Mekemeke Magongo
| Mekemeke Magongo | |
|---|---|
| Queen of Mekemeke | |
| Born | Mekemeke Magongo c. 1822 Swaziland |
| Died | c. 1920 Ekusoleni, Mekemeke, Mpumalanga, South Africa |
| Spouse | King Mswati II |
| Issue |
|
| Dynasty | House of Dlamini |
Mekemeke 'LaNyandza' Magongo[1] (c. 1822 - c. 1920) was a Swazi royal consort and the queen of Mekemeke.[2] She was a wife of King Mswati II.[3]
Her father was Nyandza Magongo and upon her marriage to King Mswati II around 1842, she was granted the status of umfati wekunene (right-hand wife), placing her among the senior wives of the king at the eNzingeni royal settlement, Piggs Peak.[3]
Establishment of Mekemeke royal village
During the early formation of the Swazi polity, rulers of the kingdom faced resistance from earlier inhabitants of the Eswatini region, including Emakhandzambili clans from Sotho-speaking communities.[4] In response, Swazi kings established royal residences in strategically located areas that functioned as defensive buffer zones.[5] These royal centres were surrounded by settlements of regiments, whose role was to provide military protection for the king and senior royal figures.[5] During the mid-19th century, King Mswati II established a line of military outposts from east to west along the Kaap River and Komati River to prevent Bapedi groups from re-entering Swazi-controlled territory.[5]
These outposts were Mekemeke, Emjindini (now Barberton) and Embhuleni (now Badplaas and Tjakastad area).[6][3]
Around 1860, following the building of Mekemeke, Queen Mekemeke was sent from Swaziland by King Mswati II with her followers to occupy the royal outpost on the eastern portion of the Barberton district (Louw's Creek).[3]
She came with her children, including the last-born Prince Fana Dlamini, who succeeded her in 1920.[7]
References
- ^ Celliers, Jean-Pierre (2009). Mekemeke: A study of the archaeological sequence and interaction between two Swazi villages of the late 19th and early 20th century (MA thesis). Pretoria: University of Pretoria. p. 14. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
- ^ Short History of the Native Tribes of the Transvaal. Transvaal (Colony). Native Affairs Department, Government Print. and Stationery Office, 1905. p.p. 61
- ^ a b c d Myburgh, A. C (author); Peck, Joyce Lee Kunz (editor) (2023). Excerpts of the 1949 Union of South Africa Department of Natural Affairs, Ethnological Series No. 25 The Tribes of Barberton District. p.p 47-49, Rexburg
- ^ Thwala, J.J. (2017). The Significance of the Traditional Ceremony Ummemo, among Swazi. Stud Tribes Tribals, 15(1): 23-29. DOI:10.31901/24566799.2017/15.01.04. Available [4.pmd.pdf PDF]
- ^ a b c Thwala, J.J. (2017). Page 24
- ^ Chapter 10 - A Nation Divided? The Swazi in Swaziland and the Transvaal, 1865–1986, by Hugh Macmillan. From The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa by Leroy Vail (editor), University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Oxford, 1989
- ^ Myburgh, A.C. (1949).p.p. 48