Zuma’s Charm Prevails at Copenhagen

By Vusi Moloi © 2009

The President of South Africa Mr. Jacob Zuma reached legendary status when he helped broker a groundbreaking deal at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change at Copenhagen in Denmark yesterday. In a rarely seen momentum led by an African leader on a world stage President Zuma joined the US President Barack Obama and other leaders of powerful economies like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, Premier Wen Jiabao of the People's Republic of China and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil to salvage what was otherwise a conference doomed to fall short of an agreement after failing to reach a deal despite two weeks of intense plenary discussions and negotiations.

President Zuma does very well when he trusts his instincts and in this case he showed an instinctive grasp of the issues at stake if everybody had returned home without some deal at hand. In leveraging his natural domain expertise and political savvy as a skilful negotiator and stalemate-breaker, President Zuma bridged the divide that pushed the conference to the precarious brink of failure. These peace-making skills of President Zuma are legendary in the South African history of peace-making as confirmed by great legends like Nelson Mandela.

In the backdrop of the prestige of President Obama who really wanted to see a breakthrough in these climate change talks, President Zuma had previously electrified the conference with these thoughtful words "We have made progress in that we have been able to isolate the areas of agreement and disagreement. We need to move with speed to finalise the areas of disagreement, in order to conclude a legally binding agreement for the sake of future generations.”

Even though the current agreement is not legally binding as originally intended, it draws attention to the far sighted outlook of President Zuma in a strategic move that underlines his shrewd ability to seize an opportune moment that put an African country like South Africa on the world map.

This deal was not easily done as President Obama later observed "I also want to briefly mention the progress we made in Copenhagen yesterday. For the first time in history all of the major – the world’s major economies [USA, Brazil, India, China, South Africa] have come together to accept their responsibility to take action to confront the threat of climate change. After extremely difficult and complex negotiations this important breakthrough lays the foundation for international action in the years to come.” Square brackets are the author's.

The US Senator John Kerry hailed this agreement "It’s a powerful signal to see President Obama, Premier Wen, Prime Minister Singh, and President Zuma agree on a meeting of the minds. These are the four horsemen of a climate change solution. With this in hand, we can work to pass domestic legislation early next year to bring us across the finish line."

In announcing the deal on Saturday the United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon referred to this agreement as "a real deal" that provided framework for a future legally binding treaty on climate change. The next Conference on Climate Change is scheduled for November 2010 in Mexico.

About the Author

A former South African Television Journalist, Vusi Moloi is a published author of a contextual poetry book, A Goodbye To My Little Troubles, and maintains a blog, Zulumathabo on the Internet.

Unbought Liberation Icon Dr. Msimang Dies

By Vusi Moloi © 2009

A liberation icon, a medical doctor, former Minister of Health and an impressive linguist who boasted an impeccable command of languages of the world like Russian, Swahili, Zulu, English and more died yesterday at 2:27PM South African time at the University of Witwatersrand Donald Gordon Medical Centre and Medi-Clinic ICU in Johannesburg. Dr. Mantombazana Tshabalala-Msimang died due to complications with a liver transplant she had received back in March 2007 according to published reports attributed to her son in law who requested family privacy Martin Kingston. The African National Congress has published a tribute to Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang on their website.

Indefatigable Warrior

Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang was an indefatigable fighter on behalf of her people. She consistently advanced the interests of the African natives even in the face of fearsome opposition. Faced with the HIV and AIDS crisis which clipped the wings of population growth in South Africa, Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang went against the Holy Grail when she challenged the pharmaceuticals and the pharmacists to reduce the cost of medicine in order to make medical care accessible to those who could least afford. The pharmaceutical establishment challenged her in court. The cases like New Clicks South Africa (Pty) Ltd versus Tshabalala-Msimang and Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa and Others versus Minister of Health and Another in 2005 were soundly defeated and the state was awarded the costs. Subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court in Bloemfontein overturned the previous judgements. The unfazed Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang fought back via the Constitutional Court which ruled in her favour and settled the matter once and for all.

Traditional Health Practitioners Act

Boasted by these hard won victories Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang introduced the Traditional Health Practitioners in 2007 which sought to provide a legal status of recognition to the traditional surgeons like Inyanga, Ngaka, Sangoma, and Lethuwela among others. This pro-African move raised the ire of the pro-Western medical establishment who regarded this move as a personal affront and launched strident attacks against Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang. She set her foot down and refused budge. Today a traditional health care worker like Sangoma enjoys a legal status like any other accredited health care worker thanks to the unbought Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang.

It’s estimated that South Africa is home to more than 200 000 Sangomas who serve millions of South Africans. South Africa commands more than 10% of world medicine plants and the know-how of the medicinal properties of these plants is controlled by 97% of the traditional surgeons.

