Ngubengcuka

Who was Ngubengcuka?

Ngubengcuka was the king of the Thembu people, in the southern part of the Transkei region of South Africa. Known as Inkosi Enkhulu, Ngubengcuka united the Thembu nation before it was subjected to British colonial rule. He was the proverbial author and finisher of the modern kingdom that it eventually became.

Ngubengcuka had wives from the Great House or Right Hand House, and the Ixhiba, the lesser or Left Hand House. Among his many descendants is Nelson Mandela, a great-grandson via the Ixhiba or left-hand house. The name Mandela was first given to a younger brother of Simakade, the oldest son of the Ixhiba house.