Inkosi Sphamandla Khumalo of the Khumalo clan in Utrecht on northern KwaZulu-Natal says Amakhosi in the province should not be involved in politics. Inkosi Khumalo says they should be able to work with their subjects regardless of their political affiliation.
He was speaking in the Qomintaba area at an event against women and children abuse.
Inkosi Khumalo also revealed that, although traditional leaders support land expropriation without compensation, they want to be involved in the process to protect the land under the Ingonyama Trust belonging to the King of the AmaZulu.
“Here in KwaZulu-Natal, we have one King which is the King of the Zulus or Isilo Samabandla. As traditional leaders, we have not told our people which party they must follow and we as Amakhosi, do not have any political organisation that belongs to Amakhosi. We don’t like that. We as Amakhosi fully support land expropriation without compensation, but we want to be part of the whole process as land belongs to the King of the Zulus.”
Meanwhile, young people say they are happy that traditional leaders are at the forefront of speaking against women and children abuse. KwaZulu-Natal has seen cases in which women are abused and killed at the hands of their lovers.
Locals Neli Khumalo and Nokwanda Majozi say it is encouraging to see government and traditional leaders speaking out against abuse.
“Young girls must learn to respect themselves and stay away from alcohol and drug abuse as education is the key and it’s part of your future and we can’t do anything without education. Let’s learn about our culture as it plays a role in our lives and without culture, we are nothing.”
