-day Swaziland to Barberton commanded by my mutual Common-Ancestor-Khenkana with Mkhatshwa in order to establish the royal house.  The troops defied the King's order to leave Barberton, come back home and regroup for a campaign onto Zimbabwe and they told the King 'sesijindile' or we "are declaring an 'abandonment/jinda on all warfare and the amorous arms the beautiful Pedi women from whom Swazi clans like Motsa, Nkambule and Gwebu originate, laced the defiance campaign against Mswati with a lethal distillation that his Majesty gave in to and thus opted with the name "Emjindini" to remember together with the entire nation tikhonkwane and his best fighters in the nation who also gave His Majesty the best defiance. For the unitiated in deep African history, Zimbabwe is the original home of many Swazi-/Siswati-speakers, particularly the Royal Family so many centuries ago.  They are related to the Karanga People hence Swazi People refer to themselves as "Emalangeni" a word whose root is from "Karanga" which Karanga is one of the ethnic groups in Zimbabwe and northern South Africa genetically traced to the the world's first Jews or original Jews, if you will have it. And talking of ancient Jews, a white stranger I met a year or less ago was to reveal to me that even God's most ancient covenant with Israel as registered in the Bible, has its remains found in some cave in Northern South Africa, a Mapungubwe cavern.  But lest I meander, my point is this: all Africans, as ANC Founder Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme correctly pointed out, are one people; and so let there be no tribalism in South Africa please and let there also be no racism since all humans including present-day white Jews come from our shores. Secondly the reason why Mswati wanted a conquest over Zimbabwe was his sense that he wants to return the Swazi Nation home, if you will. But it all makes me understand why the present-day Mswati III and in contradistinction to his 2nd-great-grandpa-Mswati II are apparently in such good terms with His Excellency Robert Gabriel Mugabe of Zimbabwe... blood and religious brothers, I say!)
I hope I succeeded to paint a picture of Father Smangaliso's Mkhatshwa's maternal pedigree! He is my Malume in the SiSwati Language and I dare not say "Cousin" to him in our culture since he belongs to a generation more senior to mine... my mother's generation.

Katika pilikapilika za maisha yangu, nimeweza kupata muda kwenda kuwaulizia hali ndugu zangu huko Dar es-Salaam, Jamhuri ya Muungano Wa Tanzania.

Unaewaona katika video hii ni watoto wa amu yangu, Kingwell Moses Phiri aliejulikana kwa jina la Mzee Mpili.

Baba yangu huyo mdogo amewazaa watoto kama ifuatavyo: 

1.  George

2.  Richard

3. Thomas- umri 50 (mzaliwa Jumatano, 6 December 1961)

4.  Happiness (Mariam) tarehe ya kuzaliwa 1 January,

5. Rachel, tarehe ya kuzaliwa 18 March

6,  Jane,

7.  Lucy, (yeye ndie amevuma katika video hii)

8. Dorothy.

Kwenye video hapa namhoji Lucy, baada ya miaka zaidi ya kumi hatujaonana.

Katika maongezi yangu naye Lucy hatimaye aliingia chumbani Kaka George.  (Kabla ya hapo nilikuwa niliwahi kumuomba ghafla huyo Kaka George aje naye nimhoji wakati yeye alikuwa narafiki zake pamoja na viburudhisho vyao!  Sikuweza kumpata hapo hapo!




Naona sasa anavyoingia kwenye video alisononeka na kujirudi kidogo kuniacha niongee “namtoto Lucy tu”.  Ndio maana, nahisi, naye aliingia ghafla kuja kusalimia tu katika picha ya video.




Sasa utacheka pale nilipomuuliza makusudi alizaliwa lini...!

Nakweli, Kaka George alikaa kama robo dakika na kisha kuturuhusu na mdogo wangu Lucy tuendelee; nahapo nikatambulishiwa wapwa zangu wawili akina Majinge (watoto wake Lucy na shemeji ambae sikubahatika kukutana naye, Bwana Majinge).

Kuelekea mwisho wa “gumzo” letu nikamrudisha Lucy nyuma kimawazo miaka 24 iliepita wakati yeye alikuwa umri wa miaka 9!

