I thank Inkosi Gumede and his Traditional Authority for inviting me to be here today. It is a privilege to have been afforded the opportunity to be here with the Minister of Traditional Affairs the Honourable Mr Mabuyakhulu, to the opening of this Traditional Court, and address you in my capacity as the Traditional Prime Minister of the Zulu Nation, and also as Chairperson of The House of Traditional Leaders. I am also mindful of the fact that Inkosi Simon Hulumeni Gumede has been serving this Nation, the Zulu Nation with me for more than 40 years. He was not only just a fellow Inkosi, but served with me in the Cabinet of the KwaZulu government. We have come a very long way together and I always remember with quite some emotion that he and Dr Baldwin Ngubane accompanied me to address the Security Council of the United Nations together with His Excellency Mr Mandela as leaders of our respective organisations the Inkatha National Cultural Liberation Movement – Inkatha Yenkululeko YeSizwe and the African National Congress.

As one who has served as an Inkosi for fifty one years, I have been intimately involved in many matters relating to the administration of indigenous law in my community. I recall that for five years after my installation as Inkosi of the Buthelezi clan, the apartheid regime did not recognise me as Inkosi and called me an “acting Inkosi”. This was because of my rustication from Fort Hare University in 1950, when I took part in a demonstration during the visit by the then Governor-General of South Africa, Mr G Brand van Zyl. It was not until September 1957, that the then Chief Native Commissioner Mr A J Turton was instructed to come to Mahlabathini to state that Pretoria had at last recognised my hereditary right as Inkosi of the Buthelezi clan.

I was however, by virtue of my learning, perhaps, seen in a different position from my father and his predecessors, despite my supposed act of “treason”. Even my installation took place just behind my KwaPhindangene Residence, not far from where the mortal remains of my late mother and other members of my family lie buried, today. It was just in an open space with not even a marquee to cover the heads of those who attended. That is apart from a small stage which was covered with a piece of canvas. And this notwithstanding the fact that amongst those who attended included my first Cousin, His Majesty King Cyprian Bhekuzulu Nyangayezizwe ka Solomon, the father of our present Monarch, and all Senior members of the Royal House. And some of the leading political figures of that time, who included Mr Allison Wessels, George Champion; that stalwart of the ICU of the ANC and of Inkatha Yenkululeko YeSizwe. And younger leaders such as Mr Jordan Ngubane and Mr Masabalala Yengwa and the Rev Canon Alphaeus Hamilton Zulu, later Bishop Zulu.

I think that it is appropriate for me to recall today that one of the remarks I made after my installation when I rose to speak was that, whereas trees served the purpose as forums for discussing matters of the clan, during my father’s time, I had been fortunate in that I had been to educational institutions and will need to record proceedings. I stated that this would present me with a problem if and when it rained. At that time not a single Traditional Authority had any administrative buildings, including the Usuthu Traditional Authority which was under His Majesty the King.

Later the Regime provided a Court-house and offices for the Usuthu Traditional Authority. There were a few other Traditional Authorities that were provided with funding to put up such buildings.

One of the first things that my Council of Advisers and I did, after my installation in 1957, was to call a meeting of the clan. At that meeting we decided to impose a levy if R1 on all of us who were then tax-payers at the time. The money was used for the construction of our Courthouse and offices. We were very proud as every cent came from us. This was in accordance with my belief in the twin-principles of self-help and self-reliance, which has been my lifetime belief. We requested His Majesty the King to perform the official opening of our building.

I have always admired our African Jurisprudence where everyone present participates in the sorting out of any legal problem. A case often takes longer than would be the case in a Western Court. So at long last we rejoiced at having a shelter from the elements when we were engaged in the administration of justice and in sorting out other problems of the Community.

Inkosi Gumede became one of a new crop of Amakhosi who were installed much later than those of my age. They represented a new breed of Amakhosi who had matriculated.

When I was elected as the Head of the KwaZulu government, it became the policy of our government to build as many such Courthouses as possible. As you can see there have been such buildings here, for quite some years now, which were built during the era of the KwaZulu government. Inkosi Gumede was one of the Ministers in that government as I have mentioned and we implemented that policy with him throughout the area that the powers-that-be, had designated as the KwaZulu territory. Inkosi Gumede has been one of the most progressive Amakhosi who has always led by example. I am delighted that today I am part of this important day in the life of the Makhasa Traditional Authority.