Some of the strident critics of her new law included a highly regarded medical scientist Dr. Shadrak Mazaza of the South African Medical Association who expressed these remarks during the Traditional Health Practitioners Bill debate "My personal opinion is that adding an illiterate group of people issuing sick certificates from their shacks to the mix...well, I just can't see it happening".

It never fails how a person who has been schooled in an English institution, through no fault of their own, will almost always exhibit pejorative tendencies towards an authentic tradition like African medicine. It’s like an English establishment inculcates a sense of disdain in everything authentically African. As a corollary, the graduates of the English schools do not recognize the legitimate existence of indigenous knowledge systems. These separatist tendencies are a carry-over from colonial times when legislative instruments like the Natal Code of Native Law of 1891, the Black Administration Act of 1927, the Medical, Dental and Pharmacy Act of 1928, the Proclamation of 1932 and others were intended to criminalize, vilify and economically undermine African traditional surgeons whom the English perceived as an impressive threat to the English medical establishment. The pro-colonial and over zealous Christian churches were privy to these legislative tools designed to stymie African medicine and its practitioners.

Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang dashed those walls and worked without fail to fix the damage brought about by colonial conquest and the white establishment. Today Traditional Health Practitioners Act is the law of the land and makes it possible for a patient who consults a traditional surgeon to be issued with a medical certificate in the event of absence from work. Even the University of Witwatersrand announced plans to offer University degrees in the Sangoma profession at both Bachelors’s and Master’s of Science levels.

The AIDS Policy and Controversy

With solid victories under her belt Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang challenged the unquestionable religiosity of the pharmaceutical and medical establishment with respect to the detrimental effects of AZT as well as the issues surrounding the CD4 count which formed a basis for beginning an anti-AIDS therapy. Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang espoused a United Nations’ stage 4 AIDS-defining illness or a CD4 count of 200 cubic millimetres or less which meant that such a person qualified for an automatic public health care.

She told parliament about damage the AZT was doing to the immune system of an AIDS sufferer and her commitment to ensuring that the Government AIDS strategy had a long term outlook so that the South Africans were not left with lingering consequences that could have been avoided by a meticulous analysis of current scientific theory. In fact pregnant women had gotten killed during the AZT trials in South Africa and she didn`t want more of her people to be subjected to this highly toxic antiretroviral drug.

Her critics mistakenly charged she was denying a link between HIV and AIDS something that she never said as confirmed in an interview with Roger Bate of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in October 2006. Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang put the record straight in terms of those who chose to deliberately misunderstand her simple and clear message “We have never said that lemons or beetroot or garlic are therapeutically equivalent to ART. What we do say is that they contain micronutrients that The transmission of HIV, the rate at which people infected with the virus start to suffer from AIDS-related illness, and how well patients cope with the illness when it strikes . . . [are] affected by a number of variables, including nutrition, pre-existing health status, and lifestyle.”

Even though other scientists like the Nobel Prize winning biochemist Dr. Kary Mullis questioned the HIV and AIDS hypothesis, Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang only raised questions on the operational aspects of the theory with respect to the efficacy trials on account of toxic and death reports associated with the use of AZT. This is because the establishment scientists (the ones whose theory we all subscribe to) were not able to adequately explain the mechanisms underlying the CD4 cell loss which preceded the onset of AIDS even thought the HIV and AIDS discovery had been made since 1984. The lack of this crucial analytical understanding was casting doubt on the efficacy of treatment since the mechanisms of cause between HIV and AIDS could not be adequately accounted for.

The uncontested fact is that AZT was never designed as an AIDS drug but was rather created as a cancer chemotherapy treatment that never worked. This in itself is not new because even Prosaic of Eli Lilly was not originally conceived for depression but was instead designed for high blood pressure treatment which subsequently got retrofitted as an antidepressant and earned billions of dollars in annual revenues for the company. Interestingly, the parent of AZT Burroughs Wellcome & Company worked more on animal health at a certain point in their history before concentrating more exclusively on human health.

Many of the AZT trials were characterized by tragic results which impacted Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang's response in dealing with it. In their scientific paper Effects of Zidovudine in 365 Consecutive Patients with AIDS or AIDS-Related Complex French scientists expressed their bitter disappointment from lack of efficacy and the high toxic effects of AZT which they had tested among 365 patients at the Claude Bernard Hospital, Paris in France. The human trials had to be cancelled midstream. This observation and many others vindicated Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang's cautious approach towards the antiretroviral with the unfortunate result of getting eclipsed by the marketing machines of the profit motivated pharmaceuticals and the white establishment media.

