Kathu (Kadhu) ya Mangundu figures in Aawambo origin tradition as the brother of Nangombe and a son of the first human Mangundu. When the two brothers reached the great Omumborombonga tree during their migration from the east, they separated: Kathu led his people and herds onward in search of pasture, becoming the ancestor of the pastoral Ovaherero, while Nangombe remained to found the Aawambo. The story is regularly cited to explain the acknowledged kinship between the Aawambo and Ovaherero peoples of Namibia.