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Sibaya

Mutupo · Tshivenda

Vhalemba

Also spelled Lemba, BaLemba, Mwenye.

  • PeopleVhavenda
  • Grouping A distinct people living among the Venda; companions of the Singo migration
  • Places recorded Scattered, Vendaland

Written down by families and by the people who recorded them.

About This Record

What Was Written Down

Stayt found the BaLemba scattered across Vendaland without chiefs of their own and unwilling to give up their separate identity, unlike other absorbed groups. Luonde says they accompanied the Singo and describes them as of Semitic origin; Wikipedia (citing Beach) says the Singo were accompanied by the Mwenye, Shona-speaking Muslims who had lost a 1644 civil war in Butua and later became the Lemba, and that the Lemba carried the Ngoma Lungundu drum and wore copper jewellery otherwise reserved to Singo leaders. Magoma lists the Lemba among the groups regarded as outsiders. This entry records only how Venda sources place the Lemba; it is not a treatment of Lemba identity. Recorded from the sources named on this entry; the wording here is Sibaya's own.

Families Tell This Differently

Families who carry this name tell parts of it differently. Each way it has been told is below.

Where This Comes From

Written down by
  • Luonde.co.za - Brief History; Ngomalungundu (community heritage site), accessed 2026-09-05, luonde.co.za — https://luonde.co.za/brief-history/ and https://luonde.co.za/brief-history/ngomalungundu
  • Munyadziwa Magoma and co-authors, Retrieving Intangibility, Stemming Biodiversity Loss: The Case of Sacred Places in Venda, Northern South Africa, 2021 — https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/4/249
  • Hugh A. Stayt, The Bavenda, 1931 — https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/59437
  • Wikipedia contributors, Venda Kingdom (Wikipedia article), accessed 2026-09-05, Wikimedia Foundation — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venda_Kingdom

Recorded Alongside

  • Dzivhani Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Kwinḓa Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Lambani Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Luvhimbi Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Makuya Also recorded among the Vhavenda.
  • Manenzhe Also recorded among the Vhavenda.

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