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News - Date: 04 March 2013
A movement is afoot to restore the status of Tsonga traditional leaders.
In the keynote address at the celebrations of the Vanhlanganu at Bushbuckridge last Saturday, Mr Risimati Wilson Mkhari gave an overview of the history of the Tsonga tribes in South Africa and called on all Tsonga traditional leaders to stand together as one.
He said: “We all know the developments in our country where the status of many of our leaders was reduced. Many of us who were kings have been reduced to chiefs and those who were chiefs reduced to headmen and labelled as so-called 'independent headmen'.”
He appealed to the commission of traditional leadership disputes and claims to restore the majority of the chiefs who have filed claims with them.
He said the Nhlanganu tribe could be one of the earliest Tsonga tribes. “It is estimated that the Tsonga people were here in southern Africa before 1400. Many other tribes that we currently have in South Africa came after 1400.”
He challenged the suggestion that the Tsonga are relatively recent entrants in South Africa and said the Tsonga were in fact among the very first ethnic groups to settle in this part of the world. He said historical records suggest that when many of the so-called Nguni people arrived from central Africa, the Tsonga Nhlanganu tribesmen were already here. “We had a large country, stretching from the Olifants River in the north, up to the east coast, including the present-day Swaziland and many areas in the Maputo Province in Mozambique and KwaZulu-Natal.”
“We, the Nhlanganu, have produced many tribes in Southern Africa, yet our history and culture are often underestimated. That’s why many of you may not know that the Mkhari are part of the Nhlanganu and that the Vanhlanganu are not only those based in Mpumalanga today. Many other tribes that originated from here are now found in Mozambique, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo,” said Mkhari.
Frans van der Merwe is a freelance journalist with more than 40 years experience in the newspaper industry. Apart from newspaper reporting, he was also involved with radio news, news reading, training and marketing. He has been living and working in Louis Trichardt since 1991.
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