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Sibaya

Mutupo · Tshivenda

Vhatwanamba

Also spelled Vhatwamamba, Mutwanamba, Twanamba, Tshivhula.

  • PeopleVhavenda
  • Mutupo Mutwanamba — the mutupo name itself; the typescript says Tshivhula's mutupo was Mutwanamba
  • Grouping Disputed: Karanga-Rodzvi arrivals (WIKI-VENDA-PEOPLE, MAGOMA-2021, LUONDE Ngomalungundu page) / Vhangona (LUONDE brief-history list) / either Vhangona or Vhasenzi according to different tellers
  • Surnames recorded Tshivhula
  • Places recorded Mapungubwe, Musina, Ha-Tshivhula, Ha-Madzhie, Ha-Matshete, Ha-Mulambwane, Ha-Lishivha, Machemma

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

About This Record

What Was Written Down

The typescript says Tshivhula was a khosi in Raphulu's time, that his mutupo was Mutwanamba, that the Vhatwanamba came from the north long before the Vhasenzi, that people disagree whether they are Vhangona or Vhasenzi, that Vhadau, Vhambedzi and Vhalea are found among them, and that Tshivhula's rule extended westward and he fled west when the Vhasenzi came. Wikipedia's Venda Kingdom article (citing Huffman) describes the Tshivhula as a Shona dynasty from an elite stone-walled settlement at Machemma that came to dominate a large western chiefdom. Luonde places the Vhatwanamba at Mapungubwe and Musina from around 1200. 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
  • Munyadziwa Magoma and co-authors, Retrieving Intangibility, Stemming Biodiversity Loss: The Case of Sacred Places in Venda, Northern South Africa, 2021 — https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/4/249
  • Vhadau vha Tshakhuma (Tshivenda-language typescript on the Vhadau of Tshakhuma and the early peoples of Venda; author… — https://repository.up.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/e2593648-436f-4316-87cf-b72e71970958/content
  • Wikipedia contributors, Venda Kingdom (Wikipedia article), accessed 2026-09-05, Wikimedia Foundation — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venda_Kingdom
  • Wikipedia contributors, Venda people (Wikipedia article), accessed 2026-09-05, Wikimedia Foundation — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venda_people

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.

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