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THE Mbuso Khoza Institute for Culture (MKI), in partnership with Zululand District Municipality, will host the 3rd annual Isandlwana Walk KwaZulu-Natal Edition this week.
The commemorative walk will go from Ondini Palace to Mount Isandlwana on Monday and Tuesday.
This is a unifying cultural walk commemorating the 1879 historic Battle of Isandlwana, and a tool for heritage education and social cohesion.
Artists, youth, writers, community leaders, traditional and political heads, the media, schools and local citizens will walk to the various spots that hold a part of Isandlwana and Zulu Dynasty history.
“The Mbuso Khoza Institute is grateful to His Worship Mayor Thulasizwe Buthelezi for enabling the safeguarding of both the tangible and intangible heritage of Africa.
“The walk is an opportunity to not only retrace the steps leading to the battle, but to pray for all the ills that plague South Africa, remembering the bravery of the fallen warriors who now lie at Isandlwana mountain.
“The white stones displayed like a soul count of the lives lost at Isandlwana are a reminder to the youth of the triumph of Africa in times of great antagonism. They are also meant to inspire creatives and storytellers to keep telling important and authentic South African stories like that of Isandlwana,” reads the institutes statement.
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• Inkosi Maphikelela kaMangosuthu will deliver the keynote address and give a detailed account of the Battle of Isandlwana, with the theme 'Rising from the Ashes' at a memorial lecture and gala dinner.
• Renowned historians, including music historian and sport, arts and culture ambassador Mbuso Khoza will put Isandlwana into context, giving an account of the music and war cries composed at the time.
• The second day will be the walk from King Cetshwayo's Ondini Palace, now Ulundi Museum. This is where the regiments left for the Isandlwana battlefield in 1879.
• The walk goes via eMakhosini Valley of Kings where seven Zulu kings are interred. This is where Inkonzo Yokuhumba and UkuNgoma KwabaNgoma will be held, observing traditional prayer rites led by Gogo Nomangungu and abangoma from Sangoma Diaries Institute - an African spirituality think tank leader and National Secretariat of the Traditional Health Practitioners (THP) sector.
• The final stop will be at the battlefield of Isandlwana (Nquthu), where prayer rites will be observed, commemorating the battle and educating attendees about the high price Africa had to pay for the victory.