Kokshill - Umzimkhulu
Introduction
Baca clan names
have a great deal of variation in their morphology, for example Ndobe and Siwa
refer to the same clan as do Mjoli and Sondzaba, Dlamini and Mzizi or
Sibakhulu, Mkhize and Khabazela etc . The
clan name system is said to be commemorative as names are shared across a
particular clan within a culture. Clan names also commemorate ancestors and are
able to keep their memory alive. There are many roles served by clan names, the
clan name of someone is considered the highest form of respect in the Baca
culture as well as other Nguni cultures and enquiring further about ones for
fathers is a great form of endearment in the Baca culture. There’s a saying
that in order for you to know your future and where you are going you need to
know where you come from. In the essence of culture clan names are the crux of
fully understanding yourself and the evolution of your tribe, your people, and
your background.
A surname is
something so crucial to any person regardless of their race or culture. In the
Baca culture the surname is passed to by the father’s side of the family whilst
a clan name further explores the tribe in which you belong, the history of your
people, their paths in reaching their destination of settlement and leaders of
your people. When a woman marries they take up the surname of their husband and
this includes the clan names.
The aim of this review is to explore the origin of the
Ndobe clan and its clan names. It will historically capture the evolution of
the Ndobe people, explore their origin, look into their trials and tribulations
that lead them to settle in the different regions they are most commonly found.
The investigation will further dissect the Ndobe people and the way in which
they lived their lives, how they live their lives now and their challenges as a
clan. The research was done in Umzimkulu and Matatiela, Kokstad/Swartberg which
is the most predominant area for the Ndobe clan and distribution of Baca people.
Kokshill in Umzimkhulu is where majority of the research about the history of
the Ndobe clan was done.
Background
Nestling in one of the majestic hills of Kwa-Zulu
Natal is a vastly growing village, a village called Kokshill. Kokshill is
located in Umzimkulu situated right along the R56 inbetween Ixopo and Kokstad
neighbouring Rietvlei; it is one of the many villages that make up Umzimkulu. Kokshill
was named after the late Adam Kok III who was the leader of the Griqua people.
Adam Kok and his people trekked over the Drakensburg Mountain Range in 1861;
this is where Griqualand east was discovered. He was responsible for the
establishment of the capital of Griqualand East in Kokstad. The reason for the
movement from the Orange Free State was due to a land dispute with the British
colonial government and the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State over that
land. This found him seeking greener pastures convenient for him and his
people.
Adam Kok III was in alliance with the Donald Strachan
to come settle in the same area known at the time as “Nomansland” that was
occupied by the Baca people and other tribes. The original inhabitants of these
areas called Nomansland are vehemently opposed to this notion because that was
the elements of colonialism and apartheid. Their mission was to invade and take
over parts of this area. He was involved in colonising more than 85 hectares of
the land that belonged to the Baca people; the land he colonised was one that
belonged to Amanqolo, a tribe that was led by King Gaba who died in the Axe war
against the Boers. Amanqolo were also distributed in Umzimkulu in a place
called Emvubukazi. Donald continued to ambush the land that belonged to the
Baca people, he destroyed the kraals that belonged to the Amanqolo tribe and
built a hotel, the area was named after him as kwaMadonela which translates to Donald’s
place. Adam Kok III later died in Umzimkulu in 1875 after falling off his wagon
on the hills that later retained his name, thus the birth of the name Kokshill.
The Baca people settled in Nomansland across the
Umzimkulu River in the 1830’s, they were later joined by other Baca people in
1875 from Mt. Frere under Mdutyana who was the grandson of Chief Madzikane.
Madzikane was the king of the Baca people; his fathers’ tribe was known as
AbakwaZelemu. Madzikane’s people consisted of many different tribes, including
amaWushe, amaNqolo, amaNhlwangini, abaThembu etc. Chief Madzikane passed away
1835 when he battled abaThembu, the most internationally known Thembu persons
are Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu. Baca people were scattered all over from
southern Natal and beyond Umzimvubu River (see
fig. 6), more than 44 different tribes were found dispersed around this
region and this includes the Ndobe clan.
