Issued by the Office of the Premier, Eastern Cape,
18 February 2000
Today marks the official entry of the House of Traditional Leaders of the Eastern Cape into the 21st Century. As such, this is a very important time for both the House and Government to stop, take stock and chart a way forward. The President of the ANC has declared this year The Dawn of the African Century. The challenge, therefore, is how are all sectors of society going to make their participation in this Dawn worthwhile. As indigenous Africans, we should be even more passionate and proactive about this than anyone else. This august House must look into this.
The other challenge that this House must face is that of keeping its members well informed and knowledgeable of what is going on. Knowledge is power. Without proper knowledge and the ability to analyse issues intelligently, our people will not be able to participate in the democratic processes. Such processes are coming fast and are many. The possibility is that those who are not empowered to deal with these new issues will choose the sanctuary of defending old ways of doing things. What psychologists call the fear of the unknown then becomes rationalised and used as a defence mechanism. But as we know, digging the head into the sand by ostriches does not stop the storm from blowing. Change is unstoppable. All of us must fine-tune ways of participating in it so as to influence it.
This is a huge challenge to the House and the Institution of traditional leadership. This is so because those who speak for the institution tend to speak about peripheral things that benefit the individual rather that the institution. For instance, I have asked since 1997 that traditional leaders should assist us as we all try to transform the institution by defining, for instance, the epoch or phase in history which they use as a bench mark for defining what Traditional leadership is. In previous address I have tried to be as forthright as possible to show how the institution was changed by circumstances over the years. Whether it was colonialism, the discovery of minerals or apartheid and its Bantustan satellites, all these had an influence on the institution of traditional affairs. So there is a need, I believe, to define our thresh hold so that we can speak with one voice. Sometimes we tend to defend privileges that were introduced to coerce traditional leaders and miss the damage caused by these to the integrity of chiefs. We can't proceed like this even this century. We must redefine traditional authorities and restore their integrity. We can't simply try to manage the wrongs of the past.
People who are adherents of the Christian faith will remember how the Old Testament explains where royalty came from. (1 Sam : 10 & 11) The Bible tells us that the people informed God that they were tired of being led by priests. They now wanted a king. They were given Saul. A shepherd boy, David, succeeded Saul etc. etc. So people were not born with royalty. When it was given, it did not depend on birth but on the ability to do the will of God.
The royalty we are used to derives from a theory of social evolution. We are told how as families grew a number of them banded together for purposes of better survival. They had to hunt or collect together, defend their food and families as a unit etc. This led to the formation of clans and later tribes. As such members of the community worked together, lived together and owned property together, equality ceased to exist. One in their midst was appointed to lead the rest. Criteria differed from time to time. Some were appointed for their wisdom, or bravery, wealth or diligence. Not on the basis of birth.
As the great migrations occurred, the need grew more than ever before for members of a clan or a tribe to be subjected to discipline. Wars had to be fought and property (land) acquired or defended. Strong chiefs tended, during this period, to confine succession within the one family. Counsellors and elders were appointed. These also tended to come from a small circle that was either related to the chief or were amenable to the chief's views.
The rest is history as we know it today. With the evolution of forms of government and the spread of colonial rule, all tribes ended up being subject to law as it is known in Western democracy. They exist within the boundaries and jurisdiction of national laws which they must obey like all other citizens. We all know what happened when they tried to resist this.
What I am trying to explain here is that ALL nations of the world once had traditional leaders in one form or the other. Africans do not have a monopoly over the institution. Even the way royals operated in the past where they reigned, they were not different from those of Africa. The reason why they look different now, is because the rest of the world moved (developmentally) while the African Communities stood still. But this will not be so for ever.
This is what challenges us all: The certainty of change, even the change of traditional leadership.
It was encouraging to read the following thought in a Memorandum from the King in-Council of the Gcalekas in 1998: "We do not dispute the theory that tribalism is a certain stage in the evolution of human society." But evolution is an ongoing thing. It does not stop. As more and more people get to own private property and become owners of business, their relationship with royalty will change and in fact is changing. As young royals get educated and get exposed to modern thought, they too will begin to want to do things differently. Already there are signs of such metamorphosis. Change is on the way. Let us not be left out for we cannot stop it.
The most topical challenge and immediate one is the Local Government Demarcation process. Some call it a communist strategy others call it a political plot. Traditional leaders are led to believe that it has come to take away their powers, their land and to impose rates on rural areas. All are wrong. Some know the truth but are simply distorting it. Chief Patekile Holomisa says that those who are upset are not just defending power for powers' sake to control the resources. This is also encouraging to hear for one of the members of this House said it in so many works : a person without power over resources cannot be followed. So we hope there are more who think like the President of Contralesa now. For this will be an important building block to creative thinking of what is to be done.