Most Contested Issue

The most contested issue was Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang’s position on the HIV and AIDS which challenged the Darwinist establishment view that HIV led to AIDS as a result of the high turnover of the CD4 and CD8 cells which left the immune system defenceless in the absence of some drug therapy like the cost-prohibitive ARVs. In simple English this meant that the T cells, like CD4 and CD8, which help fight off the foreign bodies were being produced in high numbers and also getting killed off in high numbers in a high speed cyclical process that eventually led to the collapse of the immune system. Contrary to her detractors, Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang never questioned the scientific fact that HIV virus caused AIDS but rather she expressed the challenges on the laboratory front with respect to the CD4 cell loss. In the Zimbabwe National HIV and AIDS Conference of June 2004 Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang articulated this fact "We had many questions to be answered around how we would provide human resources, whether we had adequate laboratory support for CD4 count and viral low count."

Both CD4 and CD8 cells must cooperate in order to win the fight against infection and the main role of CD4 cells is molecular signalling which means that it works like an orchestra conductor. The immune system depends on the instructions of the CD4 to do the job. If the CD4 cells are not able to do their signalling job then the rest of the immune system is not able to respond and fight the invaders effectively. The scientific theory at the time (perhaps even today among some) was that the CD4 and the CD8 cells were being killed off by the HIV virus even as they multiplied to compensate.

New studies including the one headed by Dr. Katja C. Wolthers of the Department of Clinical Viro-Immunology of the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands disproved this establishment theory of the CD4 cells being killed off. Dr. Wolthers and colleagues showed in their scientific paper T Cell Telomere Length in HIV-1 Infection: No Evidence for Increased CD4 + T Cell Turnover using sophisticated cell labelling techniques, that the CD4 telomeres (terminal ends of the DNA structures) were stable like those of HIV-negative persons except for the CD8 whose telomeres were shortening.

In simple English the infection fighting T cells like CD4 were not being produced and killed off as previously thought. Rather it was the source of these cells that was slowing down in terms of producing the CD4 cells. In other words if there is a tap that produces CD4 cells then that tap for some reason was declining in producing the CD4 cells. This was a fundamental shift in scientific thinking. Needless to say it vindicated Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang`s inquiring mind around this issue. The interesting thing is that a number of scientists are quietly realigning their research in the light of this new evidence.

This paradigm shift from the current scientific establishment vindicated Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang with respect to the fact that if we didn`t understand how the CD4 cell loss came about then there was no guarantee that we were solving the problem correctly. This is absolutely vital because if you have a wrong idea about a problem then you are not going to solve it correctly.

The whole HIV and AIDS issue had become politicised instead of remaining strictly scientific. President Jacob Zuma addressed this politicisation after forming the new Government “Let there be no more shame, no more blame, no more discrimination and no more stigma. Let the politicisation and endless debates about HIV and AIDS stop. Let this be the start of an era of openness, of taking personal responsibility, and of working together in unity to prevent HIV infections and to deal with its impact."

Tribute to the Great Mshengu!

We want to take this opportunity to express our sympathies to the Msimang family. We love you and you will forever be cherished by us. We salute Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang! Mshengu! Donga lakaMavuso! Ngelengele! Hlubi elihle! We venerate the impressive achievements on behalf of her people whom she cared so much for. As well put by the ANC’s spokesman Mr. Jackson Mthembu we shall pick up the spear. The life and achievements of Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang will remain an inspiration to many coming after her. In her memory we shall walk in her footsteps to ensure that the Africans do not become parrots of others but rather develop their own views guided by originality, ingenuity and sincere commitment to solving the problems in the context of the material and cultural conditions that prevail in their own environment in keeping with the African proverb that says “An African writer does not choose the topic. The topic chooses him”.

Lala kahle qhawe lama qhawe! Mshengu!

About the Author

A former South African Television Journalist, Vusi Moloi is a published author of a contextual poetry book, A Goodbye To My Little Troubles, and maintains a blog, Zulumathabo on the Internet.

SABC Appoints New CEO Solly Mokoetle

By Vusi Moloi © 2009

The South African Broadcasting Corporation has appointed the new CEO Mr. Solly Mokoetle effective January 1st 2010. Mr. Mokoetle replaces Mr. Dali Mpofu who reached a R11 million settlement with the SABC in August after he was suspended as a result of the Snuki Zikalala affair (former Head of News and Current Affairs). The Chairperson of the SABC Board Ms. Irene Charnley underscored the strategic importance of the appointment "The decision to appoint Mr Mokoetle was based on his experience and a proven track record during the time the SABC was profitable, making him the most suitable candidate"

From Exile

Mr. Mokoetle had previously joined the SABC in 1994 from exile in Canada having impressed the then Chairperson of the SABC Board Dr. Ivy Matsepe-Casaburi with his impressive journalism credentials. Mr. Mokoetle graduated from Canada's Carleton University in Ottawa with Masters in Journalism. He boasts more than 25 years of experience in journalism including his brief stint with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Mr. Mokoetle's progressive changes of the SABC from a state broadcaster to a national broadcaster won the praise of many with the result that in 2001 he was promoted to a position of a Chief Operations Officer a contract position he fulfilled with stellar performance until 2006 when the contract ended.

