The Mandela family is a South African political dynasty and chiefly family. Its most prominent member was Nelson Mandela, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
Mandela | |
---|---|
Parent house | AmaHala |
Current region | South Africa eSwatini |
Place of origin | Thembuland |
Founded | 18th century |
Founder | Inkosana Mandela KaNgubengcuka |
Current head | Mandla Mandela |
Titles | List
|
Connected families | Swazi royal family Machel family |
Estate(s) | Mvezo Great Place |
The Mandelas are direct descendants of the AmaHala ruling dynasty of the Thembu people; [1] as a result, their leader has traditionally had a hereditary claim to both membership of the Thembu king's privy council and the chieftaincy of the town of Mvezo that is subject to his authority.
The family was started in the 18th century, when King Ngubengcuka of the Thembus married and left a son named Mandela, the first of the direct line to bear the name. [2] [3] Prince Mandela was a son of a woman that belonged to the Ixhiba clan, a ritually inferior family when compared to his father's AmaHalas, and therefore his cadet branch of the dynasty was deemed to be morganatic. [4] Due to this, in lieu of having a place in the line of succession, he and his heirs were recognized as privy councillors thereafter. [5] [6] [7]
The prince's own son, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa Mandela, was later also given the title of the chief of Mvezo by his relative, the king of Thembuland, as a further marker of the family's eminence. After being lost in the Apartheid era, this chieftaincy has since been restored to the Mandelas.
During the title's abeyance, the claim to it passed to Chief Mandela's son Nelson, who would never inherit it. Following his renunciation of it in order to become active in the anti-Apartheid movement, it would later pass to his sons Thembekile and Makgatho, and following their own early deaths, to Makgatho's son Mandla. Chief Mandla Mandela would ultimately succeed to the title in 2007 following its restoration. [8]
Sobhuza II was Ngwenyama (King) of Swaziland for 82 years and 254 days, the longest verifiable reign of any monarch in recorded history.
Graça Machel is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian. Machel is an international advocate for women's and children's rights and was made an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for her humanitarian work. She is the only woman in modern history to have served as First Lady of two countries: South Africa and Mozambique. She is the widow of former President of Mozambique Samora Machel (1975–1986) and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela (1998–2013).
Makgatho Lewanika Mandela was the son of Nelson Mandela and his first wife Evelyn Mase. He is the father of Ndaba Mandela and Inkosi Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela. He died of AIDS on 6 January 2005 in Johannesburg.
A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons (cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets have historically been passed from a father to his firstborn son in what is known as primogeniture; younger sons, the cadets, inherited less wealth and authority to pass on to future generations of descendants.
Long Walk to Freedom is an autobiography by South Africa's first democratically elected President Nelson Mandela, and it was first published in 1994 by Little Brown & Co. The book profiles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years spent in prison. Under the apartheid government, Mandela was regarded as a terrorist and jailed on Robben Island for his role as a leader of the then-outlawed African National Congress (ANC) and its armed wing the Umkhonto We Sizwe. He later achieved international recognition for his leadership as president in rebuilding the country's once segregationist society. The last chapters of the book describe his political ascension and his belief that the struggle still continued against apartheid in South Africa.
Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa (WKUWCSA) is an educational institution outside Mbabane, Eswatini. It is one of 18 international schools and colleges in the United World Colleges educational movement.
Qunu is a Xhosa rural village in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, 32 km (20 mi) south-west of Mthatha on the N2 national route.
Prince Cedza Dlamini of Swaziland, otherwise known as Prince Cedza, grandson of King Sobhuza II of Swaziland and step-grandson of Nelson Mandela, is a humanitarian, youth activist, spokesman for the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, and the founder of the Ubuntu Institute for Young Social Entrepreneurs. His work promotes future international cooperation by initiating and supporting global networks of young leaders through which they can work collectively to address such current world problems as HIV/AIDS, poverty, hunger and illiteracy. Prince Cedza also advocates stronger ties between the United States and South Africa, occupying a seat as a director on the board of the South African Chamber of Commerce in America.
Pumla Makaziwe "Maki" Mandela-Amuah is the daughter of Nelson Mandela and his first wife Evelyn Mase.
Nelson Mandela (1918−2013) was an anti-apartheid activist and former president of South Africa.
The House of Dlamini is the royal house of the Kingdom of Eswatini. Mswati III, as king and Ngwenyama of Eswatini, is the current head of the house of Dlamini. Swazi kings up to the present day are referred to as Ingwenyama and they rule together with the Queen Mother who is called Indlovukati. The Swazi kings, like other Nguni nations, practice polygamy and thus have many wives and children.
Zwelivelile "Mandla" Mandela, MP is the tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council and the grandson of Nelson Mandela. He graduated from Rhodes University with a degree in Politics in 2007.
Evelyn Ntoko Mase, later named Evelyn Rakeepile, was the first wife of the South African anti-apartheid activist and the future president Nelson Mandela, to whom she was married from 1944 to 1958. Mase was a nurse by profession.
Princess Zenani Mandela-Dlamini is a South African diplomat and traditional aristocrat. She is the sister-in-law of the King of eSwatini, Mswati III, and the daughter of Nelson Mandela and his former wife, Winnie Mandela.
Zindziswa "Zindzi" Mandela, also known as Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane, was a South African diplomat and poet, and the daughter of anti-apartheid activists and politicians Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Zindzi was the youngest and third of Nelson Mandela's three daughters, including sister Zenani Mandela.
Zoleka Zobuhle Mandela was a South African writer and activist, and Nelson Mandela's granddaughter. She wrote about her addictions in sex, alcohol and drugs, her daughter's death, and her own battles with breast cancer, which killed her in 2023. She is the author of When Hope Whispers which she published in 2013.
Ndaba Thembekile Zweliyajika Mandela is an author, mentor, spokesperson, entrepreneur, political consultant, and the grandson of Nelson Mandela. He was born in Soweto, South Africa.
Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu was the queen consort of the Zulu nation from 1977 to 2021 as the Great Wife to King Goodwill Zwelithini. She served as the queen regent from March 2021 to April 2021.
Josina Ziyaya Machel is a human rights activist from Mozambique, who was listed on the BBC's 100 Women list for 2020. Her parents were Samora Machel, the first independent president of Mozambique, and humanitarian and politician Graça Machel ; her step-father was Nelson Mandela. Machel founded the Kuhluka Movement which aims to end the stigma of domestic violence and support its survivors.