Na ndipo anaponikumbusha jinsi tulivyokuwa tunasindikizana mimi na yeye kwenda kusoma maktaba ya mjini.  Enzi hizo mimi nilikuwa (pamoja na shughuli zangu za ukombozi chini ya chama changu) mwalimu wa Hesabu Shule ya sekondari Shabaan Robert, kule Upanga.


Nasikia Shaaban Robert alikuwa mshairi bingwa; kwa hiyo ninamajivuno niliwahi kukanyaga pale jina lake liliowahi kukanyaga. Chama changu cha uhuru Afrika Kusini (Azania) kiliniruhusu nitumie jina bandia kama "Mwalimu Alphonse Mpili", na siyo mbali na jina alivyokuwa anatumia amu yangu na baba yake Lucy. (Nakumbuka baadhi ya walimu wenzangu walikuwa akina Ramji, Saleh, Mrs Mngodo na wenginevyo; na wanafunzi waliobakia kichwani mwangu kama sasa hivi ni ndugu wawili Sylvia Jana na mdogo-mtu Kenneth Jana).


Kutoka shule ya Shaaban Robert kwenda Maktaba anayozungumzia Lucy ni dakika 8 za mwendo mkali.


Na kweli, TIME FLIES!!! Video ya “Maktaba yetu” ndiyo hii hapa: 

In the video above, my paternal first cousin, Lucy, aged 33 (born Thursday 5 October 1978) and a mother of two (who also appear in the video) introduces herself.

Lucy is the last born but one to my paternal uncle, Mr Kingwell Moses Phiri and his beautiful wife, Auntie Esther NyaHarawa (“Daughter of the Harawa Clan”).

As the video reels roll on, there crops up a welcome interuption from George Phiri, the first born to Uncle Kingwell.

Fifty-four-year-old Mr George Phiri (born Saturday,8 June 1957) is a father of three: 

1 Ronaldo,

2 Esther and their eldest sibling, 

3) 35-year-old Mr Denis George (born Wednesday, 25 August 1976)

AND THEY ARE ALL AS DISCUSSED FROM THE TOPIC TILL NOW, DECENDANTS OF EX-KWAZULU-NATAL MFECANE-ERA CO-WARRIOR WITH ZWANGENDABA, GENERAL PIKAMALAZA PHIRI-MATANJE OF PRESENT-DAY ZAMBIA, WHO BEGOT MAZIRANKHUNDA PHIRI, WHO BEGOT JACOB PHIRI OF MALAWI, WHO BEGOT KINGWELL MOSES MPILI OF TANZANIA (and father to Lucy interviwed), THE THIRD BORN AFTER BRIGHT PHIRI, FATHER TO BLOGGER).

Having talked paternal which is exclusively outside South Africa and in fact scattered in Zambia, Malawi and of course Tanzania (to name but some countries)...

MATERNAL ROOTS

It is proper to conclude this post back in Swaziland and South Africa, where my maternal roots stand

But first, a historical perspective of our royal ancestry:

Historical glimpses of Shaka, Sobhuza, Zwide and Zwangendaba

In his mouth-watering book “Emperor Shaka the Great: a Zulu Epic” (Chapter 9: The Political Visionary At Work), the highly-gifted Poet and Historian Mazisi Kunene writes on pages 200-2001:

“Mzilikazi..., on deserting Zwide, took the eastern routes of legend, For indeed, ancient tales are often told about this region.  Zwangendaba, too, had followed the same route, veering further north.  There he bore children and lived as a powerful potentate.  To the north Shaka retained close bonds only with the [Swazi] state.  To maintain these friendships, the Zulus and the [Swazis] kept a constant flow of emissaries, for as the [Swazi] rulers pulled together disparate nations, this same belief dominated the Zulu court. Common policies led to marital bonds.  Through feasts and festivals the two nations cemented their friendships.  On one such festival King Sobhuza visited Shaka’s royal city.  And there he was feasted and pampered by him.  King Sobhuza himself frequently spoke of these visits, pronouncing his admiration for Shaka’s beliefs.  He would tell his army: ‘The Palm Race [Beluhlanga] belongs to one nation  The Zulu lion and I are brothers’”

Much as Blogger's paternal ancestry stems from the wave taken northwards by Zwangendaba as so well-portrayed by Kunene, King Zwide is the paternal ancestor to one of my cousins pictured here and maybe as reader you may want to take a guess as to which!!!

