My feeling is that this is zulu. It's the brass knobs that lead me to think that. It recalls the hobnails found on old knobkerries.
Also, even though you do find this kind of wirework among Shona as well, it's more prevalent among the Nguni tribes (Shona are not Nguni speaking).
Shangaan/Tsonga are also not Nguni, though they have been influenced by Nguni at points in the past.
In terms of the balance of probabilities, I'd say the likelihood of this being zulu is about 70%. But it could be from other Nguni groups – and these are, Swazi, Ndebele, Pondo, Xhosa. Of all these, the Swazi are the most like the Zulu.
So, chances are this is either Zulu or Swazi.
Unsure about whether this was ever symbolic of rank or not. The knobkerries are certainly used as a mace to symbolise authority. Today they are predominantly carried by headmen or elders.
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