SUNDAY INDEPENDENT | Sunday, March 22 2020 3

The awareness issues will be cascaded ICYMI | IOL.CO.ZA down to izinduna and local villages. COVID-19: SHOPS WARNED Izinduna are the ones who will decide NOT TO HIKE PRICES on whether events go ahead after This week, the government announced that those retailers who are found guilty consulting with the relevant chiefs of increasing the price of essential goods by more than the increases in the cost INKOSI PHATHISIZWE CHILIZA to produce these products during the Chairperson of the KwaZulu-Natal House of Traditional Leaders pandemic, could face a hefty fine as well as possible imprisonment. | IOL MMETRO

 COVID-19 The Ramaphosa ‘is not God’ Brief

Church leader vows to defy gathering restriction over Easter in wake of king adhering to president’s order

NKULULEKO NENE (April 10) and ending on Easter Mon- but without compromising on culture. [email protected] day. He argued that Ramaphosa was Ngubane said the decision by aca- “not God”. demic institutions to postpone gradu- WHILE King Goodwill Zwelithini “I am still mobilising congregants ations and classes highlighted the ser- fully supports President Cyril Rama- to pray about bringing an end to the iousness of the coronavirus epidemic. phosa’s prohibition on gatherings of virus. He said Ramaphosa should have more than 100 people as a means “We Christians believe in the gone further and imposed a State of to curb the spread of coronavirus, a power of prayer to expel the virus. Emergency to totally prohibit social religious group is preparing to defy the Ramaphosa does not understand; he gatherings, as some people would not ban over Easter. represents no congregation,” he said. adhere to the restriction. ICE YACHTERS BRAVE THE In a pre-recorded message broad- Ngcobo said he was speaking He warned that village commun- CORONAVIRUS AND THE ICY cast on Thursday, Zwelithini encour- on behalf of the SA Zionist Churches ities could be at risk of contracting aged people to heed the president’s Association in KwaZulu-Natal, and the virus when relatives visited during RUSSIAN COLD Covid-19 preventative measure which those who judged him were not Easter. he announced last Sunday. above God. “Handshakes must stop and WITH the coronavirus bringing most of the Prince Mbonisi Zulu, the royal Ngcobo, also president of the we should always keep a safe sports world to a standstill, ice yachters household spokesperson, said the king Durban-based political party, African distance, but sometimes that can be from around the world still gathered on had opted not to address his people on Freedom Revolution, said he was not interpreted as disrespect by some Russia’s Lake Baikal for the DN Ice Sailing an open platform because he under- afraid of going to prison for defying parents,” he said. Week where ice yachters on Thursday stood the risks. the law. He appealed to health officials (March 19) braved not only the virus, but “The king was pleased with the He rose in popularity within an to provide sanitisers and water to also the frigid Siberian cold as they glided president’s speech and realised that ANC faction when he co-organised under-resourced communities. across the frozen lake. Ice yachts use sails organising a large imbizo would be an night vigils for former president Jacob Inkosi Phathisizwe Chiliza, chair- and glide across frozen lakes and can reach act of defiance,” Zulu said. Zuma, before his court appearances. person of the KwaZulu-Natal House of speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour “He stressed cleanliness issues, and Ngcobo said his views on the Traditional Leaders, said he supported (62mph), but this year racers say snowy urged government departments to church’s proposed gathering had noth- the postponement of traditional wed- conditions on the ice have slowed them provide villages with access to ing to do with politics. dings in rural communities, especially down a bit as sailing into “snow pies” can water. He suggested that all social Sihawu Ngubane, a Zulu culture in areas with water challenges. send the sleighs off course. The race here gatherings be postponed until a cure expert at the University of KwaZulu- He said mourners at funerals is open to the public and anyone suited was found.” Natal, said only funerals should be should be divided into groups not up with the expensive gear and gumption However, Bheki Timothy Ngcobo, allowed and other gatherings, like exceeding 100. to brave the harsh weather conditions bishop of Nkanyezi Church of Christ, weddings, be postponed. “The awareness issues will be cas- and strong, icy winds. Many ice yachters was not prepared to accede to the calls Time limits should be placed on caded down to izinduna and local vil- say they love their sport for the feeling of by the king and the president. funerals to avoid prolonged periods lages. Izinduna are the ones who will freedom they get as they glide over the ice Ngcobo vowed to forge ahead with of contact. decide on whether events go ahead of frozen lakes. Ice yachts have been used plans to hold a massive church prayer He suggested that, during funerals, after consulting with the relevant BISHOP Bheki Ngcobo has drawn flak for vowing to defy the Covid-19 restriction. in Russia since the 17th century when it was session, beginning on Good Friday precautionary measures be applied, chiefs,” Chiliza said. | Facebook primarily used for winter fishing. | Reuters

