Queen Mantfombi: a revolutionary unifier

UNDER what conditions do we invoke the spirit of the dead? In Africa it is often when we seek guidance, light and blessings in our lives. It is therefore quite clear that for us black people, death means something totally different. A transition instead of an end.

It is, therefore, important that I begin this tribute to the queen consort by stating that even though we are weeping as a nation, we have gained an important ancestor. Indlovukazi Mantfombi Shiyiwe Dlamini Zulu shocked the entire continent when she passed on, just after the passing of her husband Isilo Goodwill Zwelithini.

She was appointed as the interim leader of the Zulu nation as a regent on March 24, 2021. She had been on the throne for two months when she also unexpectedly passed on April 27, 2021.

The queen will be remembered for many things, but chief among them is that she was unifier. She was gracious and tender not only to those who were close to her but to everyone she encountered. She spoke with humility and treated everyone as if she was in the same rank as them. Despite the fact that she was from royalty, she treated everyone with respect.

The fact that she was able to unify Zulu nation and eSwatini is both metaphorical and literal. As the daughter of King Sobuza of the Swatis, her marriage to the King Goodwill of the Zulus forged an eternal bond between the Zulus and the Swatis.

Metaphorically, her union to the Zulus signifies a possibility of united Africa.

This is to say all Africans are family, ideas such as tribalism and xenophobia are, therefore, unnecessary. In honour of her spirit as a unifier of the Zulu nation, we ought not to disrespect her legacy with unnecessary tension regarding the throne and succession.

She was a strong believer in culture and the importance of its preservation. She held firmly the idea that we must never forsake our roots. Regardless of the apparent degeneration and westernisation of our culture she insisted that much of our ways of being can still be salvaged. This was clear in how she carried herself and how she insisted in always reminding us where we come from as a people.

The queen was not meek, she fought for the rights of women and fought patriarchy head-on. She dispelled the myth that our cultures are inherently oppressive towards women. For this she will be greatly remembered. There are but a few people who when they are in a position of privilege concern themselves with the interests of the less fortunate.

Her many projects of philanthropy are testimony to the fact that she was indeed a leader. She was central in the revival of the initiation ceremony and Umkhosi Wohlanga. When people were ridiculing these cultures, she was the one who insisted on their significance. Today, many women who participated in these ceremonies regard her as their mother.

She was also instrumental in Umkhosi Wokweshwama which is the annual harvest festival of the Zulu people. Not only this, but she played a major role in teaching women how to be self-sufficient. She had a number of projects where she taught women skills so that they could feed themselves. Children, orphans, widows all sing her praises. Silahlekelwe! (we have lost).

We will forever mourn the queen but her teachings and her exemplary life must always be in our minds whenever we think of her. She has planted a seed through her ways, we must always water it.

Her children must emulate the character of their mother. It is an incomparable pain to lose a parent but they must be comforted by the fact that she lived an exemplary life.

The Zulu nation has lost a tower, it will forever be painful but death is not an end, but a transition. We must be thankful at all times that the gods lent us a human being that we could look up to, a person who led with dignity and honesty. Such leaders are rare.

With these invocations, I am attempting to suggest that we have ancestors that we can emulate in order to find co-ordinates whenever we feel lost and defeated. A reading of the queen’s character may assist us in responding to some of the problems that we face today.

The fearlessness of the queen in times of crisis must always be carried within us in all that we do. Those tasked with the responsibility of leading the masses must apply the queen’s ethic as a guide.

In times of uncertainty, we must never be afraid to invoke those who came before us because even though they might be dead, their ideas can still be kept alive.

No amount of tears will wash away the pain of such a loss. Hamba Kahle Mlangeni! You will forever be in our hearts!