Mkhize

History and Origins

The Mkhize are among the oldest of the Zulu and Nguni clan groupings, with oral genealogical traditions (izibongo) that trace the clan's ancestry across many generations before the 19th century. The clan predates the formal Zulu kingdom, and was one of the significant chiefdoms absorbed into or allied with the expanding Zulu state in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

In Zulu tradition, the Mkhize hold considerable social prestige as one of the amaZulu omdabu — the original Zulu people, as distinct from later incorporated clans. The clan's praise names (izibongo) are recited at significant family occasions and carry encoded history of the clan's greatest deeds and ancestral figures.

The clan heartland is in the Maphumulo and Ndwedwe areas of what is now KwaZulu-Natal. Through migration, urbanisation, and the dispersal caused by 20th-century labour patterns, Mkhize families spread to every province. The name is also found in Eswatini (Swaziland), where it appears as Mkhize or Nkhosi.

Notable Mkhize Bearers

• Zweli MkhizeSouth African politician, former Premier of KwaZulu-Natal and former ANC Treasurer-General
• Chief Mkhize19th-century Zulu chieftain who navigated the turbulent colonial period
• Sbusiso MkhizeSouth African academic and writer

Genealogy Research Guide

Killie Campbell Africana Library (Durban), KwaZulu-Natal Archives (Pietermaritzburg), mission station records. Chief genealogies for major Zulu clans including Mkhize are documented in the works of A.T. Bryant (Olden Times in Zululand and Natal) and in Stuart Archive oral testimonies held at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.