The most immediate challenge we face today is that of protecting and promoting the institution of traditional leadership. How we engage this challenge will underpin the way in which South Africa is to be transformed from the old to the new. For generations, the people I see before me have worked this soil, in KwaDukuza, Nongoma, Hlabisa, Emzumbe, Ndwedwe and Eshowe, and all over KwaZulu Natal. No one need tell us that a plant can grow in no other way than from its roots upward. If the true roots are cut, the plant will die.
Traditional leadership is our roots.
Any change we undertake can only move out of our roots and only remain as viable as our roots remain strong. This age old wisdom applies to the growth of South Africa. We cannot remain stuck in our roots forever but must grow upward and outward towards a new light. As we emerge from underground, the face of our country will be as different in appearance as flowers are from the roots of the plant. Yet this does not mean we must sever ourselves from our roots and leave them behind.