Exit colonialism, enter feudalism

It is one of the ironies of South Africa – given the emotional debate around land expropriation without compensation – that African people living under the autocracy of kings find themselves just as landless as they did under the boot of colonial occupation.

The communal land “owned” by people according to their ethnic grouping is, in reality, owned by the king … much as it was in the days of feudalism.

People are granted land on the whim of the monarch and are, in many cases, charged rent for it. They do not have title to the land that should, rightfully, be theirs.

Without title, of course, they have no security for borrowing money, which could make their lives better.

Nowhere is this lopsided state of affairs more apparent than in KwaZulu-Natal, where Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini – who is supported by millions of rands of taxpayer money – uses the Ngonyama Trust to charge his subjects rent for their land. That is a nice little earner, too, bringing in R96 million in the past year.

No wonder Zwelithini doesn’t want to hand over the trust.

That is one of the recommendations by a high-level parliamentary panel led by former president Kgalema Motlanthe.

Zwelithini’s response was to threaten secession if the government tried to “take” Zulu land.

President Cyril Ramaphosa backed down – as the government always does when threatened with violence or unrest.

He assured the king that expropriation without compensation only applies to the 87% of land allegedly owned by non-black people.

So, while the government seeks to dismantle the remnants of colonialism on one hand, it is endorsing and supporting the continuation of feudalism deep into the 21st century under the guise of respect for culture.

It has also, unwittingly, emphasised that one group in this country is more important than others.