“A TALE OF TWO KINGS” : the Integrity of Leadership and the Necessity of Righteous Defiance of Intellectually Bankrupt Authority in the Quest for Intellectual Honesty by Sihlangule Mmiselo MaTolwandile Siwisa
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When I was at Pholela High School, our Superintendent - the late Reverend Kgonyane used to end off every sermon by saying, "Those who have ears, let them hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying". So, I thought I would begin what is to be a brief article with those sobering words. It is said that Jesus spoke in parables in order to make complex matters clear in simple terms. So please allow me to share a parable from African History which I have entitled - A Tale of Two Kings:
History tells us that after the assassination of King Shaka Ka Senzangakhona at the bequest of his brother Dingane who subsequently ascended to the throne, Chief Dingane inherited the royal court of King Shaka which included two of Shaka's generals; Mbopha - who actively participated in the assassination - and Ndlela Ka Sompisi Ntuli who was loyal to the Office of the Throne until the end. As time passed, Dingane sought to continue the royal lineage but he had the major challenge of not having borne a son to be the heir to the throne. In the absence of an heir, the Chieftaincy would be handed over to Dingane's brother Cetshwayo who had sons. This dilemma then once again hatched murderous intent in the mind of Dingane who instructed Ndlela Ka Sompisi to go and assassinate His brother Cetshwayo. BUT, Ndlela - being a noble man - sent word secretly ahead to Cetswayo to warn him of impending danger. He nevertheless still went to Cetshwayo's household under the presence of carrying out the King's orders. When word returned to Dingane that Cetshwayo was alive, his anger rose. At this point, knowing that the price of defiance was death, Ndlela could conceivably have escaped to avoid the ire and impending doom, BUT Ndlela kaSompisi Ntuli, being a Man of Honour returned home to face the consequences of his actions and he died a painfull death. HAVING SAID THAT, his act of righteous defiance saved the royal lineage of the Zulu nation which Shaka had congregated under his rule. In so doing, I dare attest that he demonstrated that although he served the Office of the Throne, his greatest allegiance was not to the Person but to the Nation. This is why I dare suggest he was prepared to lay down his life and defy a king who was no longer acting in the best interest of the Nation.
My question to you today is ‘Under what conditions is the defiance of leadership considered to be righteous?’ and ‘How does Leadership gain or lose the right to be followed?’
These are not easy questions to answer, but allow me to put it to you that in the quest for intellectual honesty, we need to have the courage to answer them.
The nature of true visionary leadership is that it is based on an ability to conceive a future for society that is better than what the eye currently sees and then the gift to articulate that vision in an inspirational way is what causes the nation to rise from despair and take those initial first steps towards changing society. So, words on their own are sufficient to first overcome the inertia of despondency to first get the people believing. BUT, there comes a point where words by themselves cannot sustain the march for change. It is at this point that the true mettle of leadership is revealed, where the discipline to demonstrate the values you are asking society to aspire towards becomes a testament of your own commitment as a leader.
We did have leaders like that once.
Oliver Tambo was such a leader. I am told that OR was a choir master and a candidate for preparation to join the ministry of the gospel I began this article by quoting. But, it is the injustice of the time that caused him to put on the armour of salvation and become an Attorney to advocate on behalf of the oppressed.
When the former oppressed become the new establishment, who will advocate for the liberated who still feel beholden?
I think the answer lies in the quote that says, “A good conductor of an orchestra, has the courage to turn their back to the audience”.
What this statement implies is that the function of a conductor is to harness the gifts of each instrumentalist in his or her band by COMMANDING THE SOUND.
Commanding the sound requires a knowledge of the science of creating and harmonising melody. It requires an ear that is trained to appreciate and differentiate between the registers of the key. One cannot be tone deaf and hope to lead an orchestra with success.
Interestingly enough, the conductor need not be able to play any of the instruments himself or herself, but he or she does need to know how to read the music score sheet for every instrument.
I will say this again, the Conductor NEED NOT be able to play ANY of the instruments, BUT he or she needs to be ABLE TO READ WITH COMPREHENSION the Music Sheet of EVERY instrument.
In the case of a holder of Public Office, the music sheets constitute the dreams of every single member of society from every walk of life whose instrument is the sum total of their efforts to realise their dream. It therefore takes a Conductor who is attuned to the silent groans hidden in the notes of those music sheets written at times with trembling hands, to realise how sacred it is to be given the opportunity to be the one who leads them to turn their cries into music.
President Nelson Mandela was such a Conductor.
He knew when to allow us to weep about how much we lost in the fire when Apartheid burnt our house to the ground, but he also knew when to admonish us to rise to our feet so we can once again till the land. He did this in a manner that acknowledged public acclaim without courting it, instead he spent time familiarising himself with the depth of the groans and began to piece together a symphony out of the brokenness that moved us from dramatic silence to what Oom Don Mattera refers to as “forgotten injury and pardoned pain”.
President Thabo Mbeki was such a Conductor.
Having sat at the feet of OR, he was able to remember the register of the key. But beyond that, he made it his solemn duty for 52 weeks of the year from 1999 to that fateful date to synthesise the voices of his band into one coherent score sheet. He went further and said that the boundaries of our land extend beyond artificial lines that were introduced to control the flow of people, resources and information. He taught us that there is more that binds us together than the lies we have been forced to internalise about ourselves.
In the course of commanding the sound, there needs to be a dual tension between form and content. Form speaks of the structure of a song or the structure of an organization. Content speaks of the soul of the music which is a quintessential quality that cannot be touched but can be felt. Form is an entity that is meant to enable the creation of content. Content is the indwelling reality of what exists externally in Form.
When form and content are in harmony, the Orchestra thrives, but when the form limits the creation of content and the content is corrupt, then you lose the right to command the sound.
At that point, defiance is not only necessary, but it is also urgent.
In closing, I once asked a former member of Umkhonto weSizwe who told me that upon arrival in Lesotho as starry eyed you they were told in uncertain terms that there is nothing romantic about the revolution. The revolution instead holds the possibility of danger, torture and death. I believe they were told this so that they can have a realistic understanding of the price they have chosen to pay.
My question to this gentleman was, given such a sober explanation, what made him want to soldier on despite the risks.
He said, “the comes a point where regardless of whether you partake in the struggle or not, you are still exposed to the same level of danger …at that point your best chance of survival is to engage”
I believe that Ndlela kaSompisi, Solomon Mahlangu, Chris Hani, Adelaide Tambo, Fatima Meer and many other decorated servants of our struggle understood this.
This is why they knew when to defer and when to defy.
In the words of Inqilabi Tarana "Our struggle is not a bed of roses".
Why therefore, do we continue give our people a gift of thorns?
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