An open letter to the ANC
Dear Sirs
In 1879 the British government, on the flimsiest of excuses, illegally invaded Zululand and the kingdom of Cetshwayo kaMpande.
On January 22, at a hill known as Isandlwana 20km inside the kingdom's borders, the invading British column under Lord Chelmsford felt the full might of Cetshwayo’s impi.
A force in the camp of some 1 600 men was attacked by 20 000 Zulus under the leadership of Ntshingwayo kaMahole.
The Zulus were mown down in their thousands and were about to give up the attack.
A regimental commander ran to the front of the attacking regiments and exhorted them to charge with the words “the little branch of leaves never ordered this”.
He was shot dead by the British but the regiments took heart and charged, overwhelming the British.
There were few survivors from that army; some 50 souls managed to escape across country through the fugitive's drift into Natal.
The body of that man, the inkosi of the Biyela people, Mkhosana kaMvundlana and thousands of his men could not be removed and taken away because of the sheer numbers killed and wounded in that magnificent victory.
The battlefield is still as it was 138 years ago, with its desolation, its piles of cairns and its ghosts of all those brave men. Once every five years or so, King Zwelithini of the Zulus visits.
But now he wants to build a palace for his exclusive use at a cost of between R20 and R30 million on the exact spot that Mkhosan kaMvundlana and his men lie buried. A palace and cultural centre for himself and his friends right in the middle of the battlefield and on top of known graves.
An environmental research farce has been conducted that has ignored objections from historians from all over the world.
The palace, if it were needed, could be moved 800m away and still have its views and ambience. This suggestion has again been ignored.
Instead, the royal family is going to destroy the ambience that attracts visitors from all over the world, an ambience and setting that has created a strong and viable tourist attraction.
New hotels have been discreetly built away from the battlefield on the escarpment and at the nearby Rorke's Drift, scene of another famous battle. Guest houses have opened to handle the flow from Europe, from America, from the East. Tourism is a major benefit to this impoverished part of KwaZulu-Natal.
When first mooted, this structure was put forward as a hotel for visitors and a museum, but it has since been revealed that it will be exclusively for the royal family. The whole surrounding area is owned by the royal family.
Alternatives were suggested, but rejected out of hand.
An insider, in confidence, even opined: “What the king wants, the king will get.”
The ANC and its Zulu leader can stop this desecration of the graves of some of its finest ancestors – brave men who fought and died to defend the old order, brave men revered by the local inhabitants.
Brave men who deserve to rest in peace, not to be part of the foundations of this abomination, this monument to an ego. Show leadership and stop this insanity that can destroy one of the only sources of income for this wonderful and historic area.
Do it now before it’s too late. As Mkosana kaMvundlana said: "Uhhlamvana ubul’mlilo ubase uMantshonga no uNgqelebana kashonga njalo!"
Allewell is a historian and author