Chiefs choose the cash over loyalty to IFP leader=20 Mangosuthu Buthelezi, but the lure of parliamentary=20 payment is stronger, write Mehlo Mvelase and Ann=20
T HE Inkatha Freedom Party has pledged an all-out=20 battle to halt the implementation of the controversial=20 Renumeration of Traditional Leaders Act passed in=20 Parliament last week, but rumblings on the ground=20 indicate such moves may do more to alienate the party=20 from its traditional support base than to secure it.
IFP leaders last week vowed to challenge the Act in the=20 Constitutional Court and provincial leaders have=20 indicated they plan to pass legislation restricting=20 chiefs from accepting the central government payment=20 outlined in the Act.
An informal poll by the Mail & Guardian over the past=20 two weeks suggests, however, that such a call may fall=20 on a growing number of deaf ears. Twelve out of 14 Zulu=20 chiefs interviewed randomly and spanning the north to=20 the south coasts of KwaZulu/Natal say they would=20 welcome central government payment — especially if it=20 would see their stipends increased.
Only two chiefs — both known to belong to a small=20 circle of IFP chiefs close to IFP leader Mangosuthu=20 Buthelezi — said they would refuse such payment, as=20 well as the “parliamentary” perks promised by President=20 Nelson Mandela last month. While the IFP has=20 alternately claimed the support of between 260 and 280=20 of KwaZulu/Natal’s 300-odd chiefs, excluding only a=20 tiny minority linked to the ANC, none of the 12=20 positive respondents have had previous public links to=20 either the ANC or the Congress of South African=20 Traditional Leaders (Contralesa).=20
Many said they support Buthelezi and all had attended=20 the Ulundi meetings of Iso le Sizwe (Eye of the=20 Nation), the organisation of former KwaZulu homeland=20 officials formed by Buthelezi prior to last year’s=20 election, whose attendance the IFP has used to confirm=20 their support levels.
The poll results, however, also suggest personal=20 security for traditional leaders remains the largest=20 single stumbling block to freeing chiefs from political=20 control. None of the 12 positive respondents were=20 willing to have their names published, fearing=20 reprisals. The chiefs spoke to the Mail & Guardian on=20 condition of anonymity.
Most of those interviewed said they could not afford to=20 reject the prospect of higher living standards, while=20 their communities sought benefits from the=20 Reconstruction and Development Programme.
One chief pointed out that “If the government starts=20 to build houses for the people, they will have better=20 houses than us and they will undermine us. We heard=20 Mandela last year promising the king a better life and=20 he has bought the king a fleet of cars, so the king=20 lives like a real king now. We also want cars and a=20 better life.”=20
The chiefs also said they welcomed plans to standardise=20 payments. “The problem with the KwaZulu government is=20 that right now, some chiefs are not getting equal=20 salaries. Some chiefs are getting cars from Ulundi, and=20 others are not. Some indunas or chairmen of the IFP are=20 getting cars from Ulundi and they live a far better=20 life and end up instructing us what to do in our areas.=20 They become more powerful than us and take decisions=20 over us,” said one chief.
Another chief pointed to his ramshackle home and said:=20 “Look at my house — it’s like a shack. Even though my=20 home and my family were attacked during the violence=20 because I supported the IFP, I was never compensated=20 from Ulundi.”
Another chief asked: “If someone can offer you a better=20 salary than where you work, wouldn’t you take the=20 offer? The life we live under presently is very bad. If=20 Mandela’s aim is not to destroy the Zulu kingdom, then=20 it is a good thing he is doing.”=20
One chief, who stressed that he likes Buthelezi,=20 because “he is fighting for traditional norms and=20 standards of the Zulu nation”, said he supported the=20 ANC’s call for chiefs to abandon party politics.=20 “Unless all chiefs become neutral we will have=20 problems. When chiefs take sides, people on the ground=20 start to fight.”
Suggesting the ANC strategy is beginning to bear fruit,=20 the poll results also support claims by ANC=20 KwaZulu/Natal deputy chairman chief Zibuse Mlaba that=20 Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini and Contralesa’s=20 neutrality calls are receiving growing support from=20 chiefs in the province.
Mlaba claims up to a third of KwaZulu/Natal chiefs have=20 given their support to the call, following a chiefdom- to-chiefdom campaign initiated last year by the late=20 ANC Midlands leader Harry Gwala, which saw Gwala and=20 Mlaba leading delegations to visit individual chiefs=20 and convince them to abandon politics.
Mlaba said many chiefs had indicated they would support=20 Contralesa, once they were convinced it had become=20 neutral following its formal separation from the ANC=20
Observers note that if such a trend continues it could=20 cause the planned provincial legislation to “become=20 stillborn” and deliver a psychological blow to IFP=20 attempts to mount a constitutional challenge to the=20 Renumeration Act. While a small number of chiefs=20 continued to benefit financially from their high status=20 in the IFP and positions in parliament, the reality was=20 that most chiefs in the province had lived in poverty=20 under the KwaZulu government and many continued to do=20
The IFP argues that the Act is unconstitutional because=20 it interferes with the schedule six powers of=20 provinces, which include traditional leaders — and has=20 indicated it may fight the Act on a technicality over=20 the ANC’s failure to consult the non-existent Council=20 of Traditional Leaders provided for in the Interim=20 Constitution. =20
Observers point out that this is an ironic strategy,=20 given that the IFP has opposed the formation of such a=20 council, and note that the leaders likely to comprise=20 the council had, nevertheless, been consulted by=20 Mandela, with only the IFP-aligned KwaZulu/Natal=20 leaders objecting.