Times Of Swaziland: KINGS TO RULE SOUTH AFRICA

KINGS TO RULE SOUTH AFRICA
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Mfanukhona Nkambule on 07/04/2024 16:58:00


MBABANE – Some of the country’s political activists are in exile in South
Africa where Jacob Zuma wants Kings and chiefs to rule.
Six days ago, the former president of South Africa promised traditional leaders
who include Kings and chiefs that his organisation, uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP)
would give them more power than the government. Zuma, who participated in the
Army Day hosted by His Majesty King Mswati III on Friday, said his party would
ensure that monarchs and chiefs get more powers to rule South Africa if it wins
the forthcoming elections. South Africa goes to the polls on May 29, 2024. In
case the MKP wins, he said, it would change the Constitution by replacing
pro-white policies with African traditional policies. “Luckily amakhosi and
monarchs, who are the owners of the land, concur with us,” Zuma said. “We
want them to rule their land. The government should not be above everyone. “It
(government) should govern on behalf of us, the owners of the land led by
traditional leaders.”
This may be viewed as politicking by the former president, but the Times of
Eswatini SUNDAY can mention that he issued a Government Notice 337323 during his
presidency on November 5, 2010, recognising kings and kingships. In terms of
Section 28(8) read with Section 2A of the Traditional Leadership and Governance
Framework Act, 2003 (Act NO. 41 of 2003) (the Act), he wrote: “I Jacob
Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa, hereby recognise
the following kingships and kings.” The kingships/kings were as follows:
* AbaThembu - King Buyelekhaya Zwelibanzi DaJindyebo
* AmaXhosa - King Mpendulo Calvin Sigcau.
* AmaMpondo - King Zanozuko Tyelovuyo Sigcau
* Amazulu - King Zwelithini Goodwill Zulu (now King Misuzulu)
* AmaNdebele of Manala and AmaNdebele as a whole - King Enock Makosonke Mabhena
* Bapedi ba Maroteng.
It must be said that the MKP has placed Zuma as its number one candidate,
meaning if the party wins the elections, he could become the State president.
Zuma said traditional leaders had seen their power reduced to nothing. “For
the traditional leaders not to rule, did not only bring us poverty; it brought
us crime and all other misguided laws. There are very bad policies that you
would not want to talk about in front of children. We are going to change all
that,” he said.
Quoted by IOL and over 10 publications in South Africa and beyond, the former
president said monarchs and amakhosi (traditional leaders) would reclaim their
power because ‘this is their land’. “There should be a platform where
amakhosi would meet to discuss how this country should be governed,” insisted
Zuma whose middle name is Gedleyihlekisa. He said the monarchs and chiefs should
assign politicians to do ‘this and that’. “...and after we have done that,
we should return to account to them (monarchs and chiefs),” Zuma said. He said
amakhosi would tell them as politicians how to govern their people. The
ex-President of South Africa and African National Congress (ANC) said government
should be a runner of the kings and chiefs.
Zuma pointed out that the South African Government should not be above amakhosi.
He said this was the case in England, where the monarch was above the government
and prime minister. “England does not have a president; it has a prime
minister, whose government is appointed by those above him,” he said. “If we
are not united behind this, we might as well go to live in the sea because it
would mean we are not real Zulus, Xhosas or Vendas. It would mean we are
something else. The land belongs to us and we should rule it.” He said the MKP
would put an end to the poverty that prevented black children from succeeding in
education. “We want our children to be more clever than anyone, and be
manufacturers. We want South African-manufactured aeroplanes and manufactured by
South African youth,” he said. “That is why we are going to force the young
people out of alcohol because I don’t want anyone to be an alcoholic.”
According to the Sunday Tribune, Zuma called for the abolition of the
‘western’ judicial system, and installation of a constitutional system that
would give greater authority to the traditional leaders. The Sunday Tribune
reported that Zuma said amakhosi ruled the land peacefully until the colonial
period. He said the colonisers understood that traditional leaders were the
‘owners’ of the land. After stealing their land, he said the colonisers
stripped the kings of their power and authority. In January 2024, Zuma suggested
that the kings and chiefs should be a ‘sovereign’ authority with central
executive powers. “When we got our freedom, we should have taken back the land
and reinstalled the authority of traditional leadership like in other countries
where there are amakhosi as Heads of State and a government that serves under
them,” he said. “Amakhosi should have the final say on issues affecting
their people.”
