Traditional Zulu Indunas (leaders) and thousands of their followers marched through Durban city centre on Saturday calling for their roles to be recognised and legitimised in the KwaZulu-Natal constitution.
”The Zulus are ready for marching and taking to the streets, not for war” said one of the Indunas, Nkosinathi Mkhize.
He said at present there were four tiers in the traditional Zulu hierarchy with the king on top, followed by the prime minister of the Zulu’s, the Amakhosi and then the Indunas. Mkhize said only the Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini was recognised in the province’s constitution, not the Zulu monarchy as a whole.
He added that the kings’ role and position was also not clearly defined. The current Zulu prime minister was Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
One of the marchers Joseph Ngubane (59) said ”we don’t want councillors to have more power than our traditional leaders. The indunas and the kings are our tradition.”
Hundreds of police in vehicles and on foot kept a close guard on the estimated 5 000 traditional-weapon clad marchers, who were armed with knobkieries and shields as they toy-toyed their way to a police station in Durban where a memorandum was handed over.
”Why can’t we wear our traditional clothes and carry our weapons when its part of our culture?
”We won’t hurt anyone, we have iron discipline.” said Ngubane.
He said people of Indian origin in the province had never lost their culture and it was not unusual to go to the surgery of a female doctor who was wearing a sari.
The Durban North assistant area commissioner, Director Aaron Harry, said the march was peaceful.
However at the start of the march participants broke through a police barricade when they were told to first disarm before taking to the streets.
A spokesperson for the Indunas, Sipho Mhlongo, said they were upset that they had not been told before the protest that traditional weapons would not be allowed. ‒ Sapa