African Royalties : South Africa Royal Family

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January 23, 2020 No comments

One of this week's Monday crushes is His Majesty King Mositi Tsolo Lekokoto III, King of the Royal Bakoena Ba Tsolo Clan in South Africa.

Born Clement Magcai on June 21st 1975, in Johannesburg, South Africa to and descends from a long and great paternal lineage of royal ancestors & kings which includes the last kings HM King Lekokoto II, his oldest ruling son HM King Khiba II and his younger brother HRH Prince Mofolo.

Although the kingship was dormant and kingdom going underground, both his grandfather and father in their rightful place as heads of clans handle the issues until a new ruler was set to revive the kingship.

As first born son, His Majesty re-took and revived the kingship titles from his father around June 2015. In his words to me the king said "Our kingship is not new, it is but a resurrection of something ancient."

Reviving and reuniting the clan and its members that had been dispersed since the 19th century following the great war that killed the his 2nd and 3rd times great grand fathers and last kings that left the kingship dormant as been one of his goals since taking over.

Personal life: King Lekokoto III is a single man
A little history:

Like in many African monarchies and their histories, Our Royal ancestors used wars as a way to not just survive but to extend their kingdom's territories, resources and land which in most times led to the killing of the opposing kingdom's kings and entire families.

In the early 19th centuries, the Battle of Zastron(The Battle was one of the three wars fought by the Basotho people living in the area) took place where the Bakoena Ba Tsolo were at war with the Amahlubi kingdom to take over the Bakoena Ba Tsolo's land and areas of royal jurisdiction.

During the war, the last kings HM King Lekokoto II(also known as King Tsolo or Molibeli (Modibedi), his oldest ruling son HM King Khiba II and his younger brother HRH Prince Mofolo were brutally killed in the in battle in the Herschel District of the town of Sterkspruit, Zastron area of the Eastern Cape Province.

Following the deaths of the kings, the tribe became week leaving road for Lifaqane to take place occured. Lifaqane (in Sesotho or Mfecane in isiZulu) now recognised as the period of mass crushing, scattering, forced dispersal, forced migration was a period of widespread chaos and warfare among indigenous ethnic communities in southern Africa during the period between 1815 and about 1840.

This lead to the break up and formation of other clans now formally recognised

January 20, 2020 No comments

Another one of my Monday Crushes is His Majesty Kgosi Leruo Tsehekedi Molotlegi of the Royal Bafokeng Nation in South Africa

His Majesty was born in 1968 to His Majesty the late Kgosi Lebone I and Her Majesty Queen Mother Semelane Molotlegi. He is the third born of five kids with HM the late Kgosi Lebone II(born HRH Prince Mollwane) and HRH the late Prince Fosi Boemo Matale as senior siblings and Their Royal Highnesses Princess Motswana, Prince Bothata and Prince Mollwane as younger siblings.

Through his mother The Queen Mother, he is also a member of the Khama royal family of the Bamangwato people in Botswana, as his grandfather the Queen Mother's father Chief Tshekedi Khama was regent during the reign and exile of his nephew Sir Seretse Khama I(first president of Botswana and father to the 4th president of Ian Khama).

Photo rights: American Embassy, Pretoria, South Africa

He did and graduated from his secondary education at Hilton College in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. He holds a university degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from University of KwaZulu Natal and is also an alumnus of the North-West University in North-West province.

He is a keen sportsman and was awarded a Victor Ludorum Gold Medallion at Hilton. He is a fixed wing and rotorcraft pilot and has been appointed as an Honorary Colonel in the South African Air Force.

His Majesty became the 36th Kgosi and 15th member of the current dynasty in 2003 following the death of his father in 1995 and brother in 2000. His other brother Prince Fosi died in 1999. Following his brother's passing away in 2000, he was made regent.

