AmaZulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini Zulu, with Speaker Nontembeko Boyce at the opening of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo
In a move to effectively control the 3 million hectares of land under traditional leadership (amakhosi) in Kwazulu-Natal, AmaZulu king Misuzulu kaZwelithini has called for the overhaul of the Ingonyama Trust Act, particularly the clause that gives the government powers to appoint the board.
Under the current Act, the government through the Minister of Land Reform, Mzwanele Nyhontso, has the final word in the appointment of the board and is the one that can remove it. However, the king now wants all the powers to be placed directly under him.
The board allows government to make decisions regarding the land, leaving the king and traditional leaders as administrators of the land on behalf of the government.
Delivering his address to officially open the provincial legislature at Woodburn Rugby Stadium in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday, the king announced the appointment of retired KwaZulu-Natal judge president Mjabuliseni Madondo and Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi to draft an amendment to the Ingonyama Trust Act, which will be presented to members of Parliament for a vote.
The king also directed his Traditional Prime Minister Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi to engage all 18 political parties represented in Parliament, to support the amendment of the Trust Act.
“As part of the effort to restore what belongs to the Zulu nation I have implemented a process that seeks to bring back the control of Ingonyama Trust from Pretoria, to where it rightfully belongs. For far too long, the government has been making decisions about the land that belongs to amakhosi. "Amakhosi have no role to play in representing the Ingonyama Trust Board arrangement because the board is appointed by the Minister," Misuzulu said.
"In this regard, I have appointed retired judge Isaac Madondo and Tembeka Ngcukaitobi to lead a process that has been proposed as an amendment to the Ingonyama Trust Act. The end result will be that the board members will be appointed by the king,” said Misuzulu.
He said the purpose will be for amakhosi to exercise direct control and oversight of the land, arguing that gone are the days when the government will make decisions on the land for amakhosi.
The king also reiterated his call for the dropping of Natal from KwaZulu-Natal.
Misuzulu said that it was the strategy of colonialists to 'rename the areas of black people under the false pretense that they (colonialists) had discovered it.
“How can you discover something that has already been discovered. How do you discover land when people are already living there,” said Misuzulu.
willem.phungula@inl.co.za