There are 3
parts to the village of Kokshill; Ecingweni, Emacumeni and Nomdaphu where the
Harry Gwala Regional Mayor Mluleki Eziekiel Ndobe resides, right on the other
side of the R56 is Entlabeni. Kokshill is a beautiful village with luscious
green grass which makes the village rich in livestock. The hills are amazing
for breeding goats and cows, most of the homesteads in the area have indigenous
chickens which help with performing traditional rituals and also used as meat.
Cows and goats are also used for similar purposes but another major purpose is
that it is used as a measure of cultural status. A man in the village with lots
of livestock is a symbol of wealth and makes him attractive to the locals.
Kokshill was
once popular tourist attraction decades ago, as people travelling along the R56
would stop and take pictures of the beautiful mud and straw huts that the
community of Kokshill had built. Each household had a hut some even had seven
huts which made for a gorgeous tourist attraction. Kokshill village is
dominated by two families; the Mjoli’s and the Ndobe’s. An estimation of 40% of
the population in Kokshill has the surname or clan name relating to Mjoli and
25% are Ndobe people and 35% are other families. Due to the growth of the
village, there are other families joining Kokshill. The Kokshill people are led
by chief Sondzaba; his forefathers have led the Baca people of Umzimkhulu,
Mount Frere, parts of Ingwe and UBuhlebezwe. Kokshill is sometimes referred to
as KwaSondzaba which translates to Sondzabas’ place.
The Ndobe people are scattered throughout Kwa-Zulu
Natal and Eastern Cape mainly in the former Transkei area, some then in
Umzimkulu others crossed to Mt frere after running away from uShaka during
Mfecane. Mfecane is forced dispersal due to chaos and warfare. This explains
why most of them are Bhaca people. AmaNdobe found their way to the Transkei
through the dispersal and were dispersed throughout the Transkei.
The genealogies of:
·
Linywa
·
Lugaju
·
Ngwinjini
·
Mbuyeleni
·
Bhongweni
·
Mavuma
·
Myekeni
·
Nkone
·
Pungela
·
Ngwinjini,
·
Baqwa,
·
Mhlaba,
·
Siwa etc
All of the above points to a common origin showing
Ndobe as their ancestor.
The Ndobe tribe
The Ndobe tribe has been around for centuries; they
are one of the many tribes that are actually inhabitants of southern Africa. Over
the years they became scattered all over the southern region of the continent
with majority trekking all the way down to Kwa-Zulu Natal and Eastern Cape.
This distribution of the Ndobe people encouraged a lot of language uncertainty,
where you find that in Matiela they speak Xhosa and adopted a new surname which
is their grandfather’s surname this is referred to as “ifani”, there are of course
other reasons why Ndobe clan names came about which will be further explored in
The Ndobe House chapter.
The change of
surname allows for the Ndobe clan to grow, a new branch develops in the family
tree like the example of Mahlaba surname which has now become one of the many
clan names of Ndobe (see fig. 10). Through
small research it is amazing to find that the elders of the Ndobe people have
an African folk tale that historically captures the origin of the Ndobe tribe,
surname and rituals. The research found has information dating way back to the
1800’s a troubled era in South Africa for the Zulu people went through the
trying time of Mfecane. So the origin of the Ndobe people can be traced using
African folk tales and of course other evidence. African folk stories explain
the etymology of the Ndobe tribe. The authenticity of each tribe tale can often
be argued but the relevance of them has always been a way in which Africans
preserved their culture and identity while in a foreign land. The elders of the
Ndobe people of Kokshill have passed down this folk tale from generation to generation.
Ndobe people are saying that they come from the same
blood line as San people “abathwa”. Abathwa are said to have once lived like
animals in the wild forests and staying in caves hence even today we still have
what is known a San paintings. A few got left behind when the others were
travelling to other pastures; he got left behind because he was resisting to be
controlled by the rest of the group. They made their way down travelling along
“umthugulu”. Whenever they came across people in their journey they kept on
asking “undibonabonephi” which translate to where do you actually see me and
people replied “ndikubone useza ule kude” meaning I saw you from a distance.
