Profile of Mthwakazi Kingdom
Ubuntu represents the very CORE values of the Matebele, the Ndebele nation. Ubuntu is our way of life at individual as well as at societal/national level. Ubuntu embodies the Principles that we, the AmaNdebele live by. Ubuntu to us is the STANDARD that measures all things in the Kingdom, both at individual as well as at kingdom level. Every trait of character, every behaviour, every thought processed, every action, every word uttered, every attitude, every new development, is measured by the standard and the values of UBUNTU; thus, ulobuntu kumbe awulabuntu; ungumuntu kumbe akulamuntu; isintu kasivumi kumbe yiso isintu lesi (you either have Ubuntu or you don’t). So, to us, Ubuntu is not only what we have but who we are. Our Judiciary system is very much based on Ubuntu. Our judgements therefore cannot be based on mere facts alone because in the final analysis we must be seen to have honestly evaluated Ubuntu in the whole behaviour of the accused. Our goal is to promote and build Ubuntu which is character building more than just punishing a wrong done. Because these values are ingrained into every member of our society, every adult can easily evaluate any behaviour by this standard. Our law is neither the English nor the Roman Dutch law, it is the Natural Law. Ubuntu permeates every part of our lives and answers to what, why, how and when of the nation. What we do or say is just as important to us as how we do or say it. Our orderliness, our cleanliness, our integrity, our bravery, our discipline, and the truthfulness of our word, are all products of our lifestyle of Ubuntu. Building a nation with as many different people groups as did King Mzilikazi of old is no small feat, especially when you consider that every group came with their own religious systems and a “god”/spirit they reverenced. However, it was possible to achieve total cohesion, national identity, character and unity not through the spear, but through UBUNTU. Without Ubuntu, Mthwakazi cannot stand as a nation, without Ubuntu we have no contribution to make to humanity. As Mthwakazi, we are as always, ready to embrace anyone from any part of the globe regardless of colour, tribe or creed, but our cardinal standard is UBUNTU.
The good question now to ask is what then is UBUNTU? As stated earlier, Ubuntu represents a set of
values and principles that are ingrained in us as Mthwakazi, amaNdebele which we live by. These values and principles rest on three main fundamentals. The first one is: Reverence and honour to the Most High, the second one is: Love to your fellowmen as to yourself and the last one is: welcoming strangers who have come into your midst. Wealth, education, fame, beauty, colour, without Ubuntu accounts for nothing in our society, it is all despised. What we value the most is Ubuntu and everything else can only be added to it. Let us briefly deal with these three points individually:
As Mthwakazi/Matebele we reverence an Unseen Being as our Eternal Father. We refer to Him as uNkulunkulu (Most High), Mvelinqangi (Self Sustaining), uMdali (Creator), Somandla (All Powerful); He is also the Life Giver, the Supreme Judge and He knows all our affairs past, present and future, and is the final Authority in all things. We do not necessarily hold worship services in His honour, neither do we perform religious rites on His behalf because we are too small to do that. This is done via our ancestors who, it is believed represent us well to Him. As for us we simply reverence and honour His Presence; any element of disrespect to Him is considered extremely out of line and unheard of (kuyazila). UNkulunkulu, the Most High is not a “foreign God” to us, He is neither Jewish nor European to us; all we hold is that; we all belong to Him and He belongs to all of us. We are honest even in secret because we know He is there always. King Mzilikazi’s faith as recorded by Moffat was based on his spiritual knowledge of and spiritual relationship with this Most High Being as a Father. The Most High is known for His justice and His faithfulness and is seen by His power.
Love is the only virtue that has all the noble
elements like respect, kindness, patience, humility, selflessness, etc. Ubuntu demands that love, with all its components, be naturally our life principle. In Mthwakazi Kingdom it is a norm to treat other people’s children, possessions, etc with all love, respect and care just as we would do our own. Love has given us not just tolerance for others, but full acceptance without discrimination on the grounds of colour, language or religion. Loving your fellowmen and welcoming strangers are considered to be the only service we can give to uNkulunkulu (our Unseen Father). We believe that every person belongs to Him therefore what we do for other people we do for His sake. He is believed to be seeing us from above and then blesses us accordingly. It is these two points that the “would be our colonisers” exploited as weaknesses because these go with mutual trust.
