Heritage Week Special: Traditional leaders burying a generational hatchet and starting a new chapter

 (left: Nkosi Ndebele (Chief Ndebele) center: Umntwana Omkhulu (The head royal Prince of Egazini in Zululand) )

The understanding of South African history has easily lost its relevance to the new generation. With the country still being in its democratic infancy, cultural identity is easily forgotten or misunderstood. Personally,  my understanding of the different tribal bodies that makeup South Africa is only the size of the Shaka Zulu modules that were squeezed into my high school syllabus. The apartheid regime lessons then stripped away the little tribal and cultural knowledge of my own country. The different clans and tribes were all easily bundled up as just “blacks”. In the past year, I had the joy of exploring the beauty and the grim nature of the Zulu Nation. In many ways, I have become less Black and more African.

The apartheid regime had created a lot of disruption within the tribal structures which traditionally were the pillars of the once-powerful Southern African Kingdom. With the new government stepping in, the traditional authorities had to also evolve to accommodate the new era, and evolution doesn’t happen seamlessly. A good example of this is the generational feud in a rural town in Zululand named KwaCeza. Animosity and friction ate away any sense of progression within the town. Community members even reported that a number of fights and deaths were motivated by this generational feud between the two tribes. If any development was to occur then change and reconciliation between the two parties had to begin, fortunately for the people an alliance between the two leaders was publicly announced on the 13^th of September 2019.

On Friday the 13^th the constitutionally recognized, soft-spoken young leader of the Ndebele Traditional Authorities, Nkosi Ndebele (Chief Ndebele) graced the heritage enriched rural town of KwaCeza, KZN. His speech on unity and acknowledgment of the feud caught the attention of all parties present. His mature message of leaders working together to cure the “disease of poverty” and moving forward as one nation gave the people a sense of hope.

“We have noticed [acknowledged] that our division has prevented our growth, we have seen that the chiefdoms can gain more working together than working against each other” – Nkosi Ndebele (Ndebele Chief).

Umntwana Omkhulu (The head royal Prince of Egazini in Zululand) spoke in agreement, with an air of sincerity and respect between the two leaders regardless of the age difference. The respectable elder and leader reconfirmed the message of unity through working together and how it will benefit all people. He even went a step further and humbled himself apologizing for his ancestor’s role in the feud, asking the public for forgiveness on their behalf. The act carried a large sense of humility especially in the cultural context of the African tribes present.

Another important topic that was mentioned was the issue of leaders within the different tribes who were suppressing the development of the people, the two leaders assured the public that they will not tolerate any hindrance from their respective courts in the area.

“We do not want people who are enemies of development”

The day continued and Global Joint Council of Business Communities, the organizers of the Heritage event expressed their struggles created by the tension caused by the tribal feud, and how it created frustration in delivering development within the area.

“There are people who still don’t speak to me, who have cursed me for wanting to bring development in the whole of KwaCeza” – 1^st Chairperson of GJCBC.

In the end, it was a needed step to address the issues and struggles to prevent development in the beautiful yet impoverish rural town that holds so much cultural relevance.  Reconciliation is the first step and one can’t help but appreciate the wisdom the two leaders embodied to even take the step.

What I took home from the experience is cultural knowledge of two existing African tribes still deeply wounded by the past oppressive systems. I was able to witness African leaders embracing change for the goodness of their people. A journey to a sustainable rural economy will not be easy, and evidence clings to the current state of 3^rd world countries especially their grass-root communities, however, history has proven that through reliance, cooperation and hard-work success for any society is possible.

A word of appreciation to the Department of Social Development for sponsoring the event, as well as those who traveled far to support positive community change and development.