It is a privilege to attend this commemoration of Inkosi Langalibalele
kaMthimkhulu at the invitation of Inkosi Langalibalele Radebe II, Inkosi of the
AmaHlubi here in Estcourt. Having served as Inkosi of the Buthelezi Clan for six
decades, I recognise the responsibility we carry as traditional leaders to be a
point of connection between this generation and the generations past. Amakhosi
are the repository of our peoples' heritage and history. Ours is the
responsibility to pass on that cultural wealth.

I therefore support Inkosi Langalibalele Radebe as he sets aside time for the
AmaHlubi to remember Inkosi Langalibalele kaMthimkhulu. I do not only support
him as a traditional leader, but because of the ties we share to the Zulu Royal
Family. Inkosi Radebe is married to the granddaughter of King Sobhuza II, the
father of His Majesty King Mswati III, the King of Swaziland. Princess Phumephi
is the niece of His Majesty King Mswati II of Swaziland.

Much will be said today about Inkosi Langalibalele kaMthimkhulu, so I will not
embark on a detailed history lesson. But in paying tribute to Inkosi
Langaliblele, one must recall the prosperity of the AmaHlubi under his
leadership, which points to the kind of charismatic and competent leadership he
provided. He took up his position as Inkosi in 1836 and, in the late forties,
moved his people into Natal below the Khahlamba range. There they prospered.

Inkosi Langalibalele's people numbered around ten thousand. Their herds
increased and many of those who tilled the land did so with ox-draw ploughs.
Inkosi Langalibalele and his senior counsellors, as well as many of the young
men, kept and rode horses. Through his forty wives, one of whom was also a Swazi
princess, Inkosi Langalibalele fathered more than a hundred children. He was
wealthy in many ways.

In 1867, when the diamond mines opened in the interior, many young men from
Inkosi Langalibalele's people went to work on the mines. They spent their wages
on horses, ploughs and guns and returned to create greater prosperity. It was
the purchase of guns that stirred conflict with the colonial authorities. Inkosi
Langalibalele received several summonses from the Magistrate to discuss
unregistered guns, and Lord Shepstone eventually insisted that Inkosi
Langalibalele travel to Pietermaritzburg to settle the matter.

Many of the younger men, in particular, among the AmaHlubi felt that he should
not go, as Amakhosi who had been summoned to Pietermaritzburg previously were
summarily deposed by the colonial authorities. Thus they felt there was danger
to Inkosi Langalibalele's life and his position. Lord Shepstone and Lieutenant
Governor Benjamin Pine then ordered his arrest, and Inkosi Langalibalele and his
people fled towards the then Basothuland. In the skirmish that followed, some
colonial officers were killed.

Immediately a proclamation was issued that read: "Chief Langalibalele and the
Amahlubi tribe are in rebellion against Her Majesty's lawful authority, and are
hereby declared to be outlaws." Inkosi Langalibalele was deposed and then
captured. He was taken to Pietermaritzburg in chains and endured what has been
called "a notoriously unfair trial", following which he was imprisoned on Robben
Island. This was almost a century before the arrival of Robben Island's most
renowned prisoner, Mr Nelson Mandela.

The history of Inkosi Langalibalele reminds me of that of my maternal
grandfather, King Dinuzulu, for both these great men suffered at the hands of
the British, both were imprisoned and both saw their people divided by force. A
year after Inkosi Langalibalele's death in 1889, King Dinuzulu was exiled to the
island of St Helena, where two of my mother's brothers were born. Shortly after
he returned from exile, he was implicated in the Zulu rebellion, which is often
called the Bambatha Rebellion, against the imposition of poll tax.

His involvement in the Rebellion was merely that he gave refuge to Inkosi
Bambatha's wife and child at Osuthu royal palace, at the request of Inkosi
Bambatha. Yet he was charged with treason and was imprisoned. In 1910, when King
Dinuzulu's old friend General Louis Botha became the first Prime Minister of
South Africa, General Botha ordered that King Dinuzulu be released and
transported to the farm Uitkyk in the Transvaal, where he died in 1913.

I mention this history because it illustrates the pattern of injustice suffered
by our kings and Amakhosi in the past. These are events that must be remembered,
for they have shaped who we are and inform our very identity.

What I see in the history of Inkosi Langalibalele kaMthimkhulu is how great the
consequences can be of friction between an older and a younger generation. The
young men who built their own prosperity on the mines, and returned with guns
and horses, felt to some degree freed from obeisance to Inkosi Langalibalele.
Not that there was open disloyalty, but there was a sense that the established
leadership structure could be manipulated.

Every society, both past and present, feels the challenges of the generation
gap. For each society, the challenge takes a different form. In today's South
Africa, the generation gap is most apparent in politics, where the so-called
"born-frees", those born after 1994, lack personal experience of the injustices
of our past. Of course, we can tell them about our struggle and we can show them
the effects of apartheid and the effects of the ANC's campaign of
ungovernability that still linger. But the sense of urgency to get involved in
politics and affect change in our country has dissipated from this generation.

As traditional leaders, we face the challenge of inspiring a new generation to
continue the struggle that we and our fathers and our grandfathers waged on
behalf of South Africa. Inkosi Langalibalele kaMthimkhulu was part of that
struggle, and he paid a price. As we remember his leadership today, let us
measure our own commitment to taking forward the struggle of freeing South
Africa. We may be politically free, but there are many freedoms we still need to
fight for, including the freedom to feel secure and hopeful about the future.

We are also compelled to fight for the preservation of the role, powers and
functions of traditional leaders, for the institution of traditional leadership
is under threat. Legislation passed by our democratic Government since 1994 has
refused to memorialise the role, powers and functions of Amakhosi, leaving it
unclear where we fit into the system of local governance.

Traditional leaders are being restricted to a ceremonial function, while our
role and powers have been stripped away. We have spoken up against this time and
time again, and have called for the full legislative over-haul of the laws
affecting traditional leadership. Instead, on the 20th of September 2013, the
Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs published the
Traditional Affairs Bill 2013, for public comment. The Bill intends to
consolidate, and therefore repeal, existing legislation on traditional
leadership.

Yet the Bill does not address our concerns. It makes no provision for a budget
for Local Houses of Traditional Leaders, nor for the Provincial Houses, and the
National House is not given control over its own finances. In the absence of a
budget, how must our Houses function? I have raised this issue time and again,
even in the National Assembly; which drew from the Minister an expression of
surprise and a commitment to redress this shortcoming. But nothing has changed.
Without resources, Amakhosi will be hard-pressed to implement even the most
visionary development projects for the benefit of our people.

In terms of the Bill, a national or provincial department may provide a role for
a traditional council, under conditions determined by the Department. But there
is no obligation. This reinforces the message being sent to our institution when
Amakhosi are barred from voting in municipal council meetings. The message is
that our presence is tolerated, rather than valued.

This does not bode well for the future and it demands a response from Amakhosi.
Today, as we remember the past, let us build a future in which the next
generation can find hope and in which we, as the servants of our people, will be
able to fulfil the responsibilities bequeathed to us by our predecessors;
leaders like Inkosi Langalibalele kaMthimkhulu.

I thank you.