Anyway, here he and I had met for our mutual maternal bonds as stemming from King Sobhuza, the most revered king in southern Africa in the 19^th century (after King Shaka Zulu of course) credited with a lot of interesting cultural tidbits unrelated to his military conquests e.g. his whole-hearted embrace of Christianity (umculu) while frowning upon the monetization process (indilinga) his nation had to go through as needs must with the advent of  Europeanization in this farthest  direction of the African compass south two centuries ago. (To this day, very few ethnic groups anywhere in the world will dislike like the Swazi any explicit suggestions of "loving money" although he will easily forgive you if you accuse him of "tightfistedness"!)  The Great King Sobhuza is also credited as an agent in the introduction to Africa of the culture of eating maize and its famous meal (ugali in Kiswahili and ipalishi in IsiZulu). This much is recorded:

“Ngwane III established his headquarters in Zomboze. His grandson Sobhuza further expanded the Kingdom of Swaziland by absorbing Sotho, Tsonga and Nguni chiefdoms. His rule was marked by the "Mfecane" when the Zulu under Shaka threatened the entire sub region. Sobhuza met Shaka's advances...Sobhuza is also credited with bringing Maize (now the staple food for southern Africa) from the Portuguese to the subcontinent.”

All pictured hereinabove are children/descendants of one man, Swazi King Sobhuza-I, from whom of course descends also His Majesty King Mswati III.




Us pictured here are from that wing of the Royal House  under 19th  Century's  Inkhosikati LaTfwala (particularly her grandson and co-founder of Emjindini, Prince Khenkana wa Somhlolo).  Inkhosikati LaTfwala of the 19th Century gave The Great Swazi Warrior King Sobhuza the children:




1. My maternal third great aunt, Princess Lositfupha (issue, if any, as yet unknown to Blogger)


2. My maternal third great uncle, Prince Khoza (issue, if any, as yet unknown to Blogger)






3. My maternal third great uncle, Prince Mdayi (who in turn fathered my maternal first cousin thrice removed Prince Lomanyaza Dlamini, father to my maternal second cousin twice removed, Prince Khenkana Dlamini who (without being confused with the Prince Khenkana who was fathered by King Sobhuza I in the 19th Century to be my "direct" ancestor) currently lives in Kromdraai/Elukwatini near a Mpumalanga Province's defunct Msauli Asbestos Mine not only bragging surrounding rocks probably still laced with a mineral outlaw, but even as a ghost mine, still strutting its strife and tracks to its former gory with one such track being a dusty (no "rocky") and jagged road that can take you anywhere you want to including Early Heaven for the tireless seekers after the extended family: a veritable daredevil's motoring act in shortcuts from Badplaas to Barberton, but also a  statement of desperation from a thirstier-than-usual Toyota Corolla.  Fortunately you will most probably find a security guard who will take down your name and your car registration, excellenct assitance, I suppose, for piecing together a case for a Missing Persons Bureau!  I guess I took comfort from the fact that they do they same reasoning act in any army in the world: take your dental record not to save you from burning to a cinder in the future, but just give your surviving family the comfort:

Here are the colonel's medals,

Here is his headgear

and of course HIS TEETH

In heaven he is still smiling, SEE?

Of those that I still do not know, there will of course be many cousins of mine descending from my maternal second cousins twice removed Prince Lomanyaza and his wives the Princesses LaNhlabatsi (issues Sophie and Chwalile) nd LaMavimbela (issue Khenkana of Kromdraai).  There will most probably be far many more descending from Lomanyaza's  father (my first cousin thrice removed Prince Mdayi).  Suffice it to say the few I know of are South African citizens:




i) My Fourth Cousin, Prince Thulani Solomon Nkosi (fathered by Prince Khenkana of Kromdraai).  Records have his whereabouts around Matla Power Station in Mpumalanga.




ii) My maternal third cousin once removed, Princess Leah Thembi Nkosi (fathered by my second cousin twice removed Prince Khenkana of Kromdraai).




iii&iv) My Fourth Cousin, Nelspruit-based Me Zandile Patience Shabangu (and sibling Me Bongi Sharon Shabangu) by My third Cousin once removed Nana Shabangu (Mrs), by my maternal second cousin twice removed Chwalile Zulu (Mrs) the princess born of my first cousins thrice removed Prince Mdayi Dlamini  and Princess LaNhlabatsi, his wife.  This royal couple also gave birth to my my cousin Princess Sophie who married into the Masina Clan of Pienaar/Msogwaba in Nelspruit/Mbombela. 






