AmaZulu King MisuZulu KaZwelithini has told his subjects to defend their land and culture, saying it will be a befitting honour for the AmaZulu martyrs who were in the forefront defending the nation’s existence, land and resisting white domination in the Battle of Isandlwana in 1879.
MisuZulu was addressing a strong contingent of AmaZulu regiments and various mayors under the King Cetshwayo District municipality in KwaZulu-Natal’s north coast during a memorial lecture of one of the admired kings of AmaZulu, Cetshwayo kaMpande, who has been honoured and widely praised for defeating the British forces at Isandlwana.
The event was part of festivities planned to commemorate the 1879 Battle of Isandlwana between AmaZulu regiments and the British army, which lasted two days from January 22 to 23, leaving heavy casualties on both sides.
“We must protect the land and we must also preserve our culture at all costs. This is what our ancestors fought for. The laws and way of life that was passed on from our forefathers must be protected,” said MisuZulu.
About 2.8 million hectares of land in KwaZulu-Natal, almost the size of Belgium, is administered by the Ingonyama Trust whose sole trustee is the AmaZulu king.
Over the years, the entity formed in 1994 to control the land owned by AmaZulu under the erstwhile KwaZulu government, has come under scrutiny on how it conducts its affairs.
The 2017 high-level panel appointed by parliament to review legislation on Land Reform recommended that the Ingonyama Act be scrapped. But the late AmaZulu king Zwelithini kaBhekuZulu fought the recommendation to the grave, vowing it will not see the light of day. He subsequently ordered all his subjects to make donations of R5 to foot any legal bill.
“We will stand with you our king and we are prepared to put our bodies on the line should there be any attempts to take the land under the traditional leaders. The land we have was fought hard by Umntwana wakaPhindangene [Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi] and if he had not put up a fight, we would be landless today,” said district mayor Thami Ntuli.
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