travelling & touring:with Burzil Dube
IN ONE of the previous articles, yours truly briefly touched on how a certain spirit medium by the name of Mukwati gave the early colonial settlers a torrid time during the Ndebele/Shona uprising.
These disturbances, which were later popularly known as First Chimurenga, originally started in Matabeleland around 1896 and spread to some parts of Mashonaland the following year.
However, without delving much into the nitty-gritties of the whole uprising, it is widely known by most Zimbabwe history students that a spirit medium by the name of Mukwati played a prominent role in these two uprisings.
This name today is largely synonymous with Mukwati Building, a huge 21-storey edifice, situated in Harare where some government offices are located.
Some of the ministries which are housed in this 70-metre-high skyscraper are Industry and Commerce ministry, Salaries Services Bureau and Transport ministry, among others.
Mukwati or Mukwansa is reported to be the Tonga word for son-in-law and who despite being a spirit medium was also said to have been a Tonga paramount chief.
He is reported to have played a pivotal role during the early black nationalist uprising together with the likes of Sekuru Kaguvi, Mbuya Nehanda and Mapondera, among others.
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Yours truly was of the opinion that Mukwati never set foot in Matabeleland because his prowess was most prevalent in Mashonaland.
However, the majority of historians reckon that he was born and bred in Matabeleland, but later assisted in spreading the Chimurenga to other provinces.
Still on places with Tonga names and their meanings, especially within Hwange district as this is a continuation from last week’s topic.
After trying to establish how the area called Makwandala came into being following its association with sadza morsels especially on how the “crumbs” part came into being.
However, as fate would have it, Noel Munzabwa, an Eswatini-based media colleague, managed to somehow come up with an explanation and in the process it began to make some semblance of sense.
Herewith is how he came up with the meaning.
Makwa means crust, indala is left-over food (read sadza), endala from food that has been left.
That is how the name Makwandala came into being.
It remains to be seen if such a practice was only peculiar to the Makwandala community or it was just one of those minor practices that could have just been mentioned in jest.
In the same previous article, yours truly also queried why the name Lupote, which in Tonga parlance means a bushy area, was rather completely different in relation to the current set-up.
It is, however, said the bush thicket was cleared by early colonial settlers to pave way for those families who were removed when the creation of Gwayi Conservancy as a wildlife management area was taking place at that particular time.
There could be some semblance of truth because the area is a few kilometres from Gwayi Conservancy, which is home to various wild animals.
Somewhere in Cross-Dete, there is a place called Ndangababi, which literally means looking at those who are ugly.
It once again remains to be seen as to why such a beautiful tourist attraction place was given such a name because there is nothing unpleasant about the area.
As one approaches the town of Hwange, there is a popular settlement known as Dinde, whose original name was Dindi meaning an underground hole.
Yours truly has in the past traversed the whole of the Dinde area in search of the said hole and will continue the expedition.
In the coal-mining town of Hwange there is a high and low-density area called Madumabisa, whose actual name is reported to be Malumambizi or Madumambizi, meaning those that kill or bite zebras.
The name Makwika village was derived from Simon Makwika Ng’onzi who is said to have resided adjacent to a thicket of Mopane trees in what is now known as Number 3 Village in the colliery town.
This Makwika was the younger brother of Chief Ng’onzi.
About 20km northwest of Hwange town, there is a thriving communal settlement known as Kasibo and is currently dubbed the Las Vegas of Hwange.
Most of the who’s who of Hwange have established their state-of-the-art communal structures while all sorts of livestock will be enjoying their days under the sun on the lush Kasibo prairie.
It, however, remains to be seen to those who have settled in that area if they are aware that Kasibo means a traditional trumpet or whistle.
Kidikenyika means a stream or river that flows in the opposite direction and true to its meaning there is a rivulet of such stature situated in Milonga south of Jambezi centre.
It seems there were some who were abusive to visitors which resulted in a certain stream being named Simutukakabeenzu!
This rivulet is situated in Jambezi towards Mununa communal area and the multimillion dollar question is the identity of visitors that were being derided.
Still in Jambezi there is another “controversial” Tonga name which is called Kamwana Leza, a stream situated in the Jambezi area which means God’s son river.
Yours truly will not delve much into how that stream came to be given such a unique and sanctified name.
Such names are not exclusive to a single tribe as there is Gandavaroyi in Gokwe, Gomututu in Mberengwa, Somabhula in Midlands, Pelandaba in Bulawayo, Mufakose in Harare, Nhlambabaloyi in Ntabazinduna, Sakubva in Mutare and Kuma Ten Dollars in Zvishavane, among others.
Before signing off, yours truly recently received informative feedback from David Scott whose input on the burning issue of who is supposed to be called to be an early settler of a particular area.
This will certainly be in the next article.
l Comments always welcome on: [email protected] or Twitter: @DubeBurzil
