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Mashudu Netsianda

Senior Reporter
THE VaPfumbi of Beitbridge District in Matabeleland South are a unique and dynamic people who have managed to preserve their culture for generations. Although the world is becoming “one big village” through increased migration and globalisation induced by technological advancement, the VaPfumbi remain true to their ways.

The VaPfumbi cultural highlight is that their traditional leader, Chief Matibe, assumes chieftainship after the swallowing a stone called “Ngwedi”. The stone is only retrieved at the chief’s death by a special process of decomposing his body over a period of a year. The royal family members are active players in the rainmaking ceremony drawing their claim to that role from their totem – Nangwenani (Ngwenya). Nangwenani is VaPfumbi term for crocodile.

Lying on rugged terrain at the foot of the magnificent Malungudzi Mountains about 70KM east of Beitbridge town, is Chief Elish Matibe’s homestead. It is the royal home of the VaPfumbi clan.

Culture is a way of life which shapes and defines the identity of a community or society. The Chronicle recently visited the area in a bid to unravel the mysterious ways of the VaPfumbi whose rituals are largely shrouded in secrecy. Chief Matibe’s homestead is regarded as a sacred place by the VaPfumbi.

The incumbent Chief Matibe, 47, took over the reins of the VaPfumbi clan in 2011 following the death of his father Chichewo five years ago. “We are a unique and dynamic people who express their culture through practices and symbols that clearly distinguish us from other tribes,” he says. Chief Matibe said as part of the VaPfumbi culture, whenever a chief passes on his body is taken into a small oval hut known as pfamo. It is kept there for a year before his/her successor is chosen.

While in the hut, the body is placed on a wooden bed, which is supported by stilts and a round deep basin is then placed beneath it. “We then completely seal the hut with mud and cow dung and create an opening on the tip of roof top, which we call tshiludza through which we pour water onto the body. The remains will be collected into the bowl placed underneath,” he said.

Chief Matibe said members of the royal family take turns to visit the pfamo to water the remains of their departed leader. The ritual is conducted every week and it is the royal aunts who are vested with the powers to delegate such duties to family members. They do this until the one year period of mourning is up. Thereafter, a special ceremony to choose a successor is held. To choose a new leader, all of the chief’s children are paraded around the pfamo.

“One by one they are instructed to touch a specified section of the mud wall of the hut. Whoever touches the wall and pushes it to the ground automatically assumes the chieftainship. “What is, however, peculiar about our clan is that a chief is spiritually anointed by our ancestors unlike in other tribes where the eldest son automatically takes over following the death of his father,” said Chief Matibe.

Chief Matibe, who is Chichewo’s eldest son, assumed the chieftainship after beating 14 other aspirants during the ceremony, which was conducted at the homestead in May 2011. Soon after he was chosen, Chief Matibe was then locked in a hut where he was covered with a blanket. “I was locked up for the whole day. They covered me with a blanket and the meals were served there,” said Chief Matibe.

His father was buried at the foot of Malungudzi Mountains in Makote village, a year after his death in line with the dictates of the VaPfumbi culture. His remains were wrapped in a hide of a cow, which had been slaughtered for the occasion before the secret burial. A chief’s burial service is only attended by members of the royal family. Outsiders are not allowed at the shrine.

An age-worn smallish woman, with grey hair, joins the chief as he is still giving his interview. She walks with the aid of a walking stick. The elderly woman crouches in a manner that defines the traditional VaPfumbi way of greeting. Her wrinkled face exudes wisdom but her eyes looked dull and her voice is weak.

One would certainly be forgiven for mistaking the old woman for an ordinary person. This is Kuku Talufhala Mbedzi, the veteran kingmaker of the Chief Matibe clan. She is believed to be 105 years old although this could not be readily verified. Kuku Mbedzi who is known as Makhadzi, is a very influential and highly respected woman who plays a significant role in the royal family. She is the chief advisor, a “village library” and is also regarded as the “pillar of the clan.”

As a primary custodian of the VaPfumbi culture, Kuku Mbedzi commands great respect among Chief Matibe’s people. She is considered as the linking voice between the clan and its ancestors. “I’m the only surviving eldest aunt in the Matibe clan. My duty is to offer advice to the royal family particularly when it comes to cultural issues the chief consults me, or whenever there are major challenges within the family,” she said.