That was a way of boosting their confidence so that they can think they are
taller and visible even though they were too short. According to the older
generation the significance of this dialog was to ensure respect, had you
replied that you see them here was a sign of disrespect. Abathwa would get
offended by this since they were petite and really wanted to be viewed as
powerful. The Ndobe people have a common saying amongst themselves that they
say whenever they are explaining who they are to other people or other Ndobe
people, introducing yourself using your clan name and origin is an African
custom that has been practiced for years. The saying goes as follows:
“Ndobe, Siwa, Siqhathi, Bhongweni, Phungela,
Ncikini, nina enehla ngomthungulu nashiya indlela zihleli, undibona bone ndiphi
na, ndikubonabone useza le kude, mthwa,sibasa ndleni singothi lutho, nina
enimnyama kodwa eninamazinyo amhlophe njengomsixhaka wendlovu”
This saying (izithakazelo) is an important element to
the Ndobe people; it explains their origin and assures them that they are
Bushmen. There are other elements of history those also best representatives of
the origin of the Ndobe people.
According to the Transkei Land Service Organisation
there are drawing painted by Abathwa all along the Tina River on both banks,
the Tina River separates Mt Frere and Qumbu where there is a large number of
Ndobe families found there. The linkage of clan names and villages that have
Abathwa dialect connotations to them is still being researched further.
Figure 2: Rock art painting found on
the banks of Tina River in Qumbu and Mt Frere, paintings were done by abathwa
(Bushmen).
Concepts such as anarchist, communist, socialist are
concepts that are linked with Bushmen. Bushmen had a system of communal
ownership over land the one thing they had ownership over or had close
relations with were resources such as rivers and livestock feeds are found. In
Kokshill Ngwinjini and Rhasha were buried in the mountains of Kokshill after to
have said to have lived near a river called Ncikini River. Ngwinjini who is the
son of Ndobe occupied the area for years, growing his live stock and expanding
his family.
Figure 3. Geographical raft of
Ncikini River, the river flows into a bigger river called IBhisi River.
Figure 4. Right above Ncikini River
is an area near Emacumeni graveyard where it is believed that Ngwinjini and
Rhasha were buried.
Interviewing the Ndobe people
Ndobe had about 10 sons which resulted in the Ndobe
tribe growing 10 surnames that the Ndobe people now use, a development of clan
names. There are of course many other clan names that relate to the way in
which Ndobe people lived. To help with developing a family tree an elderly from
each house was interviewed.
Linywa
Under the house of Linywa, the following person was
interviewed:
·
Vuyani Ndobe
Vuyani Ndobe stems from the Linywa family he gave an
insightful view of the origin of the Ndobe tribe. He explains the evolution of
the Ndobe people right through to the way in which the Ndobe tribe was distributed
throughout the Transkei.
Lugaju
Under the house of Lugaju, the following person was
interviewed:
·
Mrs M Lugaju
·
Mlawuleni Willington Ndobe
Mrs Lugaju referred to as makaMzingisi his eldest son
married to the Lugaju family she knows the origin of the Ndobe tribe. She
resides in Enhlabeni a small village opposite Kokshill . She married into the
Ndobe family at a very young age; she is now the elderly of the Lugaju house.
MakaMzingisi married into the family through the ritual of ukuthwalwa, this is
further discussed in the next section (The
Ndobe Rituals). To get the perspective of a woman who married to the Ndobe
family it was essential to get MakaMzingisi’s historical moments and her
knowledge of the Ndobe tribe and its origin.
Mlawuleni Ndobe is of the elder generation he was able
to fit in some of the missing gaps of the Lugaju house. This Ndobe gave insight
of the family tree.
Mbuyeleni
Under the house of Mbuyeleni, the following people
were interviewed:
·
Monde Mbuyeleni
Monde Mbuyeleni had a very interesting story to tell
about his great grandfather who owned butchery in Kokstad. He described him as
a man who was always on the move, a Casanova of note. He had enough knowledge
to trace his ancestors back and create a family tree that explored the house of
Mbuyeleni.
Bhongweni
Under the house of Bhongweni, the following people
were interviewed:
·
Mr Gcobani Baqwa
Baqwa people are mainly found in Mountain, Mt. Frere
and Matatiela. The journey continued all the way to KwaMzongwana, a small village
on the outskirts of Matatiela, here Mr Baqwa was interviewed. Mr Baqwa was very
insightful as to where the Baqwa surname came about and how it can be lnked
with the Ndobe surname. He was kind enough to draw up a family tree that
explained the relations of the Ndobe surname and the Baqwa surname. Describing
the surname as stemming of the Bhongweni house although it is also found in the
in the Pungela house.
