There are old people among us who still have a lot to tell us.” Those were the words of one of the speakers at a meeting in Bathurst last weekend under the banner of the Kingdom of Chwama. The gathering on Saturday May 17 at the Sizamele Educare Centre in Freestone was attended by around 30 people who had been invited to a royal sitting of the nation. Leading the gathering was Xolelani Nyamla. In the seat of honour, in front, was his father Kwedinana Nyamla (“Aahh! Jonguhlanga” – the correct way to greet a king).
Recording their family’s story has been central to the Nyamla family claim to the Commission on Khoisan matters for recognition of the AmaChwama Kingdom in terms of South Africa’s traditional leadership act, and the family as the direct descendants. One of the outcomes the family hopes for is the restoration of land along the Kariega River.
“It was Jonguhlanga himself that asked us to peruse this issue of restoration after we had also checked out that indeed even the history agrees that AmaChwama was a nation of its own with a ruler of their own which our forefathers claimed to be direct descendants of,” Xolelani later told Talk of the Town. “My family has always preserved its oral history but could not go public with it because they were living on farms for many years until 1996 when my grandfather moved to Bathurst. He told us they could not talk about this back in the day because this issue of royalty and land was a sensitive thing: if they got kicked out of a farm they may not be accepted on other farms. So they could only tell us young men in the family about our history and lineage. That was until my father said to me I must see if we can find a way to get what was once ours.”
Xolelani used the first part of the meeting to remind the gathering of the kingdom’s history, now part of their claim, submitted on May 9. He later provided an outline to Talk of the Town and the following is based on that. The diary entries of early colonisers are the source of some of that recorded history; however, the isiXhosa document that Xolelani submitted reflects a centuries-old oral tradition.
The AmaChwama were originally known as the Inqua and their king was Hinsati. In a 1662 diary entry, Jan van Riebeeck indicated that Hinsati was the highest lord of all the khoikhoi groups in southern Africa. Their Great Place was at Camdeboo near what is now Aberdeen.
In 1689 governor of the Cape Simon van der Stel sent a soldier, Isak Schrijver, to negotiate with Hinsati. Thirteen years later, when King Hinsati’s son Chwama was King, the Dutch raided their land for cattle. Chwama was killed and his Great Place burned. Chwama’s people fled eastward to seek protection from the then Xhosa King, Tshiwo.
Tshiwo had already recognised the Gqunukhwebe, another beleaguered royal house. But the AmaChwama experienced confict under Tshiwo. Some members of the former kingdom decided to move back to the Nxuba area (formerly known as Adelaide). Some opted to remain with Tshiwo. But the Great House lead by Nkciyo moved to land next to the Kariega River.
There they settled there until Ndlambe arrived. Caught in the middle of Ndlambe’s war with the British, the AmaChwama were driven out of those lands. They later returned, but the land had been divided into farms and given out to British settlers. Many thus ended up being farm workers.
For five years, the royal family has been trying to gather the nation of King Chwama together to put forward a claim to be recognised as a Kingdom. They finally submitted their claim on May 9, 2025.
Last weekend’s gathering, Xolelani said, was the first of many to raise the profile of the kingship and acknowledge what had become a scattered nation.
Thozamile Lindi, whose family also intends to seek recognition for their AmaChwama lineage, said he felt proud to be standing there on that day. “There are old people among us who still have a lot to tell us,” Lindi said.
Historian Jeff Peires, who assisted with compiling the claim, said, “Today is an important day in the history of the kingdom of Chwane. You have waited more than 200 years, but ‘nyamazela’ – be patient: there are many claims being researched, but at least your case will finally be heard.”
Commenting on the process later, Peires said, “In restoring the traditional leadership of the Khoisan peoples, I hope that Government will consider those who, fleeing colonial expansion, found refuge in Xhosaland. King Sandile himself once promised to restore the kingship of the house of Chwama, but it is only now that its heirs have come forward with credible evidence.”
Following their submission to the Commission on Khoisan matters at the government’s provincial offices in Bhisho, they would be contacted following the outcome of the commission’s research.
“If our claim wins this will definitely change everything for our nation,” Xolelani later told Talk of the Town. “We have been culturally in confusion, because we are not Xhosa although we have adopted some of their practices. So spiritually we believe regrouping and building the nation will heal us and we will be able to communicate with our ancestors directly.
“We are hoping to get back the lands we lost so we build our Komkhulu (Great Place) and amaChwama villages. We hope to get as many of our people as we can to start working on building our nation on our lands,” he said. “And of course working with the government to achieve all of the above and to participate in social harmony of the country as well.”
In 2015 the traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill was tabled in Parliament to amend the The Traditional leadership and Governance Framework Act, 2003. The consolidated Traditional and Khoi‐San Leadership Act, 2019 (Act 3 of 2019) was passed to “avoid any fragmentation of legislation dealing with similar matters” according to a 2023 document from the department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (COGTA).
According to a document on the government website https://www.gov.za/about-government/government-system/traditional-leadership “By 2025/26, the Commission on Khoi‐San Matters aims to research and investigate all applications it receives for the recognition of Khoi‐San communities and leaders, and to make recommendations to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on the recognition of Khoi‐San communities and leaders.”
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This article was first published in Talk of the Town, May 22, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
