New kingdom’s Kroza Great Place set for upgrades

Plans are afoot to refurbish the much neglected access road leading to the newly recognised AmaMpondomise kingdom’s Kroza Great Place near Qumbu, with government also promising to speed up infrastructure upgrades at the run-down royal palace.

This as AmaMpondomise king designate Luzuko Matiwane prepares to take to the throne more than a century after his kingdom was stripped of its kingship status.

Following the official declaration and recognition of AmaMpondomise as the newest and seventh kingdom in the Eastern Cape, and Matiwane as heir to the throne, provincial and municipal leaders in Mhlontlo municipality have been looking at how they can assist in upgrading the Great Place.

There is a need to bring it on par with others in the province and also for it to be ready when Matiwane is officially crowned.

Mhlontlo municipal manager Thando Mase recently said the municipality was committed to upgrading the road infrastructure to Kroza Great Place from the N2 joining Mvumelwana village.

“There are two access roads, but we will start with only one for the 2020/2021 financial year.

“We will also be fixing their bridge, which have caved in, rendering driving impossible,” Mase said.

He was part of a delegation that accompanied public works and infrastructure MEC Babalo Madikizela when he visited the Great Place on Friday.

The crumbling access road and royal palace, a high unemployment rate among youth, dilapidated hospital buildings, water scarcity and a delay in construction of the multi-billion Umzimvubu water mega project are just some of the service delivery issues the AmaMpondomise king-designate feels government should deal with speedily.

Matiwane was especially concerned about delays in the reconstruction of the old mission hospitals, Nessie Knight at Sulenkama in Qumbu and St Lucy’s at Ngcolosi in Tsolo.

Madikizela’s visit came after president Cyril Ramaphosa on July 24 announced the government’s decision to recognise the AmaMpondomise kingship, after a 116 year-old battle with the state to acknowledge them as a nation.

After the killing of Qumbu resident, magistrate Hamilton Hope, during the 1880/1881 revolt against the British, AmaMpondomise were stripped of their royal status in 1904 by the colonial government.

Their reigning monarch at the time, King Mhlontlo, was reduced to an ordinary chief.

After many legal battles in a quest to have the kingship restored, the Mthatha high court ruled in May 2019 that AmaMpondomise were indeed a legitimate kingship.

Madikizela said his visit was vital as royal houses served as nerve centres in understanding the priorities of a nation.

“It is therefore vital for government leaders to create relationships with royal houses in order to have a clear understanding of each nation’s service delivery needs.

“The issue of the decaying road infrastructure, the bad state of the royal palace and the Umzimvubu water project, and problems of shortages of water, are some of issues the king and his council raised sharply.

“We have committed to sending artisans to conduct an infrastructural assessment and then we can see how we can assist,” Madikizela said.

He said he would forward other issues raised by Matiwane on to the MECs of other relevant government departments.

AmaMpondomise royal spokesperson Nkosi Mnoneleli Ranuga said Mdikizela’s visit was fostering and consolidating relations between the royal house and government.

“The MEC is responsible for infrastructure which includes land of which the kings are custodians, and therefore co-operation between these two institutions is supreme.

“The king is greatly concerned with the delay in the construction of the Umzimvubu mega project which could assist immensely in boosting the economy in the region, addressing issues of water scarcity, and the high rate of unemployment within our kingdom,” Ranuga said.

Premier Oscar Mabuyane is also expected to visit Matiwane and his council this week​​.