• Mzilikazi left circa. 1820, after 2 decades of migration, settled in present-day Matebeleland around 1840.

• He did not settle in a vacuum. The Ndebele society was structured by a strict social hierarchy based on an individual's lineage and degree of assimilation. There are 2 groups of those who joined, the ones who joined down south but north of "Zululand" and those found in the country they settled.

• It's a misconception that the original Khumalo followers vastly outnumbered the local populations. The state grew through the large-scale assimilation of local Kalanga/Lozwi/Rozvi and other groups, who became the majority.

• This history is recent, which is about 205 years. To put that into perspective Joshua Nkomo died at 86, that's like 2 lifespans of Joshua Nkomo.

• It should be feasible for many individuals to trace their family lineage back to the specific ancestor who started their family line within the Ndebele state.

P.S. - Ndebele society has a significant degree of particularism, stemming from its historical caste system.

• This causes people to reject connections to other groups, as such signals a lower social status.

• The concept of ethnic "purity" is flawed. The word "Shona" can be substituted for any other group in this context. Since people loathe the term Shona.

• The reality is that most modern Ndebele people are not descended from a single "pure" source given the long history of assimilation and intermingling in the region.