Recasting Sovereignty

Abstract

Analyzing the quest for sovereignty and independence, this article uses text produced in 1902 to interpret power dynamics in the colony of Natal and subjugated Zululand. It uses Mkando ka Dhlova’s historical testimony as mediated by James Stuart, to examine factors at play in the articulation of different aspirations for autonomy, leadership, freedom, and “comfortable” existence by Africans in Natal and Zululand. In his testimony, ka Dhlova discussed various aspects of paying allegiance (khonza). These included paying allegiance to Zulu Kings and to the Crown. Drawing on this testimony, the article focuses on the fluidity of paying allegiance (ukukhonza) in relation to African and colonial political authority, land ownership, and the quest for freedom. The second part focuses on the land question in post-apartheid South Africa, and the aspirations of the late Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini for a Shakan era land-return for the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The article juxtaposes ka Dhlova’s testimony with the late Zulu King’s request for the restoration of Zulu land to him. It argues that King Zwelithini’s call for the return did not consider the fact that the “Zulu Kingdom” is a product of precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial struggles and interventions. It therefore posits that land allocation and occupation has never been a static process.