Ideal Candidate

Mr. Mokoetle is a former Telkom Media Chief Content Officer a position that was announced by Telkom Media CEO Mr. Mandla Ngcobo who said at the time "We believe that Solly's vast experience in the broadcasting industry makes him the ideal candidate for the position".

Chinese Giant Senzhen

The owner of Telkom Media and South Africa's telecommunications giant Telkom had established Telkom Media in 2007 a fortuitous opportunity after Mr. Mokoetle's one year sabbatical. The stint with Telkom Media lasted until 2008 when Telkom decided to sell Telkom Media to a Chinese giant Shenzhen. It caused R7 billion to create Telkom Media which included other shareholders of which Telkom controlled 66%. The details of the transaction with Shenzhen were never revealed. It's not known how Telkom was able, if any, to overcome or satisfy South African authorities with respect to regulatory requirements in terms of a takeover involving a foreign corporation like Shenzhen.

About the Author

A former South African Television Journalist, Vusi Moloi is a published author of a contextual poetry book, A Goodbye To My Little Troubles, and maintains a blog, Zulumathabo on the Internet.

Let's Have a 'Pan-African Commonwealth'

PRESS RELEASE

LET’S HAVE A ‘PAN-AFRICAN COMMONWEALTH’

A call for the establishment of a ‘Pan-African Commonwealth or League of Nations’ comprised of all of the countries of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean that have been impacted by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was one of the main outcomes of an historic Seminar on African, Caribbean and Latin American unity that was held in St Vincent on the 5th and 6th of December under the auspices of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

This novel proposal was advanced by a Barbadian delegation consisting of Bobby Clarke and David Comissiong of the Peoples Empowerment Party, Trevor Prescod of the Israel Lovell Foundation and John Howell of African Reparations Inc., and was inspired by the intellectual work of the legendary Nigerian Pan-Africanist scholar who goes by the single name of Chinweizu.

In outlining the concept of an association of African, Latin American and Caribbean states that could be variously conceptualized as a ‘Pan African Commonwealth’, a ‘South Atlantic League of Nations’ or a ‘Pan-African Bloc of Countries’, Mr David Comissiong explained that the vast majority of the nations of the three regions are bound together by historical, racial, cultural, geographical and political factors.
In making the case for this new multi-national association of states, Mr Comissiong sketched the common history of European orchestrated slavery, forced migration of large numbers of African people, colonialism and neo-colonialism that has impacted virtually all of the societies of Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, and referred to the common interest that the people and governments of the three regions possess in pursuing ‘Reparations’ for the damage inflicted on them and the establishment of a ‘New International Economic Order’.

This proposal was unanimously endorsed by the participants in the St Vincent Seminar, and the next steps in the process of making it a reality are to place it before the governing bodies of the ‘African Union’ (AU), the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the ‘Bolivarian Alternative For Latin America’ (ALBA).

However, the ‘Pan-African Commonwealth’ was not the only idea that garnered the approval of the several Vincentian, St Lucian, Venezuelan, Surinamese and Barbadian delegates at the Seminar!

Indeed, in a declaration signed by some 20 leaders and activists of the Caribbean, the Seminar acknowledged the massive flaws inherent in the neo-liberal international capitalist system, and insisted that there is an urgent need for the nations of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean to come together in solidarity and unity if they are to avoid the worst ravages of the diseased capitalist system.

The participants were very clear however that such efforts at unity have to go way beyond "the formal structures of government and state bureaucracies, into the realm of deep people-to-people contacts and relationships". And in this regard, they insisted that a much greater effort has to be made to implement comprehensive programmes of popular education and information dissemination that are designed to sharpen the intellect, critical consciousness and ideological orientation of our people.

The ‘Declaration’ also included a reiteration of "the longstanding clarion call of the progressive world community of nations and peoples for an immediate end to the criminal, illegal and immoral United States blockade against the Caribbean nation of Cuba". In addition, the participants unanimously confirmed their support of the recent declaration made by the ‘Union of South American Nations’ (UNASUR) for the South American region to be a zone of peace, and called on all of the nations of the world to respect the UNASUR declaration.

DAVID A COMISSIONG
President, Peoples Empowerment Party

Ukweshwama Energizes Zulu King

By Vusi Moloi (c) 2009

The great King of Zulu people Inkosi Zwelithini of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa got an infusion of new powers as a result of the sacred ceremony of Ukweshwama which was held on Saturday at Nongoma a home ground of celebrated Zulu ancestry.

