Ms Weziwe Thusi, during the celebration of the life of Inkosi Sigananda
Shezi
31 July 2006
Good morning ladies and gentlemen and thank you for coming. We have gathered
here to celebrate a real South African giant an icon whose heroic deeds will
reverberate across the corridors of history, namely Sigananda kaZokufa
Shezi.
Sigananda Sheziâs heroism does not only start with the Bhambatha Uprising
but dates back to as early as the reign of King Shaka.
His father Zokufa and Shaka were cousins. Nandi, King Shaka's mother, had a
sister who got married Mvakela Zokufa's father. Zokufa was one of King
Cetshwayo's advisors and an induna at Mlambongwenya kraal and was skilled in
iron smelting and the manufacture of hoes, axes, knives and assegais. Born in
the early 19th century, Sigananda was a member of King Dingaan's iNkulutshane
regiment in his youth and had witnessed the killing of Piet Retief and his
party at Mgungundlovu. Inkosi Sigananda was extremely loyal to King Cetshwayo
and fought for him at the famous Battle of Ndondakusuka.
Inkosi Siganandaâs relationship with Bhambatha went beyond military
activities. Sigananda himself had once been cared for by Mancinza (Bhambathaâs
father) and was a policeman at the magistrate's office in Grey Town about 1871.
After more than a decade of absence from Zululand he was invited by King
Cetshwayo to return as the Inkosi of amaChube. Sigananda also participated in
the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 and during the war of 1883 had provided Cetshwayo
with refuge at his kraal, Enhlweni, on the edge of the Nkandla Forest.
Sigananda also fought with the Usuthu at the battle of Thukela on 2 December
1856. In 1884 Sigananda also participated at the Battle of Khothongweni at the
side of Usuthu.
When the Bhambatha uprising started, Sigananda and his subjects refused to
pay the notorious poll tax and this led them to stage an open defiance on 17
April 1906.
Sigananda never sold his people and when the colonialists wanted him to
betray Bhambatha, he instead offered the latter refuge and joined him in the
uprising. He further refused to give evidence against Bhambatha during the
trial and for this he was detained for 38 days. It is reported that he was
already 92 years and very healthy but because of prison treatment together with
other unexplained incidents he began to fall sick and eventually died under
mysterious circumstances. Sigananda will always be remembered for his
selflessness and loyalty to the Kings (Shaka, Cetshwayo and Dinuzulu) and the
African people.
The formation of the South African National Native Congress in 1912
therefore was largely influenced and encouraged by the heroism of people like
Sigananda. Sigananda can be rightly credited with being one of the first people
to participate in what has been referred to as the pioneering guerrilla warfare
in the world, namely the Bhambatha uprising of 1906.
As the people of KwaZulu-Natal, we are proud to be associated with such a
great hero who shared greatness with the likes of Patrice Lumumba, Mao Tse
Tung, Hoh Chih Minh, Ernesto Ché Guevara, Thomas Sankara and many others in
advancing the concept of freedom. We are also proud that it is also here in
KwaZulu-Natal that the world peace movement started with Inkosi Albert Luthuli
becoming the first African to won the Nobel Peace Prize and Gandhi becoming a
prophet for peace influencing Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. We are
gathered here therefore not to mourn that Sigananda died but to rejoice that he
lived a complete life of selflessness that brought us where we are today.
As we celebrate the life of Sigananda I want to challenge the people of this
province especially the academics, intellectuals and the youth to devise
innovative strategies to highlight our distorted history. Our history is
distorted not only from the cultural and racial point of view but even in terms
of gender. Women, in particular, must rise up because I refuse to believe that
the Bhambatha uprising was about men only otherwise we would not be having the
descendants of Sigananda and Bhambatha today. Let us shame those ignorant and
mischievous patriarchs who want the world to believe that the history of
KwaZulu-Natal is the history of male military activities. This distortion
ignores the fact that people sometimes call this part of the world, the land of
Mthaniya, a woman.
As a woman myself I challenge all women especially those in universities and
other professional circles to work with older men and women who know and
understand facts of the Bhambatha uprising.
The other challenge is directed to the communities themselves. The Premier
has begun the process of the establishment of Local Heritage Forums. We expect
the people of KwaZulu-Natal through all the municipalities to come with
creative and innovative strategies to celebrate their local heritages. We are
currently planning for 2010 and beyond and this is a very good opportunity to
say to the international visitors âwe have a history before after and beyond a
man called Jan van Riebeeck. We have our local histories too.â
In the final analysis I want to congratulate the AmaChube people who gave us
Sigananda, one of historyâs supreme heroes. I also want to thank the Premier
who has made it his mission to revive the love of heritage in this province.
The fact that we have debates and discourses on heritage matters is because he
made it his task to bring heritage to the radar screen.
Thank you!
Issued by: Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial
Government
31 July 2006
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government (http://www.kwazulunatal.gov.za)