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Witwatersrand in 2015. Pietermaritzburg, with “Selby Msimang worked as Pixley Ka Isaka particular focus on the Seme's legal clerk from around 1911 until the twentieth century. My aim was time of the First World War.” to complement earlier works by “I have always been fascinated by the history Debbie Bonnin and Ngqabutho of Pietermaritzburg and its surrounding areas. Bhebhe that focussed on This was inspired by the fact that the city was my selected aspects of the history of main point of reference when I was growing up in the Natal Midlands. It was while Impendle, in the Natal midlands. When I conducting research for my MA relocated to Edendale in 1985, Pietermaritzburg thesis that I encountered Selby played an important role in my transition from a Msimang’s name and this was rural to an urbanised view of life. For the people in relation to his relationship of Impendle, approximately 80 kilometres away, with A.W.G. Champion, and the city was their main urban centre in which the fact that he resigned during they engaged in economic activities. Many young the ANC’s Defiance Campaign men and women dreamed of one day finding a in June 1952.” job in some of the factories in Pietermaritzburg, “The genesis of this thesis as well as in the railways and the municipality. In can be traced to a period in the this city, I was introduced to the complex late 1980s when I embarked on political dynamics of the mid-1980s, especially a journey to understand the the contestation for political space between the socio-economic configuration ANC-aligned United Democratic Front (UDF) and of Edendale, especially the petty Inkatha, and began to appreciate the nexus bourgeois, class-conscious connecting industrialisation, urban housing, people of Georgetown in political mobilisation and the migrant labour comparison to the rest of the system.” Greater Edendale area, a vast “My decision to do research on the history of settlement incorporating Dr Sibongiseni Mkhize, author of Pietermaritzburg and some of its prominent mainly working class areas such A political biography of Selby Msimang people was influenced by what I observed as a as Machibisa, Dambuza, Sinathing and Pata. Many of the mong the big winners at the 5th Annual wattle and daub houses in these Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) areas were rented from or built Awards 2020 was Dr Sibongiseni Over five years, the NIHSS has on land purchased from Mkhize. seen an increase in prominent Georgetown families His book titled Principle and such as the Minis and Pragmatism in the Liberation biographical book submissions. Msimangs. Often, in Struggle: A Political Biography of With the passage of time comes conversations about Edendale Selby Msimang, was a joint winner in the the names of the Mini and non-fiction (Biography) category at the National a greater examination of the Msimang families came up, Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences influence of the past on the particularly in relation to land Awards ceremony held on 12 March at ownership and businesses. One of the beer halls amakholwa community came into being, and Constitution Hill. present to help us better that were destroyed during the August 1985 why there was a class schism between the The annual Humanities Awards, hosted by the navigate the future. stay-away belonged to chief Lawrence Mini. It landowners of Georgetown and the general National Institute for the Humanities and Social was often said that during the 1970s he used to population of Edendale extension. The reference Sciences (NIHSS), celebrate the best work of South Africa has many unsung hold a ‘tribal court’ at his homestead, and those to Edendale as ‘umuzi wamakholwa’ - the village creators and scholars from diverse backgrounds found guilty were fined or received lashes.” of the believers - , which I first came across in in HSS, and form part of a network of events and heroes who were pioneers of the “Some pieces of the puzzle began to fall into 1985 when I read E. H. A. Made’s Indlalifa yase programs that highlight the strides, needs, and liberation struggle, and it is place when, in 1988, at the height of political Harrisdale, began to make senseI began to challenges of HSS disciplines. “Over five years, violence in the Natal Midlands, I attended to understand why so many houses and businesses the NIHSS has seen an increase in biographical fascinating to read of their Amakholwa High School, whose foundation were owned by the Mini, Seoka, Msimang book submissions. With the passage of time trials and courageous activism. stone proudly stated that it was built by the families and why many of the doctors, lawyers, comes a greater examination of the influence of Amakholwa ‘tribe’ and opened by Chief L. S. B. nurses, teachers and school inspectors lived in the past on the present to help us better navigate Mini. I became curious about who the Georgetown. Unlike the rest of the Edendale, its the future. South Africa has many unsung heroes neglect of the city’s history among historians in Amakholwa ‘tribe’ were. I knew that Mini was at streets and schools had English names.” who were pioneers of the liberation struggle, and favour of Durban. From the 1960s, academic some point a chief of Edendale. That on its own He is clearly immersed in the character of his it is fascinating to read of their trials and works by Maynard Swanson, Paul La Hausse, Paul intrigued me because I grew up in a traditional subject: “Out of the missionary melting pot of courageous activism. “says Prof Sarah Mosoetsa, Maylam, Iain Edwards and Tim Nuttall placed community of KwaNxamalala in Impendle, and Edendale emerged the protagonist of this thesis, NIHSS CEO. Durban in the spotlight while no similar efforts had my own preconceptions about the Henry Selby Msimang, also known as The joint winner book about Selby Msimang were made towards writing about configuration of a tribal community. I struggled uNkonkawefusi, whose 70 year political career shares the spoils with Professor Brian Willan for Pietermaritzburg. Some academic works on to understand how an urban community was characterised by a fair degree of social, his book titled Sol Plaatje: A life of Solomon Pietermaritzburg that emerged during the 1980s consisting mainly of landowners and oscillating economic, political and geographical mobility.” Tshekisho Plaatje 1876-1932. and 1990s, particularly Sheila Meintjes’ thesis on migrant workers could have a chief.” Dr Mkhize says Selby Msimang's elder brother, Professor Willan is a visiting scholar at the Sol Edendale’s class formation and Graham Dominy’s “My interest was whetted further by my high William Richard Msimang, was one of the Plaatje University in Kimberley, Northern Cape. thesis on the military garrison, tended to focus on school principal’s constant remarks about the overseas-educated lawyers who were Dr Mkhize’s book is a biography of Selby the nineteenth century colonial history and kholwa identity, mainly in relation to the land on instrumental the formation of he SANNC. “Both Msimang, who worked as a clerk for ANC founder avoided the complex politics of the twentieth which the school was built and why the Selby and William Richard worked closely with Dr Pixley Isaka ka Seme. century. In order to contribute to the existing descendants of the nineteenth century black Sol Plaatje to document the hardships caused by The book began its life as a doctoral thesis that scholarship on Pietermaritzburg, I decided to Christian elite were so proud of their identity. It the 1913 Natives Land Act as well to coordinate Mkhize was completing at the University of the research the history of political mobilisation in took me a long time to understand how the protest against the legislation.”