Gatsha Buthelezi Chief With A Double Agenda Pdf Download
Phebe Aherns
This report examines the human rights record of the government of the KwaZulu homeland in Natal province of South Africa. KwaZulu is the political base of Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, chief minister in the homeland and president of the Inkatha Freedom Party, a rival to the African National Congress (ANC) for black political support. It is therefore a testing ground for Chief Buthelezi's frequent claims during the current period of politcal transition in South Africa that he is the legitimate spokesman for the seven million strong "Zulu nation," both as a democratically elected leader and as a member of the Zulu royal family, with roots reaching directly back to the precolonial Zulu kingdom.
The situation within KwaZulu does not support Chief Buthelezi's claim that he is a democrat. KwaZulu is a one-party state, in which the institutions of Inkatha and the institutions of the homeland administration are virtually indistinguishable. Only Inkatha has freedom to organize within the homeland, and freedom of expression, assembly, and association for other groups are routinely denied. The chieftainship system, inherited from colonial times, is widely abused, to ensure that chiefs opposed to Inkatha or Buthelezi are removed, and that support for Inkatha is enforced. The KwaZulu police, a separate police force for the homeland, fail to offer equal protection to individuals or groups believed to support the ANC, engage in acts of random or politically directed violence, and are widely perceived to be the armed wing of Inkatha.
gatsha buthelezi chief with a double agenda pdf download
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Government servants in particular are expected to be loyal to Inkatha. In 1986 seven doctors were dismissed by KwaZulu government hospitals. The doctors, who had studied medicine with the assistance of KwaZulu government scholarships, had refused as students to sign a pledge that they would not "criticize or denigrate" the KwaZulu government or its chief minister. Following their refusal their scholarships had been withdrawn, and only reinstated after legal action. Chief Buthelezi stated that the pledge was a tactic "in the struggle for liberation" and that the KwaZulu government was "expecting every KwaZulu civil servant, including every teacher, nurse and doctor, to declare that they will stand with us in the struggle for liberation."29 Prospective employees with the KwaZulu government have to complete a form in which they are asked to specify which, if any, political organizations or unions they belong to, and to explain their "personal views on communism."30
Even on paper, the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly (KLA) is not a representative institution. Under the KwaZulu Constitution Proclamation of 1972 less than half its membership is theoretically chosen through open elections. The Zulu king, or paramount chief, is automatically a member, and also nominates a personal representative from the royal family (who may not hold cabinet office); up to three members may also be nominated by the Chief Minister. Seventy-four MPs are chiefs: three chosen from each of KwaZulu's twenty-four regional authorities, and one each from two tribal authorities with direct representation. Finally, sixty-five MPs are elected by the voters of KwaZulu. Only citizens in possession of citizenship certificates who have registered to vote are entitled to vote for these elected members.36
The KLA's initial membership was taken over from the Zulu Territorial Authority, which had been established in 1970 and was itself largely formed of chiefs and traditional councilors. Under the constitution of KwaZulu, the colonial structures for regulating chieftainship are still in place, and chiefs are appointed to their positions by the KwaZulu government: any chief who is a member of the KLA and attempts to oppose the government line may be dismissed from his position. This system is described in detail in the section on the chieftainship system below. The elected members of the KLA have hardly more independence. Elections did not take place in KwaZulu until 1978, and were held again in 1983 and 1989. All seats were won by Inkatha in all three polls; however, this does not imply solid support for the party within KwaZulu. In 1978, there were 23 candidates opposing those put forward by Inkatha; many of them were intimidated during the period before the election. Voter turnout was 38% of registered voters; however, only between 26% and 50% (the difference resulting from different official claims) of eligible voters were registered. These figures may be explained by the fact that there was and is considerable resistance to taking out citizenship in the bantustan; moreover, between 50% and 60% of the economically active population eligible for citizenship works outside the homeland. One study concluded that only about six percent of the eligible Zulu population cast a vote. In 1983 there were only four opponents to the Inkatha slate; in 1989 only three of the 26 constituencies were contested and only 12,000 votes were cast, out of three million potential voters of whom 780,000 were registered.37
Local government in rural KwaZulu is carried out through a system of chiefs, tribal and regional authorities that is based on the structures originally devised by the British Secretary for Native Affairs, Theophilus Shepstone, in the mid-nineteenth century. Although the framework of this system had its basis in a conception of Zulu customary law, it was designed as a form of indirect rule that would co-opt the institutions of chieftainship to the purposes of the colonial state. The 1891 Natal Code stipulated that the Governor of the Colony, as "Supreme Chief," could appoint chiefs and remove them, and that the chief "in charge of a tribe or section of a tribe is a minor deputy of the Supreme Chief."39 After the Union of South Africa was created in 1910, policies for the control of the African population were centrally formulated. Frequent legislation modified the role of the chiefs; most importantly, the Native Administration Act of 1927 (later renamed the Black Administration Act), the Black Authorities Act of 1951 and their amendments. The powers and title of Supreme Chief were inherited by the Governor-General; and, in 1961, by the State President of the new Republic of South Africa. In this way, the government was able to create an extension of its own structures within the "native" areas, but in a manner which concealed the nature of control. Although power to remove their chiefs was taken out of the hands of the people, the system of hereditary succession was allowed to operate where it did not challenge white rule.
