Labotsibeni Mdluli

Labotsibeni Mdluli (also: Gwamile , * around 1859, † December 15, 1925) was the Queen Mother and regent of Swaziland . In her youth she was called Luhlekweni.

Life

youth

Luhlekweni Labotsibeni Mdluli was born around 1858/59 in the north of Swaziland. Her father was called Matsanjana Mdluli . At the time of her birth, he was at war with the Tsibeni in what is now Barberton - which is why she got her name. After the death of her father, she and her uncle Mvelase Mdluli moved to the royal court in Ludzidzini in the Ezulwini Valley, central Swaziland. There she gained insights into the conduct of state affairs from the old queen mother, Thandile Ndwandwe (Tsandzile, 'LaZidze'), the widow of King Mswati II and mother of Sobhuza I. She became one of the wives of the young king (Ngwenyama / Ingwenyama) the Swazi , Dlamini IV. (Mbandzeni, c.1857–1889), soon after he took office in 1874. The two had four surviving children, three sons, Bhunu ( Nggwane V. , 1875–1899), Malunge (1880–1915) and Lomvazi (c.1885–1922), as well as the daughter, Tongotongo (1879–1918).

Labotsibeni's husband, Mbandzeni (Dlamini IV.), Was an attractive man and basically a ruler with a deep sense of fairness. But he was unable to stop the army of concession hunters who poured into Barberton as a result of the gold rush of the late 1880s. At the time of his death in October 1889, he had granted numerous overlapping land concessions, as well as various monopolies, which, however, all competed with one another. Among other things, he had pronounced a right that authorized the holder to collect the royal share (the king's private revenue). Critics complain that many of these privileges were given in exchange for greyhounds and gin , but considerable sums were also given, much of which, however, went back into the pockets of corrupt white advisors, including those of the commercially viable Theophilus 'Offy' Shepstone , the eldest son of Sir Theophilus Shepstone . These concessions sparked endless negotiations and several commissions of inquiry over the next twenty years. They also enabled Great Britain and the South African Republic of the Transvaal to interfere in Swaziland politics on the pretext of protecting the claims of their citizens. The complex and long-lasting negotiations played a major role in ensuring that Swaziland was not completely absorbed into the then neighboring states of the South African Republic , the Transvaal, or the South African Union .

Early reign

After their eldest son, Bhunu, was elected to succeed his father in 1889, Labotsibeni became the Ndlovukazi (queen mother = regent). Apparently, Bhunu was chosen precisely because old Ndlovukazi, Tibati Nkambule , and the members of the Inner Council valued his mother's strength of character. It is said that Mbandzeni himself suggested her as Ndlovukazi. In the first years of Bhunu's reign he was still a minor and Labotsibeni was only in second place next to Tibati, who acted as regent. While Tibati stayed in the royal court of Nkanini , Labotsibeni founded a new royal seat for her son, a few kilometers away near Zombodze . There was some tension between the two regents that lasted until Tibati's death in October 1895, but as early as 1894 Labotsibeni had emerged victorious as the stronger of the two. She played a leading role in the opposition at the third Swaziland Convention in 1894, in which the establishment of a transvaal protectorate over Swaziland from February 1895 was decided. This arrangement replaced the tripartite system of administration with Great Britain, the Transvaal and the Swazi people themselves, which had been introduced in 1890. In doing so, the British partly gave in to the claims of the Transvaal over Swaziland, even if they did not want to allow Swaziland to be incorporated into the Transvaal. In these negotiations, Labotsibeni emerged as a remarkably intelligent, linguistic, and perceptive spokeswoman for the Swazi people. She dominated the debate at the Indabas (tribal conferences ) and won the discussions at meetings with representatives of the Transvaal such as Vice-President, NJ Smit and Commandant-General, Piet Joubert , as well as with the Special Commissioner of the Republic in Swaziland, JC Krogh and the British Consuls in Swaziland, James Stuart and later Jan Smuts .

