The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu
In sharp contrast to Cecil John Rhodes’s immaculate grave which lies only a few kilometres away from it in Matobo, the grave of King Mzilikazi is in a sorry state, with years of neglect leaving the final resting place of the founding Ndebele monarch an eyesore.
The state of King Mzilikazi’s grave has been a cause of concern for many years and a visit to the burial site by Sunday News last week revealed why that was the case.
Only a rusty sign points any potential visitor to where Mzilikazi rests, with the sign instructing whoever planning to visit the late Ndebele king that he rests 1,.5 kms from the dust track that leads to the burial site.
Between the rest of civilisation and King Mzilikazi’s grave is a homestead that seems lonely even by rural standards, with no other homes seemingly anyway remotely close.
The home is headed by Gogo Masuku, who greets everyone with a smile and is always ready to direct them to where the grave is. Without pomp or fanfare, Gogo Masuku does not take every visitor to the burial site, instead only showing any visitor the path that leads to the grave.
“Just follow the path and where the path ends you’ll find the king’s grave,” Gogo Masuku told Sunday News.
The level of care and hospitality is in sharp contrast to the reception one gets when visiting the grave of the man who oversaw the end of the Ndebele empire, Cecil John Rhodes.
Rhodes’ grave is a highly popular tourist destination, with visitors constantly flocking to the grave that rests on the pristine Matobo hills. The father of Rhodesia is sealed under rock and steel, making him safe from any threats from either human beings or the elements of nature.
Road signs and staff from either National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe of the Parks and Wildlife Authority of Zimbabwe stand ready to assist anyone who might have lost their way while visiting the highly popular tourist destination.
But there are no guides that lead to King Mzilikazi’s grave, instead one has to navigate a tricky path which gets dangerous as one approaches the final descent towards the grave. The grave itself is in a sorry state. King Mzilikazi only has fallen down trees and lizards for company, with the growing bush that surrounds providing ample cover for wildlife.
Although the cave in which he was buried has now been fortified with a brick wall and gate, Gogo Masuku says this was not the gate.
“The father to the late singer Beater Mangethe, who was a Khumalo, came with a few others and they built that wall to protect the grave. I think it was one of the last things he did before he passed away,” she said.
According to Gogo Masuku, before the grave was protected a few years ago, it had become a target for those who practised the dark arts, as they came to do their rituals on the monarch’s grave nicodemously.
“There’s a woman who used to live just near our homestead and she would brew traditional beer before going to spill it on the grave. She was not the only one. There’s a lot of mischief that has been done on that grave that people don’t know about,” she said.
The upkeep of Mzilikazi’s grave has in the past been a hot potato tossed between the Khumalo Family and National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe. In 2011, Prince Peter Zwide kaLanga Khumalo, who has since ordained himself as King, amid controversy on who should be called “King”, told a local daily that the grave was the responsibility of National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe, a claim that the institution denied.
Historian and cultural activist Mr Phathisa Nyathi told Sunday News in an interview that although King Mzilikazi and Cecil John Rhodes were from different cultures which dictated how their final resting places were treated, it did not mean that the founding father of the Ndebele kingdom’s grave had to be derelict.
“This is a sensitive issue because Cecil John Rhodes and Mzilikazi are from different cultures. Cecil John Rhodes left precise
instructions on how and where he was to be buried in his will and he wanted it to be a tourist attraction. The Ndebele King’s burial site is not a tourist attraction but it’s in the private domain as tradition dictates.
“With that being said everyone needs to acknowledge that there are weakness that has meant that the grave has been neglected. People who are proud of their king should avail resources so that his resting place is one that fits his status as king.
We should make sure that the place is respectable but at the present moment that’s not a word that you can use to describe that grave. We should not hide behind that the grave is a private resting place,” he said.
Gogo Masuku said that as the guardian of the grave site, she would not stop anyone who wanted to contribute towards the upkeep of the site.
“Who am I to stop anyone from coming there and making their contribution? He was everyone’s king after all,” she said.
Mr Nyathi said that although people gathered at the grave every year to celebrate the life King Mzilikazi, no one seemed to take the condition of his grave to heart.
“Who says that Mzilikazi’s grave should be derelict? Are we saying that even his life and legacy were derelict? Who do we reserve the best burial spots for if not Mzilikazi?” he said.