It is a great honour for me to be invited by him to participate with the Honourable Minister of Traditional Affairs at today’s important ceremony. Today is not the first time that I have been honoured in this way by Inkosi and his people. The people of this clan have been fortunate in having an Inkosi of this calibre throughout the trying times that we have gone through with him and the people we led together. I recall the very difficult times when the Apartheid Regime had colluded with the Monarch of the Kingdom of Swaziland to cede Ingwavuma and KaNgwane to Swaziland. You will recall that there were all sorts of rumours at that time that even this district or part of it might be part of the deal. We took a step which was unprecedented those days at the height of the Regime’s power as the government of South Africa when I decided to take the South African government to Court to prevent South African citizens in Ingwavuma and kaNgwane becoming foreigners in the land of their birth. It was men of the strength of character of Inkosi Gumede amongst my peers, who fought that battle successfully with me. I just want to remind you of that historical achievements in which Inkosi and you the people participated in, with me. I do so because when I laud the qualities of Inkosi Gumede and the people of this Region, some people might think, I am just doing so just to say something nice about Inkosi whereas he deserves every compliment I have paid him in these remarks.

I wish to compliment the Honourable Minister Mr M Mabuyakhulu, the Minister of Traditional Affairs and Local government for his commitment and that of his Department to continue with the policy of financing these Traditional Courts and other infrastructure needed in Traditional areas. Even though these buildings were planned and built under the tenure of office of the Honourable Inkosi Nyanga Ngubane, the former Minister of Traditional Affairs, it is encouraging to see Minister Mabuyakhulu’s participation in today’s ceremonies. By his presence and participation he has indicated to all that he is still committed to continue implementing this policy of providing this kind of infrastructure for Traditional Authorities. The Minister’s presence here today has been a source of encouragement to Amakhosi and their Traditional Authorities.

When I served in the National Cabinet with the former Minister of Justice the Honourable Dr Penuel Maduna, I was often encouraged by many things which he promised to delegate to Traditional Authorities. Most of the things that were referred to have not yet been delegated but it is encouraging that recently there was a Workshop in order to prepare Amakhosi to be ex-officio Commissioners of Oath. This is not such a big deal since even fairly junior officers in the Police force have such powers. But it is nevertheless important if it is an indication that some of these promises will be fulfilled.

It should not be misunderstood when we as Amakhosi are sometimes skeptical vis-à-vis these easily made promises. It is now 10 years since the democratic government took over from the apartheid Regime. The Constitution of South Africa has enshrined the existence of Traditional leaders and yet 10 years since then, there is not much that has been enacted to make such recognition of the existence of Traditional leaders meaningful.

This is not something I say merely as idle talk or just a trite remark. It is a serious indictment on us as a black government which has passed many pieces of good legislation to undo apartheid. And we have passed many other laws which have made our Country a real model modern state. And that we should fail to perform when it comes to our own indigenous laws and customs is sad. I always state that I find it difficult to understand how this can be the case, when even colonial and racist apartheid governments recognised indigenous laws and jurisprudence on the proviso that what was recognised was not against the principles of natural justice or contra bonos mores.

People need to understand the skepticism which goes right through all sections of the Indigenous leadership in South Africa, when it comes to promises that are made and not honoured. As indigenes of this land we have for generations suffered through this style of governance from the Colonial and Apartheid Regimes. It should not be cause for any surprise that we begin to see the same pattern emerging even under a black government. There are many good things, as I have stated, that we have achieved in the past ten years. However the failure of our government to correlate what is enshrined in the Constitution with their actions on the ground is cause for great concern. I do not put myself apart when I speak of government failure in this respect because I have been part of National government for 10 years of our democratic rule. However I do have a right to speak as I do because in those 10 years in my capacity as Inkosi I have been intensely involved in this debate. I attended a number of meetings that the Coalition of Traditional Leaders had with the President of South Africa President Mbeki and also with the Minister of Provincial and Local Government Mr F S Mufamadi as part of various delegations. I also participated in a meeting which a delegation of Amakhosi of this Kingdom led by the then Premier of KwaZulu Natal Dr Frank Mdlalose had with President Nelson Mandela. It must also be mentioned just to remind everyone that on the 19th of April 1994 I had signed an Agreement with Ex-President Frederick de Klerk and Ex-President Nelson Mandela on International Mediation on the issue of the Monarchy and other outstanding matters. In short the agreement was that these issues would be addressed as soon as possible after the 27th of April 1994, which agreement was dishonoured.

