Xesibe

In the context of many other huge kingdoms in South Africa, the Xesibe people are relatively smaller and more dispersed throughout the south eastern part of South Africa, stretching from the southern parts of KwaZulu-Natal and the eastern and the central part of the Eastern Cape Province. Despite their size

Xesibe people have, throughout different epochs of the South African history, distinguished themselves and even became a decisive factor during certain historical moments or epic battles that fundamentally changed the course of history. Despite all this, up to this moment, there is no book that has ever been written on Xesibe people. At most they get mentioned in the history books of other groups such as Mpondos, Bhacas, Thembus and Xhosas. There ought to be complex and not yet understood reasons on why historians and scholars in general might have made this monumental omission of such a distinctive group. This, in a sense, has left an unjustifiably huge knowledge gap in the South African and Southern African history. The fierce independence, the courage and bravery and the enterprising trait of the Xesibe people comes out in almost all the literature that makes reference to them. Historians and chroniclers of colonial government records as well as oral history seem to marvel at how a group so small could stand up to great kingdoms and maintain its ground against insurmountable odds. No wonder then that a proverb, “nguMbo nomXesibe” would single out just one of the smallest of the AbaMbo groups, surely they must have distinguished themselves not to be subsumed in the larger group of Abambo who were migrating into the Xhosa areas in the central and western parts of what today is known as the Eastern Cape province.

Xesibe people are descendants of the African Bantu people who migrated southwards from the region between the Great Lakes and the Great Rift Valleys of Eastern and Central Africa. A cluster of these groups who migrated south were called Nguni people as they shared many similarities in their language and possibly genealogies. Out of the Nguni people who finally settled in South Eastern part of Southern Africa there emerged one of the most powerful kingdom of Abambo near the Lebombo Mountains on the western side of Swaziland. Abambo royal leadership lineage is traced to Gubhela who begets Kuboni, who begets Mgebelezane, who begets Dlozela, who begets Sibiside. In his great house, Sibiside begets Mavovo and in his right hand house there is Njanye and then Nomafu in his Left Hand House which gave birth to the Imithethwa, Amangwane and amaSwati people. The right hand house of Njanye had twin, namely, Mpondo and Mpondomise who were immediately followed by an Imfusi (a child born immediately after the twins from the same father and mother) who was Xesibe. At this time Abambo had moved and settled in the northern and midland areas of what is today KwaZulu-Natal. Xesibe broke away from the mainstream Abambo to form his own nation in the area between Escourt, Greytown and Bulwer. The tensions with neighbouring chiefdoms and the search for better grazing and agricultural land for the pastoralist community led to Xesibe moving to claim the land on both sides of Mtamvuna as the land on the banks of Mtamvuna was fertile and the grass lush for Nguni cattle grazing. In his great house Xesibe begets Ntozabantu, in his right hand house there is Mkhwenkwe and in the left hand house there is Mganu. Xesibe, the founder of this nation, died after a long illustrious reign. He was buried on the banks of Mtamvuna River hence its mythical significance among the Xesibe and neighbouring chiefdoms and kingdoms. After the death of the founder, Xesibe people dispersed and established themselves under different chiefdoms. Ntozabantu migrated west and settled in the areas between Libode, Ngqeleni and Mthatha with greater concentration in the Mqanduli area. From Ntozabantu another group emerged from his son Mbathane and it gave birth to the Nune and Khuma people (like Mpondo and Mpondomise they were twins). In the same lineage of Ntozabantu, Nodzaba also had a group that broke away and became independent under the leadership of Noni. The Thembu people gave the Xesibe under Noni the name AmaQwathi because of a sacred and mystical bull, named Qwathi, that was always in the company of the leading party and the leader of migrating Xesibe people. The Qwathi people further broke into two major groups of Dalasile in and around Ngcobo and Stokwe of Ndlela in Cala/Lady Frere areas with some dispersed up to Sterkspruit. After a great upheaval which almost led to a civil strife among the children of Mgubudzeli, the grandson of Nondzaba, Sodladla broke away and established himself and his people in Mabhobho area among the Bhacas of Mt Frere District. The left hand house of Xesibe that remained in the area around which Xesibe had reigned and died on the east side of Mtamvuna, come through the line of Mganu, after whom even a mountain around Kokstad is named. This group grew and became so strong, well-established and fiercely independent that it finally settled in the Maxesibeni/Mt Ayliff District. Many historians often make a mistake of thinking that this was the only group of Xesibe people, perhaps their perennial wars with the neighbouring Mpondo, Baca, Zulu, Hlubi kept them in the limelight. This group reached its peak under the creative leadership of Sinama who expanded his settlements and great places to the areas which are today part of the Eastern Pondoland and Southern KwaZulu-Natal. The Xesibe people distinguished themselves in many battles and wars. These include the great anti-colonial wars of 1880-1881 under the charge of Dalasile in the Ngcobo region and Stokwe kaNdlela in the Lady Frere/Cala areas. The Qwathi also killed Rarabe, the king of the Xhosa of the Western region, during a battle. The much-feared Madzikane, the Baca leader, also fell to the spears of AmaQwathi in the Gqutyini Forest near Ngcobo. The wars that Sinama fought with the Mpondos and surrounding groups also made him a legend of his time. But it was his son, Nogula, who became the army general of the Xesibe warriors who fought so many battles including the one against Shaka Zulu where Xesibe joined forces with the Baca of Madzikane on the Nunge Mountain near Mt Ayliff. Shaka forces suffered a humiliating defeat and many of his warriors died in this battle and the mountain was renamed Intsizwa Mountain to mark this historic event.

