AmaHlubi’s battle against colonial
One of South Africa’s oldest nations is fighting for recognition of its king, language and ancestral land
Early on Saturday morning an incessant drizzle showers the land and a dark cover of cloud hangs in the sky. AmaHlubi elders and warriors are braving the elements to embark on a two-hour march up the Ntabamhlophe mountain in the Drakensberg range.
They are on a pilgrimage to pay homage at the grave of one of the nation’s fallen heroes, Inkosi Langalibalele I.
A week earlier, select members of amaHlubi royal family had gathered at the indlunkulu, the royal homestead, in the village of Mahlutshini, to perform sacred rites in preparation for the umgubho wa maHlubi ceremony. These included the sacrificing of a goat and a bull and performing rites at the grave of Langalibalele I, up on Ntabamhlophe.
On the day amaHlubi brave the elements to go up the mountain, four giant marquees are erected on an open grassy field down the road from one of the homesteads of current amaHlubi inkosi, Muziwenkosi Johannes Radebe (Langalibalele II).
The chants of amabutho (warriors), reciting war cries from amaHlubi’s past pulsate through the village, as scores of people, including amaZulu princess Ntandoyesizwe, descend on Mahlutshini for the celebration.
The melancholic, goose-bumpinducing voices of the izimbongi reciting the praises of amaHlubi kings and warriors past add to the colourful orchestra, with the thumping of cowhide drums urging the warriors on as they jab the sky with sticks in song and dance.
Mahlutshini is a picturesque village clinging to the side of a hill that is part of a spectacular amphitheatre of great mountains towering into the sky. It is about 40km south of the town of Estcourt in the KwaZuluNatal midlands. It is regarded as the ancestral and spiritual home of amaHlubi and Langalibalele I.
Now, more than 140 years since a declaration by the British colonial government dismantled amaHlubi kingship, the nation under Langalibalele II is gearing up for a legal battle to have their kingship restored.
In 2010 the Commission on Traditional Leadership and Claims ruled that, in terms of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act (2003, Act 41 of 2003), “amaHlubi do not have kingship ... thus, there is no kingship to be restored”. The commission also found that amaHlubi are like several other indigenous peoples of South Africa — semi-independent entities, but not a kingdom.
This technically reduces Langalibalele II to a chief under his more powerful neighbour, King Goodwill Zwelithini of amaZulu.
But amaHlubi are, according to evidence led before the commission, a much older nation than either amaZulu or amaXhosa, and were the earliest rulers and occupants of what the colonials later called the Natal Colony — so they believe they have a strong case.
“Our kingship was taken away by a colonial proclamation that said amaHlubi must cease to exist as a nation. Why did the commission not consider that?” says Sicelo Radebe, spokesman for Langalibalele II, who lodged the initial claim with the commission.
Radebe says they will lodge an application in the high court in Pretoria to have the commission’s decision set aside.
The 1873 proclamation that denied amaHlubi their sovereignty as a nation, and other laws implemented in the years that followed, has had lasting negative consequences that were also noted by the commission.
Langalibalele II has more than 40 amakhosi who pay allegiance to him. They are scattered around KwaZuluNatal, Eastern Cape, North West, the Western Cape and Lesotho.
This is among the many factors that influenced the commission to conclude that amaHlubi kingship doesn’t exist. In its findings the commission said the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act “does not provide for a senior traditional leader to be under the authority of one king whilst residing in the area of jurisdiction of another”.
The colonial proclamation also endangered isiHlubi language, culture and customs, says Radebe.
“We were forced underground by the proclamation. People had to hide who they were so that they did not get into trouble with the [colonial] authorities back then. That is why we have this challenge today where isiHlubi is not even taught in schools, even though there are still people who speak the language in places like Herschel and Matatiele,” says Radebe.
The commission found that “amaHlubi do not share similar linguistic and cultural affinities” and that “they have been subsumed into traditional communities within which they reside”.
As a result, only a few isiHlubi speakers remain in areas such as Matatiele, Kokstad and Herschel. The majority of amaHlubi have adopted isiZulu and isiXhosa, and others speak isiNdebele, Sesotho and Setswana.
But Radebe says attempts are at an advanced stage to revive the isiHlubi language through the Hlubi Language Board.
The battle for recognition is also key in their battle to recover the land taken away from the nation by successive colonial regimes, including the Union of South Africa and the apartheid government.
Radebe says the nation is still awaiting the finalisation of its claims on land that include the Midlands towns of Newcastle, Colenso and Ladysmith. He says the claim on land stretching from Giant’s Castle to Winterton has been settled.
The land they wish to claim includes prime agricultural land, coal mining areas, tribal trust land and high-density townships and villages.
“We wish for the land to be returned to amaHlubi. The recognition is key, because in our culture a king is king through his people.