The Land and the People

The early inhabitants

Red ochre mines at Dumaneni, 6km south of Malelane, and at Lion Cavern, a site in the Ngwenya mountains, are some of the oldest mining sites in the world which attest to the early presence of man in Mpumalanga, some 46 000 years ago. The red ochre - ludvamane in siSwati, which means 'four times the sound of thunder' - emphasises the importance of this mineral to early African civilisations. Chiefs and diviners, who covered their bodies with a mixture of this deep red mineral and animal fats in order to endow themselves with power, used ochre.

Later, San (Bushmen) used ochre both to decorate their bodies and in the manufacture of pigments. Examples of San rock art can be found throughout the province, marking the passage of these hunter-gatherers. Early indications of the presence of the species Australopithecus and Homo erectus take us back to the dawn of time, placing Mpumalanga in the cradle of the emergence of civilisation in Africa.

In more recent times, archaeologists have unearthed evidence from the Late Stone Age, ornaments, tools, arrowheads and pottery.

In about 1400AD, came the massive southern migration of tribes from the north, who brought with them vast herds of cattle as well as techniques for iron smelting. These tribes built sophisticated stonewalled villages, and established a culture that survives to this day.

Finally, the European settlers came, invading the province from the east and west, bringing an entirely different culture - a culture that demanded the exploitation of the land and its resources that led to conflict and war.

The Ndebele
The Ndebele people of north west Mpumalanga now live in the area around Dennilton where, after a century of struggle, they were granted land on which to re-establish their people, who had been scattered throughout S Africa by war and restrictive legislation. The history of these people has been one of hardship and turmoil as successive waves of foreigners invaded their historic homeland.

The Ndebele are a Nguni people. During the third and fourth centuries they migrated to the Zebedelia and Pretoria areas in a series of migrations, and it was in this region that they established their tribal lands during the mid-17th century.

When Zulu chief Mzilikazi was driven out of Zululand by Shaka, he decimated both the Ndzundza and Manala clans of the Ndebele as he passed through the area on his way to establish a kingdom at Bulawayo in southern Zimbabwe. The Ndzundza clan regrouped under their chief, Mabhoka, near the Mapoch Caves in the Roossenekal district.

During the early 1840's an increasing number of Boer farmers arrived to settle the area, which, in turn led to strife and conflict with the Ndebele. Chief Mabhoka was a dynamic leader who was determined to defend both his rights and his lands.

When the Boers refused to vacate his tribal lands and return to their former position south of the Vaal River, armed conflict ensued.

The Ndebele were hounded by both Boer farmers and their northern neighbours, the Pedi, in a low level war that lasted until 1882. That they survived is a credit to their leaders, who constantly displayed remarkable qualities and skills in almost impossible circumstances.

When the Pedi chief, Sekhukhune, was murdered in 1882 the balance of power in the region changed and the Boers turned on Nyabela, then chief of the Ndebele, to prevent him from staging an uprising. The Boers declared war on Nyabela on 7th November 1882. In the ensuing conflict the Boers laid siege to the Ndebele at the Mapoch Caves where the Ndebele forces had set up defensive positions.

The bitter siege lasted eight months, during which time the Boers used every tactic possible to defeat the Ndebele, including the use of dynamite, to cut off their source of supplies. The Boer forces were finally able to enforce the surrender of Nyabela, who was sentenced to life imprisonment. His men were dispersed and forced to live in groups as indentured labourers on the surrounding farms.

The plight of the Ndebele, now scattered over a wide area, came to the attention of the authorities in 1965 through a number of organisations which had been established to fight for the tribe's unification. Simon Skosana and KM Mtsweni, both leaders of the Ndebele worked tirelessly to bring together the chiefs and headmen under a common banner. They were rewarded in 1972 when the Dennilton area was declared an Ndebele homeland.

In 1986, however, further trouble ensued when the supporters of SS Skosana clashed with those of the Royal House led by Prince James Mahlangu. The prince emerged as the leader in subsequent elections. The KwaNdebele government was later disbanded after the national elections of 1994, when the area was officially re-incorporated into the province of Mpumalanga and into S Africa.

