The Ndebele People R1 Series

The history of the Ndebele people can be traced back to Mafana, their first identifiable chief. Mafana's successor, Mhlanga, had a son named Musi who, in the early 1600's, decided to move away from his cousins (later to become the mighty Zulu nation) and to settle in the hills of Gauteng, near where Pretoria (present capital of South Africa), is situated.
After the death of Chief Musi, his two sons quarrelled over the chieftainship and the tribe divided into two sections, the Manala and the Ndzundza. The Manala remained in the north while the Ndzundza, also known as the Southern Ndebele, travelled to the east and the south. Both groups remained distinctly Ndebele.  Despite the disintegration of the tribe, the Ndebele retained their cultural unity. The R1 Cultural Coin for 2005 focuses on the traditional Ndebele houses painted with bright African patterns and the distinctive Ndebele dress of the Ndebele women.

ARTIST
Natanya van Niekerk – Marketing Manager and chief artist at the South African Mint designed the R1 gold coin.

ENGRAVERS
The obverse design was engraved by the South African Mint’s chief die-engraver, Arthur Sutherland. South African Mint resident die-engraver, MJ Scheepers engraved the reverse design.