For the ladies His Majesty is still single

Under his reign, he has created a sovereign fund(Royal Bafokeng Nation Holding) out of the royalties paid from the platinum mines found in the nation. Back in 1925, the world's largest deposits of platinum and other minerals were discovered on the nation's land. For every mining companies doing business in the nation, they pay royalties to the nation in exchange for the right to mine these metals.

The Holding(RBNH) entity is responsible for overseeing the growth and maintenance of the community’s income streams. Back in the 2010, His Majesty open the Holdings and its income to not just the royal family's benefits but to that of the entire Bafokeng nation.

This model has been considered to be Africa's most progressive community investment model and Africa's richest tribe, with total assets under management at about $6 billion.

Through the Holding, His Majesty has invested in various sectors and he himself recognises that the minerals which has bless the nation could run out and it was his father's, brother and his wish to make the RBN self sufficient socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable community true to its African heritage and traditions.

Amongst the many thing he has done through the Holding, was built the Royal Bafokeng Nation sports which oversees the sports sectors including building the stadium back in 2000 which hosted games during the FIFA 2010 World Cup South Africa. There is also the Royal Bafokeng Institute (RBI), whose goal is to oversee improvements in the education and learning sector by building the Lebone II - College of the Royal Bafokeng

January 20, 2020 No comments

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July 29, 2019 No comments

Great Wife or senior wife for(West African kingdoms) is the honorific title applied to royal and aristocratic born consorts in kingdoms and states throughout the continent.

Historically great wives have played a great role in ruling alongside her husband(king, emperor or pharoah), were in charge of their husband's harem, and served a variety of priestly functions.

We will begin with a few great wives from kingdoms I have written about here on the blog. As the writings grow, I will be including a few others post.

1) Her Royal Highness Giwan DanMaje Sadiya Sanusi of The Kano Emirate, in Nigeria. You can read more about her by click the link above.

2) Her Royal Highness Queen Tandiwe of Western Mpondo was born as Princess Jessica Tandiwe Zulu the daughter of HM King Solomon Zulu of the Zulu Kingdom. In 1943, she became the first wife of Inkosi Enkhulu Tutor Nyangelizwe Vulindlela Ndamase, the 5th Paramount Chief of Western Pondoland with whom they have 3 children.

3) HRH Princess Magogo Zulu of the Zulu Kingdom. Daughter to HM King Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo, sister to HM King Solomon Zulu. In 1926, she married HRH Chief Mathole Buthelezi, Chief of the Buthelezi Clan.

4) HRH Princess Feziwe Ndamase or Queen Nondwe of the Xhosa of Western Pondoland. She was the daughter of Inkosi Enkhulu Tutor Nyangelizwe Vulindlela Ndamase, the 5th Paramount Chief of Western Pondoland and Queen Tandiwe. In July 5th 1979, she married Inkosi Enkhulu Xolilizwe Mzikayise Sigcawu, 9th Paramount Chief of the Gcaleka tribe.

5) HRH Queen Mother Bhongolethu Dlamini of Western Pondoland. She is the granddaughter of His Majesty King Sobhuza II of Eswatini(Swaziland) through his son HRH Prince Makhungu Dlamini. She was married to chief Makaziwe Ndamase of Western Pondoland, who was the first son of nkosi Enkhulu Tutor Nyangelizwe Vulindlela Ndamase, the 5th Paramount Chief of Western Pondoland and Queen Tandiwe. She became regent following the death of her husband. Her son HM King Ndamase Ndamase is the current 6th Paramount chief.

6) HM Queen Mother Lombekiso Dlamini of Eastern Pondoland. She is daughter of HRH Prince Makhungu Dlamini (son of HM King Sobhuza II of Swaziland). She is also the sister to the current Queen Mother of Western Pondoland. She was married to HM the late King Justice Mpondombini Thandizulu Sigcau, Paramount Chief of Eastern Pondoland. Following the death of her husband she became Regent.