Mavuma
Under the house of Mavuma, the following people were
interviewed:
·
Mr L. L. Mavuma
·
Siyanda Mavuma
Mavuma people are mainly found in Nazareth, Mr Mavuma was
very insightful. He described the Mavuma house to have stemmed from Mavuma son
of Ndobe and it is also found in the house of Pungela which lead to the clan
name Mavuma which is no different from the other clan names
Myekeni
The Myekeni house is still being further researched;
there are traces that members of the Myekeni family reside in Ematsheni,
Marheleni and Rhawaka. These areas are found in the Transkei.
Nkone
Under the house of Nkone, the following people were
interviewed:
·
Tshelinzima Nkone
The Nkone house is described to be not as big as the
other house most people from the Nkone house use the surname Ndobe. Tshelinzima
was happy to share the origin of the clan name Nkone. He confirmed that Nkone
was one of Ndobes many sons and that as the family grew many referred to their
grandfathers surname he calls his grandfather “Bawo” which is the most highest
form of respect.
Pungela
Under the house of Pungela, the following people were interviewed:
·
Khayalethu Baqwa
The Pungela house is described to be very big with
some of the family members being distributed all the in Botswana. Khayalethu
describes these members as one that have even grown to follow Botwana customs.
This is an example of how a new lineage of Ndobe people is created.
Ngwinjini
Under the house of Ngwinjini, the following people
were interviewed:
·
Saveya Ndobe
·
Mmemezi Ndobe
·
Mbeko Ndobe
·
Patrick Ndobe
·
Masoka Ndobe
Saveya is of the 5th generation, Ngwinjini
is his great grandfather while Ndobe is his great grandfather. Saveya lives in
Matatiela in Swartberg where the Ndobe tribe was earlier distributed. He
describes his for fathers as hard workers who thrived for unity within the
Ndobe tribe as they would walk for miles visiting each other, trying effortlessly
to bridge the distance between Swartberg and Kokshill. The Ngwinjini house uses
the surname Ndobe, but there are other Ndobe people that still use the surname
Ngwinjini which is why it has become a clan name. This is further explained in
the next section (The Ndobe House). Ndobe
people came to settle near the river called Ncikini and hills which allowed for
their live stock to survive. They still practice the same principles still
apply as Mbeko, Patrick, Masoka, Memezi Ndobe and Mluleki Ndobe still continue
with this legacy of growing and breeding cows in Kokshill. It was amazing
interviewing Ndobe people because they knew a lot about their heritage and
origin. They come from the Ngwinjini
house but they retained the name Ndobe and never adopted the surname Ngwinjini.
Ngwinjini was buried in Kokshill emancumeni in the hills of Kokshill (see fig. 2).
Figure 6: The beautiful Mzimvubu
River in Swartberg (Matatiela) and the majestic mountains where livestock
grazes.
Ndobe rituals
The Ndobe people have rituals, rituals that were
practised by their fore fathers. These rituals are still being practised today
by many Ndobe families. It is important to understand that not all Ndobe
families practice these rituals as some Ndobe families are strong Christians.
The family fully abides by the South African constitution as they respect one
another and each other’s beliefs. The rituals that are mentioned below
highlight tradition and culture carried out by Ndobe people, culture and
tradition they fully believe their ancestors practiced. The Ndobe clan is very
big and they may not perform the rituals the exact same way. For example to
perform some of the rituals some families may use “impepho” which is incense
and some families may slaughter a goat and use the skin for isiphandla while
others do not.
The rite of passage of a child from birth up until
marriage of the Ndobe clan involves the following ceremonies being done:
·
Imbeleko
·
Umzaliso
·
Umgqababomvu
·
Umhlonyani
Imbeleko
On the 10th day after the birth of a baby
boy or girl a ceremony has to be performed called imbeleko, the ceremony can be
conducted 10 days later as well, preferably when the child is still at a
delicate age. There are no strict implications as to when the ceremony is done.
This ceremony is done as a ritual to introduce the new born to his/her
ancestors and elders.
Umzaliso
There is another ceremony performed for a first born
child called umzaliso, this is a ceremony conducted as an introduction to the
ancestors that the child is the official first born to the Ndobe family.
