Chiefs to revive traditional life

Xhosa chiefs Nazeem Ntintili, Mawethu Ndude and Ngwadlazibomvu Mtwalo with Yiza Ekhaya Soup Kitchen founder Nompilo Linda.

The newly appointed house of Western Cape Xhosa House Chiefs has vowed to serve the people and focus on rebuilding African culture and lifestyles””.

The body led by Paramount Chief Mawethu “Gunyazile” Ndude was set up last Saturday in a historic meeting held at Goodwood Prison.

Chief Ndude said the body had the blessings of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) and its mission is to revive “culture and traditions”.

“We are mandated to serve the people and not ourselves. As this body we will be focusing on rebuilding African culture and lifestyles. We have already indicated that our focus will be on land and agriculture.

“Our people are not employed and yet there is vast land that they can use to grow food and eat,” said Chief Ndude.

He said the organisation held positive talks with prison authorities which will see them working with parolees who are released into communities.

“As traditional leaders we have a role in shaping the minds of those people who are returning from prison, show them that they are welcome in the society but they must behave in the right manner,” he said.

Chief Dabulamazwe Cevula said they started visiting locations across the Western Cape and they identified poverty as a major problem.

“We immediately set up a committee to deal with this because we saw hunger in children’s eyes, elderly people are sleeping on empty stomachs.

“We tasked one of the chiefs, Sheikh Nazeem Ntintili, to organise food parcels through his extensive connection in the Muslim world. He has delivered and we have been able to hand out more than 100 food parcels to places like Capricorn, Khayelitsha and elsewhere,” said Chief Cevula.

Last Friday a delegation of chiefs visited Yiza Ekhaya Soup Kitchen in Makhaza and donated 30 food parcels.

Soup kitchen owner Nompilo Linda was moved to tears and thanked the chiefs for their support.

She said the centre had been overwhelmed with the demand for food since the outbreak of Covid-19.

“We have seen more people lining up for soup, more children because they are not going to school, more people are unemployed. We thank the traditional leaders for doing this for us,” said Ms Linda.

Food parcel recipient Mamyira Cala thanked the chiefs for their kind gesture and wished them well in reviving old traditional customs.

If you would like to get hold of the Western Cape Xhosa House you can WhatsApp them on 078 447 5388.