Rural development prioritises communities, not individuals

The Sunday Times, in it's headline story of 9 October 2011, tells an eccentric tale of Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela declaring war on Mvezo villagers and holding journalists hostage (see report).

The story falsely creates the impression that the people of Mvezo are having the development of the area shoved down their throats, as if they would be unwilling recipients of jobs, local economic opportunities, and the provision of water, electricity and sanitation for themselves and their families.

The story makes no reference to the fact that approximately 99% of villagers have voted in favour of development. Nor does the story mention that the development was preceded by an extensive community consultation process conducted by the government that included a full environmental impact assessment and culminated in the signing of a community record of decision.

And the Sunday Times fails to report that it was the community that discovered journalists had sneaked into their meeting uninvited last Friday, and took a decision to hold them while awaiting the police to arrest them for trespassing. It was Nkosi Mandela who called the police and ensured that the journalists were handed to the police unharmed by the angry community members.

Friday's events were preceded by a report that appeared in the Dispatch - a sister publication of the Sunday Times - a week before to the effect that three individuals had gone to court to stop the development of Mvezo on the basis that it required the relocation of their families and ancestral graves. (No papers have been served on Nkosi Mandela.)

Nkosi Mandela wrote a detailed response to the Dispatch story and submitted it to the newspaper for publication last week. But it was not published. Instead, a Sunday Times team was sent to sneak into Mvezo. If the Sunday Times wished to take an objective position on the matter, why did it not announce its presence? Why did it not ask to speak to the Nkosi and community members? Why did it not ask what processes had been followed to engage the community and obtain its consent?

It is quite clear that the Sunday Times was not there to find out about the development, but to support the actions of three individuals who seek to undermine it.

This is not the first time that the Sunday Times stable has gone out of its way to discredit Nkosi Mandela and cast aspersions on his character. For example, a Sunday World fabrication that Nkosi Mandela sold the rights to his grandfather's funeral, to the SABC, has been doing the rounds for several years. The allegation was repeated in the Sunday Times a few weeks ago. It doesn't seem to matter to these newspapers that the allegation is untrue or that both the SABC and Nkosi Mandela have denied it - let alone that there is no evidence.

On the basis of the continuing assault on his integrity - and now the integrity of the development of Mvezo, which has the support of the overwhelming majority of Mvezo residents - Nkosi Mandela wishes to avoid any further interactions with the Sunday Times newspaper group.

The individual who is reportedly driving the opposition to the development in Mvezo is Mtshutshisi Tyalakhulu, an employee of the Nelson Mandela Museum who was a key driver behind the original phase of the development of Mvezo - which also entailed the relocation of families and graves. The original phase of the development was carried out by the Museum in 2000.

When Nkosi Mandela was persuaded to return to Mvezo in 2007 to restore the Royal House of Mandela - 87 years after his great grandfather Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Mandela was stripped of his chieftainship by meddlesome white authorities - the development of the village as a heritage tourism destination was therefore already well underway.

The administration led by President Jacob Zuma has identified rural development as a key priority. Many of our communities in the rural areas are still bedeviled by massive underdevelopment, poor road infrastructure, and lack of basic services like running water, primary health care, sanitation, electricity and quality education. Social ills such as teenage pregnancy and the HIV/AIDS pandemic are rife, compounded by high levels of unemployment and joblessness.

After Nkosi Mandela's inauguration, the Mvezo Development Trust, reporting to the Mvezo Traditional Council, became the custodian, owner and key decision-making body for the execution of the further development of the area.

Construction of a Multi-Purpose Centre, Tribal Court and Administration Offices, and the installation of bulk water and electricity services, are presently underway. This phase of the development was approved and funded by the then-Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism under its Social Responsibility Policy Programme. It has been implemented as a project of the Expanded Public Works Program, with the area having been identified in the Integrated Development Plan of the King Sabatha Dalindyebo Local Municipality as a Nodal Heritage and Tourism Site. Thereafter, backpackers and self-catering lodges, the fencing of the site, construction of internal roads and the provision of further bulk infrastructure are on the cards.

For the people of Mvezo, the development is unprecedented and life changing. As a traditional leader, Nkosi Mandela is committed to working closely with government and to mobilise private sector resources to help deal with the challenges facing his community.

Statement issued on behalf of the Mvezo Development Trust, October 10 2011

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