IT was between 2 and 3 am on October 1, 1969, when that lightning struck. In its wake, a shrill scream shattered the pre-dawn. It was Mulati, the daughter of Vho Makhadzi Muofhe Mphephu, calling for Vhavenda Raedani Ramabulana, brother to Muofhe and her chief counsellor.
It turned out the lightning had struck the hut in which both Mulati, her mother, and a daughter of her elder sister, were sleeping. And the force of that lightning strike had carried Muofhe through the roof of their hut, and her body deposited outside the hut, dead. The gaping hole in the thatch roof bore testimony to the violent events that took only seconds.
And with that, life at our village, Tshavhalovhedzi, in Nzhelele, Limpopo, changed forever. In the absence of scientific or rational explanation of why the much-loved leader had been so brutally killed, the village resorted to the human factor. Money was collected and a truck hired that ferried about 30 nominated delegates to go to Shikundu, an area known or notorious for sangomas who could “unravel any mystery.”
The report back of the findings led to the stabbing and stoning to death of the alleged killer on October 11, 1969. Raedani was amongst those arrested and sentenced to 15 years.
I lived through this. When Muofhe arranged what was to be her last sleeping bedding, I was sitting there that night as Mulati was baking fat cakes. She always gave me the damaged ones to eat. When the lightning stuck a few hours later, I was sleeping at Raedani’s house which was just above Muofhe’s place.
In the wake of Muofhe’s death, her younger sister Phophi Mphephu took over the reins of the village. Phophi had been married to Chief Raluswielo Mphaphuli at Sibasa and had returned home and lived with her older sister after Mphaphuli died in 1965. She presided over our village until Sunday the 27th of October when she died, aged 93.
Phophi is an important cog in the Ramabulana clan system. She was the sole surviving Makhadzi (aunt), daughter of Chief George Mphephu Ramabulana and Vhakoma Mushaathoni Mphephu Ramabulana. Chief George Mphephu was the grandson of renowned anti-colonial war hero, King Makhado Tshilwavhusiku Ramabulana. Phophi was thus crucial in family matters of the clan. That is because, in African culture, especially in royalty, a Makhadzi is the one that nominates the heir in the event of the death of an incumbent.
Phophi’s life had been one of standing in. She stood in for her sister after the lightning strike. When her brother, Paramount Chief Patrick Mphephu, who was president of the Venda Bantustan republic, died in 1988, she was appointed acting Chief in his place. This meant that she stepped into virtually all his positions.
The Constitution of Venda, drafted to suit Chief Mphephu, had stipulated that the Paramount Chief would be Head of State. Thus Phophi, from village head, found herself in very unfamiliar territory, she was thrust into the hurly burly of Venda politics.
She became Head of State, with responsibilities such as opening Parliament of Venda and wearing the Head of State Sash. This was to continue from 1988 until 1993 when military ruler Brigadier Gabriel Ramushwana, who had deposed the political leadership in April 1990, scrapped that part of the constitution.
It also fell on her to choose the heir to the Ramabulana clan, and Chief Tshimangadzo Dimbanyika Mphephu Ramabulana, the son of Chief Mphephu, was installed in February 1994. He died in a road accident December 1997 a very young man, but leaving a daughter, Princess Masindi Mphephu Ramabulana. Princess Masindi is embroiled in a tussle with her father’s brother Toni Mphephu, he of VBS infamy, for the crown that rules over all of the people who speak Tshivenda. Princess Masindi is the granddaughter of Mulati. Dimbanyika had, in accordance with royal tradition, married his cousin.
Following Dimbanyika’s death, it was again to Phophi that the clan turned to firstly stand in, and then find a replacement. She chose Toni, who was the regent to Dimbanyika as acting Chief. His status was later changed from acting to permanent incumbent, bringing Princess Masindi forward to protest that that was her throne and Toni should vacate. Toni has since been removed by the courts, but Masindi’s battle to be declared the heiress to her father’s throne continues in the Limpopo High Court.
Phophi supported Toni against Masindi. After Toni was removed about two years ago, she was approached to stand in again pending the outcome of court battles, but declined, stating that she was old and tired and would not be able to do the job. Her other brother, David Japan Mphephu, was appointed.
In the village where she was simply known as Vho Makhadzi, Phophi was an exemplary leader. When democracy dawned with its local government structures, many rural areas experienced bitter feuds and contestations between the new system of Civic associations, Councils and the traditional leadership.
Not at Tshavhalovhedzi. She worked with all political parties in the village such as the ANC and Azapo, and with the civic association. She presided over the creation of an executive committee that comprised of her appointees as well as representatives of the civic association. This was the committee that managed the affairs of the village, consulting her and getting her buy in and approval.
A few months ago, her health deteriorated until she died on Sunday in her bed. She leaves her only surviving daughter, Elelwani Elizabeth Mphaphuli.