Kuku Mbedzi, whose still has a sharp memory despite her advanced age, said the Matibe clan crossed into Zimbabwe from Dzanani area in Limpopo Province, South Africa, formerly Venda, in the early 1880s fleeing the Anglo-Boer war in the then Transvaal.

She said her parents subsequently settled on the Malungudzi Mountains. Kuku Mbedzi said although the family later moved out of the Malungudzi Mountains, they decided to turn the place into their shrine where all their chiefs are buried. Born in a family of four, two boys and two girls, Kuku Mbedzi is the last born as well as the only surviving offspring of that family.

She explains how the Matibe clan passes on their chieftainship.

“One becomes chief through the swallowing of a stone called Ngwedi. The stone is found in the remains of the chief collected in the bowl. The first chief of the Matibe clan discovered the Ngwedi in a crocodile’s stomach, which he had killed and then swallowed it. Since that time it has been our tradition of passing on the stone from one chief to another throughout generations until today,” said Kuku Mbedzi. Once a successor is chosen he or she washes his or her body using the water from the bowl as some form of protection from evil. It is also a way of acquiring wisdom to rule.

There is also a strange beating drum, which symbolises the Matibe clan’s ancestral spirits. The magic drum, whose name is Nangwenani (crocodile), a term derived from their totem, is believed to have outlived at least four generations. The drum is well-respected as it defines the clan’s identity.

It is only played on special occasions such as during the burial of the chief or the rainmaking ceremony, which is usually conducted during the first two weeks of October.

The drum is strictly played by members of the inner circle of the Matibe family who are past child bearing age. It is played for two weeks after the burial of the chief before it is then transferred to the new chief’s homestead.

The family also meets every September to choose family members who are supposed to travel to the Njelele shrine in Matopo for the annual rainmaking ceremony. A local historian and author Pathisa Nyathi traces the VaPfumbi history more than 1,000 years back when they first arrived in Zimbabwe from Central Africa.

“My understanding is that the VaPfumbi belong to an older group, which arrived in Zimbabwe much earlier than the Shona and the Venda. They were, however, pushed to the peripheral eastern parts of the country in dry land by the incoming stronger Shona group, which is why you find them in the eastern parts of the country,” he said.

The Pfumbi language is a mixture of Shona and Venda and this is largely attributed to their links and common history with the two tribes.

“The Shona and Venda people are related and they have same origins and also share common traditions and cultural heritage such as stone architecture. I’m not referring to all Venda groups since they’re a heterogeneous tribe. In fact, there is an element of Venda and Shona within the VaPfumbi as they were neighbours with the two tribes. That is why you also find the VaPfumbi under Chief Maranda area of Mwenezi in Masvingo,” he said.

Nyathi said the Matibe clan settled in the Malungudzi hills in eastern Beitbridge district, home to the rain-making Mbedzi clan. “The Matibe clan is of the Chidzivahungwe (Ngwenya or Siziba) totem, which is a Shona group and the Mbedzi clan, which is now Venda, from which came the Pfumbi language.

“They have, however, since become part of the Shona society,” he said. The respected historian explains why the VaPfumbi culture is shrouded in secrecy. “It’s a way of safeguarding their tradition and I believe every group has a right to bar outsiders from accessing its culture. It should be noted that these are the same people who are associated with rain-making.

“First of all you should know that the VaPfumbi people are the Ngwenyas which means the crocodile is their totemic animal. It plays a very critical role in their chieftainship successions. The crocodile is a water animal that is chevronic.

“It is full of chevrons in almost every part of its body,” said Nyathi. He said in African terms chevrons symbolise continuity. The stone swallowed by the first chief, Nyathi explained, is a symbol of peace, unity of purpose and continuity.

“Sometime back the VaPfumbi obtained a stone from the stomach of a crocodile which they had killed. That symbolic stone represents succession, eternity and continuity. It is difficult to destroy that stone, which has over the years been retained. If you don’t qualify to be the next chief you will not be able to swallow the symbolic stone.

“But if you are the right candidate you will be able to swallow it. The stone will be retained in your body for the rest of your life,” he said. Professor Charles Nthambeleni Netshisaulu, a South African author and lecturer at the University of Venda (UNIVEN) described the VaPfumbi as a closely knit clan.

He corroborated Nyathi’s story that they have close links and share traditions and customs with the Venda people. “Their chieftainship is passed on through the swallowing of a stone. In South Africa, some Venda groups in Limpopo Province still practise that although the names of the stones vary here and there depending on the clan’s totem,” said Netshisaulu.