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Sibaya

Mutupo · Tshivenda

Ramabulana

Also spelled Ramapulana, Mphephu-Ramabulana, Mphephu, Sinthumule / Senthumule, Kutama / Khuthama, Ravele.

  • PeopleVhavenda
  • Grouping Singo; western Soutpansberg royal house; recognised in 2010 as the kingship of all Venda
  • Surnames recorded Ramabulana, Mphephu, Sinthumule, Kutama, Ravele, Masakona, Nthabalala, Ramaru
  • Places recorded Western Soutpansberg, Tshirululuni, Luatame, Mount Songozwi, Vuvha, Dzanani, Nzhelele

Your Family's Praise Belongs Here

This clan has a praise. It is not on this page yet, and that is our doing, not anything about your family or the praise itself. If the people at home still say it, you can put the true one here.

Why It Is Not Here Yet

The rendering that was read: Luonde.co.za - Brief History; Ngomalungundu (community heritage site), accessed 2026-09-05, luonde.co.za — https://luonde.co.za/brief-history/ and https://luonde.co.za/brief-history/ngomalungundu

A praise belongs to the families who recite it, not to whoever wrote it down. A Tshivenda-speaking family that still holds this one holds the better version of it, and can put that version on this page.

Written down by families and by the people who recorded them.

About This Record

What Was Written Down

Descends from Thohoyandou's son Munzhedzi Mpofu. Stayt records that Tshigebeti, a son of Tshikalanga (Rampofu), took the name Ramapulana after gaining the chiefship with Malaboch allies; Luonde and Wikipedia tell instead of a succession fight between Mpofu's sons Ramavhoya and Rasithu, the latter nicknamed Ramabulana (rainmaker) by the Tlokwa and restored with Tlokwa and Louis Tregardt's help, after which he strangled Ramavhoya. Ramabulana's youngest son Makhado succeeded in 1864 with the support of the makhadzi and the khosimunene, destroyed Schoemansdal in 1867 and resisted the Boers until his death in 1895 (Luonde gives poisoning); his son Mphephu was driven across the Limpopo in 1898 and returned after the Anglo-Boer war, when the country was divided among Mphephu, Sinthumule and Kutama (Stayt). Luonde records that Sinthumule's mother Dombo was a daughter of Madzivhandila of Tshakhum. Recorded from the sources named on this entry; the wording here is Sibaya's own.

Families Tell This Differently

Families who carry this name tell parts of it differently. Each way it has been told is below.

Where This Comes From

Written down by
  • Luonde.co.za - Brief History; Ngomalungundu (community heritage site), accessed 2026-09-05, luonde.co.za — https://luonde.co.za/brief-history/ and https://luonde.co.za/brief-history/ngomalungundu
  • Hugh A. Stayt, The Bavenda, 1931 — https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/59437
  • Wikipedia contributors, Venda Kingdom (Wikipedia article), accessed 2026-09-05, Wikimedia Foundation — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venda_Kingdom

Recorded Alongside

  • Dzivhani Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Kwinḓa Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Lambani Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Luvhimbi Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Makuya Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Manenzhe Also recorded among the Vhavenda.

Are You Ramabulana?

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If Your Family Holds More Of This

A family saying its own zwirendo knows them better than any directory does. If yours has more than what is on this page, it belongs here.

This is also how this clan's praise gets onto the page. Your family's own words are yours to give.

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