the desecration of the grave of Maqhamusela Khanyile
3 March 2009
It is with shock and horror that I have been informed that the grave of
Maqhamusela Khanyile, the first Zulu Christian Martyr who was killed by his
peers on 9 March 1877, has been desecrated.
What is even more disturbing is that a high-ranking official from Northern
KwaZulu-Natal has been directly implicated for the vandalising of this heritage
site.
Police are investigating allegations that, on or about 14 February 2009, the
grave was desecrated by a high ranking official from the Uthungulu District
Municipality. This grave, which was erected in 2007, falls under the ambit of
the KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Act.
This act of cowardice is testament that even the dead cannot be laid to rest
in dignity. What could, possibly, be the motive for this act of vandalism?
Among those who reported the matter to the Office of the Premier, some in
tears at the site of the desecration, are the local traditional leadership as
well as members and the leadership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The
Secretary of the Diocese, Reverend TS Khathi, was duly informed by the Circuit
Manager Reverend Mthethwa.
This is the latest in several acts of this kind of vandalism reported to our
government.
In 2001, a building contractor was prosecuted in St Lucia for damage to a
pre-historic midden (archaeological discovery) on the Eastern Shores of Lake St
Lucia, which is also a world heritage site.
Last year in Isandlwana in Rorkes Drift some metal medals were removed and
sold for commercial gain.
The Mahatma Gandhi statue in Pietermaritzburg was also vandalised last
year.
These acts are a violation of the Bill of Rights in our Constitution as well
as the recently passed Heritage Act.
I have instructed the Director-General of the province, Dr Kwazi Mbanjwa, to
work with the law enforcement agencies to bring the perpetrator/s to book as a
matter of urgency. We will leave no stone unturned until those responsible for
this criminal act face the consequences for their actions.
On 11 March 2007 the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government was joined by the
Eastern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, to
commemorate 130 years since the death of Maqhamusela Khanyile.
A delegation from Norway, where the missionaries who had Christianised
Maqhamusela Khanyile, among them Ormond Oftebro, had come from, was also
present. This grave is therefore of international importance. A desecration of
this nature will put South Africa's proud record of heritage conservation in
jeopardy. The grave is one of several heritage initiatives that the provincial
government has undertaken over the past five years.
Maqhamusela Khanyile had been an active member of the Zulu armies. However,
upon hearing the teachings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church at Eshowe, he
became Christianised and forsook the life of warriorship. This angered his
peers who then killed him.
According to the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Heritage Act, No 4 of 2008:
Section 35 of the act further prohibits any person from altering, damaging,
exhuming or removing from its original position any other grave not protected
by this act and also not located in a formal cemetery managed by a local
authority without the prior approval of the council.
The National Heritage Resources Act, 1999
Section 36(3)(a) prohibits any person from destroying, damaging, altering,
exhuming, or removing from its original position or otherwise disturb the grave
of the victim of conflict, or any burial ground or part thereof which contains
such graves.
Enquiries:
Logan Maistry
Cell: 083 644 4050
Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
3 March 2009
