THE chairperson for Royal Journey, Chief Vulithuba Sangoni, confirmed that they had launched this journey at Nelson Mandela Museum in Mthatha with the aim of bringing back the dignity of Royal Families, last week.
According to him, they will do research, profile and archive information about each Royal Family from different provinces. He said that they would write about them and make documentaries so that they could be played on television.
“There are lot of things that are played in our televisions, but we do not have this kind of information. We have noticed that people no longer know the duty of the royal families, including the role played by kingdoms,” said Sangoni.
He confirmed that they are assisted by the National Heritage Council and the Eastern Cape Provincial Arts & Culture Council (ECPACC).
“By doing this we are trying to help our communities to know the roles played by traditional leaders in their areas,” said Sangoni.
According to him, they have already visited Tembe Royal house in KwaZulu-Natal and they will keep on, visiting other families. He said this royal house is hosting Umthayi Marula Festival, with the aim of celebrating their culture.
He confirmed that they are planning to finish this within a year, even though it will be an ongoing thing, because there is still a long way to walk.
A traditional leader from Mqhekezweni Administrative Area in Mthatha, Chief Phiko Mtikrakra, also confirmed that this Royal Journey would bring back the dignity of the Great Places and Kingdoms. He said that they would now manage to voice out their issues in government.
“We will know, as the royal families, that we have a role to play in our societies, to uplift the standard of living for our people. It will also look at the programmes that we are doing as the royal families that change the lives of our people. This will also help us to bring back things like virginity testing, and other initiatives that we used to do that helped us to be where we are today,” said Mtikrakra.
He confirmed that as the traditional leaders they were happy to hear about this.
