Vela Balfour-Noyi – Crown Prince of the AmaKwayi clan, chair of the King Ngcode Royal Council (KNRC) and champion of the restoration of the AmaKwayi monarchy since the early 1980s – has died.
Balfour-Noyi also tried to wrestle the sovereignty of the AmaXhosa nation from the AmaTshawe.
He died on April 25 at Life St Dominic’s Hospital in East London after battling stomach cancer for years.
The former Butterworth regional magistrate and retired National Prosecuting Authority chief prosecutor will be buried in Thuthurha village near Centane on Saturday.
KNRC spokesman Lubabalo Matshikwe said: “He was a man who strongly believed in the customs and practices of the African people and sacrificed his life for AmaKwayi.
“We have lost a visionary, an activist for not only the AmaKwayi but AmaXhosa as a whole.”
Matshikwe said Balfour-Noyi died a heartbroken man because resolutions taken in 1989 to restore the kingship to the AmaKwayi by the late AmaXhosa King Xolilizwe Sigcawu were never implemented.
“Prince Vela fought for over 30 years for restoration of the AmaKwayi royal status. In his quest he united the AmaKwayi and instilled a sense of pride in being an uMkwayi.
“To immortalise him, we will carry on with his legacy and fight to the end for the restoration of AmaKwayi royal status,” his son and family spokesman Prince Lwaganda Balfour said, adding that to his children he was the best father in the world.
“Togu has been simply the best father we could ever ask for – gentle but firm and strict, yet he spoilt us. We will never forget the principles and values he imparted to us, or his sacrifices in our upbringing.”
Balfour-Noyi’s analysis was that the AmaKwayi were robbed of royal status more than 330 years ago after a series of succession battles between their forefather, King Gando kaNgconde, and his half-brother King Tshiwo kaNgconde.
Currently, the AmaXhosa are led by the lineage of Tshiwo, who later became king, while the royal family ostracised Gando.
Balfour-Noyi died while he was preparing to take the AmaXhosa sovereignty matter to the Constitutional Court to demand that AmaXhosa King Mpendulo Sigcawu hand over the throne to the AmaKwayi.
He started a movement in 1984 for recognition of the royal status of AmaKwayi and in 1995 formed the KNRC, which he chaired till death.
The Nhlapo Commission dismissed the kingship claim in July 2010.
Balfour-Noyi is survived by his children Monwabisi, Zintle, Lwaganda, Phumla and Lusanda.
— lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
Campaigner for restoration of AmaKwayi throne dies
Balfour-Noyi also tried to wrestle the sovereignty of the AmaXhosa nation from the AmaTshawe.
He died on April 25 at Life St Dominic’s Hospital in East London after battling stomach cancer for years.
The former Butterworth regional magistrate and retired National Prosecuting Authority chief prosecutor will be buried in Thuthurha village near Centane on Saturday.
KNRC spokesman Lubabalo Matshikwe said: “He was a man who strongly believed in the customs and practices of the African people and sacrificed his life for AmaKwayi.
“We have lost a visionary, an activist for not only the AmaKwayi but AmaXhosa as a whole.”
Matshikwe said Balfour-Noyi died a heartbroken man because resolutions taken in 1989 to restore the kingship to the AmaKwayi by the late AmaXhosa King Xolilizwe Sigcawu were never implemented.
“Prince Vela fought for over 30 years for restoration of the AmaKwayi royal status. In his quest he united the AmaKwayi and instilled a sense of pride in being an uMkwayi.
“To immortalise him, we will carry on with his legacy and fight to the end for the restoration of AmaKwayi royal status,” his son and family spokesman Prince Lwaganda Balfour said, adding that to his children he was the best father in the world.
“Togu has been simply the best father we could ever ask for – gentle but firm and strict, yet he spoilt us. We will never forget the principles and values he imparted to us, or his sacrifices in our upbringing.”
Balfour-Noyi’s analysis was that the AmaKwayi were robbed of royal status more than 330 years ago after a series of succession battles between their forefather, King Gando kaNgconde, and his half-brother King Tshiwo kaNgconde.
Currently, the AmaXhosa are led by the lineage of Tshiwo, who later became king, while the royal family ostracised Gando.
Balfour-Noyi died while he was preparing to take the AmaXhosa sovereignty matter to the Constitutional Court to demand that AmaXhosa King Mpendulo Sigcawu hand over the throne to the AmaKwayi.
He started a movement in 1984 for recognition of the royal status of AmaKwayi and in 1995 formed the KNRC, which he chaired till death.
The Nhlapo Commission dismissed the kingship claim in July 2010.
Balfour-Noyi is survived by his children Monwabisi, Zintle, Lwaganda, Phumla and Lusanda.
— lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
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