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The couple arrived in Johannesburg on Wednesday, but their itinerary began the next [...]]]> The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are currently on a five day visit to South Africa. They are to highlight both social and environmental issues during their trip.

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The couple arrived in Johannesburg on Wednesday, but their itinerary began the next day with a visit to Walter Sisulu Square, or Freedom Square, in Kliptown, Soweto. There, they were welcomed by the Soweto Gospel Choir, with 24 singers and a drummer, singing songs by Miriam Makeba. Also, local children gathered to see the royals.

“It was so cool, I liked that. It’s so long I want to see the Prince,” said Boniswa Msibi, an 18-year-old Soweto high school student who shook hands with Prince Charles. “We’re so happy that they’re coming into Soweto to see us and are not afraid of us.”

Charles and Camilla met with models who showcased traditional Zulu clothes. At one point, the Duchess was given a Zulu hat by Nthabiseng Dibakoane, a local businesswoman who specializes in hand-made bags, hats, shoes and ethnic dresses. Camilla – and the media – were delighted that she tried on the hat.

The Duchess tried to pay Dibakoane for it, but she insisted Camilla keep the hat for free.

The couple then went to the monument to the Freedom Charter, which began the fight against white-minority rule by declaring: “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white.”

Afterward, Charles went to Pretoria to discuss the environment with business leaders while Camilla visited a women’s shelter. The pair reunited later on to meet with Graca Machel, the wife of Nelson Mandela. She showed them his personal archives at Mandela’s foundation in Johannesburg.

Mandela did not meet with the royals because he is reportedly not seeing visitors.

In the evening, Charles and Camilla had dinner with Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and his partner Gugu Mtshall.

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On Friday, the two were faced with a dark chapter in British and Zulu history when they went to Ulundi, site of the last battle of the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War.

They met with Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini at his Ondini Palace in the KwaZulu-Natal province where they reflected on the war.

Our relationship hasn’t always been entirely smooth but it has always been characterised by deep admiration and respect,” said Charles in his speech. “Our meeting is but the latest in a long line and brings our relationship into the 21st century.”

“Our great nation, the Zulus, and the British share a very rich history that is both good and not so good,” Zwelithini said in his speech. “Our meeting today marks a new beginning between our nations, an era of mutual respect and cooperation.”

Both the Prince and the King exchanged gifts – Charles gave Zwelithini a silver cup, similar to the one Queen Victoria gave Cetshwayo, the Zulu King the British forced into exile after destroying his palace and ending his people’s independence. Zwelithini in turn gave Charles a portrait of Cetshwayo.

Later Friday, the Prince and the Duchess went to a game reserve to see how black rhinoceros is being protected. Charles spotted one at the reserve but Camilla did not. The black rhino is an elusive, endangered animal.

Sources: AFP, Press Association, South Africa.info,

Kathryn Ingall/The Red and Black

“I kind of come from a royal family,” she said. “In a way, I’ve got royal blood flowing in my veins.”

Vusani [...]]]> On the outside, Vusani Tshivhase is just another student at the University of Georgia on a Fulbright scholarship. But in truth, she is no ordinary student.

Kathryn Ingall/The Red and Black

“I kind of come from a royal family,” she said. “In a way, I’ve got royal blood flowing in my veins.”

Vusani is the daughter of the King of the Venda tribe in rural northeast South Africa. She is studying health promotion in order to increase the number of health clinics in her region.

The Princess talked to the University’s school newspaper – The Red and Black – about being a tribal princess.

“We do have — I guess you could call it a palace.  It’s not like the Buckingham Palace — it’s more traditional.”

“When you go back to the palace, or the royal kraal, we kind of strip off this city-girl persona and you go back to being that traditional girl,” she said. “You walk around wearing traditional attire and being respectful.”

“When you talk to the king you need to bow,” Vusani said. “He’s my dad at home, but when I talk to my dad outside, I have to bow to him and I cannot look at him straight in the eye.”

Traditional as her father might be, he is looking to modernize some of the old ways. One of them is a festival which includes a dance where the women dance like snakes. As they do that, men watch them and then choose which women they want as a wife.

But Vusani’s father the King wants things to be different.

“Right now my dad is kind of doing away with the fact that people can just come and pick a wife,” she said. “He’s like, ‘I’m not going to do that.  We’re going to keep the dance, but you cannot just pick a wife.’”

However, Vusani is expected to marry someone of her social class, which she considers to be a “downside”.

Until then, this Fulbright scholar is going to continue to enjoy her time at the University of Georgia.

“When you get educated and you move away from home and you go somewhere else and you interact with other people and you learn all this stuff, you change and you grow and whatever you used to settle for is not enough anymore.”

