Traditional leaders have sidelined themselves from the very organisation they helped create more than a century ago, writesCelani Sikhakhane in his Royal Mzansi column.
The royal houses that once stood shoulder-to-shoulder with ANC founders in 1912 have now retreated to their palaces, abandoning the political battlefield they once dominated.
These traditional leaders were not just supporters when the ANC was born – they were the driving force. Their mission was clear: fight for the land stolen by colonisers and resist the white oppression crushing their people.
During the dark days of apartheid, traditional leaders remained loyal soldiers in the ANC’s war against racial tyranny. They mobilised communities, influenced development programmes and kept the liberation flame burning in rural areas.
The ANC has always publicly praised traditional leaders as ‘integral parts of South African society’ and ‘crucial figures in the liberation struggle’. But critics whisper that the party has used royalty as political pawns when convenient.
Since the ANC’s unbanning in 1990, traditional leaders have mysteriously vanished from the organisation’s power structures. Not one traditional leader has contested the presidential position or any top post in the ANC.
The party is racing towards its 2027 elective conference, yet no ANC structure has proposed a single traditional leader for the top seven positions.
Even at the branch level, where they once wielded considerable influence, traditional leaders have become political ghosts.
This dramatic retreat raises serious questions about whether South Africa’s royal houses have lost faith in the organisation they helped establish or whether the ANC has deliberately frozen them out.
Pictured above: Traditional leaders have mysteriously abandoned the ANC political structures they helped establish over a century ago.
Image source: Cogta
