South Africa-based descendants of King Mzilikazi have urged their Zimbabwean counterparts to push for the revival of the Ndebele monarchy.
BENSON DUBE OWN CORRESPONDENT
Mntungwa kaMbalazi Absolom Khumalo of Mhlahlandlela in South Africa on Saturday said delays in installing a king to restore the Ndebele monarchy in Zimbabwe were worrying.
Mhlahlandlela was a settlement established by King Mzilikazi just outside present day Pretoria in South Africa in the 1820s. Khumalo, a South African, said they had been inquiring for years when a Ndebele king would be installed in Zimbabwe, but had been getting unsatisfactory responses.
Khumalo spoke to Southern Eye on the sidelines of commemorations to mark the 146th anniversary of the death of Ndebele nation founder King Mzilikazi Khumalo held at Mhlahlandlela in Matopo on the outskirts of Bulawayo.
Mzilikazi is believed to have died on September 9 1868 and was buried at Ntumbane Matobo Hills.
“Every year when we come, we ask them as to when they will restore the king and we have been asking this question every time we gathered here to commemorate King Mzilikazi,” Khumalo said.
“There is no train which can move without a head. There are chiefs, but there is no king. Chiefs are supposed to report to the king and it’s not happening here.”
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He expressed disquiet at the conduct of organisers of the commemorations saying their attire was not in keeping with such an important event.
“l am not happy with how the maNtungwa (the Khumalos) of Mthwakazi do things.
“Since 2005 we have been coming to Zimbabwe to celebrate King Mzilikazi and we always tell them that they must put on traditional regalia and not to put on suits,” he said.
“We commemorate king Mzilikazi every September 5 of each year, but I do not know what delayed the celebrations this year.
“These celebrations by the maNtungwa occur at many places on different days. They always promise us that the next will be different, but it has always been the same.” Thokozani Khumalo, a liaison officer of the maNtungwa, weighed in saying the installation of a Ndebele king was long overdue and they had thought Saturday would see it being finally done.
“We thought today we were going to restore the king, but l realise that nothing has been done. We do not know who is to take over. But the king must come from King Lobengula’s lineage.
“We now want the exact date where we will be called to come and coronate the king,” he said.
One of the descendants of King Lobengula, Leo Khumalo, said chiefs were the correct people to choose the next Ndebele king, but Peter Zwide kaLanga Khumalo, who is also a descendent of King Lobengula, said the king in waiting is identifiable based on “kept records”.
“There is not going to be a fight in the family and for one to be king, that person must come from the royal lineage of the mother and this is why culture is important,” he said.
King Lobengula was the last recorded Ndebele king.