The structures now encoded in the KwaZulu AmaKhosi and Iziphakanyiswa40 Act of 1990 (the Amakhosi Act) are essentially those established by the Native Administration Act. The executive authority of each tribe is vested in its chief (inkosi), acting on the advice of his tribal council, subject to the "recognised customs or usages of his tribe." In return each chief receives a salary from the homeland government. "Tribal authorities" with general administrative duties are constituted to assist the chief. Tribes are grouped together under "regional authorities," made up themselves of chiefs and headmen, whose functions are "to advise the government in regard to all matters affecting the general interests of persons" within their jurisdiction, and to administer education, hospitals and other infrastructure. The regional authorities exist to enforce government policy, and do not have any independent status.
Power in this system is concentrated in the hands of the Chief Minister of KwaZulu (who has been Chief Buthelezi since the homeland was established). The Chief Minister is empowered, "after consultation with the cabinet," but subject to no other control, to establish or dissolve tribal and regional authorities, and to appoint "any person" as a chief or to dismiss a chief, regardless of the position under tribal custom. Chiefs are specifically instructed that they may not be connected with "any organisation whose aims are the unconstitutional overthrow of the Government." If a chief who is also an MP ceases to be a chief, his seat in the parliament is automatically deemed to be vacated;41 if a chief dies, his heir "shall" be the person appointed by the minister, irrespective of any custom to the contrary. Furthermore, belying the idea that the system of tribal government is based on an ethnic or cultural reality, the minister may unilaterally constitute new tribes, divide and amalgamate tribes or redefine the boundaries of tribal land; a person is deemed to be a member of the tribe within whose area he or she permanently resides, whatever his or her ethnic origin.42
Chief Buthelezi has used the powers of the Amakhosi Act extensively, to depose chiefs perceived to be in opposition to Ulundi and replace them with more amenable deputies, or to create tribes and tribal authorities to suit the purposes of the KwaZulu government. Some of these cases have been taken to court: for example, in July 1992, fourteen indunas (tribal councilors, or "headmen") from Babanango, an area bordering the Nqutu magisterial district of north-western Natal, initiated court proceedings in the Durban Supreme Court against the Chief Minister of the KwaZulu government and others, in an effort to prevent the constitution of four new tribes and tribal authorities, and the import of three "foreigners," with no pre-existing connection of any sort to the area, as chiefs. The land involved was traditionally under the direct authority of the Zulu king, but for over a decade there have been attempts to introduce new chiefs into the area, first by the South African government, and now by the KwaZulu government. At no point have the communities who would fall under the new chiefs been consulted, despite an express provision in the Amakhosi Act for consultation to take place. The case remains in court.45
In particular, Buthelezi has persecuted chiefs belonging to the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa). Contralesa was formed in September 1987, by chiefs who were part of the fierce struggle to resist the granting of "independence" to KwaNdebele, the homeland for the Ndebele people, and the incorporation of the Moutse area into the homeland. The aims of the organization include opposition to the homeland system and the restoration of full citizenship to all South Africans; but also the restoration of credibility to traditional leaders, often identified with the bantustans and seen as instruments of apartheid rule. The ANC, with its largely urban membership, has traditionally been suspicious of customary forms of government and has paid very little attention to rural South Africa; the establishment of Contralesa was an attempt to rescue the chiefs from oblivion under a future ANC government. Contralesa is thus a threat to the existing homeland leaderships, and most especially to the government of KwaZulu, which makes the most serious claim to be based on tradition. Contralesa, though it has important differences from the ANC, is generally regarded to be ANC-aligned.
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