I'm not very traditional, I'm more straightforward & basic & often disregard cultural nuances so this history of the Mpofana tribe is going to be as direct & concise as possible.
Growing up, I grew up knowing that the clan praises or izithakazelo of the Mpofana are "Zulu" & "Ntombela", I never questioned that.
What I know now for sure is that there's a lot more that's hidden in history. What I keep seeing being repeated from various sources is that the Mpofana were part of the Amazizi (or AmaTiti) tribe. I now know that in the midlands & perhaps further north, up to the northwestern parts of KZN, they use the greeting "MaZizi okuhlala", perhaps alluding to the fact that the Mpofana as well as other Amazizi tribes were among the original tribes to settle in present-day KZN from 200 AD onwards & the "Dlamini" praise or greeting was used among all Dlamini tribes i. e. the Amahlubi, Amazizi (Mtiti), Hlangwini, Ngwane, Bhaca etc. The surname Mpofana can be spelt " Mphofana " or " Mpofane " depending on where you are in KZN or Mpumalanga province. AmaZizi (N. B. Mizizi means "roots" in Swahili) were said to be the first so-called Nguni tribe to settle in the Nguni-speaking area. I wasn't sure but it turns out that the Mpofana really did live in Mpofana in the KZN midlands.
N. B. : Nguni is spelt Ngoni in Malawi, Zambia & Tanzania. Angoni means "skies" in Swahili compare with "Zulu" which means skies in Nguni languages.
In the Nqabeni area of southern KZN, I think there was a mixture of languages & dialects which caused the type of dialect spoken there. My paternal grandfather & grandmother spoke in this dialect, I don't know about my great-grandfather who took a Xesibe wife from the northern part of the Eastern Cape but I'm guessing he spoke regular Zulu. The whole of KZN is littered with regional dialects, some forgotten & some still being spoken along with Zulu because they share mutual intelligibility. I think these are called Lala or Tekela languages. It's said that the great King Shaka himself spoke a Lala language called isiThefuya where you'd use a "y" instead of an "l". For example, "Come here" would be "Woza yapha" in the Thefuya dialect & "Umlazi" would be "Umyazi", something to that effect. Tekela languages somewhat differ by region but still all sound a bit like Swazi, like the Tekela language spoken in the Umzumbe area. So I suppose the dialect of Nqabeni is the residue of those forgotten languages & to someone not from Nqabeni, it would sound like Zulu with a Xhosa accent.
During the course of history a Mpondo chief married a Mpofana woman so I suppose that's where the Mpondo tag arrives from, which is the equivalent of me marrying a Shona girl then declaring her whole family is now Zulu, it doesn't work like that. But Sibusiso Mpofana made clear that there's a disconnect between the KZN Mpofana & Eastern Cape Mpofana. And I, personally, can guarantee all who read this that I have no Mpondo blood in me.
Amazizi who were said to be ruled by King Dweba were said to be close to King Mzilikazi of the Ndebele & were never attacked by King Shaka either. It was in fact, Matiwane, the southern Ngwane chief of the time who ambushed the AmaZizi which are said to be AmaJivane of Chief Kofiyane, Amahloko (who were said to be incorporated into the amaCele), AmaBane, AmaNsipho, AmaMbibi, AmaNjili, AmaLumba, AmaNjale, AmaNkomo, AmaNtambo, AmaMpofana, AmaNtozakhe etc. The Ngwane were later attacked by King Shaka & Matiwane fled to attack tribes in the Eastern Cape.
There's a place in Eswatini called eMpofaneni by Prince Matatazela's homestead at eNhlambeni which is where I suppose ancient Mpofanas originate from. There was some inkling that made me think the Nhlebela tribe (of Ndwandwe origin) are also of the same origin as the Mpofana tribe but I couldn't find enough evidence to associate them with the Mpofana.
AmaZizi of the Bergville area are under the rule of King Mthetho Edouard Miya. The Miya name is still present in the Great Lakes region of East Africa where the AmaTiti are alleged to have descended from almost two millenia ago.
The Mpofana after being displaced by ambush by Matiwane settled in The Bluff area of Durban (see map), the place was then either called Isibubulungu or Ifenya depending on different sources, this is where the Mpofana were said to catch fish using structures which let water out & left the fish inside. It's said the Thuli tribe then displaced the Mpofana by "impaling their children". The Thuli were later attacked & scattered by King Shaka's Iziyedane regiment of Hlubi origin.
When the Mpofana went further south, it's said King Shaka's rogue commander of the Mdadasa regiment, Lukilimba, stole cattle from them. The story goes; "During Shaka's reign Lukilimba rebelled and sought the protection of the (white) traders. He returned to Zululand and during King Dingane's rule, he was ordered for execution but his Iife was saved by Fynn's intercession." The very same Fynn later was said to have shot & killed Lukilimba.
So as a Mpofana, I have to appreciate King Shaka, King Dingane & lastly, Francis Henry Fynn for getting rid of the enemies of the Mpofana even if it may have been indirectly.
You may notice that there's nothing about Sothos here, that's because there are no Sothos in Mpofana history.
Excuse me for putting this like the new Facebook i. e. so scattered & not in chronological order but I felt I had to write whatever I can remember from my researches (from oral, written & documented sources) on Mpofana history & put it in the most accurate & most truthful way I can possibly put it before it's lost forever in the sands of time.