Umgqababomvu
When a girl gets their first period there is a ritual
called umgqababomvu that is performed to introduce the female child into
womanhood.
Umhlonyane
Umhlonyane is also practiced by Baca people; it is a
traditional ceremony when a girl reaches the stage of womanhood. The head of
the family, normally the father, slaughters a goat for this ceremony and the
burning of incense may or may not be done
Marriage
The following rituals are performed prior, during and
after the marriage ceremony in the Ndobe clan. It is important to note that not
all families of the Ndobe clan may perform these rituals and they may perform
them differently to each other.
·
Umbondo
·
Umgqusho
·
Umabo also known as Umembezo
Umbondo
In the Baca culture as well as the Zulu culture, when
the lobola negotiations are complete and the lobola has been paid. Before the
wedding ceremony the female has to thank the male family by taking Umbondo to
them. Umbondo is when the bride takes gifts to the groom’s family. The gifts
can be in the form of food, straw mats, blankets and furniture as well. These
gifts are headed over to the in-laws in a form of a ceremony.
Umgqusho
This is a ritual that is popular amongst the Baca
people and the Ndobe clan performs this ceremony. On the day of the traditional
wedding ceremony a ritual of Umgqusho is performed. This is a small ceremony
rejoicing the fastidious event of the day. The community celebrates with the
bride and groom while the groom’s family decorates their cows as a way of
celebrating the matrimony.
Umabo/umembezo
Umabo can be described as the ceremony that occurs
after the wedding ceremony. It is believed that one is not truly married until
the process of umabo occurs. Nowadays umabo occurs after the white wedding and
considered to be the traditional ceremony by some cultures. Elders of the Baca
culture believe that if this ceremony does not occur then the marriage will be
faced with a lot of bad luck like failure to conceive, bad relations with
in-laws and this may lead to divorce. Umabo can be said to be the final ritual
performed out of the rituals performed for marriage.
Ukugcagcisa and Ukuthwala
It is important to understand the meaning of the two
ways the Ndobe people entered into marriage, these two rituals are Ukugacgcisa
and ukthwala. There is ukuthwala which is a ritual that was practised by Xhosa
and Zulu people. Ukuthwala is a practice that involves a young female and male
of an acceptable age that would agree on getting married to one another but
because they were afraid to inform their parents about the marriage, the male
would then “abduct” the female. Then the parents of the young man would follow
the necessary process and rituals pertaining marriage of the couple. These
rituals would involve paying for ilobola, this process was a way of speeding up
the process as lobola negotiations occur before the couple moves in together
and ukuthwala was a way of going around the whole process. Ukuthwala over the
years has now become about abduction and kidnapping females and marrying them
without their consent. This has resulted in a negative stigma being attached to
the ritual. Most clans including the Ndobe clan did not agree with that form of
ukuthwala that involved involuntary abduction of young females who are not even
of age. The Ndobe clan did not practice this form of ritual. Such disagreements
of the relative rituals led to conflicts amongst clans and young men who
strongly believed in abduction of females rather than the good old courting
strategy. Mrs Memezi Ndobe was happy to say she got married to the Ndobe family
through ukuthwala and she found that process easier and she is happy to be
married to Memezi Ndobe.
Ukugcagcisa on the other hand is the agreement of
marriage between two consent adults. Involves courting and the male going
through a process called “ukushela” where he courts the females and convinces
her she should be with him and marry him, so to speed the process up they move
in together. This process is called “ukwenda”, where the female goes and stays
with their lover before and lobola negotiations. The couple stay together like
a married couple and later go through the process of lobola. This ritual is
frowned upon by some families but other families do not worry much as long as
the rituals are done accordingly. Ndobe
men of today use the good old method of courting the woman they have fell for,
this is called ukugcagcisa.
Burial
It is vital for the Ndobe clan that family members
have a dignified funeral. The Ndobe has an unveiling which happens after the
funeral the tombstone serves as a memoir and shows how just because they are
gone they are not forgotten. Unveiling processes may vary, but they are initiated
with a morning ceremony of prayer and the tomb is unveiled and read out, the
message read out serves as a comfort to the family and proclamation that the
deceaseds’ legacy will continue.
