Bill end of Zulu monarchy
2003-06-20 20:55
Cape Town - Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Friday the Communal Land Bill was the "final destruction" of the Zulu monarchy and traditional leadership, and King Goodwill Zwelithini and the amakhosi shared this view.
"Any attempts to take away the control of traditional land, from the king, and his amakhosi, amounts to destroying the whole structure of the kingdom, and of the monarchy and of the institution of traditional leadership," said Buthelezi.
He was speaking in Ulundi at the symbolically-laden formal handover of the Ondini Palace to King Goodwill.
Buthelezi said that he regarded as "ominous" the proposed legislation and identified it as "one of immediate challenges looming before us from which we cannot run away".
The Communal Land Bill would repeal the Ingonyama Trust Act, and would make central government the owner of land which is currently held by Zulu amakhosi, with the king as overall trustee. This change would bring KwaZulu-Natal in line with other provinces.
Buthelezi said the Zulu nation needed to "ensure that our institutions of traditional leadership and our monarchy are nourished and protected because they are the symbol of what we are, and the major source of our unity".
"Therefore, I take great pride in the fact that it is our people who, with their contribution, built this palace for the King and it is our people who, today, are delivering it to His Majesty."
Alluding to past rifts within the Zulu nation and hierarchy, Buthelezi said that many wounds were now being healed by the palace handover.
"This ceremony has been delayed for a long time to ensure that it could take place in accordance with our traditions. After last November 10, when His Majesty and I undertook the ceremony of reconciliation, it became possible for this ceremony to take place in full compliance with our rituals and rites," he said.
Ondini was the place of residence of King Cetshwayo who was the last of the Zulu kings to rule over an independent Zulu kingdom. The palace was burned down by British troops on July 4, 1879 as a symbol of the subjugation which they intended to impose on the Zulu people and their kingdom.
- SAPA