Mzilikazi II, clansmen clash over rainmaking ceremony

SELF-IMPOSED Ndebele king, Stanley Raphael Khumalo, has triggered a fierce storm with fellow clansmen after he announced plans to conduct a rainmaking ceremony, inxwala, on November 5 in violation of Ndebele traditions and cultural beliefs.

Spokesperson of the late King Lobengula's family, Prince Zwide Khumalo, yesterday said Stanley Raphael had no authority to declare himself king and organise an inxwala ceremony.

"Where does Stanley derive the authority to call himself king? People are never summoned to the inxwala ceremony to pray for rain or request for rain. This is done at the Njelele Shrine where God is, according to local culture," Khumalo said.

"The rites are conducted by amawosana (rainmakers). The Khumalos and indeed the king, completely respected the rainmaking ceremonies, but would never interfere with them because it is owned by and is a Ngwali (God) ceremony. How does Stanley, if he is a Khumalo at all, conduct a rain making ceremony? Is he a wosana?" asked Zwide Khumalo.

"Specifically, the inxwala ceremony was called by a legitimate king only after the rains and not at the beginning of the rainy season, such as the one we are entering now. What Stanley and his crew are advertising for the November 5, had better be called something else and not inxwala.

"Something has gone really wrong among us as uMthwakazi nation that our own people should trivialise such an important ritual and the venue of the ceremony that our forefathers and progressive previous councils revered and observed for so long. Further, Stanley is trivialising the rainmaking ceremony by meddling into cultural matters he is ignorant about," he said.

"King Lobengula's house expresses absolute disgust and dismay at such an act. The Mthwakazi nation sees this as a day-time effort to commit cultural genocide. If a person can wake up in the morning and tell a nation, which for years has been proud of a stable culture and a way of doing things, that he dreamt the previous night; and that he is now a king of some sort and abuse all the institutional rituals, then as a nation, we must avoid associating with characters like Stanley.

"We cannot continue as a nation to be in constant state of slumber and fail to realise the level of damage all this is doing to our culture and identity. It is one thing being a strong advocate for popular political ends and it is another to try to attain political mileage through the destruction of our culture which is a very strong seam to the future of Mthwakazi nationhood."

But Stanely Raphael's spokesperson, Greater Sibanda yesterday defended their decision, saying the new king had a right to do things his own way.

"What was done by Lobengula during his leadership does not mean Mzilikazi should also do it. A lot changed including leadership style, for example Gwabalanda Mathe was changed and Fuyane was put. We do not follow what was done by others," he said.

"The issue of the legitimate king, King Mzilikazi II is a real king as he was coronated on September 10. This means he has the right to do things in his own way and Lobengula did things in his own way as well. The Mzilikazi will not do things like what Lobengula did."