We conclude with a deep dive into the final part with our dear Khokho, Nomusa Ndiweni (Bulawayo, 1977), thirty years after she won Miss Zimbabwe.
Read time: 12 min
The Spirituality of…
Ngigciniwe (I am spiritually blessed). The amount of support I received in my becoming Miss Bulawayo and Miss Zimbabwe, from all sections of life, including my family from my dad, my uncle Paul and uncle BJ to name a few, it showed me that kwakuledlozi okwakufanelele silibonge (We had a family ancestor that I had to culturally discover and channel through me). I had to uncover this during my journey in the early 2000s. I have never spoken about this, but we found out that my former stepmother and one of our aunts was part of our demise. The spirit called via my mother, and all was revealed. That was how I ended up being spiritual. When my spirituality called, I initially thought being in London was the problem. I partly moved to Paris and Berlin.
SJ: How did you reach that level of completion to realise that this indeed is a spirituality calling?
I was on a bender! Big time! (Depending on the type of spirituality, there can be a level of neurosis – parapsychology – that one goes through before reaching it. Thanks to the late sensei Khulu Ndlovu from Njube who explained this to me in 2017. This is in the Ministry of Health guidelines of how to support emerging healers – SJ). My personal assistant at the time Edith Katiji, now known best as the artist in her own right Edith WeUtonga, was my junior at Townsend High. I had poached her from Khulu Cont Mhlanga, and she literally said to me, “Oh my dear, I know what this is and my dad can help.”
The Journey to Spirituality of…
Edith’s dad, inyanga (traditional healer – SJ), was unable to directly help, but he gave me instructions to get a candle, white soap and recite my family names, and the spirit would guide. Actor John Chinosiyani was also helpful. He is a heavy-duty Xitsonga healer but doesn’t practice. My body had been locked! I also went to a medical doctor that is also a sangoma, and she rubbished me off and basically said, “Ugogo ovunule ezimnyama will deal with you easily” (This is easy! You have a grandmother ancestor dressed in black mourning attire who knows exactly what to do for you). I had also been struggling with the opening of Matopos and finally got the line: “Ah wendodakazi yomhlabathi!” (Behold, the daughter of the soil).
I was also channelled the spirit of Mbiko kaMadlenya Masuku. Ngaphekwa! Ngakhandwa! (Now that was rough!) I wondered if there was an off button for spirituality. (Masuku was the Zwangendaba regiment hero of the Matabele-Boer War of 1847-1852 until the Great Trek Transvaal Boers signed the Matabele-Boer Peace Treaty with King Mzilikazi marking the Limpopo River as a natural border. The Boers and the British Cape Colony also signed the Sand River Convention at the same time to create the independent Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR), the South African Republic, with the Vaal River separating the other Trek Boers of the Oranje Vrijstaat, the Orange Free State. There were 13 separate and independent Dutch-Afrikaner Republics in Southern Africa – SJ).
The Mother of…
My twins, a boy and a girl, are Brown Dan 2 belts! The represent the country in the Zimbabwe National Karate Federation, and they have a tournament in Mauritius this September. I took a while to have kids and people used to say things like “uyinyumba” (a derogatory term for a woman without a child usually in her late 20s – SJ).
SJ: How does that feel to be labelled “inyumba?”
I was busy with my life and career. Also, because I was a “coconut” I was like: What is i-knew-mber? (laughs…). So, it did not have the Ndebele impact it is supposed to have on a woman.
At it’s basic, I simply hadn’t found someone to have kids with. (The world, especially the black community, still suffers from Iron Age Behaviours of Ableism (primitive and creationist ideas that a person is only human if they exhibit homo sapiens traits of bipedal mobility, displays impression of fertility, childbearing capacities, eligibility and marriageability, food rationing the sexes, height differences of the sexes, heterosexuality, melanin amounts, sexual organs comparison, hair follicle policing, beating women and children, church, and conflict mongering, to name a few, all of which are no longer Critical Skills in life), and Scarcity Mindset (the ableist mentality that resources in the world are in short supply – SJ).
I did however have a panic station moment at 36 when I wanted kids and then I got two. I actually dreamt about them five years prior! Ogogo “showed” them to me. Although, their father was not serious about a relationship, I was grateful to him and his ancestry for bringing the kids to me.
The Marriage of…
David went through the whole rites of passage behind marrying a Ndebele woman, and a spiritual Ndebele woman at that. He can even sit Endumbeni (indumba – a sacred hut, room, or consultation space used by a Nguni traditional healer – SJ) and intercede with our ancestors, “the Underground”. I made a mean baobab beer for libations! It was also given to me via a dream.