The sacrosanct tradition, which transfers brand new powers to the ruling King, involved the sacrificing of a bull without the use of man-made instruments. The animal was overpowered and slaughtered by young Zulu men using bare hands. The ceremony was attended by an impressive array of luminaries including the President of South Africa the great Msholozi Jacob Zuma along with the highly popular Premier of KwaZulu Natal uKhabazela ka Mavovo Dr. Zweli Mkhize.

Thanks Giving Ceremony

Umkhosi Wokweshwama was practised during King Shaka and this is a continuation of a long standing tradition. It’s a Thanks Giving ceremony similar to the North American Thanks Giving held in Canada and USA in the months of October and November respectively. The Zulu people hold their Thanks Giving in December.

Boosted by Court Decision

Ukweshwama was given a tremendous boost by a court decision that robustly quashed a daring challenge which sought to dismantle the Zulu tradition on the premise that it was a cruel practise. King Zwelithini referred to this fact when he said that no nation had a right to dictate to another about its culture.

An urgent court challenge to stop this sacred tradition from going ahead was brought to Pietermaritzburg High Court by the English leadership of some group who call themselves Animal Rights Africa or ARA in South Africa. The ARA based their case on what was later established to be a cocktail of “hearsay” and “untruths” with respect to the Zulu tradition. Moreover, ARA was found to be misguided in their understanding of Zulu traditions something that is not surprising given the fact that South African English are colonial descendants whose understanding of Zulu traditions is largely based on the misinformation regularly fed to them from childhood by their parents and English schools.

This type of consistent misinformation does eventually become part of bio-programming. Nhlanhla Mtaka of the Royal House of King Zwelithini underscored this fact of ignorance by ARA when he told journalists "We have also noticed that they are very ignorant. They don’t know what this ceremony is all about and how it is conducted." Mtaka observed that ARA and those who supported it showed a combination of arrogance and ignorance.

Ukweshwama Like Holy Communion

In dismissing the case from his courtroom the Judge Nic van der Reyden expressed a viewpoint that ruling against the Zulu tradition was tantamount to ruling against the holy communion of the Roman Catholic Church.

The court room was packed with Zulu supporters dressed in their proud Zulu regalia. South Africa's ten million strong Zulus honour this tradition each year. A highly regarded Zulu scholar and cultural expert Professor Jabulani Maphalala assisted by another Professor Nxumalo exposed the materially baseless case which led the Judge to rule against the ARA. Maphalala is a former Professor of History at the University of Zululand of which the current President of South Africa Dr. Jacob Zuma is a Chancellor.

Publicity Stunt

In an incredible show of bravado the ARA named Isilo sa kwa Zulu Inkosi Enkulu Zwelithini, Dr. Zweli Mkhize and others in their court documents. This strange court challenge was later described by Nonhlanhla Mtaka and others as a publicity stunt designed to raise funds for the ARA. The ARA has denied the charge of publicity stunt.

Reconciliation and Tolerance

The KwaZulu Natal Premier Dr. Mkhize commented after the court decision that this was a victory for “the champions of reconciliation and cultural tolerance”.

Sour Grapes

The leadership of the ARA are an epitome of colonial descendants who have not come to terms with the new South Africa devoid of apartheid and led by an impressive yet humble Zulu leader the great Msholozi. ARA was described by Professor Maphalala as steeped in sour grapes against the Zulu people on account of a crushing victory suffered by the English imperial army at the Battle of Isandlwana in 1879 in the hands of a brilliant Zulu General Umkhuzi wa Mabutho Ntshingwayo. General Ntshingwayo who enjoyed a high praise as a sharp-witted strategist by the great Zulu King Cetshwayo was assisted by other formidable military commanders and war practitioners on the ground like Prince Dabulamanzi, Prince Shingana, Prince Biyela to name but a few.

Genetic Resistance

The sentiment of afrophobic fear and desire to put down the African natives and their indigenous culture is legendary in our times. This kind of sentiment is a result of a process of bio-programming whereby the neurons become encoded with a sentiment that perceives an authentic African tradition as a survival threat by the English. In the poem A Genetic Trait we read these lines:

“A genetic resistance to change
It’s in the DNA to resist the change
The indifference to extreme suffering
A code of silence while colonizing” Moloi, Vusi A Genetic Trait, The African Mongoose, Canada.

From the Contextual Commentary of the poem we get the context:

"The membrane of a brain cell is equipped with a system of plasticity designed to encode and lock in place a unique fingerprint of a particular experience via synaptic connection. If the stimulus is significant by way of association with respect to the survival of the organism, a special fortifying protein via the RNA from the DNA structures is released from the body of the cell. This protein travels via the axon towards the synaptic cleft in order to increase the connective strength of the synaptic connection. Once the synapses are permanently bonded in this fashion, they are no longer inclined towards changing or reversing that particular synaptic configuration." Moloi, Vusi A Genetic Trait, The African Mongoose, Canada.