In Mthwakazi, as stated above, welcoming strangers is a virtuous act that is believed to carry blessings with it. On the other hand, shunning strangers is believed to carry a curse from the Most High.
Now a lot is said about King Mzilikazi’s friendship with Robert Moffat the missionary. What touched the King’s heart towards the young missionary was that, in their first encounter Moffat displayed all the three fundamentals of Ubuntu, at least outwardly. He had welcomed the King’s envoys and was very hospitable to these total strangers from a king he had never met. In so doing, he gave his love to his fellowmen without discrimination and this impressed the King. Moffat reverenced the Most High and he set himself as a teacher on the subject of the Most High. All this was more than enough to convince the King into trusting the missionary. He even gave Moffat the honour to teach him more about the Most High. The only message that Moffat was to deliver to the King was the “Good News” of salvation through the Messiah sent by the Most High (UNkulunkulu) and the demonstration of the power of the Name of the Messiah. As for the Most High the King already enjoyed a faith relationship with Him that did not come or survive by weekly sermonizing. However as we know now, Moffat was a fake. He did not have Ubuntu and by our standard of Ubuntu, he was a liar and a traitor and therefore a worthless human being. What he was writing in his journals and memoirs and the speeches he was delivering to his people back in the United Kingdom contain the very opposite of what he said and showed to the King even to a point of being derogatory and very insulting. Moffat was busy creating a platform for war, he was preparing a mind-set that would latter justify an unprovoked attack on the Matebele by the British. In our society, lying is low life; liars are very much despised in our system of Ubuntu.
Finally, to us, UBUNTU has been very much our Supreme Religion. The values of Ubuntu are to us the values of UNkulunkulu and as we live by these principles, we understand that we are living by His commandments. In turn, UNkulunkulu protects, guides, sustains and blesses us; the Kingdom of Heaven was not part of the deal. Our kingship has successfully integrated and peacefully reigned over tribes with superior numbers and others with immensely powerful spirit mediums and shrines and yet we had neither. We have fought wars against nations with superior weaponry (machine guns versus assegais) and prevailed and not just once. Ubuntu has kept us together as Mthwakazi for more than a century and a quarter despite all forms of incessant attacks from all directions on this defenceless nation aimed at completely erasing us from existence. Our Protector is UNkulunkulu and if we remain true to UBUNTU, we are forever safe. Our trust is in UNkulunkulu and our obligation is UBUNTU. Thomas Morgan Thomas observes that, “There are much more favourable traits in the Matabele character; among these is their wonderful power of being content in whatever circumstances they might be placed, that is very prominent. They can always dance, sing, and praise; nor does danger, hard work, nor want seem to lessen their roars of laughter nor prevent their playing. Thomas Morgan Thomas further observes that: “… the Matabele are far from being a quarrelsome hasty people; but once angry seem to have no control over themselves.”
This characteristic is not baseless. It is born out of the realisation that; because we have remained
truthful in the main to the principles of UBUNTU, we therefore hold onto this blessed hope that UNkulunkulu is faithful and will definitely come through for us as He has done so in the past. To us
UBUNTU is not just a Matebele thing, it is a humanity thing and is universal; hence we measure our world and everything and everyone who comes into it by this standard.
Perhaps the fourth principles to be added on the above is Hard work. In our society, an industrious person is revered while a lazy idle person is despised. This is seen in our many idioms that speak harshly against laziness like:
Ayisibuvila yinyoka, Ayisibuvila wehluleka lokuzenwaya, imbila yaswela umsila ngokulayezela, etc
Work responsibility is what the Creator gave to Adam even before He gave him Eve.