Names of some of Bulawayo suburbs and how they came up.
BULAWAYO, Lobhengula chose this name because there was some opposition to him succeeding his father Mzilikazi. Two turbulent years passed before he was enthroned. It was so named to express Lobhengula's feelings that he was the one meant to be
killed (ngingobulawayo). It was common at that time to refer to Bulawayo as 'kobulawayo umtanenkosi.' Mbiko Masuku wanted Nkulumane to be King
instead of Lobhengula- his wife Zinkabi was sister to Nkulumane. Notwithstanding the name Bulawayo was also a historical name of a similar city in Zululand. Lobhengula first named it Gibixhegu when he settled ENyokeni. This was in reference to the death of Mzilikazi his father. Uku ‘giba ixhegu’ was to wash himself of the cloud of the late father’s death as it were. It was the opposition as staged by Mbiko’s Zwangendaba that inspired the new name of Bulawayo. The colonial and other historians have wanted to call it “the place of the killing” to justify the stereotyping of the residents as murderous. No! the suffix ‘-yo’ rather means or describes the person being killed.
MZILIKAZI named after the founding king of the Ndebele nation King Mzilikazi.
It is a reference legend would have it, to the events around his birth when his father had come from battle...elomzila wegazi!
MAKHOKHOBA, was derived from the actions of Mr Fallon a Native handler for the colonial masters (note I use handler and not administrator he was the Township Superintendant) who used to walk around with a stick. The name come from the pronoun ‘umakhokhoba” to describe the noise of the stick ‘ko-ko-ko’ made as he walked around.
BARBOURFIELDS was named after a Bulawayo mayor H R Barbour.
NGUBOYENJA was named after one of King Lobhengula's sons who was whisked out of Rhodesia by Cecil John Rhodes to give them western education in the Cape Province. It is said that when the mother of Nguboyenja could not conceive she was treated by the use of a dogs parts. This is a process common in Ndebele medical practice and it is known as ‘ukumiswa’ when such an operation is successful the child is named either after the Doctor or after the source of the medication. This is acknowledgement and statement of gratitude.
MATSHOBANA named after King Mzilikazi's father. Matshobana was the son of Mangethe.
SIZINDA was named after one of the Ndebele regimental villages called iSizinda, at one time iSizinda village was stationed where the present township is sited
IMINYELA the township built for men only was named after the tree species that abounds in the area.
MABUTHWENI sometimes referred to eZinkabini, there lived men who were not supposed to bring in their wives, frequent searches were carried out to flash out women. Amabutho refers to conscripted men, ready to be trained as soldiers during the heyday of the Ndebele State this was therefore a pun by the colonial masters to make the labour conditional movement of men while separating them from the women. Making the men work without women close by was a ploy to emasculating the men and create a subservient clture of the men they would frequently refer to as boys.
NJUBE was named after one of the royal sons of Lobhengula, Njube was the first to be born after Lobhengula had become king. He alongside Nguboyenja were taken to Lovedale institute in the Eastern Cape by Rhodes in order that there be no rallying point in Matabeleland that could lead to the resuscitation of the Ndebele state. Lovedale institute was the precursor to the current Fort Hare University and it is likely that they would have been in the same classes with the great song writers of the early Christian Hyms and poems like Enoch Sontonga (author of Nkosi Sikelela iAfrika), Tiyo Soga (author of the Xhosa Hymn Lizalise idinga lakho) as well as Jordan and many other poets that have made the Nguni Language and Culture grow.
MPOPOMA was a favourite of many residents in Bulawayo, it provided a long term lease and accomodated lodgers. Mpophoma in isiNdebele refers to a waterfall. The name is derived from a stream further west which flowed towards the Khami river and the stream in question had a waterfall. It was in these surburbs that the activities of the Youth League and Trade Union Movement bare root.
PUMULA was built further west and its name captured the ongoing struggles to gain longer and more secure housing tenure for Africans in Bulawayo since the Rhodesian laws stipulated that town belonged to whites and Africans were to live in reserves hence Africans had to rest and phumula from the struggles.
