Opinion / Columnist
Ndebeles need a King to defend their land
07 Jul 2018 at 03:18hrs | Views
The Imbizo called by King Goodwill Zwelithini Zulu of kwaZulu and his prophetic speech is a clear testament to the need of a King if a nation like the Ndebele nation is to survive.
Since the formation of Julius Malema's EFF, the issue of land expropriation has become topical, initially the EFF policy seemed to be aimed at the whites who own huge tracts of land, but the events of the recent days have indicated otherwise. The adoption of land expropriation without compensation by the ANC in its recent elective conference has changed everything and the focus of the policy.
Since 1980 the Shona people have been slowly invading the Ndebele territory. This year in January I was surprised to learn that in prime area in Filabusi, the area which was the King's land is now almost totally occupied by the Shona people. They now form the majority, this is the best area in Filabusi just near Fotrixon.
To make matters worse the mine concessions in Filabusi are in the hands of the Shona people. Do you know who they employ, they employ other Shona people. One would expect to find 90% of the workforce to be from the rest of Matabeleland but the truth is that they don't even form 5% of the work place. Under normal circumstances you would expect the proceeds from these mines to benefit the locals but there is nothing which benefits the locals.
If you think the above scenario is peculiar to Filabusi you are in for a rude awakening, this scenario is exactly the same throughout Matabeleland. And there is nobody with the power to stop this unfair state of affairs, this brings us to the need of a Ndebele King who will be able to galvanise the people to defend their birth right. Someone was telling me that this state of affairs whereby the privileged are benefiting this much from our land, it cannot be changed by peaceful political processes. The only way out is to be militant and radical like the Zulus, the Zulus have put the whole country on alert and make no mistake if anyone tries to take their land there would be war in South Africa.
Since the formation of Julius Malema's EFF, the issue of land expropriation has become topical, initially the EFF policy seemed to be aimed at the whites who own huge tracts of land, but the events of the recent days have indicated otherwise. The adoption of land expropriation without compensation by the ANC in its recent elective conference has changed everything and the focus of the policy.
To make matters worse the mine concessions in Filabusi are in the hands of the Shona people. Do you know who they employ, they employ other Shona people. One would expect to find 90% of the workforce to be from the rest of Matabeleland but the truth is that they don't even form 5% of the work place. Under normal circumstances you would expect the proceeds from these mines to benefit the locals but there is nothing which benefits the locals.
If you think the above scenario is peculiar to Filabusi you are in for a rude awakening, this scenario is exactly the same throughout Matabeleland. And there is nobody with the power to stop this unfair state of affairs, this brings us to the need of a Ndebele King who will be able to galvanise the people to defend their birth right. Someone was telling me that this state of affairs whereby the privileged are benefiting this much from our land, it cannot be changed by peaceful political processes. The only way out is to be militant and radical like the Zulus, the Zulus have put the whole country on alert and make no mistake if anyone tries to take their land there would be war in South Africa.
Source - Thulani Nkala
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