Ndebele (Zimbabwe)
The Matabele , also called AmaNdebele (Ndebele), are a Bantu people in Zimbabwe that emerged from a breakaway of the Zulu . Their language is North Ndebele .
The Matabele owe their historical importance, if not origin, to the Mfecane , the migration of peoples in southern Africa in the early 19th century. Under the leadership of General Mzilikazi (also Mosilegaze), the ethnic group separated from the Zulu, which was constituted under the rule of King Shaka .
On their way westwards they came into contact with the Batswana in the area around what would later become Pretoria , who gave them the name Matabele . Unlike the South African Ndebele, they moved further north to what is now Zimbabwe, where they subjugated the Shona .
A sovereign Matabele kingdom existed between 1834 and 1893 . Its last king was Lobengula . The kingdom was conquered in 1893 by the British South Africa Company , led by Cecil Rhodes , and finally destroyed by the British West Africa Corps when the Matabel revolt was put down in 1896.
In today's Zimbabwe, the Ndebele make up between one sixth and one fifth of the population. The fact that they are in equal measure a minority in Zimbabwe, the bearers of the last pre-colonial state and foreign conquerors for the majority of the population led to considerable tensions there after the end of the white regime. The Shona-dominated government of Robert Mugabe dealt with these tensions with the violent repression of the Ndebele; between 1982 and 1987 at least 10,000 Ndebele were killed. In October 1999, Mugabe offered compensation to gain more support from the ethnic group.
Peter Abrahams, the "singer of the Matabele"
The South African author Peter Abrahams is also known as the singer of the Matabele. This refers to the fact that his novel Wilder Weg describes scenes from a primeval life of the Matabele, at the court of King Mosilegaze at the time of the Boer Trek from 1835 to 1841:
“All the events described in the“ Wild Way ”happened exactly as I described them. Mosilegaze is authentic, its history corresponds to historical facts. Moshesh is also a historical figure. Gubuza also lived, but historically his character is not as sharply defined as in the novel. Langa is historical, Dabula can be described as invented as he did not live by that name; however, he is a symbol of all Matabele warriors of that time. Lobengula is of course also a historical figure. Many years after the time in which my book is set, Cecil Rhodes wrested the kingdom that the Matabele had established in the north and which is now called Rhodesia . "