As far as the powers and functions of traditional leaders are concerned we have a signed undertaking by President Mbeki that if the powers and functions of Traditional leaders were obliterated through the Municipal Structures Act and related legislation, the government undertook to ensure that the Constitution would be amended to prevent it.

We also have an undertaking by Deputy President Jacob Zuma dated the 30th of November 2000, that Chapter 7 and 12 of the Constitution would be amended. There were other verbal promises by President Mbeki which have all not been honoured.

The only thing we have now is the National Framework of Traditional Leadership and Governance Act. It is promised that under this Act, each Province will pass legislation in a manner consonant with the traditions and customs of each cultural group in the Province. It is plausible to see such legislation. But whatever legislation each Province passes, it cannot really address this issue of the obliteration of the powers and functions of Amakhosi. I have mentioned these things for I have always dealt with these matters in this way, very honestly, even when I was part of President Mbeki’s Cabinet.

I do not think that any ‘reasonable man’ that lawyers speak of, would fail to understand my extreme skepticism that there is no will, on the part of government to address the issue of the obliteration of the functions and powers of Traditional leaders. I think it is not only appropriate but it is also the right thing for me to do, to address this issue on a day when such a beautiful facility has as you have heard been built with quite a large sum of money, of our tax-payers’ money.

We are now at the cross-roads when it is going to be decided whether these buildings become a good investment of tax-payers’ money or just white elephants that the government will continue to finance just to pull the wool over the eyes of Amakhosi.

This is of paramount importance because Amakhosi represent and express the needs of our traditional Communities. We exercise functions which are bestowed upon us by law. We are uniquely, both an organ of civil society and also that of state. It is in the interests of our Communities for Amakhosi to function properly and smoothly. For Amakhosi to be effective in their Communities, their powers and functions need not only to be defined but to be also entrenched to make the provisions of the Constitution recognising the existence of Traditional Leadership, meaningful.

We are today facing the pandemic of HIV/AIDS as a Nation. On the 20th of September 2002 we invited the National Minister of Health Dr Mantombazana Tshabalala-Msimang and the Member of the Executive Council in charge of Health for this Province, Dr Zweli Mkhize who was the then Minister of Health, as Traditional leaders in order to launch our Traditional leaders’ HIV/AIDS TASK TEAM. We set up the Traditional Leaders Provincial HIV/AIDS Task Teams for the Amakhosi of this Province. We made a pledge and a commitment infront of these Ministers and infront of the then Minister of Traditional Affairs and Local Government Inkosi Nyanga Ngubane. To me HIV/AIDS is the biggest challenge this Nation of South Africa is facing at this time. What is more, we all know that the incidence of this pandemic is highest in this Province. Minister, you know as everyone here knows that I have lost 2 of my children this year through this pandemic. There are parents that I know who have lost no less than 5 siblings through this scourge. We as Amakhosi would like to play our part as this task team now. We feel conscience-stricken by the thought of just how many people in our areas have died of AIDS since the 20th of September 2002, when we launched this task team. Minister, buildings such as this one, are the very bases we would like to use to implement what we undertook to do in 2002. We cannot use these buildings only for legal work. We therefore need budgets to be enabled to do that which we undertook to do. I wish to state to the Minister, in my capacity as Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders in the Province, that we need budgets, which we can only get through you as the Minister responsible for our particular affairs.

The pandemic has created brand new categories of Aids-orphans, child-headed households and the terminally-ill. The disease has been thoroughly destructive. Yet it gives the Amakhosi an opportunity to fight social prejudice and taboo, which have conspired in a vicious circle to perpetuate the pandemic. As I have repeatedly urged, again and again, we must encircle this disease in unity to tear down the walls of silence and stigma.

I believe it was through self-help and self-reliance that our people withstood the onslaught of colonialism and apartheid. It will be through these values that we shall not only confidently tackle HIV/AIDS, but also poverty and unemployment within our communities.