Zuma was speaking to traditional leaders and members of new political formation
the All African Alliance Movement (AAAM), at his Nkandla homestead in northern
KwaZulu-Natal.
He said no one consulted amakhosi for their input before passing new laws in
Parliament. He said the Roman-Dutch law had taken away the power of amakhosi to
rule over their people, and had given it to white men and a few politicians.
“People under amakhosi are poor since the arrival of the white men. When will
we free ourselves from that? We would be cowards if we don’t fix this. We
can’t beg outsiders and be the poor ones,” he said. He said the ANC was
created by traditional leaders as a movement, not a party, to unite black people
to fight an oppressive system.
In a dig at President Cyril Ramaphosa who also paid a courtesy call on His
Majesty and Her Majesty Indlovukazi this week, Zuma said people should be able
to remove a president before the end of their term if they were not satisfied
with his service. He said people should be able to remove the cap on the number
of terms a person could serve as president. “When someone is doing a bad job
we must remove him, just like we’re going to do with the one who is leading
now,” Zuma said. “We must remove this person, he’s holding us back.” He
added: “Why keep someone who is failing us? We have to replace him now. We are
poor, unemployed and living in darkness (but) we’re holding on to the
Roman-Dutch law that says he must finish his term.” Referring to the Phala
Phala saga, he suggested that Ramaphosa was defended by his party and the
Judiciary. He appealed to traditional leaders to vote for MK in the upcoming
elections.
SA relatively traditional - Alpheous
Alpheous Nxumalo, the Government Press Secretary, said Zuma’s declaration
depicted a political discourse that would definitely put the modern democratic
ideology and South African institutions into serious test by the MK Party of
uMsholozi, referring to the ex-president. Nxumalo said it was true that the
traditional leaders of South Africa (kings) were alienated from the day-to-day
political decision making and administration of the country, with the MK Party
seeking to correct this alienation. He said Zuma’s declaration should be
understood in the context of the ANC, which was formerly a creation of the
combined efforts of kings. He said this included the substantial financial and
material contributions that were made by previous Queens and Kings of the
Kingdom of Eswatini.
However, post 1994, the government press secretary said the political space for
the meaningful participation of kings/traditional leaders in the political space
in South Africa, shrank and seemingly closed down. Nxumalo said this scenario
has now given an opportunity to pro-kings political parties such as the Zuma’s
MK to make amends. As a matter of fact, he said South Africa ‘is relatively
traditional’ in terms of the set-up of the provinces. “That’s why the MK
will first make inroads in the provisional elections before they could pose a
serious and meaningful challenge at national level,” he said. He said kings
were essentially ‘the glue that holds the people and power together’. On the
other hand, he mentioned that political parties tend to be opportunistic and
self-serving. He said they always look forward to winning next elections even at
the point of providing leadership without ethics. On the contrary, he said kings
‘are permanent institutions and entities.’ “They do not have the pressure
to impress for votes but to provide solid and enduring leadership that will lead
the country to peace, stability and development,” he said.
Eswatini Diaspora reacts to Zuma
Responding to questions on Zuma’s declaration, Ignatius Bonginkhosi Dhlamini,
the Coordinator of the United Eswatini Diaspora (UED), said his organisation did
not meddle in the internal political affairs of South Africa. Dhlamini, a former
executive in one of the country’s big companies, said UED respected existing
political formations in South Africa, with the essence of democracy being having
those various political parties. He said there were political parties and other
progressive organisations in South Africa that supported their struggle for
democracy. Dhlamini said they included the ruling party, the ANC and its
alliance partners, the South African Communist Party and COSATU. He said another
great supporter of their struggles was the Economic Freedom Fighters. On the
role of the traditional leaders, the coordinator said they have not formed a
particular position except to say that they were not supporting their partisan
role in Swaziland (Eswatini).
He said they were totally against traditional leaders being the pillars of an
undemocratic monarchy. He said UED believed that only free emaSwati would decide
a future political dispensation of the country. “A free people will decide the
role of traditional leaders in Swaziland (Eswatini),” he said. Dhlamini said
the UED was definitely against the current setup where traditional leaders were
being used by the royal family to what he described as ‘subjugating and
oppressing’ people. “This manifest itself through forced labour for the
royal family, and arbitrary evictions of those who want democracy, human
dignity, social justice and freedom,” Dhlamini said. The government has been
denying though that emaSwati are being forced to weed royal fields. Government
argued that emaSwati voluntarily did so in accordance with tradition and
culture. It is said that the majority of emaSwati did not participate in the
weeding of the royal fields.