Although Bhunu had been installed as King (ngwenyama) with the title Ngwane V in February 1895, Labotsibeni retained considerable authority. As Queen Mother, in accordance with the requirements of the unwritten constitution of the country, she had the function of a second monarch with political powers comparable to those of the king and with the supernatural power to make rain. Their position was strengthened by the dishonorable behavior of Bhunu, who set up his own base in Mampondweni , in the Mdzimba Mountains above Zombodze. When he became involved in the murder of Labotsibeni's most influential Induna (adviser), Mbhabha Nsibandze , and two other Indunas in Zombodze in April 1898, the Transvaal administration tried to bring him to justice. Together with his brother, Malunge, he fled across the border to the British colony of Natal . He was saved from dismissal by the British High Commissioner in South Africa, Lord Milner , because he considered a subpoena to be “ultra vires” (outside of competence). Bhunu then returned to Swaziland under British protection and a commission of inquiry fined him for the offense of tolerating improper conduct in his kingdom. The British and the Transvaal government then jointly adopted a protocol to the constitution of Swaziland, which downgraded him from king status to paramount chief and lost his powers of jurisdiction over capital crimes.

When the Second Boer War broke out in October 1899, the Transvaal Special Commissioner, JC Krogh, and the British Consul, Johannes Smuts, withdrew from Swaziland. General Piet Joubert wrote to Bhunu, indicating that the South African Republic has unconditionally surrendered Swaziland into his hands. He regained full authority in his kingdom, but did not live long enough to enjoy undisputed power: he died just two months later in Zombodze on December 10th. Labotsibeni became both regent and queen mother and ruled in the name of Bhunu's son, Mona (also: Nkhotfotjeni), who was elected as his successor at the age of six months; he was then first appointed Paramount Chief and much later installed as King Sobhuza II. It is widely believed that Labotsibeni would have preferred her second son, Malunge, to be king. Malunge was a handsome, intelligent, eloquent, and able young man, and his succession to the throne would have avoided a long period of minor rule, but this break with Swazi traditions was impossible.

During the three years of the Boer War, Labotsibeni was the last independent ruler in Africa south of the Zambezi , with the assistance of a co-regent, Prince Logcogco (a son of King Mswati II ), and her council . During this time she gained recognition as the monarch of the Swazi. Although she was well-disposed towards the British, she tried to keep her country neutral and had diplomatic relations with the military of the South African Republic. She was also largely successful in keeping Swaziland out of the war. Exceptions were Thinthitha Dlamini's attack on a force of the Piet Retief Commando at Hlatikhulu in February 1901 and General Tobias Smuts' attack on a small unit of British irregular troops at Steinacker's Horse near Bremersdorp in July 1901. Labotsibeni had apparently called the Boers to help the group from Evict freebooters and free Prince Mancibane , a member of the royal family who the British had arrested on suspicion of espionage, but regretted the destruction the Boers wreaked in the small town.

When the war ended, Labotsibeni and the Swazi Council wanted a British protectorate and were disappointed by Lord Milner's first decision that Swaziland should be administered by the Transvaal. Labotsibeni and her council protested violently against the terms of the Swaziland Order in the Council of 1903 and against the Swaziland Administration Proclamation of 1904, which placed the government under the supervision of a Resident Commissioner. Prince Malunge led a delegation that Milner's successor, Lord Selborne , visited in Pretoria in 1905 to protest on these and other issues. Selborne himself paid a visit to Swaziland in September 1906. On this occasion he announced that rule in Swaziland should be transferred to the High Commissioner due to the imminent restoration of self-government in the Transvaal. This was a success of Labotsibeni's pressure and the threat of a new Zulu uprising, as well as the still unsolved problems with the Land Concessions. This made Swaziland the territory of the High Commissioner, like Bechuanaland and Basutoland , even if it was never formally declared a British protectorate.

British reign

Labotsibeni and her council protested just as violently against the terms of the land distribution, which was promulgated in 1907 and subsequently implemented by George Gray , brother of Liberal Cabinet Minister Edward Gray . This divided Swaziland between the Swazi people, the white concessionaires and the British Crown. Robert Thorne Coryndon , who was transferred from northwest Rhodesia to Swaziland as resident commissioner , tried a tough course with Labotsibeni, Malunge, and "the Zombodze faction", as he called them. However, he was unsuccessful and received no support from his superiors for the plan to depose Labotsibeni and replace her with Mona, the young heir. After a year in office, Coryndon described Labotsibeni as "a woman of extraordinary diplomatic ability and strength of character, an experienced and able opponent whom the administration could not cope with at times." Prince Malunge was the head of a Swazi delegation to London which im He even had talks with the Colonial Secretary, Lord Elgin , in February 1908 . However, they received little or no reparation for the land claims, except for a few contested and subsequently dishonored promises that they could buy the land back from the Crown. Three years after the delegation's return, Labotsibeni and Malunge became, with the consent of Coryndon, the main masterminds for a national fund for the repurchase of land - a move that arguably took away a bit of bitterness.

