Fresh investment for Zulu king’s homestead, back to drawing board for costly eNyokeni palace

KwaZulu-Natal sport, arts and culture MEC Mntomuhle Khawula has stressed the importance of kick-starting venue upgrades at the eMashobeni royal palace after hosting its inaugural uMkhosi woMhlanga.

The annual reed dance ceremony, which celebrates the maidens to promote cultural preservation, was held at king Misuzulu KaZwelithini’s newly built palace in oPhongolo, northern KZN, for the first time on Saturday.

This ended the 40-year-long tradition of it being held at eNyokeni palace in Nongoma, which belonged to late king Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu.

Misuzulu said, while announcing the move in August, that Zulu tradition dictates that such ceremonies are held at a reigning king’s homestead. 

This was after the provincial government had completed R280m of upgrades at a cultural precinct in eNyokeni, meant to host such cultural events, after more than a decade of delays. 

Premier Thami Ntuli announced at the weekend that the provincial government would now invest in infrastructure upgrades in the oPhongolo area and at the palace itself to make it better suited to host large gatherings.

The pronouncement has been welcomed by Khawula, whose department will help develop the homestead.

“It’s not going to be complete in the next two or five years, it’s a long-term development plan. But we need to start: a journey of a thousand miles begins with that first step.

“I hope the process happens soon, especially for us as the department of arts and culture, because we will be back here next year for uMkhosi weSivivane, uMkhosi woMhlanga and other programmes,” he told TimesLIVE Premium.

Khawula highlighted the already “remarkable transformation” of eMashobeni from undeveloped land into a venue capable of hosting events like the reed dance, attributing that to concerted cooperation among multiple government departments.

“Actually this area was bush. But working together as different government departments, we made it hospitable.

“Emashobeni was a big success. I’m happy that the king pronounced and as government and as a nation we delivered. We worked together and we ensured that the king’s word is respected.”

While determining the development needed at the palace was premature at this stage, he said, there were notable shortcomings that needed to be dealt with.

“There are obvious developments needed at eMashobeni: we need to grass the area to enhance its aesthetic and instil respect for attendees, we need a seating plan for comfort and organisation, we need proper roads in the area for accessibility, and the palace still needs proper construction, but that’s another department.”

Khawula said the future of the eNyokeni precinct would be a matter for discussion, with government officials helping assess the precinct’s current usage and explore year-round programming or multipurpose uses.

“As government at local, provincial and national levels we will sit down and look at the intended objective, aside from what the reed dance was going to do in the two days out of 365 days a year, and see what can be done.”