S Ndebele: Martyrdom of M Khanyile commemoration

11 March 2007

We are assembled here today to commemorate 130 years since the death of
Maqhamsela Khanyile. He was born of non-Christian parents and died a Christian
convert under what is now called the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern
Africa (ELCSA). He grew up like all other men of the time and joined the army
of the Zulu King.

Khanyile grew up at a time when Zulu social order was characterised by
social cohesion; a culture of respect for authority and distaste for shameful
behaviour. The elders were valued and they guided the youth through life. The
youth formed social bonds, and through ukubuthwa, maintained these social
networks for life. The age group system ensured maximum accountability for each
individual because they always thought and acted as part of the group. The
group was at times the extended family or the age group regiment to which he
belonged. The idea of an individual acting alone was therefore somehow
foreign.

The Zulu religious system like all other African religious systems put the
home or family as the centre of religious practice. The thin line between
day-to-day life and religious life facilitated and sustained strong social
bonds among groups and individuals, and created a solid line of communication
between the living and the dead. This was further enhanced by social bonds
created by inter-clan and sometimes cross�clan marriages. The permanent seeking
of bonds and relations was the general character of pre-colonial African life.
Then the state, religion and society were one in a well-structured
hierarchy.

Khanyile was killed on 9 March 1877 because he had taken a conscious
individual decision to be Christianised through baptismal. Kings Mpande and
Cetshwayo had earlier, for strategic reasons accepted that the missionaries
could establish mission stations and preach in Zululand. People could go to
church and listen to such sermons. However, there was a general understanding
that the last step baptismal was prohibited. The rationale was that it
represented a point of no-return and would somehow disturb the social bonds,
formed and cemented over many years. A person so baptised, it was argued, would
be lost to the social system of the Zulus.

The missionaries started arriving in the Eastern Cape as early as the 18th
century. They started arriving in KwaZulu-Natal in the mid 19th century. We
must recall that the missionaries were generally people of integrity, driven by
a deep personal experience of salvation. Most were driven by a desire to form
associations for the intensive worship of the Lord. Most came here and
elsewhere in the world in search of partnerships and opportunities to spread
the word of God. They also had a deep desire to evangelise both at home and
abroad. That was the basis for missionary work. It was founded on
sacrifice.

Strong missionary societies like the Moravian Society in Norway and the
British Bible society saw value in establishing religious networks whose motive
was to spread the religious message at home and abroad, and to promote the
socio-cultural values of sacrifice and non materialism.

In the 19th century Europe the missionary movement gained ground. In a way,
by promoting the Christian message it challenged the European status quo of
Napoleonic wars, instability and pursuit of material wealth promoted by
industrial revolution. On the other hand the economic successes of the
post-Napoleonic era boosted the missionary movement, in that the new middle
class, with money to subscribe to Christian magazines, buy bibles, make
donations was generally supporting the church.

For the internal organisation of the church, missionary work posed a very
strong challenge to clerical hierarchy. Most missionaries were young and
well-educated and were quite aware of the complexities involved in introducing
a new religion to people who were already a spiritual society.

The first missionary came from the Norwegian Missionary Society to settle in
Zululand, H P S Schroeder or uMankankanana, as King Mpande would call him. He
had a Bachelor of Divinity degree. He had also studied lay medicine and was
able to help the King heal rheumatism. Their interpretation of the Biblical
message of peace, of equality, of equal creation of all people by one God, and
of salvation of all, irrespective of race, colour and gender through one God
contrasted very much with the European stereotype of the time. It saw the
Europeans as representing a cultural advancement and the rest as representing
cultural inferiority.

The missionaries were often aware that the spread of the mission message
would take more than just preaching what the Bible said. To be successful the
missionaries had to possess other skills. They had to command technology,
medical skills, trade, and teach people to read and write. They also had to be
of use to the economy.

In Zululand, for instance, the economy was agricultural, by way of crop and
stock farming. Knowledge of fertilisers and efficient methods of farming came
in handy and created harmony between the missionaries and the local
communities, even those who were non-converts.

Through sheer determination the missionaries saw language as the most
important medium of communication. You cannot converse with people unless you
know their language. So, the missionaries would learn IsiZulu first, speak and
write it fluently. Then they would translate the Bible and even teach local
people to read and write.

In the summer of 1869 to 1870 even Prince Cetshwayo attended literacy
classes under Reverend Ormond Oftebro, uMondi, and learned to read and write
his name.