He was born in Kwekwe but grew up in Bulawayo as his dad worked for RISCO, the now ZISCO, Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company. We met when we sat on the same committee for culture and heritage at the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe. Nguye owaqala ukungisa ethuneni leNkosi uMzilikazi (He was the first person to take me to the national monument and tomb site of erstwhile Mthwakazi King Mzilikazi). He is a safari tour operator and is involved in conservation. Initially we had had a squabble and misunderstood each other the in the committee chat group.
Later, I took him seriously when he suggested that the Ndebele nation needed to do rites for the King. I clapped hands in that meeting, and we became friends from there. Then his company Black Rhinos Safaris and the Mzilikazi kaMthwakazi Cultural Association (MMCA) partnered with NMMZ in the uplifting of Annual King Mzilikazi Day. However, we left the partnership because as you can imagine, there are power dynamics and family dynamics within the Khumalo and AmaNgwe in a big project like this (AmaNgwe is the over 200-year-old Ndiweni Dynasty, that my Ndlovu family is a part of, which joined King Mzilikazi in the present-day Mpumalanga, South Africa, to the founding of Mthwakazi at Ntabazinduna in 1840 – SJ).
We were instructed to go to the ocean, and we went with the twins to Xai-Xai, Mozambique, and Durban and Cape Town, South Africa. We were welcomed by what seemed like strange smoke at first, but it was all fog. Now he plans our cultural trips!
You get the right person at the right time.
The Isintu of…
Isintu siqakathekile. Kumele sihlonitshwe. (Our culture is very important and must be overserved). Religion also came into play with some members of the King Mzilikazi Day partnership wanting Christianity to lead the process instead of Isintu. I was now a target from that camp as a sangoma. You know this very well SJ, sometimes Isintu is not pretty. You become controversial to your own family, and my stance is very simple: I tell the truth, and until people understand it, I don’t have time! This interview is indeed a sign ukuthi indlela ihleliwe (We did seek ancestral permission for this interview – SJ).
David matches me in that he is direct and non-conformist, and for a white man knows Isintu a whole lot. He is an amazing human being who knows so much about our history and culture, and even how to handle animals in the wild. He even says, “Ah mina ngingumuntu omnyama and wena you are such a coconut!” (I am black and you are indeed a coconut!)
SJ: You know, every “Proud Matabele” (as I have heard white Matabele call themselves) I have ever worked with all over Matabeleland, knew so much about us. I learned a lot!
I know right! One of my best friends Louie was here for the wedding. Louisa Waddingham used to work for the British Council and is visiting us soon this year.
SJ: No way! I know her! I love her! You better stop! Literally, 20 years ago, she was the British Council Zimbabwe country director and selected me as the youngest ever fellow of the InterAction UK Africa Leadership Programme when I was 19! I have always wondered where she is! I have not seen here since because she immediately left after the interviews.
That’s Louie! She really understood Matabeleland. She was also instrumental in supporting me through my spiritual journey and flew down to Bulawayo and took me out of isolation. She knows izihlahla zethu (cultural herbs) and I would give her to take for our people back to the UK! (laughs…). She brings whiskey for the ancestors (laughs…). Most of our people do not remember, but in Mthwakazi, converting to Christianity was illegal and with capital punishment (Nyathi & Clarke, 2010:210 for any avoidance of doubt – SJ).
The Khokho of…
David was excited that I was talking to you because I am generally reserved, but I felt it’s time, and whenever we bumped into each other in Bulawayo you had so much support for me during a time when I was figuring things out. Siyabonga bogogo! Siyabonga bomkhulu! Siyabonga mathonga amahle! Ndlela enhle! (Ethnic ancestral praises).
SJ: Makhosi Khokho! (Ethnic hand clapping). For those who do not understand, why Khokho?
I am Khokho indeed, and not Gogo, although some call me Khulu. Yes, that means there are levels to it (laughs…). I carry the hearts of our old grand masters.
Nomusa Ndiweni is Miss Zimbabwe 1996. I first met her in 2007 when she gave a lecture at the British Council in Bulawayo. The play Matopos is in the works.
Interview date: 22 July 2026
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Cite this article: Jermain, S. (2026, August 4). The Republic of. . . Nomusa Ndiweni (Pt. II). Sonny Jermain Online. https://sonnyjermain.com/republic-of-nomusa-ndiweni-ii
In-text: Parenthical – (Jermain, 2026); or Narrative – Jermain (2026).