PHELANDABA became the name that immortalised the struggles for more secure tenure. The matter (of the struggle) is over, indaba iphelile. Phelandaba became a prestigious township where big names lived, Joshua Nkomo had a house there. This township was meant to house a class of blacks that needed to be differentiated from the rest. It housed many of the liberation stalwarts some of whom now lie interred at the National Heroes’ Acre and are revered as icons of the struggle for Zimbabwe’s independence.
MAGWEGWE, this suburb was named after King Lobhengula's senior induna, Magwegwe Fuyana. When King Lobhengula fled north under attack from Cecil Rhodes' forces, Magwegwe was killed in place of the king and his remains, disguised as those of King Lobhengula, were interred in a cave in Chief Pashu’s area in Binga.
LOBHENGULA was named after the last Ndebele monarch, the very king who gave the name koBulawayo.
ENTUMBANE comes from King Mzilikazi's burial place, a small hill off the old Gwanda road.
EMAKHANDENI is a name that derives from one of the four generative villages at the time of king Mzilikazi. It was the third to be established following the integration of the Dlodlo clan led by Mehlomakhulu okaLinganisakubaqedabafo, uMpangazitha into the Ndebele group as it left kwaZulu. UMzilikazi wayengakoniwa at this time. These beHlubi were earlier migrants across the Drakensburg. The regiment was then called amaKhanda. When they left koMkhwahla the place where Mzilikazi was made King this was now a trusted regiment. A number of companies were part of aMakhanda that is,
iNzwananzi, iNxa, iNdinana, iNsinda and iNsingo. Amakhanda was also the place where amabutho were undergoing millitary training. It was from amaKhanda that iGabha likamaQhekeni Sithole was formed. Not a tin but an annexure ngoba iNkosi isitshelwe nguMpangazitha ukuthi abantu sebengigabhele...they have increased. Emakhandeni is where Fort Rixon currently is. It was where the Wives and princesses of the King were kept ngoba kuyisiphika seNkosi...the King's epaulettes so to speak. Further it should not surprise the reader that when the archeologists came to the area they also discovered the Danangombe ancient stone structures and because they were close to the Dlodlo people of Msindazi the ruins were then called and registered as the Dhlodhlo Ruins as we know them now.
NKULUMANE, the name derives from Nkulumane, King Mzilikazi's heir apparent, Nkulumane was born during the visit of Dr Robert Moffart. By then King Mzilikazi
was then resident at Mhlahlandlela where Pretoria stands today. Dr Moffat was coming from Kuruman but that name was corrupted by the Ndebele to Nkulumane.
EMGANWINI, the name derived from aa tree found in the vicinity. The marula tree is called umganu in isiNdebele hence place name given in locative form. The last tree where traders and missionaries from the south usually stopped and outspanned their wagon.
TSHABALALA was the surname of King Lobhengula's mother a woman of Swazi extraction Fulatha (ngoba wazalwa efulathele) Tshabalala. This was also a reason
to bar Lobhengula from succeeding his father that Fulatha his mother was not a pure Nguni. After ascending the throne, Lobhengula rightly treated his mother as the queen-mother.
FAMONA was named after one of Lobhengula's daughters Mfamona but the name was corrupted to Famona.
MAHATSHULA bears the name of a senior member of the Ndebele royal circle, Mahatshula Ndiweni who lived in the Nhlambabaloyi village. Mahatshula is a name that also shows the Ndebele medical science at work. Wazalwa kumbe wamiswa ngoku ‘habula’ … ‘wahatshulwa’ The presence of a large number of the Ndiweni clan in the Ndebele state is significant. This is because of their close relatedness to the founders of the Ndebele State. This points to Cikose as the mother of Mzilikazi. This also resonates with the song the Khumalo sing “…Enkulu eyabekwa ngaMangwe..” aMangwe are the Ndiwenis who are also praised as “…osisu esihle esalalwa yinkosi!”
instead of Lobhengula- his wife Zinkabi was sister to Nkulumane. Notwithstanding the name Bulawayo was also a historical name of a similar city in Zululand. Lobhengula first named it Gibixhegu when he settled ENyokeni. This was in reference to the death of Mzilikazi his father. Uku ‘giba ixhegu’ was to wash himself of the cloud of the late father’s death as it were. It was the opposition as staged by Mbiko’s Zwangendaba that inspired the new name of Bulawayo. The colonial and other historians have wanted to call it “the place of the killing” to justify the stereotyping of the residents as murderous. No! the suffix ‘-yo’ rather means or describes the person being killed.