This demonstrates a theoretical impossibility of trying to convince an Afrophobic individual to accept others as equals because if it’s in their DNA to resist change then that effort is wasted. When the mind is consistently duped using misinformation about others it leads to a cascade of genetic events intended to permanently cast that individual in stone. The WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) antithesis towards everything African is in their DNA and there is really not much that can be done about it. It’s a genetic trait that cannot be shaken off; a sobering perspective all things considered. This is not to say that all the English are bio-programmed in this way by colonial and denialist teachings to divest the African natives of their way of life. However, it would be misguided to ignore the words of the English man Cecil Rhodes who once said:

“I contend that we [the English] are the finest race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race. Just fancy those parts that are at present inhabited by the most despicable [the non-English] specimens of human beings what an alteration there would be if they were brought under Anglo-Saxon influence…”, Moloi, Vusi, The White Establishment – Part IV, Canada. Bracketed italics are the author’s.

Similar words were also expressed in the House of Commons in Ottawa, Canada by the English Canadian member of Parliament Mr. John Charlaton as follows:

"It was necessary that England should assert her sovereignty; it was necessary that England should assert her power and rights in South Africa. England has purposes in South Africa. Providence has purposes in South Africa, and makes England its instrument. Providence has purposes in other lands and England is the instrument of Providence. It is evidently the intention of Providence that the English-speaking race shall exercise a great influence upon the affairs of this world." Moloi, Vusi, The White Establishment – Part IV, Canada.

Living by the Code

Many English South Africans live by this code of English supremacy despite the expression of goodwill by the African natives in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission headed by the great legend Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It’s incredible that despite the TRC the English have largely moved in the most rightwing and reactionary direction on a collision course against the aspirations of the African natives. It’s like the English have interpreted reconciliation as a form of weakness to be exploited and there is nothing stopping them from doing so.

This anti-African sentiment has been consistently observed in the English media in South Africa as well as political parties like the Democratic Alliance under Ms. Helen Zille. When this writer travelled from London to Johannesburg a few years ago, it was amazing that a South African English passenger seated with the author could not name the OR Tambo International Airport and so was the English pilot of the plane. They preferred to call the airport by the old apartheid name.

Compassion Fatigue

In the meanwhile the African natives are increasingly developing a compassion fatigue towards the indifference of the English. This trend is observable as the African natives become more assertive in embracing their African traditions as demonstrated by this court case. They are unstoppable on the inexorable march towards the great struggle for African freedom and betterment.

About the Author

A former South African Television Journalist, Vusi Moloi is a published author of a contextual poetry book, A Goodbye To My Little Troubles, and maintains a blog, Zulumathabo on the Internet.

The History of Makholokoe – Part II

By Vusi Moloi © 2009

In the article The History of Makholokoe – Part I a historical overview of the Makholokoe people was provided. This article is a continuation of the history and analysis of the Makgolokwe people.

The History of Makholokoe – Part I

Preamble

The Makgolokwe people are the direct descendants of the Bakgatla through the great Morena Tabane who settled at the Lekwa valley in the 1500s. Morena Kgolokwe, a descendant of Morena Kgetsi broke away from the main Bakgatla to chart an independent path along with his people. The followers of Morena Kgolokwe came to be known as Makgolokwe meaning the people of Kgolokwe. The Makgolokwe established their main branch in the Lekwa region of the present day Standerton Mpumalanga where they built a defensive fortress Thaba Kholokoe. It was here that they built their Makgolokwe way of life which advanced their economy of cattle, farming, and hunting the succes of which allowed them to cultivate their indigenous knowledge systems and ancestral lands. They are among the first to be known as Basotho along with their cousins Bapedi and others as confirmed in a PhD dissertation Literature and Philosophy of African Languages by the great African scholar William Moruti Tsiu.

Genesis

The Bakgatla people have lived in the region bounded by Lekwa and Limpopo river systems for over a thousand years. They were part of many African peoples who began to drift Southward in search of greener pastures as a result of the great Sahara turning into a desert as a result of loss of rainfalls in 6000 BCE (about 8000 years ago). The present day Mpumalanga and Limpopo offered an excellent opportunity for these industrious communities to rebuild their lives and feed their livestock which kept them alive through milk and ceremonial meat. The Bakgatla boasted many impressive kings and queens one of whom was a famed King Mokgatla, the progenitor of the Bakgatla people. After a number of generations a great King Tabane was born in the 1500s.

