User talk:TshwariT

Bakalanga Women
As I promised yesterday, I'm back to explain in detail why Kalanga women in Kalanga society aren't addressed with prefixes that state overtly they are indeed "females". Married or not, barren or able to conceive, a Kalanga woman is a special figure, very worthy of esteem and respect amongst her people. She alone is recognized as "many people" and not as an individual.

Where I come from in Bulilima we have got these highly revered families,

BakaMasendu BakaMadlambudzi BakaHikhwa BakaHabe BakaHingwe BakaGonde BakaMangubo, and many others.

Back in the days many of those families were more than just families. They were royalties and they had a very large following behind them. Then colonization came, and the fact that these royal Kalanga families were headed by most arrogant and conservative tribal leaders who had made themselves enemies of the white settlers merely because they were difficult to assimilate to the colonial system that disregarded the rights of Blacks, as a result they were all dethroned and replaced with men from outside, man who had allowed themselves to be bribed into the system. Nevertheless, that did not help. Their followers remained loyal and spiritually attached to them and continued paying allegiance more to their traditional leaders and less to other authorities. That was how the Lilima-Kalanga society remained cemented and strong as it has always been from time immemorial despite the consecutive phases of adversaries they encountered along the way.

Now, this is how it all began. It all started with a woman giving birth to her first born son. Taking "Chief Masendu l" as an example: when his mother gave birth to him and was named "Masendu", that was the day her mother was gratefully and joyously honoured with a title "BaKa", and from thereon she became known as "BaKaMasendu". If Masendu would have been born in a Sotho-Tswana speaking family his mother would have been known as "Mma/Mmagwe Masendu". If he would have been born in a Ndebele speaking family his mother would have been "uNa/uNaKaMasendu". If he would have been born in a Shona speaking family his mother would have been known as "Mai Masendu", if he would have been born in a Zulu-Xhosa family his mother would have been called "uMaKaMasendu".

All these prefixes "uNa/uNaKa/uMaKa/Mai/Magwe/Mma" when directly translated to Kalanga language, Masendu's mother would be "Mme ba Masendu" which would sound very disrespectful to the woman who would have given birth to Masendu. To those who understands Kalanga traditions and culture very well: a woman is addressed as "BaKa" if only she gives birth to her first son. But if her first born child is a girl such woman cannot be exalted to the level of being addressed as "BaKa", however, she will be known as "Mme ba" (literally meaning --a female person whose child is...) She will remain "Mme ba" up until she conceives again and this time gives birth to a baby boy. Unfortunately, if that doesn't happen, let's say she continues having more baby girls --her status will stay the same as "Mme ba". Obviously this is suppose to bother her because her profile in the family she's married to will remain at that low level or unimportant or meaningless. At times she would feel like she's in that same position with those kind of women who bear kids out of marriage/wedlock.

Apparently one more thing I shouldn't forget to mention is that: a woman who gives birth to a boy child whilst stuck in her father's house such woman can't be honoured by her son in her father's compound. This means she does not qualify to be addressed as "BaKa", therefore she shall remain known as "Mme ba" a title that is equivalent to "uNa/uNaKa/uMaKa/Mai/Mmagwe/Mma" which is the lower of the lowest ranks a woman in a Kalanga society would be subjected to. Most women who are found in this situation, since they won't be happy to be called by their first names in front of their children which they begot whilst in their parents' house, they would instead prefer to be addressed by their families' patriarch names. If her surname is Nleya she'll be "BaNibuso/BaManyinge", if her name is Khupe she'll be "BaTjilalu/BaNgwadi", if her surname is Tshuma she will be known as "Bambalambi/BaGonde", if her surname is Masola she'll be known as "BaMathambo/BaTjubatju", and so on. This tradition of addressing Kalanga women by their patriarch honorary names gives all women across all ranks the opportunity to boast about where they come from. Even though she's married and honoured with the title "BaKa", there are times she'll be offended by her in-laws, henceforth she'll boast or swear by her own family's patriarch name. I'll shed more light on this some other time.

So what does "BaKa" really mean?

This is somehow a salutation. I have already explained above why and when is this status given to Kalanga women, especially those of the Lilima cluster which I am also part of as a 'Mokwena' descending from the branch of 'Marape' brother of 'Marapane' -he who remained behind in Boteti with a separate group of Bakwena men. Well, "BaKa" is actually a shortened term of "Bannu/Bathu baKa...." that simply means "People who belong to a certain family/clan/tribe". The prefix "Ba" in Kalanga language and in most Bantu languages, represents "the People". Then the syllable "Ka" added to "Ba" signifies a "Place or a territory within which authority may be exercised". For example "BaKaMasendu" actually means "The People of Masendu's territory or Masendu's country".

Prior "BaKaMasendu" grew in population, popularity and power to become majesty, it all started as an "honorary title" given to a simple married woman who had just gave birth to a baby boy named Masendu. Masendu's mother then capitalized so hard on her own capacity to elevate herself from being a just respected woman in the family, and therefore successfully rose to prominence as a noteworthy Queen Mother. Out of her -a chieftainship was born. She indeed became "BakaMasendu" a true Queen Mother (iNdlovukazi) not by just a title "BaKa" entitled to her but by her fruitful works -her undying determination and commitment. Anyway, it is very common that a Kalanga woman honoured by such a title "BaKa" can go as far as doing whatever it takes to empower her son whom she's named after. I am certain that Masendu's mother "BakaMasendu" during her time when her son Masendu was growing up, she would go lengths and depths collecting anything, great and small, grabbed all advantageous things that came her way ie the knowledge, the wisdom, vivacity, et al and brought all these to her household and used each of those to equip and empower her son Masendu, by applying any means available. He was a seed that came out of her womb, she had to take good care of it, nurture it at all times with aspirations that would also benefit her in the future and all that came to pass when Masendu grew up and grabbed the chieftainship throne from his relative and eventually fled with a very large following. If any married woman from the Kalanga stock would encounter such opportunity will also do the same if only she would know and understand first what the whole concept "BaKa" is all about. Driven by the desire to become a true and a great 'Queen Mother" and moreover inspired by an honorary title "BaKa" she would suddenly pay less attention to her husband and other people around, hence much of her attention will be placed on her first born son.

A Kalanga woman who is addressed as "BaKa" can be noticed from a distance by the way she's dressed, the way she walks, the way she communicates with other people around her, that she's indeed "BaKa" (iNdlovukazi/uNgangezwe). That honorary title speaks volumes in my Kalanga society. That is why yesterday I briefly stated that Kalanga women bearing such title are greater than all Kalanga men combined, together with the ranks or societal positions/duties they are assigned to. For example, if the Queen Mother Nandi was by custom married to Senzangakhona and the couple were both Kalanga, in terms of rankings, Nandi would have been by far greater than Shaka, Shaka's chiefs council, his army generals, his regiments and the tribes Shaka ruled, all of these combined......because she was gonna be revered with an honorary title "BaKaShaka" which is a title above all royal honorary titles in King's palace. Apparently all the tribes together with their 'amakhosi ohlanga", amabutho, izinduna, iNdunankulu, etc would be known today as "BaKaShaka" (People of Shaka's country). So imagine 'Nandi' to have been honoured by such title! In our Kalanga society she was going to be the "whole nation of amaZulu and her Zulu monarch altogether" eyedwa nje ezihambela laphaya. TshwariT (talk) 05:01, 15 March 2021 (UTC)