Madzikane
Madzikane was the founder and a king of the Bhaca people. Before him, his father's tribe was known as Abakwa Zelemu but after Madzikane had united many multitudes of different people and different tribes, his nation was known as amaBhaca consisting of many tribes including: amaZulu, akwaZelemu, amaWushe, amaNqolo, amaNzelu, amaZizi, amaNjilo, abaseNhlwangini, amaQwabe, abaThembu, etc.
Family
Madzikane's father was Khalimesh. His firstborn was Crown Prince Sonyangwe followed by Prince Ncapai. However, because of the Mfecane wars, Sonyangwe the crown prince was burnt to death at night in his hut by traitors from the Memela who were vassals of the AmaBhele of uMdingi who were subjects of King Madzikane while he still reigned. Prince Sonyangwe died at Rode before he could become King of amaBhaca.
Therefore, on the death of King Madzikane, Prince Ncaphayi was crowned King of all amaBhaca but because his elder brother Sonyangwe had left behind two sons in Natal, (i.e. Princes Mdutyane and Thiba), King Ncaphayi was obliged to share the throne with Sonyangwes' heir. When Prince Mdutyane was only twenty-one, King Ncaphayi died in a war against the AmaMpondo King Faku. Crown Prince Mdutyane was crowned King of all the amaBhaca tribes and hence became the supreme ruler of the whole amaBhaca nation consisting of more than forty-four different tribes scattered all over southern Natal.
Wives
King Ncapayi had many wives. Indlu Enkulu birth to Diko and Sogoni. From his second wife, Indlu Ykaula,. His third wife Iqadi Lendlu Enkulu bore Dabula. King Madzikane's kingdom is currently being revived by the Reat House of Ncapayi, Inkosi Madzikane II Thandisizwe Diko. The home of the Bhacas and the Kingdom is in Mount Frere, KwaBhaca in the Eastern Cape.
Ncapayi is said to have been a fearless freebooter, a diplomat of note who showed even more intelligence than his father and was respected by many nations (Soga, p. 444)
Death
According to Reverend Soga, during the same year in which Ncapayi’s father Madzikane was killed, Ncaphayi entered Tembuland to avenge his father’s death. The Thembus under King Ngubengcuka made an ineffectual stand and the Bhacas swept away a large number of cattle.[1]
Before King Madzikane died, and because of the relationship he had with King Faku, he advised his son to temporarily be a tributary king in Pondoland. He indeed did that and Faku at this time welcomed the Bhacas as this also coincided with the arrival of Nqetho, a chief of the Qwabes who had moved from Natal running away from King Tshaka’s army because he could not serve under King Dingane. When he entered Pondoland and tried to secure land by violence, Faku was anxious to get rid of him and therefore secured assistance from Ncaphayi to eject Nqetho. amaBhaca drove them back into Natal and Dingane issued instructions to kill Nqetho.[1]
Soon after Sonyangwe's death King Madzikane died, but before he died he split the Kingdom of the Bhacas between his deceased crown prince and his son Prince Ncaphayi.
The Thembus defeat by the Bhacas, also led to Faku making an arrangement with Ncapayi when Pondos wanted to attack the Thembus. They entered Thembuland on three successive occasions and each time their raid was a success.
Soga asserts that cupidity is said to have been the force that brought Faku and Ncapayi to work together. It is also cupidity that is said to have destroyed their good working relationship. Because they were both strong, it became difficult to know which one was more powerful than the other. Ncapayi attacked Nyanda, the right hand section of the Phondos under Ndamase, the son of Faku. He raided Nyanda successfully. Meanwhile, the alarm had been raised with Faku and he Faku assembled a powerful army and this came up with the Bhacas and attacked them on all sides. Faku drove the Bhacas before him onto the kuNowalala Ridge. Ncaphayi was wounded and forced over the edge, falling onto a ledge some distance from the bottom. He was in helpless condition with both arms broken, besides a severe assegai (spear) wound. He lay there for days, persuading those who came to look at him to put an end to his misery and kill him. No one could do this until Faku gave orders that he must be killed. Madzikane’s son, King Ncapayi died in 1845.
1837
In about 1837, Boers arrived in Natal with herds of cattle and the Bhacas saw an opportunity to attack and raid. Between 1837 and 1840, the Bhacas teamed up with the Bushmen and raided the Boers.
1838
In about February 1838, the Boers settled in the upland of Natal and had successfully set the foundation upon which they could build the Republic of Natalia. After their victories over Dingane, they extended northward to uMfolozi and St. Lucia Bay (Blue Book on Native Affairs, 1885). The Boers had managed to make arrangements with other kings and therefore no longer considered them as potential enemies. For example, they considered King Faku a friendly king and rated Ncapayi a threat as he had a powerful military.
When the Boers returned, they decided to attack the Bhacas (Bryant, p. 400) and raided with 700 men and 50 horses (Nchanga, 119). This is said to have provided the spark for the British intervention in the Bhaca land. (At this time this land had become part of Natal). There is an area near the town of Maclear which is still called Ncapayi land (Kapayi land – because they could not pronounce “Nca”).
1845
By 1845 the Bhacas had already been stripped of their Kingdom by the Maitland Treaty. Ncapayi, the first enemy in the Maitland Treaty died and was survived by his first son Diko. But he would be reduced to a headman later on.
INkosi Diko was a hero, a stubborn and a fearless leader of courage. He led the amaBhaca nation for thirty-five years from 1845 to 1880 after the death of his father iKumkani Ncapayi ka Madzikane. INkosi Diko was the grandson of King Madzikane ka Zulu.
