King Misuzulu kaZwelithini ascension to the Zulu throne comes with huge challenges. His late father, King Zwelithini, played a leading role in preserving and promoting the Zulu people’s identity, culture, language, traditions and heritage during his 50-year rule. Despite huge political changes he stood firm in resisting any erosion of the values fundamental to the institution of royalty. He was a symbol of unity and hope to his people.
If King Misuzulu is to continue building on his father’s legacy he will need to keep adapting to political, economic and social changes, while continuing to be the symbol of unity and hope within the Zulu nation and across the country’s racial, cultural and ideological divides. If he is to be a facilitator of peace and avoid party politics, he has several priorities.
First, he needs to protect land and the associated wealth of KwaZulu. Since the release of the findings of a panel headed by former president Kgalema Motlanthe, a political storm has been brewing over the Ingonyama Trust Act. The Trust is responsible for managing 2.8-million hectares of land in KwaZulu-Natal in the name of the king as the sole trustee to “hold land for the benefit, material welfare and social wellbeing of the members of the Zulu people who live on the land”.
The panel found the Act that established the Trust “to be abrogating the land rights of those it exists to protect” and recommended it be repealed or substantially amended at least. “If the Trust is repealed it would lead to the government taking ownership of the land,” the report states. It is unfortunate that the panel was silent on the Trust’s achievements such as ensuring that the land within its administration is protected from further dispossession and invasion by narrow political and business interests.
The Zulu royal household brand remains an unexploited asset that can give it, the KwaZulu-Natal government and business a distinct advantage in local and global marketplaces
The successes of the Trust in protecting the lands of the eMacambini and Enhlangwini communities from foreign interests are some of the achievements that needed to be acknowledged by the panel’s report. Considering the dismal failure of the government to redistribute land, King Misuzulu has a huge responsibility of leading resistance against the report’s recommendation. As King Zwelithini used to emphasise: “The Zulu nation owns many hectares of land that were stolen during apartheid”. That land is now owned by towns and city councils, farmers and individuals, and that land needs to be claimed and added into the Trust.
The Ingonyama Trust is by far the most valuable initiative the democratic dispensation has produced as a blueprint for managing land for all KwaZulu-Natal citizens, and for protecting it from looting by political and business elites. It also gives guidance to the democratic government on how to administer land in the best interest of all residents.
The Trust attempts to give practical and relevant meaning in an African setting to words such as democracy, freedom and communalism. However, it is by no means a perfect initiative and is therefore open to criticism until its intentions and benefits are fully enjoyed by all residents of the land under it. That balance is possible.
Second, King Zwelithini’s viewpoint was always that the king should be the face of KwaZulu-Natal and that traditional institutions and leadership should be central to communities’ development, governance and delivery.
Traditional institutions played a key role during the colonial and apartheid eras, defending the land against invasion, exploitation and oppression. But traditional authorities such as the Ingonyama Trust seem to be neglected as many of their traditional roles have now been entrusted to corruptible politicians. Since the democratic dispensation it has become clear that extreme politicism is a recipe for maladministration, incompetence and corruption.
King Zwelithini used to say “traditional leaders are God-given and therefore custodians of the African customs, values and wealth. Politicians can learn more from them”. It is therefore King Misuzulu’s challenge to join other traditional leaders in calling for strengthening the roles of traditional institutions, particularly in respect of development programmes. It is only through a hybrid of political and traditional leadership that KwaZulu-Natal and SA will have the necessary capability to lead and deliver effectively.
Third, King Misuzulu needs to build the Zulu royal household as a commercial brand. In 2016, a leading brand valuation consultancy, Brand Finance, valued the British monarchy at €58.4bn (R984bn), calculated from the monarchy’s tangible and intangible and assets as well as its impact on industries such as tourism and marketing. The British monarchy is counted among the globe’s wealthiest and most influential brands. Indeed, it is a business that is strategically managed to evolve with the times. What can the Zulu household lean from this?
The Zulu royal household, like its British counterpart, is a global brand. There are local and international businesses that trade around the brand of the Zulu kingdom, which includes Zulu names such as uShaka, Zulu experience, Zulu heritage and Zulu artefacts and the like without paying any taxes to the Zulu royal household.
If the Zulu royal household can own its commercial rights it can generate revenue to sustain itself and even deliver community development programmes. The Zulu royal household brand remains an unexploited asset that can give it, the KwaZulu-Natal government and business a distinct advantage in local and global marketplaces.
King Misuzulu’s challenge, then, is to devise a strategy that will cash in handsomely on the nation’s affection for Zulu tradition to reach the levels of wealth and independence of the British monarchy and to end its dependence on the government.
• Khumalo is a management specialist and independent political analyst based in Durban.
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