All countries of the world have demarcations of Local Governments. Some are municipalities, others are communes etc. Even rural areas have always belonged to a local authority. It is important to remember that rural areas are not just the villages only. A lot of farms and small dorpies are rural areas too. The difference now is that we believe that people of a particular area belong to it equally. In the same way that they contribute to the well-being of a particular town, people in its rural area have a right to the resources of that town and to decision-making on its affairs. This way development will be integrated both in planning and in delivery. No one can be opposed to this, the equal access to resources. Surely, traditional leaders do not only have traditional jurisdiction over villagers only. Queenstown is a part of Tembuland as is Qoqodala.
The real issue here is lack of communication and debate. Instead of asking the Demarcation Board Members and Department of Local Government people to explain issues, some opponents to elements of the Demarcation process prefer to go to the media or to the streets. I am not sure how much dignity traditional leaders lose or gain by behaving in this way. But I believe we must discuss these issues.
The Memo from the Council of Gcalekaland which I quoted, from above also has this to say: "We regard the Eastern Cape as Xhosaland and we would welcome more recognition of that by Government ....... We reject as spurious the Contention that there are six (6) kings in the province ......" The document explains why they hold the above views. Lately we have noticed that traditional leaders are grappling with the terminology used to refer to them. (I am not sure the use of "amakhosi" for iinkosi is a wise one as it means evil spirits in isiXhosa). But I think the new terminology has been hastily hashed with very little or no consultation. For instance who says that the correct rendition of King is the same as that of "Paramount Chief". The analysis of the origin of "Paramount Chief" has been less than historical. Also the term "prince" does not mean "inkosana" in isiXhosa. Perhaps these are some of the sources of what King Xolilizwe's Council is concerned about. In a Province where we have at least three (3) other applicants to be Kings, this House cannot afford to duck discussing this problem.
This House has not addressed the question of the relationship between itself and the Kings. We do not believe that the House replaces Kings as heads of their regional authorities. The relationship can also not be resolved by simply making Kings members of the House. Roles must be clarified.
The vexing question of clearing/purifying the family trees and the institution does not get immediate attention. Both Central Government and traditional leaders themselves seem reluctant to deal with this. I believe that our integrity will be tested by how we deal with the matter. As a Provincial Government we are doing our bit. We shall send the bill to Pretoria for each case we handle until they embark on the Audit of genuine traditional leaders that was agreed to in 1996. Traditional leaders have also not discussed the question of headmen which we asked them too. We are simply asked to retain an abnormal and non-traditional situation. The weakness here is the quest for jobs rather than the democratisation of governance. We must move forwards not backwards.
The resistance to TRC is always clouded. The real resistance by chiefs is to how the wards are organised and how the Councillors are elected. There is no disagreement about the FACT that there must be wards and local public representatives. Again the debate tends to focus incorrectly on who has control over resources at the local level. We have consistently pointed out that neither Chiefs, TRCs nor Development fora have this monopoly. The resources belong to government and their use must be planned by ALL at a given place without discrimination or bullying. Resources should not be used for patronage again.
It is unfortunate that all what we have said here will be ignored. The debate will tend to be on salaries and other benefits. This House is not a Trade Union. It must discuss serious issues of polity and legislation. It must also discuss the vexing question which saw a fall out between two very effective members of this House, viz. Chief Nonkonyana and prince Ncamashe. The resolution of the position public representatives must hold in this House must be debated and solved by this House. It must be debated in a spirit of freedom of expression, maturity and peace. We have not intervened in the matter because we believed you could deal with it.
Traditional leaders, as an integral part of the democratic South Africa must gear themselves up for this new century and the future. True democracy is when everyone can be voted for and can vote. The House must explore ways and means of moving towards modern democratic ways of doing things. They must be instrumental in serving as a unifying force among their people with a clear understanding of the current democratic situation. They can play a role in crime combating, conflict resolution and in restoring the moves of society. Unfortunately they cannot do this without a clear and achievable programme of action. They must confront the truth that we can't have all sons of a chief as chiefs too. This is untraditional and unAfrican. These are painful issues because they threaten the jobs or incomes of people. But traditional leadership is not a job opportunity. It is a service by legitimate people who qualify. Lastly, the question whether chiefs should be actively involved in Party politics should be discussed and resolved rather than being left to politicking.
If we do one third of these this year, we are on track to making this year the Dawn of the African Century.
Thank you.