MZILIKAZI named after the founding king of the Ndebele nation King Mzilikazi.
It is a reference legend would have it, to the events around his birth when his father had come from battle...elomzila wegazi!
MAKHOKHOBA, was derived from the actions of Mr Fallon a Native handler for the colonial masters (note I use handler and not administrator he was the Township Superintendant) who used to walk around with a stick. The name come from the pronoun ‘umakhokhoba” to describe the noise of the stick ‘ko-ko-ko’ made as he walked around.
BARBOURFIELDS was named after a Bulawayo mayor H R Barbour.
NGUBOYENJA was named after one of King Lobhengula's sons who was whisked out of Rhodesia by Cecil John Rhodes to give them western education in the Cape Province. It is said that when the mother of Nguboyenja could not conceive she was treated by the use of a dogs parts. This is a process common in Ndebele medical practice and it is known as ‘ukumiswa’ when such an operation is successful the child is named either after the Doctor or after the source of the medication. This is acknowledgement and statement of gratitude.
MATSHOBANA named after King Mzilikazi's father. Matshobana was the son of Mangethe.
SIZINDA was named after one of the Ndebele regimental villages called iSizinda, at one time iSizinda village was stationed where the present township is sited
IMINYELA the township built for men only was named after the tree species that abounds in the area.
MABUTHWENI sometimes referred to eZinkabini, there lived men who were not supposed to bring in their wives, frequent searches were carried out to flash out women. Amabutho refers to conscripted men, ready to be trained as soldiers during the heyday of the Ndebele State this was therefore a pun by the colonial masters to make the labour conditional movement of men while separating them from the women. Making the men work without women close by was a ploy to emasculating the men and create a subservient clture of the men they would frequently refer to as boys.
NJUBE was named after one of the royal sons of Lobhengula, Njube was the first to be born after Lobhengula had become king. He alongside Nguboyenja were taken to Lovedale institute in the Eastern Cape by Rhodes in order that there be no rallying point in Matabeleland that could lead to the resuscitation of the Ndebele state. Lovedale institute was the precursor to the current Fort Hare University and it is likely that they would have been in the same classes with the great song writers of the early Christian Hyms and poems like Enoch Sontonga (author of Nkosi Sikelela iAfrika), Tiyo Soga (author of the Xhosa Hymn Lizalise idinga lakho) as well as Jordan and many other poets that have made the Nguni Language and Culture grow.
MPOPOMA was a favourite of many residents in Bulawayo, it provided a long term lease and accomodated lodgers. Mpophoma in isiNdebele refers to a waterfall. The name is derived from a stream further west which flowed towards the Khami river and the stream in question had a waterfall. It was in these surburbs that the activities of the Youth League and Trade Union Movement bare root.
PUMULA was built further west and its name captured the ongoing struggles to gain longer and more secure housing tenure for Africans in Bulawayo since the Rhodesian laws stipulated that town belonged to whites and Africans were to live in reserves hence Africans had to rest and phumula from the struggles.
PHELANDABA became the name that immortalised the struggles for more secure tenure. The matter (of the struggle) is over, indaba iphelile. Phelandaba became a prestigious township where big names lived, Joshua Nkomo had a house there. This township was meant to house a class of blacks that needed to be differentiated from the rest. It housed many of the liberation stalwarts some of whom now lie interred at the National Heroes’ Acre and are revered as icons of the struggle for Zimbabwe’s independence.
MAGWEGWE, this suburb was named after King Lobhengula's senior induna, Magwegwe Fuyana. When King Lobhengula fled north under attack from Cecil Rhodes' forces, Magwegwe was killed in place of the king and his remains, disguised as those of King Lobhengula, were interred in a cave in Chief Pashu’s area in Binga.
LOBHENGULA was named after the last Ndebele monarch, the very king who gave the name koBulawayo.
ENTUMBANE comes from King Mzilikazi's burial place, a small hill off the old Gwanda road.