The Ndobe House
“Ndobe, uSiwa, uNkomlele,
USiqhathi, uMthwa, uNdibonanbone ndiphi na?”
Ndobe was a man of many wives which lead him to have
many children and of that many children many of them were boys, this allowed
for the Ndobe surname to be carried down by his descendents. Ndobe had 9 sons;
1. Mbuyeleni
2. Mavuma
3. Ngwinjini
4. Linywa
5. Lugaju
6. Bhongweni
7. Myekeni
8. Nkone
9. Pungela
There might be more than what has been listed here and
because this is a living documents amendments and additions will always be done
to this document.
When the Ndobe people perform cultural rituals they
call on their ancestors and they call upon these names. You also find that
people of the Ndobe clan use these names as their surnames this is for various
reasons:
·
Like it was mentioned earlier most Ndobes’ changed their
names because in the Transkei it was believed using “ifani” your grandparents
name was a way of avoiding confusion since there were many other folks with the
surname Ndobe.
·
The main reason was due to the confusion that would occur
when someone had to receive their post and money being sent to them or
collection of debt. This confusion caused a lot of identity theft amongst the
Ndobes’ and just random confusion of identity when it came to anything
entailing paperwork.
Some of the Ndobe people resorted to using their grandfather’s name to hide during trying times, for example when Ndobe people were in mourning they had to follow certain rituals. Mourning for Ndobe people entailed sitting in doors and to be in the homesteads before the sun went down, tranquillity was a necessity which meant no singing or dancing. This ritual was hard to follow for some of the Ndobe people which resulted in them using a different surname to avoid the mourning period but instead carry on with their everyday lives.
This journey of tracing the Ndobe people is aimed at exploring each house of Ndobes’ sons. Ndobe people can be traced all the way to Mozambique and there are some family members know to have relocated to Botswana and are accustomed to the way Botswana people live. Other clan names such as Siwa are believed to have come before Ndobe and are somewhat the great-grandfather to Ndobe there are other Clan names that take on the same nature.
The Mhlaba House
Mhlaba is also one of the Ndobe clan names, Mhlaba may
have been born before Ndobe and this clan name is the generation of Siwa or
even before that. These are general assumptions but Mhlaba is closely related
to Mhlaba. The Mhlaba people are distributed in Port Elizabeth and Fort
Beaufort, basically all over the previously known Ciskei Bantustan which is in
the Eastern Cape. From this house emerged the first Premier of the Eastern Cape
who was one of the many who partook in the struggle during the apartheid era.
Raymond Mhlaba Ndobe was of the same generation as Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki
and Nelson Mandela. Thabo Mbeki described him as a giant who guided the
struggle people had to remove the shackles of oppression, poverty and
dehumanization and gain freedom.
Brief summary of the late R Ndobe’s life according to
Raymond Ndobe was born in 1920 in Mazoke Village in the
Eastern Cape. He attended school in Healdtown but did not finish due to
financial constraints which forced him to seek employment. He began to work for
a dry-cleaning factory in the early 1940’s. His experience at the factory made
him develop strong views about the labour struggles of that era.
He then joined the Communist Party of South Africa in the
late 1940’s and became secretary of the branch in Port Elizabeth which was
banned later in the year 1950. He retained leadership of the CPSA and ANC from
the year 1944 to the year 1950. He was arrested in Robin Island and later transferred to
Pollsmoor prison in 1986 and released in 1989 where he later joined the ANC
leadership. He joined the Special Executive committee of the ANC that negotiated
with the National Party government on the future of South Africa’s democracy.
In 1991 he was elected
as part of the National Executive committee of the ANC and in 1994 he became
the first Premier of the Eastern Cape.
Raymond Ndobe was a hero, and really managed to
uplift the Ndobe name and empower the Siwa, Ncikini, Mthwa legacy
The Ndobe
clan today
“United we stand divided we fall”
The Ndobe family believe in the saying that “unity is
strength” and that in order for success to prevail family needs to act as one.
The Ndobe clan has grown exponentially over the years; they have come to settle
sporadically all over southern Africa. This growth has caused a form of
dispersion of the clan; the dispersion causes the different Ndobe families to
connect with one another less and less. The disconnection becomes more
prominent in the younger generation. So with this being said the birth of a
Ndobe association came about, this association aimed at creating a network that
will promote unity and empowerment of the Ndobe clan. With these principles the
Ndobe clan let their association live by the mission statement;
“To uphold and sustain the unity and coherence of the
family and act in unison not only in times of happiness but also in overcoming
the challenges in life”.
