Government, Society and Culture of Zulu

Thus a monarchy, the fagot of the Zulu was overly an ideological figure that related Zulu identity to "inkatha," the fleshly and spiritual component of the proud leader ( compete 432).

Laband (9) states that the "umuzi," or the berth and property of the married male and his family, was "nothing less than the firm Zulu social system in miniature." each(prenominal) "umuzi" was essential self-sufficient, back up by its own labor, which was divided along sexual lines. Each wife had her own hut for herself and her children, and a "great wife" ruled the females of the home while her husband ruled the social unit (Laband 10). The chief of a clan typically left the come out of his goods to the eldest son of the great wife, who then created an extensive human relationship network by taking many wives and producing more children. A number of Zulu clans would form a loose confederation rough a powerful and wealthinessy chief, creating chiefdom. A chief, says Laband (10), acquired power and wealth by "aggressively raiding" the livestock of others and thereby also gaining more land and supporters.

Ritually, the cattle that were kept by the Zulu, the persona of the Zulu king, and both the hunt and battle were of "enormous significance" (Laband 5). Cope (4) states that "monarchial an

d nationalist" sentiments remained insert in the hearts and minds of the non-dispersed Zulu throughout British rule and into the Afrikaans apartheid era.

Laband (437) notes that at the turn of the nineteenth century, the Zulu continued to live very much as they always had - "wearing traditional dress, living in scattered kraals and umuzi, focusing their economic activities on livestock and herding, and loathly efforts to force them into agri close." The Zulu National Congress, later named "Inkatha," was formed to promote the interests of the Zulu, a role it plays today in the wake of apartheid (Cope 439).

In the innovative South Africa Inkatha continues to demand greater autonomy and a larger role in government for the Zulu. The Zulu are again unify under the banner of the king, and Inkatha serves as the political arm of the monarchy. Zulu traditions and culture (especially herding) have proven to be extremely resistant to change. Shaka corpse the group's greatest cultural leader and icon. Harries (112) argues that throughout the past century, the Zulu royal house, "in both the ideological and the practical sense, has served as the focal point of nationalist goals." It has played a cr
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