“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.”
If there was one person in whom all the permutations of greatness envisioned in this Shakespearean quote found fulfilment, that person was Hosi Dr Tinyiko Lwandlamuni Phylia Nwamitwa.
The seemingly counterintuitive injunction not to be afraid of greatness and the idea that a person may have greatness thrust upon them resonate well with the experience of Hosi Nwamitwa II. More importantly, she was a well-loved and humble servant of the people who, in turn, thrust greatness upon her.
As the reigning monarch of the traditional community of Nwamitwa from 2008 until her death on 9 February, as an awardee of a Doctor of Laws degree Honoris Causa at Unisa, a member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s National Dialogue Eminent Persons Group, and the chairperson of the Vatsonga-Machangana Royal Leaders Unity, she wore the mantle of greatness with pride and dignity.
Beyond the fear of greatness
By virtue of the royal blood in her veins and as the legitimate heir to the Nwamitwa throne, Hosi Nwamitwa was born great. As a person whose birthright and human rights were once denied, purely and simply because she was a woman, she went on to achieve greatness by fighting for and winning her right to ascend the Nwamitwa royal throne.
She had to contend with a patriarchal South African society and equally patriarchal jurisprudence that were afraid of her greatness. Everything possible was done to prevent her from laying claim to her birthright, her human rights and her God-given talent for leadership. Societal fear of the greatness of women comes in many guises, excuses and rationalisations.
The society in which Hosi Nwamitwa grew up was no different. As is the case in all patriarchal societies, many strategies and tactics were deployed to try to force women to “accept” less than what they are worth as human beings and as citizens.
Mores and religions were mobilised and weaponised to chip away at the self-esteem of women, discrediting their contributions and preventing them from taking leadership positions. Language itself was littered with anti-women proverbs, idioms and adages: “Nhloko ya munti i wanuna [The man is the head of the family]”. “Ku teka nsati swi fana na ku teka nyoka u veka ndlwini [ To marry a wife is like taking a snake into the house — a line from a popular wedding song]”. “Wanhwana i huku yo khomela vayeni [a woman is like a chicken that can be slaughtered anytime for the benefit of visitors]”, to mention but a few.
Brought up to accept that, because of her gender, the throne of her father, Hosi Fofoza, was beyond her reach, she nevertheless chose the path of greatness and dared to pursue and to win back the Nwamitwa throne.
Life, work and loss
Born in Nwamitwa village on 27 June 1940, Hosi N’wamitwa might, like most girlchildren in her village at that time, not have attended school. Fortunately, her father, himself a beneficiary of missionary education, insisted that she go to school.
In January 1947, her grandmother Kokwani N’wa-Xipondhwana walked the seven-year-old princess to the local Nwamitwa Primary School, where she enrolled for Grade 1. Throughout her primary school education, N’wa-Xipondhwani would walk her to school in the morning, bring her food during the break, and walk her back home in the afternoon.
In 1956, the princess was taken to the picturesque Shilubana Mission Station, at the foot of the Marhovoni mountain, about 50km from Nwamitwa village. There she attended the Shiluvana Junior Secondary School, which had some of the best teachers in the Tzaneen area at that time, including Prof Hudson William Ntsanwisi, Mr Double Zamulele Mtebule, Mr Dapa and Mr Motshekga.
After that, she attended the Douglas Laing Smit Secondary School at Elim, followed by stints at the Lemana Training Institution and the Mokopane College of Education, where she trained as a teacher. She attained her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1980 and an Honours degree in 1983, majoring in anthropology.
In 1961, she married Prince Thompson Mageza Shilubana from the neighbouring Va-Nkuna royalty. They had four children, the youngest of whom died at the age of six. Eighteen years into their marriage, tragedy struck again when her beloved husband died in 1979.
Hosi Nwamitwa II went on to have an illustrious career as a teacher and circuit inspector. Her contribution to the struggle against apartheid was equally immense.
She was part of the Codesa negotiations of 1991 and 1992 and went on to serve four terms as an ANC member of Parliament.
Breaking the tyranny of the male primogeniture rule
The quest of Tinyiko Lwandlamuni Nwamitwa II to become the hosi of the Nwamitwa traditional community must be traced back to the death of her father, Hosi Fofoza, on 24 February 1968.
Because he had no son at the time of his death, his passing left the Nwamitwa community at the mercy of the male primogeniture principle of customary law — in terms of which only the elder son could inherit the estate of his deceased father. Accordingly, it was “taken for granted” that his firstborn daughter was ineligible, because she was a woman. The royal family had to appoint a regent.
Fortunately, with the advent of democracy in South Africa, the long-held male primogeniture principle ceased to be a legal holy cow.
Nowhere was this made clearer than in the landmark and unanimous ruling of 4 June 2008 by the Constitutional Court, which upheld the decision to make Princess Lwandlamuni the hosi of the Nwamitwa traditional community.
Forty years after the death of her father in 1968, Hosi Nwamitwa II ascended her father’s throne in 2008, at the age of 68.
She was a force of nature, a phenomenal leader, a formidable mediator and an advocate for science and education.
She will be remembered for the eloquence with which she mobilised industry, business, celebrities, church and state to play meaningful roles in community development. She rewrote the history of her queendom, the province and the country.
The story of her remarkable reign is inscribed in the hearts and souls of her subjects, for generations to come.
Etlela hi ku rhula Khalanga. DM
Prof Tinyiko Maluleke is the principal and vice-chancellor of the Tshwane University of Technology, a professor extraordinaire at Unisa, deputy chairperson of the National Planning Commission and co-chair of the National Dialogue Eminent Persons Group.