A sample of Xesibe groups and clans’ Indigenous Praises (Iziduko nezibongo)

Nondzaba Xesibe Nondzaba Matshaya Okhandanyawana Oomatshi’ebheka njengomntwana Osabel’uyabizwa emazibukweni

Sinama Xesibe Mganu Somadoda Rhadu Mayaba Sinama Malandelwa yintombi isithi ndizeke nokuba awunankomo Tshaba Lendlovu Sabela uyabizwa Emazibukweni

OoSidindi (AmaQwathi) Sdindi, Fubu, Mjobi Phafu Mcaba Noni Sithonga Nomakhungela Nkonjan’emnyama edlalemafini Qwathi elimnyama ebabhodloza ihlathi Lifuna uZanzolo Gaga elibaleka nomtya walo Inkomo kaSokhuthu noGangatha Khala Mqadi wafa yintsika

OoNoni (AmaQwathi) Noni Lutshaba Sidindi, Ndunakazi Dikela Nojima Ntswayibana Qwathi elimnyama ebabhodloza ihlathi Lifuna uZanzolo Elimehl’ambejembeje ngokwesilo Nqadalala yegqirha Maqaphula Ngamthana Vazi, Nomatyala

OoBlwangwe (AmaQwathi) Blangwe Nqarhi Nzalo Nzila kaNzothwana Vangevumba AmaBlangwe amnyama neenkomo zawo Ntswayibana Noni

AmaKhuma Xesibe Khuma Mbatane Nondzaba Dabuko Khandanyawana Matshaya Sabel’uyabizwa emazibukweni

AmaNune Nune Ngqwangi Doyi Matshaya Mbathane OoNtsaka Ntsaka Ntozabantu Nzuza Miyana Bhimbi Nondzaba Matshin’ebheka njengomntwana

Nxontsa Nxontsa kaXesibe Matshaya Mganu Sabel’uyabizwa emazibukweni Mbala weXhama Gubudu Bhuku Bhuku SInqasha Nkamangana Umfaz’obele linye Elincelisa intsana zonke naphesheya komfula

Ndlovana Ndlovana Umzi owavela kuqala Ndzala Mzi Di woHlanga Ndlebe zikhany’ ilanga OoMkheleka

Common Xesibe Surnames: Mtwa Sokhuthu Wakaba Mase Jojo Fikeni Mhlobongo Dandala Mbulawa Dongeni, Nhlumayo Dalasile Stokwe Mnyande Titus Jakuja Sibutha Nxele Qotywa Ntsaka, Mbangi Dyantyi Molose Gongxoza, Mashwa Sodladla Xhate Ngunga Gcuma, Mayaba Nogula Mtengwane Mganu Zuma Mpepanduku Sikisi, Mpakumpaku Neti Xayiya Xundu Vala Mtshubungu Ceza Mlatsheni Boyce Mjoli Gebeda Tokota Jezile Malotana Mathole Sokhanyile Ntontela Fante Tyiwani Zimase Kipi Mzaza

Xesibe Cultural and Heritage Symbols

Inyosi (A Bee) Inyosi is a totem of Xesibe people. It assumes a mythical and spiritual dimension as it is thought to have some link with the ancestors. It has the same totemic heritage value of a snake(umaJola) to the Jola clan of the Mpondomise, a lion to the Taung people and a crocodile among the Bakwena group of Basotho.

Cattle (Iinkomo) Xesibe people have always had special relationship with and attachment to their livestock and cattle assume a mythical status for their spiritual, social and economic value. Xesibe went to wars to defend their prized possession or to acquire more from other chiefdoms and kingdoms. Mqwathi was a very special beast to the leader of a group that had broken away from Mgubudzeli hence its people were given the name “abaQwathi” by the Thembu people when they migrated and settled among them.

River Ford (Izibuko) Between 400 and 500 years ago Xesibe people migrated towards the southwestern part of South Africa from what today is known as KwaZulu-Natal Midlands area(between Greytown, Bulwer and Escourt). They migrated in search of better grazing pastures, fertile land and political independence. During these migrations they would prefer to move at night undetected by potential enemies who could ambush them and take away their cattle. During the darkness of the night a leading reconnaissance team would walk along the big rivers in search of the ford (izibuko) and they would then shout back at their travelling party, sabel’uyabizwa emazibukweni (answer to the call in the ford or crossable areas of the river) then the migrating community would walk towards the area they were being guided to and cross there safely. A river ford (izibuko) has shallow water and stepping stones that allows for safe crossings. Reconnaissance warriors would also check for dangerous animals such as hippopotamus and crocodiles before advising people to cross the river. Xesibe people crossed the renown rivers such as Mkhomazi, Mzimkulu, Mtamvuna and later Msikaba, Mzimvubu, Tina, Tsitsa, Mthatha and Mbashe. While some settled in the banks of Mtamvuna River where Xesibe was based and was also buried, others migrated as far west as the areas occupied by Xhosa and Thembu people. The same pattern of crossing the rivers at night and calling “Sabel’uyabizwa Emazibukweni” seem to have been a repeated routine until this became part of izibongo. Mtamvuna has a special significance as it is along the banks of this river that Xesibe Settled as an independent chiefdom. He died on the banks of this river and was buried there. Today this river is a border between the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Province.

Spirit possession appears among them, and the majority of possessed are married women. The condition of spirit possession among them is called intwaso. Those who develop the condition of intwaso are regarded as having a special calling to divine the future. They are first treated with sympathy, and then with respect as they develop their abilities to foretell the future.[2]