7) HM Queen Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu of the Zulu Kingdom: She is the daughter of HM the late King Sobhuza II of Swaziland. She is married to His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithwi of the Zulu Kingdom and is the 1st wife

To be continued

July 26, 2019 No comments

July 22, 2019 No comments

On the occasion of what will have been his 101th birthday, we will be honouring the memory of the man who together with his friends Oliver Tambo and many others fought against a governance of oppression in his homeland and inspired many others around the world to do the same.

Early life/Royal life:

Born to Chief Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa Mandela and his third wife Nosekeni Fanny of the Thembu royal family in Mvezo as Rolihlahla Mandela. From both parents' family tree, the young Mandela was of blue blood(royal blood). His siblings were Constance Mbekeni Mandela, Mabel Notancu Ntimakhwe

His father was a grandson of Inkosi Enkhulu Ngubengcuka who was the king of the Thembu people(Xhosa tribe). The house of Mandela originated from one of Inkosi Enkhulu's son with his many wives from the Ixhiba clan, the lesser or Left Hand House. Because Lxhiba clan was a cadet branch of the royal family, its descendants were morganatic, ineligible to inherit the throne but recognised as hereditary royal councillors.

Whereas his mother was the daughter of Nkedama of the Right Hand House and a member of the amaMpemvu clan of the Xhosa.

His father was made councillor to the monarch, then inherited the position of chief after the white/colonial government found his predecessor guilty of corruption.

Mandela once wrote in his memoire how he and his sisters were brought up dominated with Thembu traditions. His parents although they were illiterate and with a mother who was a devout christian sent him at age 7 to a Methodist school to begin his formal education and where he was christened and took the name of Nelson.

A few years later, his father who was then removed from the throne and sacked for corruption came to visit his third family in Qunu where he unfortunately died from an undiagnosed illness. With his father's passing, Madiba became chief councillor to the Thembu monarch.

Following his father's death, a young Mandela began his training to be privy councillor at the "Great Place" palace at Mqhekezweni, where he was entrusted by his mother to the guardianship of the Thembu regent, Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo.

Education:

In his training to become a privy councillor was a motivation for to continue his education. During his guardianship at the palace, he attended a Methodist mission school located next to the palace, where he studied English, Xhosa, history and geography.

He developed a love of African history. Like in most cultures to learn about your history is to listen to the tales told by elderly visitors to the palace which he did and was also influenced by the anti-imperialist rhetoric of a visiting chief, Joyi.

At the time he nevertheless considered the European colonialists not as oppressors but as benefactors who had brought education and other benefits to southern Africa.

He then left the palace to begin his secondary education at Clarkebury Methodist High School in Engcobo where he complete his 2 years of Junior Certificate and in 1937 moved to the Methodist college in Healdtown, Fort Beaufort. The college was attended by most of Thembu royalty.

With his guardian's backing, in 1939 Mandela began working on a BA degree at the University of Fort Hare, were he studied English, anthropology, politics, native administration, and Roman Dutch law in his first year, desiring to become an interpreter or clerk in the Native Affairs Department.[31]

During his stay at the Fort Hare, Mandela stayed in the Wesley House dormitory were he befriended his own kinsman, K. D. Matanzima, as well as Oliver Tambo, who became a close friend and comrade for decades to come.

Following an uncomfortable situation, where his guardian wanted the young man to marry by arranging a few marriages, Madiba and his cousin ran away to Johannesburg where he did menial jobs.

While he was in the big city he befriended realtor and ANC activist Walter Sisulu, who found him a clerkship job at the company he was working for. He met many other political activist at the workplace, attended a few political events but never engage in any politics preferring to lay his focus on his education by doing night BA correspondence classes at University of South Africa.

Earning a first degree there, following a return from his guardian's funeral (who in the late of 1941, Jongintaba visited Johannesburg where he forgave Mandela for running away) before returning to Thembuland, where he died in the winter of 1942. After passing his BA exams in early 1943, Mandela returned to Johannesburg, he chose to focus a political path as a lawyer rather than become a privy councillor in Thembuland.