Conversion is often packaged as a private personal decision which must be
visible to the public. This notion at times contrasted with group philosophy of
the local population. The idea of breaking away from the group was seen as
being tantamount to treason. Group psychology and philosophy were very strong.
Thus the idea, that one could sin and be saved as an individual, posed the
greatest challenge for the missionaries to explain.

This is the context in which the conversion of Maqhamsela Khanyile was seen.
When he accepted Christianity and sought baptismal he was breaking away from
the group and was to carve a new identity based on his individual needs and
beliefs. This was totally unheard of and in contemporary reasoning of the time,
deserved punishment by death.

The Provincial Government of KwaZulu-Natal through the Office of the Premier
has taken a decision to acknowledge that some of our collective history was
distorted, especially during the years between 1879 and 1994. Under colonial
and Apartheid rule we were seldom consulted about our history, our culture and
our heritage. Our personal identities were crafted on our behalf, and we had no
say.

We are a free people today. Our present and our future are completely in our
hands. It is now time to reflect and to put right that which was wrong. In 2006
we commemorated the 1906 Bhambatha Uprising and reinstated Inkosi Bhambatha
Zondi. We also commemorated Mahatma Gandhi's Satyagraha and further
strengthened our relationship with the people of India.

This year we are commemorating 40 years of our leader Inkosi Albert Luthuli
who mysteriously died at KwaDukuza on 21 July 1967. He was a teacher, a
preacher, a politician, a farmer and a traditional leader. In 1960 he won the
Nobel Peace Prize, but was not recognised by the Apartheid government.

As part of the Luthuli celebrations we are today commemorating 130 years
since the death of Maqhamusela Khanyile. He was a stoical individual who
converted to Christianity. Even in times of harassment and the threat of death,
he stood faithful in his beliefs.

Maqhamusela's views were that of a non-racial South Africa. To him it made
no difference that the Christian faith was brought by white people. Through his
faith he saw the universality of mankind and realised that out there, there was
a bigger world of multiple nations, united by a common desire to make this a
better world. He was one of many, who saw religion, particularly the
universality of its moral basis, as representing a new world order.

We are here today, as a people representing freedom and modernity. Most have
gone to school; we can speak English. For many of us it was mission work which
brought us into contact with education, literacy, liberal views and shaped our
African nationalism. The founders of our liberation movement such as Dr Pixley
Seme, Dr J L Dube, Chief Albert Luthuli, Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and
others were products of missionary education.

Religion to them posed a challenge to ensure that every human being was
accorded the same freedom and human rights. Religion, they reasoned, did not
sanction the oppression of one by another on the basis of race, creed, sex or
any other characteristic. We are carrying a message of racial and gender
equality. Late this year we will commemorate Izintombi Zengcugce, those young
maidens who in 1876, driven by vision and courage to put gender on the national
agenda, challenged the status quo. They demanded that women should have a say
in the choice of spouses and partners.

We believe today as the government of KwaZulu-Natal that religion can play a
fundamental role in the rekindling the values of higher morality in our
society. A free religion will teach us again how to be better fathers. A new
found spirituality will teach the girl and boy child how to be a better citizen
of the future. Spirituality will teach the rapist to stop raping, the robber to
stop robbing, and the murderer to stop taking the lives of others. It will
teach the community to be responsible citizens, by refusing to serve as a
market and storage facility for criminals. They will no longer buy stolen
plasma screen televisions, laptops, music systems and cellphones. They will
also stop using stolen credit cards to purchase the latest clothes, shoes and
expensive watches. We cannot depart from this script which teaches us that hard
work, honesty and patience are fundamental values that will in the end make
this KwaZulu-Natal a better place for all of us to live in.

The Faith Based Community (FBC) has played a major role in advancing
development, peace, democracy and partnerships in this part of the country. It
made significant interventions in education; created mission hostels for
learners; spearheaded literacy; researched and published crucial manuscripts on
our culture and history; facilitated black participation in Science and
Technology; built hospitals and access roads. The Christian Church openly sided
with the liberation movement and sacrificed much in our struggle for
liberation. Many practising priests and people of the Church such as Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, Reverend Mcebisi Xundu, Reverend Allan Boesak, Reverend
Motlalepule Chabaku and countless other took a definite position against
apartheid and stood up to be counted.

Your historic fight against all forms of injustice, your desire to establish
fellowships and partnerships in the deliverance of the moral message can be
extended to normalise our society in the fight against ignorance, disease and
disregard for law.

I thank you.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
11 March 2007