Mbandzeni

Who was Mbandzeni?

Mbandzeni was the King or Supreme Head of Swaziland between 1875 and 1889. He was a son of Mswati II. His brother Ludvonga II was chosen as his father's successor, but died before becoming King.

He was acknowledged and appointed king by the ZAR, the Boer Transvaal Republic. In return, he ceded large portions of his territory to white immigrants. Partly for this reason, land became in short supply and some indigenous Swazi ended up living beyond the borders of their homeland in part of what is known today as the Province of Mpumalanga.

During his reign the First Boer War and annexation of his kingdom to the British Empire took place. These conflicts began with the discovery of significant gold deposits at Piggs Peak and Forbes Reef, attracting many Europeans, miners and prospectors who were in the Eastern Transvaal.

As mentioned above, Mbandzeni granted vast land swathes in these zones to the new "colonists". Mbandzeni died in 1889 and his son, Bhunu was selected as Ngwenyama.