KINGS TO RULE SOUTH AFRICA

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.

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