Mokgatla King Tabane

The formidable King Tabane led his people to prosperity in spite of the harsh vicissitudes. Moreover he instilled a sense of independence and an industrious work ethic. The Bakgatla peacefully and cooperatively cooexisted with with other peoples like Bafokeng, Bahurutshe and Bakwena among others. The Bafokeng boasted some of the most impressive queens and princesses and one such Mofokeng maiden was a mesmeric Princess Mathulare who enthralled the imagination of a young Prince Tabane. Tabane and Mathulare were married in a traditional ceremony where the extended families of Bakgatla and Bafokeng exchanged gifts and vows and built new ethnic alliances. It was out of this marriage that five sons were born namely Diale, Kgwadi, Kgetsi, Matsibolo and Mosia. When Diale succeeded his father as a new King he broke away from the main Bakgatla to start a new branch at Fateng in the present day Sekhukhuniland. King Diale was married to Mmathobela and when she gave birth to a son, he was named Thobela. It was through this Diale lineage that the Bapedi people and their formidable Kingdom of Sekhukhune was born. They moved from Lekwa under the leadership of Thobela to an area near the Limpopo river at Mohlake in the mountains of Leolo. After succeeding his father Diale and taking charge of his people in the 1600s, King Thobela forged a great and proud nation of Bapedi. King Thobela became a great ruler who was venerated by both Bapedi and some Makgolokwe like this writer. To this day Bapedi continue to say “Thobela”.

King Kgetsi

One of the brothers of Diale, Kgetsi established himself at Lekwa. King Kgetsi became a direct line of descent for another great leader by the name of Kgolokwe. It was King Kgolokwe who made his indellible mark among his people that they became known as Makgolokwe meaning the people of Kgolokwe. The Makgolokwe thrived at Lekwa. Overtime the Makgolokwe developed a body of collective knowledge which served as an intellectual capital in helping them to navigate and cherish their way of life. This system of indigenous knowledge was largely based on oral tradition but was also encoded in artifacts and other artistic works like ditema, pottery, carvings, traditional attire and games of strategy like morabaraba and more. It was here that many Makgolokwe received the teachings of their foremothers and forefathers as well as martial arts like stick fighting, mountain strategies and other forms of self-defense training. The Makgolokwe were methodical cattle herders and farmers. They paid allegience to a totem of Kgoho which is documented in the dithoko and diboko tsa Makgolokwe in the following invocation:

Ke Lekgolokwe, Lekotswana
Lahlaba kgoho ka lemao
Laisa ho Morena Kgorong
Lare bona Morena kehlabile

A longer version of dithoko tsa Makgolokwe is from Nchakha Moloi as follows:

Lekgolokoe Kotsoana

By Nchakha Moloi ©2005

“Lekgolokwe lekotswana,
Le hlaba kgoho ka lemao ka sebonong
O ise ho mokgoloane kgorong
ore bona morena ke hlabile

Ke motho wa kgetsi se dutla majwe
ya hlahang bopeli hwa matso
Ya hlahang mokgatluwa tloopo”

Moloi, Nchakha (2005). Lekgolokoe Kotsoana. Geneology.Com, December 4, 2009, from http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/users/m/o/l/Nchakha-Moloi/index.html

William Moruti Tsiu in his PhD dissertation recorded Young QwaQwa Mokgolokwe lady by the name of Lebohang Mosikili reciting dithoko of Makgolokwe as follows:

Ke thelleleng

By Lebohang Mosikili © 2001

Ke thelleleng
Ke le Lekgolokwe, Lekotswana,
Lehlaba-kgoho-ka-lemao-ka-sebonong
O isa mokgorong ha Kgwadi,
O re: 'Bona, morena, kehlabile!'
Ke monate wa nku ofella mono! Tsiu, William Moruti, University of South Africa, 2008.

Thaba Kholokoe

Thaba Kholokoe inspired a variety of school systems including Lebollo and Motebong systems of education. In the scholarly paper The Design Theory of Letanta this writer discusses an indigenous system of education as practiced before the advent of colonial conquest. Militlary training at the time was considered an extremely important component of education as a form of defence against invaders. The Makgolokwe chose to build a defensive fortress to underscore their need for self-preservation.

The Legend of King Kgolokwe

The close relation of Makgolokwe and Bapedi in terms of language and historical alliances proved symbiotic in advancing the common good. Some Makgolokwe became absorbed among the Sekhukhuni people. Other relatives of Makgolokwe include Batlokwa with whom they share a common ancestry of Tabane as well as sharing space in the land of QwaQwa. The Makgolokwe are also related to Bafokeng (Bafokeng come from Bakwena) by marriage as previously mentioned through Queen Mathulare.

The legend of Kgolokwe was so far reaching that one of the Bapedi rulers of the indomitable Sekhukhune Royal House carried the name of Kgolokwe (also known as kgoloko). The Lekwa region is like a biblical garden of Eden because it is here that many of our people trace their origins before trekking out to other parts of South Africa like Zululand, Harrismith, QwaQwa, Lesotho and many other places. This region represents an instance of Ntsoanatsi that tells the story of genesis.

