Tembe (Southern African clan)

The Tembe are a historically important Southern African clan whose traditional territory spans the northern coastal region of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and southern Mozambique, historically known as Maputaland, the defined Maputaland-Lubombo region. The Tembe belong to the broader Tembe-Thonga people, a Nguni-speaking group and are distinguished by a chiefly lineage that has been documented for over three centuries across the southeastern coastal region of Southern Africa. Their legacy is preserved today through the Tembe Tribal Authority in Manguzi (KwaNgwanase), a settlement south of the Mozambique–South Africa border.

The Tembe royal lineage traces its ancestry to early rulers, like Chief Tembe, of the Tembe Kingdom who was first recorded in 1554 by Portuguese and whose Kingdom later expanded by his descendants and extended from Delagoa Bay (present-day Maputo Bay) southwards to the area of Lake St. Lucia. The clan's settlement in Maputaland-Lubombo region predates colonial boundary formation and involves interactions with neighbouring Nguni and Tsonga groups. During this period, the Tembe maintained a chiefly authority that governed coastal and inland territories, including Kosi Bay, Manguzi, and the lower reaches of the Lubombo Mountains, and amassing a lot of wealth during the Kingdom's peak in the 18th century through Indian Ocean ivory trade with Europeans.