Who can hear our cry for help? Our inheritance from our fathers is in grave danger and we seem to be knocking at closed doors. Our very homeland is on the verge of destruction. A death sentence has been pronounced over it. We mourn. We want to rise up and fight but we do not know who our enemies are. These enemies do not plan to use bombs and weapons to destroy us, but they plan to annihilate us by touching the land where we plant and reap, where the cattle graze and where we have clean water to drink and irrigate our crops. Various communities are getting upset.
We fear that this enemy may have been mistakenly voted into government. How is it possible for a man to sign away our homeland for hard cash?
Howick is home to Mandela and our heritage. Ulundi is home to the Zulu kingdom, our ancestral heritage and a long line of kings. Our hearts are pained. Is our government unable to halt these oil seekers who will bring their trucks and machinery right into our communities with their labour force? We fear they will use our young girls and leave babies behind – more mouths needing water and food. Halt their coming!
We do not want them to drill holes into the earth using millions of litres of our precious water. We do not want them to poison and contaminate our water supplies. We do not want our children to contract diseases from the contaminated water.
Use of this technology cracks the earth’s crust and makes it unstable. Houses may collapse into holes that suddenly and unexpectedly appear due to the underground drilling? Please stop these money makers!
It is difficult to believe that a man voted in by the people can be so heartless as to sell his own people and their heritage to total strangers from Texas. How can anybody whom we trustingly voted into power turn so viciously on us, and give companies such as Rhino Oil the concession rights to destroy our land? This oil company does not care about our future. It will destroy our land and without our permission.
South Africans of all races are upset and angry. We have tried to maintain peace between Rhino Oil and the people at the community meetings held by the company but we have grown tired. Our arms are tired of holding up the walls of our nation’s house and its heritage. It is now the government’s turn to fight this battle on our behalf, protecting our heritage and the legacy of our kings and leaders.
Is there not someone who could help us and intervene on our behalf? We love the land we inherited from our fathers. The land feeds us and gives us security and a place to stay. Is there still a sober minded person in government who could speak on our behalf and fight our cause? Where are all those Zulu people in government?
If we knew who played such a dirty trick on us and gave companies such as Rhino Oil permission to destroy our inheritance, we certainly would not be so foolish as to vote for him again.
Nkosi sikelel’ iAfrika
Maluphakanyisw’ uphondo lwayo,
Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.
Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
Setjhaba sa South Afrika – South Afrika.
Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
Waar die kranse antwoord gee,
Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land.
Our hearts are very sore.