Today a bronze sculpture of the Ndebele leader Nyabela stands outside the Mapoch Caves, to remind the descendants of this brave and proud people of their turbulent past.

The Swazi
The Swazi people can trace their origins to a region in Kenya on the slopes of Mount Kenya, some 140km north of Nairobi. They arrived in Southern Africa under their chief, Dlamini, and settled initially near Maputo. The tribe then moved southwards to the Pongola River and later still into present day Swaziland where it developed its Swazi identity under King Sobhuza! (1815 - 1836) and later his son, King Mswati II. The latter was credited with uniting the many clans into one nation. Mswati II also set out to enlarge his empire by attacking his northern neighbours to as far north as Venda and the Limpopo River.

King Mswati was a cruel and determined leader, whose army was greatly feared. However, in one engagement, his army attacked the Pulana clan in the valleys of the Blyde River Canyon. The Pulana succeeded in defeating the Swazis by hurling rocks down on them from the cliffs above. The survivors of this battle, fearing reprisals if the returned to their king, settled to the north of Swaziland in small pockets, where the same families live to this day.

Mswati II died at the royal village at Hhohho in July 1865, and is buried at Mbilaneni alongside his father and grandfather. The kingship of the nation passed to a succession of short-lived appointments, until the infant Nkhotfotjeni was appointed heir to the throne. On his inauguration he took the title King Sobhuza II. He reigned for 60 years between 1921 and 1982 and was succeeded by his son Mswati III.

Today the Swazi people of Mpumalanga retain many cultural and language links with the people of Swaziland, and cross the borders freely to attend family and social gatherings.

The Shangane
Manukosi Shoshangane Nxumalo, a fighting general in Zwide's Ndwandwe army, was defeated by Shaka's army in Zululand and driven north of the Inkomati River, where he established a new kingdom in the Gaza Province of Mozambique. Over the years his empire grew through alliances with local chiefs and through war, until it extended to as far north as the Zambezi River.

When Shoshangane died in 1856 he was succeeded by one of his two sons, Mawewe. The new king, in turn, fell victim to inter-family fighting and was deposed by his brother Mzila. Years of fighting throughout the region then weakened the Shangane Empire, and in the absence of strong leadership the clans scattered through a wide area of Mpumalanga, the Northern Province and Mozambique.

Today the Shangane nation is once again well defined stretching from south of Bushbuck ridge into the Northern Province, and eastwards into Mozambique.

The Pedi
The Pedi, who occupy the land across the northern border of Mpumalanga in the Northern Province, have had a strong influence on the history and development of the Mpumalanga through the years.

Many of their leaders have contributed meaningfully to the development of the province, and are set to continue to do so in the new S Africa.

The Europeans and Asians
Mpumalanga today is made up of truly diverse mix of nations, the product of a pioneering history that attracted armies, adventurers and travellers from all corners of the world. They came to farm the land, to prospect for minerals, to hunt big game, or as businessmen to trade and prosper from the many economic opportunities that arose as the region developed. Others arrived from Europe to lay the railway from Maputo to Pretoria.

Today the names of the descendants of these pioneers are often remembered in the names of town mountains and rivers across the province.

Asiatic people
Scientists have discovered evidence that clearly suggests the presence of Asiatic people who lived and mined in several regions of Mpumalanga. Stone terraced walls, religious icons and gravesites point to the presence of Hindu believers. These people landed at the mouth of the Komati River, travelled inland to the Mpumalanga middleveld to Badplaas, Lydenburg and the Steenkampsberg mountains where they established cultural and residential centres. The name Komati is the same name as the name of a well-known Indian trading tribe, while the Nguni and Swahili word for cattle Ngombe is also the word for horned cattle in the same Indian language. A number of Swazi cultural event are celebrated at the same time as Hindu ceremonies suggestion an historical association. Historians and archaeologists are working to date the presence of these people more precisely.