For children other than 


(a) my third cousin once removed Nana Shabangu (Mrs), the Princess Chwalile Zulu (Mrs) was pleasantly responsible for bringing into the world the following too: 




(b) my third cousin once removed Me Lizzie Zulu who married into the Mdlalose clan resident in Ermelo's Wesselton Township.




(c)   my third cousin once removed Mr Sibhabhi "Bhala-Bhabhalazi", Nelspruit/Mbombela




(d)   my third cousin once removed Me Lydia Zulu who married into the Mpande Clan of Barberton, Me Petunia Nomia Zulu who married into the Simelane Clan of either Tsakane in Gauteng or Nelspruit in Mpumalanga (Province).




Sadly, those are all deceased names, with the only one surviving at the time of record being, 




e) My third cousin once removed Me Doreen Mgissi, chalked as residing at Kamagugu which should be in the environs of Nelspruit. 





My record of the youngest from the Cousin Princess Chwalile Zulu (Mrs) branch of my family maternal family tree are my fourth cousins once removed Siphesihle Nozuko Masilela, Siyabonga Innocentia Hlophe (both by my fourth Cousin Zandile Patience Shabangu).

4.  My maternal second great grandfather, Prince Khenkana (my maternal third cousin once removed of the same name received it for no other reason except "a striking resemblance to his great uncle").








GENERAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT OUR COMMON ANCESTORS.




Save for the name, (Princess/Inkhosikati) Latfwala nothing is so far known by Blogger about this common ancestor and my maternal thrice grandmother.  But of the male complement of this common ancestry with all these wonderful people mentioned and pictured, the individuals reading appetite is the limit.




King Sobhuza is as frequently (if lovingly) referred to with the epithet "Inkhosi Lenhle", as with the more ominous praise phrase: "Niyambona Wonakele".  All of this is for his legendary bravery that was laced with great looks.




It is recorded in history that few other kings dared visit Shaka Zulu even per invite.  But it would seem like, if Sobhuza had wanted to, he could saunter into Kwabulawayo (Shaka's palace) any time he'd wanted to: it takes helluva lots of guts to even think about it!




Eish, I should not talk too glowingly of these royal ancestors of ours because, much as I find them dashingly readable subject material, others, like it frequently happens with all great men and women, may have equally horrid stories to tell about them.  Anyway, we still can't deny the fact of our descendence from them: it is our heritage!

For these pictures, we had gathered here in South Africa's Mayflower/Embuluzi/Empuluzi town (in Mpumalanga) a few years ago in a bid to get to know one another more, us children of the Royal Dlamini (and if you have got an eye for South Africa's luminaries, you might spot among these pictures, the venerable Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, a prelate and veteran of the anti-apartheid Struggle under South Africa's inimitable vanguard, The African National Congress, co-founded by one of our cousins, Her Majesty Queenmother Labotsibeni and very much all the way alongside Pixley Seme back in 1912).

Some more pics follow hereunder of these royals (bantfwabenkhosi) to be found mostly in Tshwane (Pretoria) and Johannesburg in the Gauteng Province of South Africa.  




(The vast majority of them though are to be found between the Kingdom of Swaziland and South Africa's Mpumalanga Province in towns and cities like, Emjindini (Barberton), Nelspruit, Nhlazatje and Mayflower where the pictured gathering took place):

since deceased
REST IN PEACE, MY COUSIN!

The Graves Amongs The Living

Ah, as you might have noticed among the pictured, there are even graves.  It is because I, graced with the humbling feeling of having to organize this function for a the great Dlamini name, also used the opportunity to point to some family graves "lost" or untended.

***************************

For this work of Lengibatsandzako ("those whom I love") who are my relatives, I thank all who participated in both the get-togethers whether Tanzanians, South Africans or subjects of the King of Swaziland.


Special thanks to Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa who took time off from his busy schedule to attend.  I think he is role model us younger people and even to his fellow leaders as well: "always find some time albeit little for the lesser souls of society".  Over and above being a relative, he is definitely not a man of God for nothing.  For that I will be forgiven for letting the cat out of the sack.....

ZWIDE!!!!!!!!