He began studying law at the University of the Witwatersrand where face racism as he was the only black Africa student on campus.

Marriage life:

During his many visits to Sisulu's house, he met his first wife fellow ANC activist and trainee nurse name Evelyn Mase who originated from his region. They married on October 1944 and issue two children, Their first child a son, Madiba "Thembi" Thembekile, was born in February 1945 (died in July 13, 1969) and a daughter, Makaziwe, was born in 1947 but died of meningitis nine months later.

Because troublemaker is his name(Rohihlahla means trouble maker in Xhosa) and accordung to him, he inherited his father's "proud rebelliousness" and "stubborn sense of fairness", he was trouble/torn in the flesh or the apartheid government. Due to this he was arrested, found guilty and jailed atleast 3 times for a total of 38 years for his activism.

While his political life was growing, his family life was decreasing, his marriage life with Evelyn was estrange although a second daughter, Makaziwe Phumia, was born in May 1954, Evelyn accused him of adultery. Although not confirm by him but related by those close to him, a child may have been bore by one of his mistresses. The couple officially divorce on March 1958 with Evelyn having primary custody of the children.

While he was getting divorce, he met Winnie Madikizela a social worker who later became an ANC activist and they got married in June 1958. Together they have two children, HRH Princess Zenani Mandela-Dlamini born in February 1959, and Zindziswa, born in December 1960. Zenani is married to His Royal Highness Prince Thumbumuzi Dlamini (son to King Sobhuza II of Eswatini).

Although they divorced in March 1996. 2 years later Mandela married his third wife, Graça Machel, on his 80th birthday in July 1998 during his presidency.

After politics:

Although he retire from politics after serving one year a president, he didn't retire from public life as he went into social work, philanthropy and campaign for a better world by establishing the Nelson Mandela Foundation, founded in 1999 to focus on rural development, school construction, and combating HIV/AIDS.

He also met and welcome celebrities, royalties, and head of states/government at his home. He affiliated himself with many campaigns combating HIV/AIDS .

He also did many other things including inaugurating the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in 2002, the Mandela Rhodes Foundation which was created at Rhodes House, University of Oxford, to provide postgraduate scholarships to African students in 2003, Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory and the 46664 campaign against HIV/AIDS, he gave the closing address at the XIII International AIDS Conference in Durban in 2000, and in 2004, spoke at the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, calling for greater measures to tackle tuberculosis as well as HIV/AIDS. Mandela publicized AIDS as the cause of his son Makgatho's death in January 2005, to defy the stigma about discussing the disease.

Even with a failing health, he was still involve in diplomacy and international affairs. In 2005, he founded the Nelson Mandela Legacy Trust, he then traveled to the US to speak before the Brookings Institution and the NAACP on the need for economic assistance to Africa and for the first time met the then-Senator Barack Obama.

In 2004, he heavy campaign for South Africa to be the host of the 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP. He officially launch the game competition which was his last public appearance.

From 2011-2013, he first suffered from a respiratory infection which led to a brief hospitalization, after that he was re-admitted for a lung infection and gallstone removal in December 2012 which led to a successful medical procedure. In early March 2013, his lung infection recurred and he was briefly hospitalised in Pretoria. Few months later, In June 2013, his lung infection worsened and he was readmitted to a Pretoria hospital in serious condition.

On December 5th 2013, Mandela died from a prolonged respiratory infection, at the age of 95 at his home in Houghton, surrounded by his family.

Back to royal life:

After given up his right of Thembu leader nearly 70 years prior to fight white rule in South Africa, his son Makgatho Mandela's death in 2005, the head of the Mvezo Traditional Council was left empty. As the tribe did not discuss electing a member from the Mandela family until 2007, the clan ame to Mandela to reclaim his title, he suggested his grandson Zwelivelile "Mandla" Mandela assume the role.

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