Simiso

WHO WAS JIM (SIKHATHINI) MADUNA MAFU? Jim Sikhathini Maduna Mafu (also known as Jim Maduna Mafu was a traditional chief of the Godlwayo (Godhlwayo) people in Insiza District, Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe. He succeeded his father and was the father of the late Chief Vezi Maduna Mafu. He belonged to a prominent Ndebele/Nguni chiefly lineage tied to the Godlwayo regiment. The family’s roots trace to Nguni migrants from present-day South Africa in the 19th century under leaders associated with King Mzilikazi’s state. An earlier Maduna Mafu (Jim’s father) headed the Godhlwayo regiment, which settled in the Insiza area. That Maduna and his brother launched early attacks on European settlers in the 1896 uprising (First Umvukela/Chimurenga in Matabeleland). After military setbacks and the execution of his brother, Maduna Mafu gained colonial recognition as a chief under British South Africa Company rule. He continued resistance through non-cooperation (refusing labour recruitment, protesting fees and cattle prices) and alliances with early radical groups like the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU). He died in 1933. Jim succeeded him (one account places formal succession around March 1936). Colonial officials described him as “antagonistic to good administration.” He was a successful entrepreneur who became the first African bus owner in Insiza District in 1948. Like his father, he actively undermined colonial local government, extractive policies, and coercive measures. Land was a central issue during his chieftaincy. In the post-World War II years (especially 1948–1953), large-scale evictions occurred in central Matabeleland to free land for white settlers. Jim himself faced eviction from land designated as the Godhlwayo Native Purchase Area. He allied with Benjamin Burombo’s African (National) Voice Association, which focused on opposing evictions. Insiza chiefs and headmen engaged with the organisation; when a Native Commissioner tried to issue eviction orders at a local meeting, people became “unruly and defiant” and forced a retreat. The Voice represented hundreds of Insiza families (reports cite around 349–379) who successfully challenged their evictions in court—a temporary victory before the law was amended and force was used to carry out removals (described as war-like in scale), displacing many to places such as Nkayi and Lupane. Jim secured a limited but notable concession: most of the Godhlwayo Native Purchase Area was redesignated as a reserve, allowing him and some followers to remain. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s he continued non-cooperation on issues including land access, rates, conservation measures, destocking, and cattle prices. Colonial officials viewed him as a persistent obstacle; one Native Commissioner noted he arrived at government events drunk, refused meetings with senior officials (including the Minister of Internal Affairs), and made organised administration difficult. A series of criminal cases was eventually brought against him and his wife. He was deposed and died shortly thereafter (around 1969). His son Vezi Maduna Mafu then took over as acting chief (confirmed substantively in 1974). Jim Maduna Mafu is remembered as part of a continuous family tradition of resistance—using the formal position of chief to obstruct colonial policies, extract concessions, and align with radical African political organisations of the era (from the ICU through the Voice Association). This tradition was carried forward by his son Vezi.