The founding of the South African Union in 1910 and the vision of Swaziland's integration into the Union, which was outlined in the plans attached to the decree, prompted Labotsibeni and Malunge to pay more attention to the fate of South Africa, where many of their subjects lived. A quote from Labotsibeni is recorded in 1914 where she said that "Swaziland will no doubt enter the Union at some future date." She sympathized with all efforts to improve the conditions in which the natives of the Union lived and therefore her son Malunge also became a member of the Native Congress . Prince Malunge attended the conference held by the South African Natives National Congress in Kimberley in February 1914 to formulate a response to the Land Act . He was treated as one of the most respected delegates. He and Labotsibeni were close to two of the chief founders of Congress, lawyers Pixley Seme and Richard Msimang , and also provided most of the funding, about £ 3,000, needed to start the official newspaper, Abantu-Batho, in 1912. The first editor, Cleopas Kunene , had been Labotsibeni's translator and secretary. Malunge's sudden death in January 1915 was a huge blow to his mother and the Swazi at large, and was mourned as a loss by all blacks in South Africa.

Labotsibeni's last significant contribution as regent was to enforce against some resistance that Mona, the heir to the throne, received the best possible education that was available to a black man in South Africa at the time. After basic education at Swazi National School in Zombodze, he was sent to Lovedale in 1916 , to a private school run by the United Free Church of Scotland in Alice in the Cape region. He attended this school for three years. In 1919 she decided that he would be removed from school and prepared for his installation as king. She transferred power to him in the presence of the Resident Commissioner, Sir de Symons Montagu George Honey , in a ceremony on December 22, 1921. In a touching address read and translated for her by her secretary, Josiah Vilakazi , she said:

“This is the day I have always longed for. It has now started like a dream that has come true. King Mbandzeni died in October 1889 ... Since that time my life has been burdened with terrible responsibility and worry. It was a life full of deepest emotions a woman could ever have. "

Retirement

Labotsibeni died after a long illness in Zombodze on December 15, 1925 and was buried there. In an obituary notice, The Times noted that she was "the most famous native woman in South Africa for two generations." TD Mweli Skotas African Yearly Register writes that "she was a wonderful woman, a good, wise and tactful ruler and recognized by all representatives of the British throne as one of the cleverest rulers in Africa".

Honors

In 2006 a postage stamp was issued in Swaziland with her portrait and the dates of her life.

See also

• List of rulers of Swaziland

Web links

• Thapelo Mokoatsi: Pioneers: Swazi Queen Labotsibeni. Founder-financier of Abantu Batho. thejournalist.org.za
• Appreciation in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences . nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Individual evidence

1. ^ Eileen McDonagh: The Motherless State: Women's Political Leadership and American Democracy. University of Chicago Press 2009. ISBN 9780226514567 [1]
2. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/94560?&docPos=1&backToResults=
3. ^ Siyinqaba: The Swazi Monarchy . In: Africa Insight . 14, No. 1, 1984, pp. 14-16.
4. ^ "A woman of extraordinary diplomatic ability and strength of character, an experienced and capable opposition with which it [the administration] was for some time incapable of dealing." Jones, 402.
5. ↑ As Swaziland would no doubt enter the Union at some future date she was in sympathy with any efforts tending towards the betterment of the conditions under which Union natives live, and for this reason her son Malunge had become a member of the Native Congress. Macmillan, 294-5.
6. ↑ This is the day that I have always longed for. It has now come at last like a dream which has come true. King Mbandzeni died in October 1889… As from that day my life has been burdened by an awful responsibility and anxiety. It has been a life full of the deepest emotions that a woman has ever had. Labotsibeni Mdluli in: Kuper 73.
7. ^ The best known native woman in South Africa.
8. ↑ "she was a wonderful woman; a good, wise and tactful ruler, and acknowledged by all the representatives of the British Throne as one of the cleverest rulers in Africa. "Skota 77.
9. ↑ Universal Postal Union.

predecessor	Office	successor
Nggwane V.	Regent of Swaziland 1899–1921	Sobhuza II.