The New Airport - Is there No End?
Yesterday on Sky News there was the unedifying spectacle of the new statue of King Shaka being removed from its plinth outside the new King Shaka airport. The reason - if the local rags that pass as newspapers are to be believed - is that he looks ‘more like a herdboy’ and not a Zulu monarch. This from the current Zulu monarch, King Goodwill or his advisors.
The big gripe is not really that - although anyone who knows this country will know that herdboys are precisely that; boys in early adolescence which the statue clearly doesn’t depict - King Shaka is not manly enough and is without his spear or shield. Out of shot, on either side of him is an Nguni bovine.
Any casual student of Zulu traditions will also know that cattle are wealth and power and so would still form part of Shaka’s life. Shown in the photo are President Zuma and the Zulu king, all decked out with the leopard skins.
Now, no-one knows what Shaka looked like. He was born around 1785 and died at the hands of his half brother Dingane (as was usual) in 1828 at the time when photography was restricted to Daguerrotypes. His contact with Europeans was with a couple of the very early settlers from Port Natal (Durban) and with Portuguese traders from Delagoa Bay (Maputo).
His fame results from the fact that he united a collection of small tribes into a cohesive nation with a formidable army which he used to crush more small tribes. He also invented the ‘ixhlwa’, a short, sturdy stabbing spear. No much of a soldier could you be when you heaved the last of your assegais hopefully in the direction of the enemy. However, with your pal next to you prising your opponent’s shield away from his body, you were lethal.
My biggest complaint possibly is that he doesn’t look like a Zulu.
The question of course is this - were all the required people approached before the statue was commenced? Given the sensitive nature of the piece, I cannot believe that the ‘main manne’ were not approached. If they approved of the draft and if the final result was the same as the draft, it’s too late and they should leave it where it is.
I think we’re going to get a black Arnold Schwarzenegger with an AK47.