Remarks by
Mangosuthu Buthelezi, MP
Traditional Prime Minister of the Zulu Nation
Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders
(KwaZulu-Natal)
President of the Inkatha Freedom Party
Undunankulu KaZulu

Today we have gathered to unveil the tombstone of Inkosi Swayimani Gcumisa, who was known more widely as Salimani. I am delighted to be here, once again, in Swayimane and to be amongst such good friends.

At the outset, I would like to thank Inkosi Nkosiyezwe Prince Gcumisa for inviting me to participate in this event and to say a few words to you in my capacity as the Traditional Prime Minister of the Zulu Nation and the Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders in KwaZulu-Natal.

I would like to congratulate the community for raising R26, 000 to build the memorial tombstone, which bears eloquent testimony to the pride which the people of Swayimane take in their cultural heritage. I was delighted to learn that the Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism became involved in this project and refunded the Gcucmisa clan with the money that the community raised. I would like to commend the Gscumisa clan for using the money for today's wonderful festivities.

If I may, I would also like to single out an individual who I am told, has worked unstintingly to make this unveiling possible. I commend Mr T Zulu, who is the inspector of schools in this area and who used to be the Principal of Maisijabule High School, for his tireless endeavours.  To Mr Zulu I say, thank you and well done.

Inkosi Salimani was installed on the 3 October 1894 and served as Inkosi until his death on the 15 September 1934. Inkosi's service coincided with a turbulent time in our nation's history. He was installed on the 3rd of October 1894, only a few months after the destruction of the Zulu Kingdom at the Battle of Ulundi on the 4th of July in 1879.

On the 13th of November 1905, less than a year before the Bambatha Rebellion of 1906, Inkosi Salamani appointed Mr Maguzu Maphumulo as iBambi of part of the Swayimani clan. This section of the Swayimani clan lies on the other side of the uMngeni river. Today this clan is known as the Maphulo clan at Maqongqo.

Inkosi's service coincided with the reign of King Solomon kaDinizulu from 1891 to 1933, and he died one year later on 15th September 1934. Whilst reflecting on this, I thought of how one of the most evocative praise songs of King Solomon spoke of how he was "drawn from deep pools". Today unveiling of the tombstone also speaks of how we, in 2005, also are drawn from deep pools.

Our Zulu culture emphasises that we are linked to our ancestors. We are not the product of random chance. The ground on which we stand here is the very same land our ancestors stood upon. One feels a sense of history and belonging, as we gather on the soil where our ancestors walked and tilled the land. We are inspired to proclaim proudly: "We are Zulus!" By simply being here today, I feel invigorated by the life-enhancing sense of community, continuity, and harmonious living. These are some of the most important attributes that have characterised our Zulu culture over the last 150 years. So our celebration of culture and tradition is not a crude expression of ethno-nationalism but is inspired by a patriotic sense of pride of who we are, and where we come from. This is important in a time when the relentless process of migration and modernity is bringing material progress to the lives of many. We see it here in KwaZulu-Natal, where rapid urbanisation is taking place. Yet many people, especially in the rural communities, have been left behind. Change inevitably is eroding ties of social solidarity and kinship. Across the globe, individuals are becoming increasingly isolated whilst family and community ties are declining. How do we respond to this? Can the two be squared? I believe they can. We subscribe to the liberal democratic notion that the individual is the touchstone of society, which finds content and expression in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Yet, as African's, we complement this belief with the conviction summed up in one of the most well-known definitions of ubuntu: 'a person is a person through other persons'. In simple terms, a person can achieve their fullest potential within the context of her or his community.

This simple and uncluttered conviction incidentally has always underpinned the political party I lead, the Inkatha Freedom Party. It distinguishes Inkatha from the other political forces in South Africa. This from the 'community up approach' is how we best tackle HIV/Aids, social exclusion, poverty, crime and corruption. The centre, with the best will in the world, simply cannot do these things. The role of government is not to do these things, but to give people the means to do them for themselves.

The biggest threat we face is, of course, HIV/Aids. A threat so insidious and surreptitious, it contains the dreadful potential to destroy our nation from within in the same way that the deadly virus attacks the body's immune system. The HIV/Aids epidemic is hollowing out our families and communities. It leaves a trail of destruction in its wake. Broken lives; orphaned children; livelihoods destroyed; distrust and division; prejudice and taboo. If there was ever a time when our nation most needed to summon forth its traditions and culture, it is now. The Ugandan experience, where they have reduced the infection rate to single figures, is a living example of how a nation's mores, tradition and culture can play an important role in striking a decisive blow against this appalling disease.

As we remember Inkosi today by the unveiling of his tombstone, the question I long to ask here is where does Inkosi's memory leave the Zulu Nation today? The new South Africa, as the ruling party perceives it, promotes and imposes on everyone in sight, seems to have little time for us, Zulus. Post-1994, we have, as a nation, been swallowed up by an even larger and more heterogeneous entity than the one-time apartheid straitjacket.

It is hardly popular to say it loud. My critics, as I have said, accuse me of fomenting ethno-nationalism at best, and civil warfare at worst. They frequently quote Samuel Johnson to point out that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. They are wrong.

The former American President, Theodore Roosevelt, offered a definition of patriotism, which I subscribe to and is instructive.

'Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country.

'It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiently or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.'

Even deep in our Kingdom there is a general amnesia brought on, many would like to think, by today's information age. Others blame our indifference to identity on a postmodern penchant for discontinuity and oblivion. We, on the other hand, perceive a concerted effort to undermine our national identity for the greater good of a nationless vacuum.

The prospects of such a society emerging in South Africa are great. The implications are bleak.

Who are the visionaries to guide us into and through this vision? Are they the current political dynasties with their roots in exile? Are they the aspiring but not quite yet established elite middle classes? Are they our eroded churches? Is it the racially defined and racially constrained business? Or is it our bloated and inefficient civil service?

Who is to guide our country through the daily turbulences of political life and the larger challenges that lie beyond it? Who is to provide sensible direction? Who is to tell right from wrong? Who is to offer a credible moral voice?

This I know. Where there are no traditional institutions, there can be no source of authority. While we seek to entrench fixed points in our nationhood, our opponents strive for a nationless vacuum.

I do not know how this question will be resolved. I will not let it be said, however, that I did not spell out the implications of what is taking place, I believe, for the worse.

I love the Zulu Nation and I love South Africa. The two nation's destinies are indivisible. I believe a successful and united South Africa will best be achieved by cherishing and respecting all its constituent parts, including that of its largest nation.