His Majesty the King of the Bapedi Nation, Kgosi Mampuru III; Honourable
Ministers present; the Honourable Premier of Limpopo, Mr Stanley Mathabatha;
Chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders, Kgosi Maubane; the
President of Contralesa, Kgosi Thobejane; royalty, officials and Amakhosi
present; honoured guests.

When I received an invitation from His Majesty Kgoshi Mampuru III to honour the
memory of one of South Africa’s heroes in the wars of resistance, I felt at once
privileged and distressed. For although I have attended commemorations of Kgoshi
Mampuru II in the past, my schedule of responsibilities prevented me from
travelling to Mamone, Moshate today.

My physical absence, however, does not diminish the significance I attach to
this commemoration. For more than half a century I have encouraged my nation to
remember the past, to mark significant moments in the lives of our ancestors and
to honour the memory of those who fought for freedom long before we took up that
fight. I believe strongly in celebrating our heroes. In the Bapedi nation and
the broader nation of South Africa, Kgoshi Mampuru II is certainly a hero.

Also Kgosi Sekhukhuni is such a hero with whom my maternal great grandfather
King Cetshwayo got in touch with during the resistance they put up to
colonisation.

I therefore asked Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi, the Deputy President of my Party, to
bring my message of support to this important commemoration.

As I mentioned last year when we honoured Kgoshi Mampuru II, I feel empathy for
the Bapedi nation and for His Majesty the King, for we share a similar story of
resistance and injustice. My paternal grandfather, Inkosi Mkhandumba Buthelezi,
was executed on the 22nd of February 1911 in the Pietermaritzburg goal, 28 years
after Kgoshi Mampuru II was so brutally hanged in Pretoria.

Both were charged with rebellion and murder. In the case of Kgoshi Mampuru II,
it was a matter of defence against his half-brother’s determined attempts to
usurp the throne. In the case of my grandfather, a question mark remains, for no
body was ever produced as evidence of a murder.

In both cases, there appears to have been rivalry involved between British and
Boer officials which may have accelerated the carrying out of sentence. In the
case of Kgoshi Mampuru II, President Kruger gave assurances that sentence would
not be carried out until he had discussed the matter with the British Colonial
Secretary, Lord Derby. Yet despite these assurances, Kgoshi Mampuru II was
hanged. Twenty eight years later, the Minister of Justice, JBM Hertzog,
recommended a reprieve for Inkosi Mkhandumba Buthelezi. But the Governor
General, Lord Gladstone, followed the recommendation of the Judge President, and
Inkosi Mkhandumba was hanged.

The Bapedi Nation and the Zulu Nation share the wound of not knowing where these
two heroes are buried. I am gratified that we have honoured Kgoshi Mampuru II on
the site where he was executed. We have seen the renaming of Potgieter Street in
Pretoria, of Jane Furse Township Development and of Pretoria Central Prison, all
to honour the memory of Kgoshi Mampuru II. This year we hope to see his statue
completed and erected.

It will be satisfying to know that future generations will see Kgoshi Mampuru II
clad in leopard skin from head to toe, carrying an assegai and a shield. Through
this statue, his full dignity will surely be restored.

No longer will we remember the naked prisoner, condemned to death. No longer
will we think of the 200 spectators who paid to witness the despicable execution
of a king. No longer will we remember the rope inexplicably breaking, or the
repulsive scene that followed. Instead, we will look upon Kgoshi Mampuru II as
he was in the finest moments of his life; defiant, strong and proud.

I am grateful for the efforts being made by so many to restore the dignity of
our long-oppressed people in South Africa. It is right that we show respect for
the leaders of our past, and for the leaders who continue their lineage. Much of
my long career has been dedicated to restoring the dignity, role, powers and
functions of the institution of traditional leadership within a democratic South
Africa.

The colonial and apartheid governments failed to recognise this long-established
social structure. They subverted it, as was the case when the Zulu kingdom was
divided into 13 artificial kinglets at the end of the Anglo-Zulu War. Successive
regimes felt entitled to accept traditional leaders or deny their authority, and
extended or withheld recognition based on pliability and submission. The
institution of traditional leadership was considered inferior to imposed
governance structures; something to be tolerated, but not empowered; something
to be used for political gain.

When we achieved democracy in 1994, we did so with the full expectation that the
institution of traditional leadership would finally be recognised and restored
to authority. And indeed the Constitution we hammered out at the World Trade
Centre in Kempton Park did include recognition of the institution of traditional
leadership. But incongruent with this is the fact that, twenty-one years into
democracy, the role, powers and functions of traditional leaders have not yet
been defined in a single piece of legislation.

Instead, legislation has provided that traditional leaders must cooperate with
Government, but says nothing about how. Legislation says Government “may
assist” traditional leadership structures, but there is no obligation or
responsibility and structures remain unfinanced by Government, even though they
remain answerable to Government.

I have often lamented how difficult it is for the various structures of
traditional leaders to assist in governance when they are allocated no budget to
do so. Under the KwaZulu Natal Traditional Leadership Act of 2005, the former
Mayor of Zululand built a conference centre for Amakhosi of Zululand, as she was
entitled, but not obligated, to do. Yet ever since my time as Chairperson of the
District House of Traditional Leaders in Zululand, nothing has come of our plea
to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to supply
offices for the District House.

Indeed, for years the Department did not even supply a budget for meetings and
my wife would take care of refreshments. I raised this in the presence of the
Minister, who expressed shock. But nothing has changed.

In terms of Section 81 of the Municipal Structures Act, 20% of traditional
leaders may attend meetings of municipal council. But none of them may vote. The
Coalition of Traditional Leaders rejected this provision. The National House of
Traditional Leaders rejected it. And I stood up, together with my deputy, the
late Inkosi Mzimela, to remind Government that we rejected it.

It is insulting, in a democracy, to have any legislation that bars traditional
leaders from exercising their authority and participating in the governance of
our people. It is insulting to deny us a voice, but even more so to deny us a
vote. It is bewildering to me that traditional leaders would let government get
away with this kind of treatment of our institution. The role, functions and
powers of traditional leaders have been side-lined by yet another South African
government. All is not yet set right.

The history of our struggle for honest respect for the institution of
traditional leadership is long and detailed. It is filled with broken promises
and attempts to use traditional leaders as tools to secure political power.
There is still much contention when it comes to traditional leadership, and even
when it comes to recognising the right to the throne of heirs and kings. There
is still much to be set right.

But when we hold commemorations like this, which are honoured by government
officials as much as by members of the royal house and individuals within the
Bapedi nation, we feel there is hope. There is hope that the institution of
traditional leadership will be fully restored at some point in the future,
because recognising the role of kings and Amakhosi in shaping our past is a
first step towards recognising their role in our future.

I therefore thank His Majesty Kgoshi Mampuru II for bringing us together in this
commemoration. It shows wisdom and leadership, and it gives us hope.