The association has a few objectives:
1. Educational development
2. Business ventures
3. Burial society
Membership of this association is for all members that
bare the Ndobe name or the Ndobe clan name. Memberships are completely
voluntary and also extended to any children adopted by the Ndobe family. The
association is structured so that there is annual meeting which are held around
the regions in which Ndobe family are situated. This form of unity is based entirely
on unity and a family bond that can continue from generation to generation.
The generation of Ndobe clan thrive at ensuring their
legacy lives on, the Ndobe youth as well have their struggles but take pride in
their unity. Cousins refer to one another as brother and sisters. This is the
way in which they have been brought up. Of course there is the factor of
distance that may make relations and bonding between one another a lot more
tough but Ndobe people pride themselves in visiting one another and being
present in one another’s family functions, be it a ritual being performed, a
wedding, Christmas and funerals. This habit of visiting one another is
historical. Mshosholozi would walk all the way from Umzimkhulu to Matatiela to
visit his brothers and family members that had settled there.
The unity of the Ndobe people has leaded them to the
following achievements like the Ndobe burial fund that was constituted formerly
in 2006. This burial fund aims at assisting members of the family to meet
funeral costs especially those that cannot afford the privilege to do so. The
evolution of man is incredible
Achievements
Ndobe people are proud of their unity as a clan and
have made a significant contribution to the evolution of humanity. The evolution
from hunter gathers to modern society.
Ndobe people now have ownership of property, land and
live stock. They continue to secure their legacy through educating themselves
and each other. This transformation is well due to Education and Religion.
Today there are lawyers, doctors, prosecutors, teachers, accountants, business
leaders, politicians and other professions.
Conclusion
The Ndobe clan is large and their origin can be
complex, research shows that the most challenging part was to link the
historical origins of the Ndobe clan. This document is relatively raw data of
the Ndobe clan that is still work in progress. Their bloodline tracing them to
San people “abathwa” and the evidence of how they became dispersed and settled
in the Transkei requires a great analysis of the timeline so that one can draw
up a well informed conclusion but the following data can be analysed.
·
Ndobe people have the same lineage as San people so they are
the first inhabitants of the southern region of Africa.
·
Ndobe people are traced as far back as the 1800’s, when they
came to settle in the Transkei led by Chief Madzikane.
·
There can be debates whether the new settlers (Baca people)
absorbed the indigenous Bushmen, or displaced them which may conquer the
lineage of the Baca people or they found the Ndobe people having already
occupied the Transkei area.
Further research may be done to trace the evolution of
the Ndobe lineage. The Ndobe tribe has come full circle and the main focus of
the clan is unity. This goes all the way back to the one Bushmen “owehla
ngomthugulu” to find his own path, create his own kingdom and expand the Ndobe
legacy. The distribution of Ndobe people may have caused dispersal amongst the
Ndobe clan but they still remain knowing their identity. This is important
because when it comes to marriage and procreation in the Baca culture it is
heavily frowned upon to marry someone that you share the same last name with
and this includes clan names. To continue the Siwa legacy Ndobe people ensure
that they know their customs, tradition and most importantly they know one
another and their identity as a tribe.
This document is not by any way meant to elevate any
of the houses or branches at the expense of others. This research was meant to
collect, analyse and preserve our history for future generations. This document
is a living document that can be amended at anytime. The information provided has
proven to be useful to the clan and also individuals that would like to know
more about the Ndobe clan. If there are any errors or distortions, corrections
are more than welcomed as long as they are constructive. The errors and
distortions are in no means deliberate but instead may be due to lack of
information and knowledge that can be further improved.
“Ndobe, Siwa, Siqathi, Bhongweni,
Phungela, Ncikini, nina enehla ngomthungulu nashiya indlela zihleli, undibona
bone ndiphi na, ndikubonabone uza le kude, mthwa,sibasa ndleni singothi lutho,
nina enimnyama kodwa eninamazinyo amhlophe njengomsixhaka wendlovu”
