News / Regional
Mat South Chiefs fume over unsanctioned Njelele rituals by war-vets
15 May 2012 at 08:11hrs | Views
MATABELELAND South chiefs are fuming over the recent visit to Njelele shrine by people believed to be war veterans who reportedly performed unsanctioned rituals, saying the development was undermining their authority and causing commotion in the province.
Njelele shrine is situated in Matobo District.
The chiefs convened an urgent meeting in Esigodini yesterday where a heated discussion over the issue took place.
At the end of the meeting the chiefs resolved to hold a meeting on Monday next week where they would invite the president of the Chiefs' Council, Chief Fortune Charumbira and his deputy Chief Mtshana Khumalo of Bubi.
They also agreed to invite Zanu-PF National Chairman Simon Khaya Moyo and war veterans leader Jabulani Sibanda to present their concerns to them since the issue involved allegations against Zanu-PF and war veterans.
Last month the chiefs also met and condemned the visit to the shrine without their approval as custodians of cultural values.
It is the chiefs' contention that on three different occasions, a group of unknown people numbering about 750, 650 and 150 surreptitiously visited Njelele shrine and forced their way in and conducted some cleansing rituals without the knowledge and approval of the local traditional leadership.
"The group first came in November 2011 and returned again in January this year. They also came back on 5 May this year. We met them in their last visit and they are very arrogant. Balenkani embi kakhulu and they claim to have the blessing of a senior political leader, who is also a Government Minister," said Chief Mathema of Wenlock in Gwanda.
In his contribution Chief Gwebu of Umzingwane said anyone was allowed to visit Njelele as long as he or she followed proper channels.
"Njelele is situated in Matabeleland South and anyone who comes here should recognise us and respect our territory," said Chief Gwebu.
Chief Masuku of Matshetsheni in Gwanda said the unsanctioned visit was suspicious.
"Laban' abantu abathambanga. They are very confrontational and involve politics. They do not even recognise who the Ndebele people are. They even have the guts to say Ndebeles have no land here and they do not want to listen to anyone. They said they are haunted by the spirits of the dead liberation fighters. There should be something fishy about their visit," said Chief Masuku.
The chiefs said the political leadership from Matabeleland should watch the issue closely and take a position on it.
"This thing is getting out of hand and if we delay, the situation will be worse. Following protocol will delay us. We now need to go straight to President Mugabe and seek his intervention," said Chief Mathema.
At that point Chief Malaba of Matobo, who was chairing the meeting, proposed that chiefs should engage the president of the Chiefs' Council, Chief Charumbira, and his deputy Chief Mtshana Khumalo.
Chief Senator Masendu of Bulilima district said the issue needed to be handled with care to avoid causing controversy.
"We have the right to call Chief Charumbira and his deputy, Chief Mtshana here and seek their audience over the issue. Governor Masuku is here standing for the President and we can engage her as well," said Chief Masendu.
Chief Nyangazonke Ndiweni of Kezi also voiced his concern and said urgent measures needed to be taken as villagers were already disturbed by the issue.
"The language of these people is not good and their attitude arrogant. What are they trying to prove to us as leaders?" fumed Chief Mathe of Umzingwane.
Governor Masuku, who also attended the meeting, said the matter should be dealt with urgently.
"I agree that the matter should be given the urgency it deserves because of the bad situation here. I have briefed Vice-President John Nkomo about it and he also showed concern but asked me what was the chiefs' position," said Governor Masuku.
The chiefs said the issue, if not handled promptly, would tarnish the image of Zanu-PF and the political leadership and cause infighting between communities.
The chiefs said Njelele needed to be cleansed in order to appease the ancestors following the strange rituals by the unsanctioned visitors.
They said the group visited the shrine at the wrong time of the year, which might anger the gods.
Others said the development was a deliberate ploy to undermine the Ndebele traditional leadership and their culture.
It is alleged that the group of visitors went to Mozambique sometime ago where they toured places where liberation war fighters died and were buried during the liberation struggle.
The group reportedly picked up some stones from the mass graves, which they brought to Njelele intending to conduct cleansing rituals as they claimed to be haunted by the spirits of the dead.
