Gravesite row over activist descendant of white Zulu chief
Burial heartbreak for family of struggle ’legend’ Morris Fynn
ANTI-APARTHEID activist Morris Fynn, great-grandson of a British adventurer and a Zulu princess, spent the last two decades of his life fighting for recognition as a Zulu chief and to return to the land of his birth on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.
But even after his death last week, Morris’s struggle continued, as his funeral was unceremoniously halted by Chief Bhekizizwe Luthuli who told the family they did not have authority to bury him in the area under his jurisdiction.
The 84-year-old Morris — best remembered for having used a saw to cut down offensive signs on Durban’s segregated beaches during the apartheid years — died after a heart attack at his home in eZimbokodweni, south of Durban.
In refusing to let the burial go ahead, Luthuli defied the Ingonyama Trust, which administers about 2.8 million hectares of land in the province on behalf of King Goodwill Zwelithini, and the department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs which tried to intervene in the matter.
Luthuli vowed to dig up Morris’s remains and throw them into the sea should he be laid to rest there.
Morris is a descendent of Henry Francis Fynn who was married to the Zulu princess Mavundlase and was granted the title of chief by King Shaka in the 19th century after he reportedly nursed the king back to health following an assassination attempt.
He was born in Mtwalume in 1930 but grew up in Wentworth, south of Durban. His parents and other ancestors are buried in Mtwalume.
On Wednesday his daughter Brenda Fynn-Brower spoke about the “pain and grief” caused by Luthuli’s actions. She was speaking at his memorial service held in Mtwalume after the intervention of local ANC leaders.
“Luthuli has hurt us during my father’s last race. This has caused the family a lot of grief,” she said.
Luthuli’s objection was that Morris had not been living in Mtwalume at FAMILY PLOT: A community member prepares a grave for activist Morris Fynn near to the grave of his father, Chief Colin Fynn, in Mtwalume. But Chief Bhekizizwe Luthuli would not allow the burial RELIVING MEMORIES: Morris Fynn’s daughters Brenda Fynn-Brower, Allieriece Fynn-Finger and Iris Cupido the time of his death. It did not help that the two men once fought over the right to rule the area.
The dispute between Morris and Luthuli can be traced back to 1995 when the Fynn clan, who had been forcibly removed from Mtwalume under the Group Areas Act and stripped of their chieftaincy through the Bantu Authorities Act in the 1960s, re- grouped and appointed Morris as their chief. At the time, the Luthuli clan had already established a separate chieftaincy in opposition to the Fynns, whose last chief was Percy Fynn, who died in 1960.
After his appointment as the new chief, Morris lodged a claim for four pieces of land in Mtwalume which he claimed had been given to the clan by
SIGN OF THE TIMES: Morris Fynn takes down offensive signs in the 1980s Queen Victoria in 1880. But he died before the claim could be resolved.
Fynn-Brower said Luthuli initially agreed that her father could be buried next to his parents provided the family got permission from the Ingonyama Trust. But when the family did so, Luthuli accused them of having fraudulent documents and threatened to arrest them if they buried Morris on his land.
Fynn-Brower said her father had been determined to be called a Zulu chief because he never believed he was “coloured”. “He did not even allow us to be called coloured because he was nonracist and believed the word was derogatory.”
Morris fathered 28 children, had 50 grandchildren and 22 great-grand- children. He was honoured by eThekwini municipality in 2009 for his role in the struggle against apartheid.
Luthuli did not return calls seeking comment.
Morris was eventually laid to rest in Mtwalume yesterday after a funeral service conducted under heavy police presence.