Motlanthe responds to being cast as Zulu king’s Enemy No 1

Former president Kgalema Motlanthe is not perturbed by the criticism aimed at him from various quarters – including from within the ANC – over his land report in which he suggested land held by traditional leaders should be given to the people to own directly.

Motlanthe told The Citizen yesterday the report did not belong to him personally, but was the property of parliament, which assigned his panel to investigate all legislation in South Africa to determine which laws need to be reviewed and updated.

Motlanthe was appointed by the Speakers Forum to chair a high-level panel to probe the impact and failures of legislation with regard to the acceleration of fundamental change since 1994.

Among other things, the investigation looked at areas such as the scourge of poverty, unemployment and inequality, the creation and equitable distribution of wealth, and land reform – under which restitution, redistribution and security of tenure falls.

The panel, which submitted its report to parliament in November, recommended that the Ingonyama Trust Act should be repealed. It recommended that the trust, which owns 30% of land in KwaZulu-Natal and oversees communal land historically under the Zulu kingdom, should be dissolved to enable people to own land directly, instead of it being held on their behalf by the Zulu king.

The recommendation raised the ire of Zulu amakhosi, izinduna and their supporters, who have threatened war and bloodshed to fight for the status quo to remain.

This week, Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini threatened to ensure that parts of KwaZulu-Natal secede from the rest of South Africa, to re-establish an apartheid-style ethnic homeland or republic. Some of his subjects who attended his imbizo in Nongoma said they would die with the king fighting for the land, while others even suggested South Africa should be ruled by a monarch.

They also proposed that the Nguni languages should be the leading official languages in the country, similar to Swahili being dominant in many African countries.

In reaction to criticism by Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans’ Association national spokesperson Carl Niehaus about his report, Motlanthe said it did not worry him because the report was not his personally, but the property of parliament.

He said parliament or the Speaker’s Forum should deal with it now.

Niehaus surprised some when he took to the podium during the imbizo and lashed out at Motlanthe for what he termed his “unnecessary attack” against traditional leaders. Niehaus said the land in South Africa was “stolen by whites from blacks” and must be restored to blacks.

Motlanthe told The Citizen: “I chaired the panel as requested by the Speakers’ Forum and we submitted our report in November.

“Once we did that, the panel ceased to exist. That report is now the property of parliament.”

Motlanthe said it was up to legislators to accept or reject the report or its recommendations. He found it strange that parliament expected him to go around the country to explain the report instead of parliamentarians doing that themselves.

“I know that the Ingonyama Trust board ran a campaign against me as an individual. Of course it is understandable – but what is not understandable is members of parliament wanting me to go and explain the report to different stakeholders.”

Regarding Niehaus’ criticism, Motlanthe said: “It doesn’t matter, really, to me what he says. He (Niehaus) can express himself better on this issue, not me,” Motlanthe said.

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