During yesterday's meeting it emerged that members of the group claimed that many of their relatives were dying because they had not performed cleansing ceremonies.
Acting Matabeleland South Provincial Administrator Mr Midard Khumalo also attended the meeting.
Njelele shrine is situated in Matobo District.
The chiefs convened an urgent meeting in Esigodini yesterday where a heated discussion over the issue took place.
At the end of the meeting the chiefs resolved to hold a meeting on Monday next week where they would invite the president of the Chiefs' Council, Chief Fortune Charumbira and his deputy Chief Mtshana Khumalo of Bubi.
They also agreed to invite Zanu-PF National Chairman Simon Khaya Moyo and war veterans leader Jabulani Sibanda to present their concerns to them since the issue involved allegations against Zanu-PF and war veterans.
Last month the chiefs also met and condemned the visit to the shrine without their approval as custodians of cultural values.
It is the chiefs' contention that on three different occasions, a group of unknown people numbering about 750, 650 and 150 surreptitiously visited Njelele shrine and forced their way in and conducted some cleansing rituals without the knowledge and approval of the local traditional leadership.
"The group first came in November 2011 and returned again in January this year. They also came back on 5 May this year. We met them in their last visit and they are very arrogant. Balenkani embi kakhulu and they claim to have the blessing of a senior political leader, who is also a Government Minister," said Chief Mathema of Wenlock in Gwanda.
In his contribution Chief Gwebu of Umzingwane said anyone was allowed to visit Njelele as long as he or she followed proper channels.
"Njelele is situated in Matabeleland South and anyone who comes here should recognise us and respect our territory," said Chief Gwebu.
Chief Masuku of Matshetsheni in Gwanda said the unsanctioned visit was suspicious.
"Laban' abantu abathambanga. They are very confrontational and involve politics. They do not even recognise who the Ndebele people are. They even have the guts to say Ndebeles have no land here and they do not want to listen to anyone. They said they are haunted by the spirits of the dead liberation fighters. There should be something fishy about their visit," said Chief Masuku.
The chiefs said the political leadership from Matabeleland should watch the issue closely and take a position on it.
"This thing is getting out of hand and if we delay, the situation will be worse. Following protocol will delay us. We now need to go straight to President Mugabe and seek his intervention," said Chief Mathema.
Chief Senator Masendu of Bulilima district said the issue needed to be handled with care to avoid causing controversy.
"We have the right to call Chief Charumbira and his deputy, Chief Mtshana here and seek their audience over the issue. Governor Masuku is here standing for the President and we can engage her as well," said Chief Masendu.
Chief Nyangazonke Ndiweni of Kezi also voiced his concern and said urgent measures needed to be taken as villagers were already disturbed by the issue.
"The language of these people is not good and their attitude arrogant. What are they trying to prove to us as leaders?" fumed Chief Mathe of Umzingwane.
Governor Masuku, who also attended the meeting, said the matter should be dealt with urgently.
"I agree that the matter should be given the urgency it deserves because of the bad situation here. I have briefed Vice-President John Nkomo about it and he also showed concern but asked me what was the chiefs' position," said Governor Masuku.
The chiefs said the issue, if not handled promptly, would tarnish the image of Zanu-PF and the political leadership and cause infighting between communities.
The chiefs said Njelele needed to be cleansed in order to appease the ancestors following the strange rituals by the unsanctioned visitors.
They said the group visited the shrine at the wrong time of the year, which might anger the gods.
Others said the development was a deliberate ploy to undermine the Ndebele traditional leadership and their culture.
It is alleged that the group of visitors went to Mozambique sometime ago where they toured places where liberation war fighters died and were buried during the liberation struggle.
The group reportedly picked up some stones from the mass graves, which they brought to Njelele intending to conduct cleansing rituals as they claimed to be haunted by the spirits of the dead.
During yesterday's meeting it emerged that members of the group claimed that many of their relatives were dying because they had not performed cleansing ceremonies.
Acting Matabeleland South Provincial Administrator Mr Midard Khumalo also attended the meeting.
Source - TC