EMAKHANDENI is a name that derives from one of the four generative villages at the time of king Mzilikazi. It was the third to be established following the integration of the Dlodlo clan led by Mehlomakhulu okaLinganisakubaqedabafo, uMpangazitha into the Ndebele group as it left kwaZulu. UMzilikazi wayengakoniwa at this time. These beHlubi were earlier migrants across the Drakensburg. The regiment was then called amaKhanda. When they left koMkhwahla the place where Mzilikazi was made King this was now a trusted regiment. A number of companies were part of aMakhanda that is,
iNzwananzi, iNxa, iNdinana, iNsinda and iNsingo. Amakhanda was also the place where amabutho were undergoing millitary training. It was from amaKhanda that iGabha likamaQhekeni Sithole was formed. Not a tin but an annexure ngoba iNkosi isitshelwe nguMpangazitha ukuthi abantu sebengigabhele...they have increased. Emakhandeni is where Fort Rixon currently is. It was where the Wives and princesses of the King were kept ngoba kuyisiphika seNkosi...the King's epaulettes so to speak. Further it should not surprise the reader that when the archeologists came to the area they also discovered the Danangombe ancient stone structures and because they were close to the Dlodlo people of Msindazi the ruins were then called and registered as the Dhlodhlo Ruins as we know them now.
NKULUMANE, the name derives from Nkulumane, King Mzilikazi's heir apparent, Nkulumane was born during the visit of Dr Robert Moffart. By then King Mzilikazi
was then resident at Mhlahlandlela where Pretoria stands today. Dr Moffat was coming from Kuruman but that name was corrupted by the Ndebele to Nkulumane.
EMGANWINI, the name derived from aa tree found in the vicinity. The marula tree is called umganu in isiNdebele hence place name given in locative form. The last tree where traders and missionaries from the south usually stopped and outspanned their wagon.
TSHABALALA was the surname of King Lobhengula's mother a woman of Swazi extraction Fulatha (ngoba wazalwa efulathele) Tshabalala. This was also a reason
to bar Lobhengula from succeeding his father that Fulatha his mother was not a pure Nguni. After ascending the throne, Lobhengula rightly treated his mother as the queen-mother.
FAMONA was named after one of Lobhengula's daughters Mfamona but the name was corrupted to Famona.
MAHATSHULA bears the name of a senior member of the Ndebele royal circle, Mahatshula Ndiweni who lived in the Nhlambabaloyi village. Mahatshula is a name that also shows the Ndebele medical science at work. Wazalwa kumbe wamiswa ngoku ‘habula’ … ‘wahatshulwa’ The presence of a large number of the Ndiweni clan in the Ndebele state is significant. This is because of their close relatedness to the founders of the Ndebele State. This points to Cikose as the mother of Mzilikazi. This also resonates with the song the Khumalo sing “…Enkulu eyabekwa ngaMangwe..” aMangwe are the Ndiwenis who are also praised as “…osisu esihle esalalwa yinkosi!”
KHUMALO was named after the Royal Clan of the Ndebele
LUVEVE named after one of the native handlers. Luveve was the harsh survivor of the first wars.
MALINDELA was Lobhengula's maternal grandmother, Fulatha Tshabalala's mother.
NKETA at some point in the census or restructuring of the Ndebele state the people had to be counted and there was a separation of the people by ethnic origin. Kwakhethwa kwehlukaniswa abetshabi and this was called iNkethabetshabi shortened to Nketha
The above is heritage notes and work in progress and in no ways finalized. This was edited by PB Damasane.
NKETA at some point in the census or restructuring of the Ndebele state the people had to be counted and there was a separation of the people by ethnic origin. Kwakhethwa kwehlukaniswa abetshabi and this was called iNkethabetshabi shortened to Nketha
The above is heritage notes and work in progress and in no ways finalized. This was edited by PB Damasane.
3 comments:
Ukukhokoba refers to elderly person bent forward walking posture and not the sound made by the walking stick; O my my!!! where did you get that one about Nguboyenja named after dog part medication?
Well done!This is fantastic. I love Zim history it's a shame I never got to write my o'levels. I was getting As then had to come here and learn about Nazis. African history is so much richer and fuller. Well done. Thank you so much for this. My children will now learn about their heritage
Have always taken these names for granted,but am glad for they now have meaning to me
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