Labotsibeni Mduli (c. 1858–1925) of Swaziland, Queen Mother and regent. "Queen Mother" is an umbrella term that refers to many different traditional roles that royal women held or hold in cultures throughout Africa. While often playing a particularly religious or culturally symbolic role, Queen Mothers also had real political power and played a crucial role in the political history of African societies.
From Wikipedia (link):
"Swaziland is a landlocked country lying west of the Indian Ocean, encircled by modern South Africa except for a small portion that borders Mozambique. Labotsibeni Gwamile laMdluli was born there around 1858, during the reign of Mswati II who ruled from 1844 to 1865 and is considered the father of the modern Swazi state, from which the country's name is derived.
As a member of the Mdluli clan, Labotsibeni came from a distinguished lineage. Referred to as emakhandzambili (those "found ahead"), the Mdluli predated two subsequent waves of Swazi settlement before the arrival of white colonials, and over the last 300 years the clan's two branches have played important roles in the evolution of modern Swaziland. Labotsibeni traced her origins from the northern Mdluli clan, distinguished by its expertise in military intelligence. Its members were often military commanders and regional governors in the pre-colonial era. At the time of Labotsibeni's birth, her father Matsanjana Mdluli was part of a Swazi regiment fighting a Pedi chief named Tsibeni near the present-day town of Barberton, in South Africa. Her name was derived from this conflict, which was part of the ongoing effort by Mswati II to consolidate his reign and the boundaries of his state.
Historian Hilda Kuper notes that growing up in the royal palace afforded her the advantage of acquiring “knowledge of court etiquette, insights into the political dynamics of the era, and a sense of self-assurance”. These experiences would later contribute to her distinguished leadership. She served as an attendant to the old queen mother, Tsandzile Ndwandwe ('LaZidze'), the widow of King Sobhuza I and mother of Mswati II. Tsandzile was a formidable figure in her own right, credited with significant contributions to the formation of the Swati Nation.
[Labotsibeni] became one of the wives of the young Ingwenyama or king of the Swazi, Mbandzeni Dlamini (c. 1857–1889), soon after his succession in 1874. They had four surviving children, three sons, Bhunu (c. 1875–1899), Malunge (c. 1880–1915), and Lomvazi (c. 1885–1922), and a daughter, Tongotongo (c. 1879–1918). [...] After the selection of her eldest son, Bhunu, as the successor to his father in 1889, Labotsibeni became the Ndlovukati or Queen mother. There is little doubt that in choosing Bhunu as the heir to his father the old queen mother, Tibati, and the members of the inner council were influenced by their knowledge of his mother's strength of character. It is said that King Mbandzeni had himself recommended her to be the mother of his heir. In the early years of Bhunu's minority Labotsibeni had to take second place to Tibati, who served as queen regent. While Tibati remained at the royal homestead of Nkanini, Labotsibeni established a new headquarters for her son a few kilometres away at Zombodze. There was some tension between the two rulers, which lasted until Tibati's death in October 1895, but by 1894 Labotsibeni had emerged as the stronger of the two. [...] It was at this time that Labotsibeni emerged as a remarkably intelligent, articulate, and astute spokesperson for the Swazi nation; she dominated the debate at indabas, and got the better of the argument at meetings with such representatives of the Transvaal as the vice-president, N. J. Smit, and the commandant-general, Piet Joubert, as well as with the republic's special commissioner in Swaziland, J. C. Krogh, and successive British consuls in Swaziland, James Stuart and Johannes Smuts.
Although Bhunu had been installed as ngwenyama or king, with the title Ngwane V, in February 1895, Labotsibeni retained considerable authority. As queen mother she was, in terms of the unwritten constitution of the country, a dual monarch with political influence equal to that of the king, and with the supernatural power to make rain. Her position was strengthened by the reckless behaviour of Bhunu, who established his own base at Mampondweni in the Mdzimba mountains above Zombodze. When he was implicated in the murder of Labotsibeni's senior induna, Mbhabha Nsibandze, and two other indunas, at Zombodze in April 1898, the Transvaal administration sought to bring him to trial. [...] On the outbreak of the South African War in October 1899 the Transvaal's special commissioner, J. C. Krogh, and the British consul, Johannes Smuts, withdrew from Swaziland. General Piet Joubert wrote to Bhunu, indicating that the South African Republic was leaving Swaziland in his hands. He resumed full authority over his kingdom, but he did not live long to enjoy untrammelled power: he died two months later at Zombodze on 10 December. Labotsibeni now became queen regent as well as queen mother and acted in the name of Bhunu's son, Mona, also known as Nkhotfotjeni, who was chosen to succeed at the age of six months; he eventually became paramount chief, and later King Sobhuza II. It was widely believed that Labotsibeni would have preferred her second son, Prince Malunge, a handsome, intelligent, eloquent, and able young man, to succeed Bhunu. His succession would have avoided a very long minority, but it would have been an unacceptable break with Swazi custom."