Peacemaking and Forging Alliances

Given their heterogenous historical experience and the veneration of common ancestry with other peoples like Bapedi, Batlokwa, Basia, among others, Makgolokwe developed superior skills in peacemaking and forging alliances. These skills served to create their survival maximizing experience.

Makgolokwe have also formed alliances with other non-Bakgatla peoples like the Zulu people of Zululand as demonstrated by Makgolokwe places like Nondweni of Inkosi Lephatsoana. Makgolokwe are also found in other places like Kwamdakane, Ndindindi and Kwamhloya in KwaZulu Natal.

The perpetual Zulu legend and founder of the ANC Mr. Pixlie ka Seme was instrumental in the acquisition of land in the present day Daggakraal under their leader Morena Lephatsoana. Even though they lost this land as per the draconian laws of forced removals under the evil system of racist and sexist apartheid, Makgolokwe gained a lot of sympathy from others like the Transvaal Rural Action Committee which this writer worked for under the Black Sash leader Mrs. Sheena Duncan of Johannesburg. It was gratifying when the living legend and President of South Africa Mr. Nelson Mandela restored the land under Lephatsoana II Trust where the Mokgolokwe Chief Edward Moloi was there to receive the title deed on behalf of his people on June 21st, 1997 at Amersfoort in the Mpumalanga Province. In the poem Ke Daggakraal the Makgolokwe are remembered for putting up a determined fight for the land:

“Ka hohle ditholwana tsa hao di adilwe,
BoMoloi ba ho lwela temo ya mobu,
BoSiema ba ho hasanya lentswe,
Basuwe ke ditholwana tse ntle.” Sesotho Puo Ya Lapeng(Pampiri Ya Bobedi)November 2008, Daggakraal, Mpumalanga.

The great Premier of Mpumalanga the Honourable Mathews Phosa was the engine that did the heavy lifting behind the success of this project. Interestingly and deservedly so, the people of Daggakraal have renamed their Municipality in honour of the great son of the African soil Pixie ka Seme of Inanda, KwaZulu Natal.

Gutsy Spirit and Serving Others

The Makgolokwe have bolstered their gutsy spirit and perfected their skills of solidarity over centuries. Instead of waging wars of aggression against others, the Makgolokwe were trained to embrace others as their own regardless of ethnic origin. The only time when Makgolokwe went to war was in defence of their ancestral lands when the peaceful avenues were blocked like the war of 1856 when the arrogant and bellicose Afrikaners assisted by both Germans and the English sought to crush Makgolokwe people and rob them of their land under the barrel of the gun in the Free State. Intriguingly, when the Makgolokwe, under a junior Chief Wetsi had no alternative but to fight back, they were joined by other non-Makgolokwe volunteers like the Zulu warriors of King Mpande, Bapedi of Sekhukhune and others in resisting the claws of colonial encroachment. Even though the Bakwena of Mopeli fought on the side of colonizers in this war for which they were rewarded by President Johannes Brand of the Orange Free State in 1867, the Makgolokwe did not bear a grudge but have consistently engaged them in a peaceful struggle for the emancipation of their land.

Chief Molefe Royal House in Nquthu

Some historical accounts point to the fact that one the of the traditional surgeons of the great Zulu King Cetshwayo (the son of King Mpande) was a Mokgolokwe. When this writer was in KwaZulu Natal at Nquthu in the Royal House of Batlokwa Chief Molefe it was instructive to observe the alliances of Makgolokwe and Batlokwa. The Molefe Tribal Authority shared a border with a Zulu Chief Hlatshwayo. This invaluable experience, as documented in the book A Goodbye To My Little Troubles, was an immense learning experience with respect to the alliances of our peoples in the harsh face of a racist and sexist apartheid that inculcated separatist tendencies designed to break the spirit of the African. This writer is forever grateful to the great legend Ntate Monnafela Mota of Lechabile in the land of QwaQwa for making it possible to experience this epiphany.

Conclusion

The Makgolokwe are a unique people in terms of having a common ancestry with others and being able to forge and leverage those alliances in their quest for permanent liberation. The Government of President Zuma has committed itself towards the restitution of the land of Makgolokwe. The Makgolokwe are a recognized traditional community in terms of the 1994 House of Traditional Leaders Act. As long as they are relentless in their great struggle for their land, it is foreseeable that they will regain what is their birthright. Are the new generation of Makgolokwe cognizant and interested in their history or will they get attracted to the Western ways that seek to strip them of their Africanness?

About the Author

A former South African Television Journalist, Vusi Moloi is a published author of a contextual poetry book, A Goodbye To My Little Troubles, and maintains a blog, Zulumathabo on the Internet.