I am not even of Balobedu stock but I feel personally offended that a man has decided to usurp power from a woman who rightfully should have become the next Rain Queen.
I am of course referring to the story that has been the talk of the town over the past few days, after the Modjadji royal council decided to announce Prince Lekukela as the heir to the throne.
Prince Lekukela’s detractors are adamant that the rightful heir to the throne is Princess Masalanabo Modjadji.
She was widely expected to be the Balobedu nation’s next Rain Queen when she turned 18 in two years.
Princess Masalanabo was to have been the seventh Rain Queen in the past two centuries. The council’s proclamation has shocked the nation.
That is why the matter is now headed for the courts. The princess’s relatives have secured the services of Mathews Phosa, the erstwhile politician who is actually a lawyer by profession, to pose a legal challenge against the imposition of Prince Lekukela.
In a statement this week, Phosa said: “The announcement to instal Lekukela as the next king flies in the face of all historical, cultural and traditional facts which constitutes a clear deviation from the culture, tradition and customs… and it further violates the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act.”
Mpampatla Bakhoma Modjadji, the regent and spokesperson for the Modjadji royal council, has argued that though Princess Masalanabo is the daughter of the late Queen Makobo Modjadji who ruled over this nation, there were issues with her paternity.
As a result, the princess left the kingdom when she was five months old.
In her absence, she missed some sacred processes which would have prepared her as heir to the throne.
The undertone of the statement is simply that by crowning her, the Balobedu would be giving the kingdom to her biological father who is a commoner.
Because I am not a lawyer, and also am not familiar with the customs of the Balobedu, I won’t even begin to advance a legal argument here.
I am speaking from the heart. I am speaking as an African who has always been fascinated by the Balobedu people and their queen.
As far as I have been able to ascertain, the Balobedu nation has been in existence for over 400 years. The ruler of this nation, who has always been a woman, is believed to have the ability and power to control clouds and bring about rain. Hence the nomenclature, Rain Queen.
It was this belief in the queen’s magic that appealed to me from when I was a child and was first exposed to the history and belief systems of the Balobedu people.
I have always loved the optimism that is inherent in our African cosmology – and I found the Balobedu Rain Queen to be the embodiment of some of the magic that our colonisers never managed to take away from us as Africans.
In the Zulu tradition we have Nomkhumbulwane, the goddess of agriculture, rain and beer.
If there is a drought in the land of the Zulus, our elders and traditional healers gather at a certain place and give prayers to Nomkhubulwane.
It is as a result of my love for Nomkhubulwane that I have always had a soft spot for the Rain Queen of the Balobedu.
Yes, I am a scientific man, a believer in logic, but if some people can believe that a bearded chap could walk on water, could die and rise from the dead three days later, could turn water into wine, who are they to contradict me when I say I respect a woman of flesh and blood who can pray to the heavens for rain?
I hope the Balobedu people do the right thing and give the throne to the Rain Queen. I’ve never heard of a Rain King, have you?
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