Prince Sobandla is not a chief

The appointment of Prince Sobandla as chief of Sankolweni in the Manzini region, irregular as it may be, could just be the tip of the iceberg with regards to the land issue visa-vis the land tenure system and the system of appointment of the traditional leadership which is supposed to oversee the land under Swazi Nation Land on behalf of the king who also holds it in trust of Emaswati.

Following the demise of King Sobhuza II, there has been a series of land and/or chieftaincy disputes despite the presence of several councils set up by His Majesty to deal especially with such matters. The Liqoqo and the Ludzidzini Committee, both that advise the king and queen mother respectively on these and other matters are examples of such councils.

Interestingly noteworthy is the involvement of King Sobhuza’s offspring in these wrangles, which raises the pertinent question; if King Sobhuza II wanted his children to be chiefs, why would he not appoint and confirm them in his lifetime? Why should the disputes surface after the king’s death?

Like kingship, chieftaincy is hereditary and only the ingwenyama (king) has the power and authority to appoint new chiefs where none existed before or where the appointed house that is due for chieftaincy progressively diminished with the passage of time to the point where there is no surviving heir to carry on the chieftainship.

People appointed for such a position by the king would either be individuals who distinguished themselves in national service or those linked to the royal court by ways of marriage.

Chiefs are culturally the king’s eyes and represent the devolution of the king’s authority at grass-roots level; hence, it is individuals worthy of the king’s trust who are considered for such appointments. Once the king has made the initial appointment, subsequent successions will be hereditary.

Some areas have remained without chiefs because of family disputes where competition for the position of chief exists among members of the family who supposed to produce the chief. This is where the intervention of the royal councils and the office of the regional administration become necessary because among the core functions of a chief are to oversee the development of the area under his jurisdiction.

In short, the absence of a substantive chief hampers the development of the concerned area.

The appointment of the king’s children as chiefs is relatively a new phenomenon; hence one is curious of the growing trend post the Sobhuza II reign.

There could be an explanation to it which the rest of us are not privy to, but its rather questionable unless and until somebody comes out to explain it.

Culturally only the senior prince (umntfwankhosi lomkhulu) is privileged to be given lands to oversee on behalf of the king and he alone is not obliged to attend to national ceremonies and/or the king’s summon. The rest are ordinary bantfwa-benkhosi under the respective chiefs of the areas they reside in. Each and every area is supposed to have a chief and an umntfwane-nkhosi who is given a liphakelo in that particular area but he/she remains subordinated to the substantive chief of the area. Like with chieftaincy, the liphakelo will be hereditary and pass from one generation to the next.

Under no circumstances does liphakelo translate to a chieftaincy; hence Prince Sobandla’s claims over Sankolweni are in doubt if not way out of order. The same applies to his other siblings who have made similar claims elsewhere.

As already mentioned, the trend started after the death of King Sobhuza II where some of his children embarked on a mad rush of outrageous claims over lands and titles they have no legitimate claims over.

It, for instance, happened at Mbekelweni where Prince Matatazela made outrageous claims that he was chief of the area. He was totally out of order and thankfully, sanity finally prevailed and he was subsequently removed. For one, Mbekelweni is not a chiefdom because it was King Mbandzeni’s residence and can only be overseen by an indvuna who reports directly to the king.

Making matters worse was the fact that the Regional Administrator Prince Masitsela is also King Sobhuza’s son, a situation that presents a clash of interests and which was evident again with the issue of Prince Sobandla of Sankolweni.

In any case, if Prince Sobandla or his mother had any ‘legitimate’ claims over the said area, the relevant royal councils would have been duly appraised for due engagement of all concerned parties by these councils who officially represent the ingwenyama’s authority, before the prince was officially presented to the people.

That is, if indeed he has legitimate claims, which is in doubt anyways.

Now the people of Nsenga have taken the right course of action, to seek an audience with the ingwenyama where the truth of the matter will be ascertained and unveiled.

Seemingly there is blatant abuse of authority and birthright by some of King Sobhuza’s children and as I see it, if this is not nipped in the bud and the culprits are allowed to get away with it, then we are headed for interesting times. Quote me on that one.

I foresee a situation where each and every royal kind will demand a liphakelo and demand to be chief of one area or the other. Who knows, from claiming to be chiefs will we not have some clown claiming to be a king.

The long and short of it is that Prince Sobandla is not the chief of Sankolweni. I rest my case.

Sydney Matse

Comments

Going to the king is pointless! People of Nsenga must remain in their territory and defend it! They must not waste time and go to Ludzidzini! Someone said there will be development when Sobandla is a chief. These are the blatant lies that have to be nipped at the bud!
July 13, 2010, 10:44 am, velaphi dlamini (d.velaphi@yahoo.com)

In response to this article, the public must keep in mind that the Ingwenyama has the right by Swazi Law and custom to choose who should be a chief. It does not matter if the family generation has been in charge of that particular area for centuries. As king this right is bestowed upon him.
July 13, 2010, 2:58 pm, Dlamini (.)

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