THE legitimate royal son of AbaThwakazi, an alliance of culturally diverse Bantu clans founded by Mzilikazi during his reign when he first discovered Matabeleland in the early 1800s, is buried in a disgraceful cemetery in Fingo Village, Grahamstown. The grandson of King Lobengula, Alban Njube Lobengula (born 1880-1910) and the Queen mother Mpoiyana (died 1912) has received no due honour from the Makana Municipality (Grahamstown).
The current condition of the cemetery reflects total neglect of the family ancestry by the local council. The status quo of Njube Lobengula holds a significant spiritual, cultural and political value in Zimbabwe, more especially within the SADC region.
It is an irony that such a national treasure should be in such a disgraceful state – it is a humiliation to the family and an embarrassment to the nation that we should fail in our quest for true liberty, that certain issues, especially of national interest, should be buried in a shallow grave. This is especially so during the times where availability of information is crucial for the development of our nation.
The major factor contributing to this state of affairs is the bureaucratic non-responsive stunts performed by the local government in approving the envisaged business prospects submitted by the King Lobengula Foundation to regenerate and develop Luvuyo Hall (the family plot) and the surrounding areas. The necessary documentation was submitted to ex officio Ms Ntombi Baart, and yet no formal correspondence has been received from the office of the municipal manager and the local economic development authorities in Makana. This is a national heritage that needs to be recognised by powers that be in order to rectify the stolen history of our People. South African government should take priority in establishing fundamental history for the purpose of the generation to come in order for all the citizens to be equally represented in the historical archives.
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