Source: The Red and Black

AFP/File/Rajesh Jantilal

“The apartheid regime created its own traditional leadership at the [...]]]> South African President Jacob Zuma announced that six of the thirteen kingdoms in his country will be no more. He said Thursday that those monarchies were created during apartheid in order for those kings and queens to support the white-led government.

AFP/File/Rajesh Jantilal

“The apartheid regime created its own traditional leadership at the expense of authentic leadership in some communities,” Zuma said.

“It was how those in charge divided and disunited people,” he said. “We urge all communities to accept the findings in the spirit of correcting the wrongs of the past, and as part of the country’s nation-building efforts.”

Those six kingdoms will end when their rulers die. They include: the central province of Free State’s Batlokwa ba Mota and the Bakwena baMopeli monarchies, the Eastern Cape’s AmaRharhabe and the Amampondo ase-Nyandeni, and the Ndzundza Mabhoko kingdom in the eastern Mpumalanga province. The kingdom of AbaThembu base-Rhode’s King already died, and so that monarchy will be ending shortly.

The Xhosa and Zulu Kingdoms will remain.

Source: AFP, AP

REUTERS/James Akena

On April [...]]]> When he was three and a half years old, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV became King of Toro, a western Ugandan Kingdom that has been around for 180 years. He ascended to the throne after the death of his father, and therefore became the world’s youngest monarch.

REUTERS/James Akena

On April 16th 2010, King Oyo turned 18 and officially took control of his Kingdom which had been ruled by regents in his place.

James Murungi, his minister for protocol, said, “In Toro, it means a lot. The King was enthroned at three and half years which has never happened in the history of Toro. We have seen him grow up to this age of 18. To us this is historical.”

As part of becoming an adult, Oyo was initiated in an elaborate ceremony that lasted four days and ended on Sunday. African royals and Ugandan officials turned up for the rituals at the King’s palace in Fort Portal.

Such practices included sounding royal drums, or Empango Hakaswa, done by the King himself. “Empango is a ceremony that dates back to more than 100 years. Since the inception of the Kingdom, we believe that for the King to be in existence there should be a drum sounded to alert people that the King is a live and sound,” said Murungi.

King Oyo was also given a spear by his people, which represents him being their protector.

As a birthday gift, his mother, Queen Best Kemigisa, gave him a Mercedes Benz.

The Toro Kingdom, which has two million people, is largely impoverished and uneducated. Many are looking to the young King for guidance. He does not have much political power, but he can wield influence much like the European monarchs. During a church service, King Oyo said during a speech that he would focus on education.

“I hope he keeps his promise because education is the only way we can move forward,” said Rodgers Barozi, 20, a receptionist in Fort Portal.

Although he is a King, Oyo is said to be like any other 18 year-old. He likes movies and hanging out with friends, who do not treat him any differently. He also enjoys sports, with English football team Arsenal being his favorite to watch.

Now that he is finally an adult, Oyo has a lot to look forward to, plus a lot of responsibilities.

“For quite long, I have been under tight supervision, I hope this will reduce and I will be a free man,” he told New Vision newspaper recently.

He also called turning 18 to be “huge responsibility.”

“But I have a lot of support from my mother, my sister and others, so I know I can do it.”

Sources: Xinhua, CNN

AFP

The tombs, which were UNESCO sites, were the Bugandan people’s link [...]]]> On Tuesday night, Uganda’s 128 year-old royal tombs of the Buganda people were ablaze. This sparked outraged by the tribe who then clashed with riot police overnight. The police shot at the crowds, leading to the reported deaths of two people.

AFP

The tombs, which were UNESCO sites, were the Bugandan people’s link to their heritage. It is the latest skirmish between these people and President Yoweri Museveni.

Reportedly, crowds prevented Museveni from visiting and inspecting the tombs.

Meanwhile, the Buganda people are grief stricken over loss of the resting place of their leaders. Their King, Ronald Mutebi, is calling for a week of mourning.

“We have lost our treasured culture, this is the origin of all the Buganda culture, this is where our ancestors are buried,” said the tomb’s custodian, Fred Mukasa.

The Uganda government believes arson may be the cause of the fire.

“There are people who want to cause harm to this Kingdom. They are keen on destabilizing us and we don’t know whether they’re behind this,” Reuters quoted Buganda regional official Charles Peter Mayiga as saying.

The Buganda Kingdom is one of the four largest in Uganda. It was not established until 1993 by President Museveni, who reinstated it as a cultural institution with no political power.

Last year, there were riots in Uganda’s capital of Kampala over the Kingdom’s relations with the government.

AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo

On Monday, Charles Wesley Mumbere, age 56, was coronated as the Omusinga of the Rwenzururu, located in western Uganda. The ceremony was attended by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, as [...]]]> The people of the Rwenzururu Kingdom of Uganda have fianlly crowned their King, weeks after it was recognized by the government.

AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo

On Monday, Charles Wesley Mumbere, age 56, was coronated as the Omusinga of the Rwenzururu, located in western Uganda. The ceremony was attended by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, as well as thousands of people, who were beating drums and wearing their King’s image on their clothes.

“It is a great moment to know that finally the central government has understood the demands of the Bakonzo people who have been seeking very hard for recognition of their identity,” Mumbere told The Associated Press.

The crowning of Mumbere has attracted worldwide attention, as it was recently revealed that he worked as a nurse’s aide in the United States for nearly 25 years. He mentioned that during an interview with The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, upon his July return to his homeland.

Mumbere’s father, Isaya Mukirania Kibanzanga, fought in a secessionist group that was fighting another ethnic group which dominated the Bakongo people, the ones who live in Rwenzururu. Mumbere was taught to be a fighter at age nine, and grew up in the bush, which he described to the AP as “very difficult.”

AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo

When his father died, Mumbere led his people to hand in their weapons. In 1984, he went to business school in the United States on an Ugandan government scholarship. But when that scholarship was dropped after Uganda’s government changed, Mumbere got political asylum and became a nurse’s aide. He said he went into that field because it “was more reliable. Other jobs you can be laid off easily.”

All that changed when Uganda started to restore its traditional kingdoms in the 1980s. Mumbere then lobbied to the King of Rwenzururu, and now he is has been crowned.

But not everyone is pleased. Mumbere was not the only one claiming to the rightful King, even though he said he inherited the Kingdom from his father when Mumbere was 13.

“It is injustice,” one of the men, Swaleh Tibamwenda, said yesterday. “It [the ceremony] is a government project, not a cultural one. The government can’t take over the culture of the people.”

“There is not much I can do,” he said. “You cannot fight it, and I don’t know what really is going on.”

AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo

Some Ugandans have wondered if President Museveni’s move to recognize the Rwenzururu Kingdom was a political one to help him win reelection. His rival, Kizza Besigye, surprised everyone when he unexpectedly showed up at the coronation.

He did not speak during the ceremony, but the President did, giving the Osuminga a warning.

“Don’t mix culture and politics; that will be the end of your kingdom [if you do so],” Museveni said to Mumbere.

AP

The troubles began when the King of the Buganda – the largest ethnic group [...]]]> These past two days has seen the Ugandan capital of Kampala in turmoil. Ten people are dead, dozens of stores looted, and police posts were set on fire as rioters protested a tribal King’s visit to the capital.

AP

The troubles began when the King of the Buganda – the largest ethnic group in the East African nation – wanted to visit a hostile area near Kampala. Since tribal Kings are mostly figureheads and are not allowed to take part in politics, some Parliament members were uneasy with the King, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, travelling to an area that the New York Times reports is where a different ethnic group lives.

Restrictions were reportedly set up, and some of the King’s officials claimed harassment. That was when the rioting began.

Protesters burned tires and threw rocks at police. Some Ugandans took advantage of the opportunity to loot stores, and then the police and soldiers began to shoot the people.

Although the official count is 2 dead, an Associated Press photographer claims he saw 10 dead bodies of civilians in the streets.

The reason for the unrest may have to do with growing discontent with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. Even though there is an election coming up, Museveni supposedly will not step down. He has also accused the Bugandan King of receiving foreign finance.

The Bugandan kingdom is one of four in Uganda. It wasn’t established until the 1990s.

The riots in Kampala are unprecedent. It is normally seen as one of the more peaceful capitals in Africa.

Guyyoo Gobbaa, a 36 year old cattle farmer, is to rule over the Boreno for the next eight years. According to tradition, he [...]]]> In a ceremony so secret, it is believed any outsiders witnessing the event will be killed, the southern Ethiopian tribe of Boreno, coronated its new King.

Guyyoo Gobbaa, a 36 year old cattle farmer, is to rule over the Boreno for the next eight years. According to tradition, he was handpicked at birth to be his tribe’s King in a complex rotating system of Boreno’s Kings.

“If you see them exchanging power you’ll die,” said Mohammed Nur, a member of the Borena tribe who is also a local government official. “You’ll spit blood. It is totally sacred.”

Gobbaa is spending his three coronation days eating rich food and meeting with tribal leaders.

His kingship has been accepted by the Ethiopian government.

Traditional rulers exist alongside formal government in many African countries, and their behind-the scenes influence can help or hinder vital national interests.

Gobbaa plans to fix his 1 million people’s ailing economy by improving access to livestock markets and patching up relations with other tribes.

“My main aim is to uphold this traditional culture,” he said. “Not only for Borena. For the whole of Ethiopia.”

The Borena claim their monarchial system dates back 550 years.

But there are some talks of changing it.

“I don’t know,” Mohammed Nur said when asked about the future. “Maybe we won’t want the traditional power. Maybe we’ll want the democratic one.”