1880
iNkosi Diko was a fierce leader who fought against the annexation of the land by the British Colonial Government. He resisted handing over the AmaBhaca nation so its people could become British subjects. As a result of his resistance to the oppressive rule of the colonisers he was not a favourite of the colonial government of his time. The government decided to overthrow him in 1880. The oppression of Diko’s house had been felt by all eight generations, for a period of 130 years.
According to the writings of Anderson Mhlawuli Makaula (1988), by virtue of birth, and according to tradition, Diko was the heir to iKumkani Ncaphayi. But because some of the councillors of AmaBhaca liked Mamjucu, the mother of Makaula, she was fraudulently made a great wife, hence her son attained chieftainship. Makhohlisa (the mother of Diko and Sogoni) who was Ncaphayi’s wife of the great house (uNdlunkulu), was not loved by these councillors, hence they plotted against her.
It happened that Ncaphayi had killed a man in one of the Mfecane battles and according to AmaBhaca tradition, iNkosi was not supposed to have any contact with his wives until he had undergone some medical treatment. A separate accommodation was to be provided for him. Ncaphayi was then placed in isolation for a stipulated period. The councillors under Qulu Siwela further conspired so that the wife who goes to cook for iNkosi Ncaphayi while he is in isolation, and conceives during that period, would be the one who would give birth to the chief that would succeed him after his death.
The councillors first went to uNdlunkulu Makhohlisa, (Diko and Sogoni’s mother) and deceived her. They told her that she must not dare put her foot in the isolation room where Ncaphayi was sleeping, because this would weaken her sons and cause death by assegai among her children. This sounded reasonable to Makhohlisa. Thereafter the same councillors went to advised Mamjucu, (the second wife) to go and cook for iNkosi Ncaphayi in the isolation place. She acted as instructed and her son, Makaula was then made iNkosi of AmaBhaca.
Since then, because of this conspiracy of trickery and treachery, the Great House of Ncaphayi has suffered a great deal of disrespect, degradation, and injustice throughout generations that followed.
After iNkosi Ncaphayi’s death, Diko (his first and eldest son) led amaBhaca from 1845. iNkosi Diko was always in conflict with the British Government and he blatantly refused the annexation of the amaBhaca nation's land. When the British supremacy pervaded the Transkei Territory during the 1860s, the government pioneered the annexation of the Transkeian Territories. The amakhosi were to give up their power and become subjects of the British Colonial Government. Magistrates were to take over power from the amaKhosi, especially those who refused to submit their nations to be under British rule. iNkosi Diko was one of those traditional leaders who resisted and he was then overthrown, deposed, and made headman by the Colonial Government in 1880.
Battles were fought throughout this period. For example, a friend to iNkosi Diko was iNkosi Mhlontlo of amaMpondomise who is said to have killed a magistrate at Qumbu while resisting annexation. Other amaKhosi who accepted annexation were rewarded for their loyalty to the colonial government and were looked after and treated well.
The plan to destroy any trace of iNkosi Diko and his descendants has prevailed over generations after this great hero had died. Even today, Diko’s files, from iNkosi Diko himself, Qoza ka-Diko, Mthakathi ka-Qoza, Mabhijela ka-Mthakathi, Dingumhlaba ka-Mabhijela and Mzawugugi ka-Dingumhlaba (all the descendants of Diko) have been removed from the archives in Mthatha. The big question is: What happened to these files and where are they?
AmaBhaca are mainly found in the small towns such as Mount Frere, uMzimkhulu, Xopo and some surrounding areas. The isiBhaca language is a mixture of isiXhosa, isiZulu and isiSwati. The language of isiSwati was influenced by the fact that King Madzikane’s mother was from one of the Royal Houses of the Swatis of aMalambo. He grew up within the Swatis from his mother’s side and therefore spoke the language. Although he accepts that he is not an authority on this, Jordan, A.C. (1953) argues and also asserts that in the traditional history of the Bhacas, “uDlamini and kwaDlamini” figure a great deal (P.5). He further states that the Bhaca language was stifled to death chiefly by isiXhasa through, amongst others, schools and churches and that a large number of enlightened Bhacas were taught to look down upon their mother tongue.
Diko is the first son of Ncapayi, (Makhohlisa a daughter of Dzanibe clan was the first wife of Ncapayi) with his younger brother Sogoni from the first wife of Ncaphayi. The younger brother from the second wife was Inkosi Makaula followed by Inkosi Dabula and others from other younger wives. Inkosi Madzikane ll Diko is the crown prince of iNkosi Dilizintaba, ka Dingumhlaba, ka Mabhijela i, ka kaMthakathi, kaQoza ka Diko ka Ncaphayi, ka Madzikane, ka Khalimeshe, ka Vebi, ka Wabane, ka Didi, ka Zulu, ka Ntombela, ka Malandela, ka Dlungwana, ka Ndaba.
INkosi Madzikane II Thandisizwe Diko is currently the head of the kwaBhaca/LuBhacweni Traditional Council at ELundzini Royal Kraal, Ncunteni Great Place, LuBhacweni A/A in Mount Frere, KwaBhaca.
AmaBhaca were therefore stripped off their dignity and their Kingdomship by the colonial powers, the Boers, the Griquas and later on, the apartheid did not make it any better. The home of the Bhacas is in Mount Frere, while other Bhacas who went back to KwaZulu are in Mzimkhulu and Ixopo under the Zulu Kingdom.