Bring Prophet Makhanda home

The Makhanda community has been trying for a long time to get the government to hear our plight and come to the rescue.

But it seems that those cries have fallen on deaf ears. The people are eagerly waiting for the return of the earthly remains of Makhanda kaNxele, “the prophet” who promised the “wailing mothers and children” that he shall return to save them and restore their dignity once again.

Makhanda kaNxele was captured by the colonial regime in 1819.

Sadly his fate ended in the Indian Ocean when he drowned trying to return to his country and fulfil his promise.

The King Lobengula Foundation has started a #HeritageResourcesRegeneration_CleanUp campaign, which is a project aimed at cleaning up neglected heritage sites in and around the Eastern Townships of Makhanda [Grahamstown], that locals call eRini.

The aim of this development project is to beautify these sites to boost the tourism industry and, at the same time, create much-needed job and business opportunities, especially for the youth.

We started with the Mt Zion Royal Heritage Park at Makana’s Kop, where history and research tells us Makhanda kaNxele stood with the Xhosa warriors facing the onslaught of the Maxim gun fired by European soldiers, whose leaders in 1820 stood victoriously at Church Square hanging the English Flag.

Now 200 years, later the “children of the soil” are still waiting for the return of kaNxele [“silinde ukuza kaNxele ”— popular Xhosa phrase] to rescue them from the iron grip of poverty, the rising high rate of unemployment and continued increase of moral decadence.

The commemoration of African heroes and heroines, running for the third year, is meant to revive the spirit of our ancestors who left behind footprints in South African history, and Africa as the whole. Those who wrote on the walls that history has obliterated deliberately in order to break and demoralise the generations to follow.

The country is still suffering at the hands of the elite few and the rest of the citizens continue to suffer, while continually reminded to stay “loyal” to their political parties.

The time has now come to free the minds and hands of the people from being “servants” to their “oppressors” and take charge to develop their livelihoods.

The government has failed its constituency and ignored the cries and wailing of the community of Erini, Makhanda city.