King Fabrice Zombi Kavabioko to engage in rural development tour in Southern Africa

In recent developments happening in Southern Africa region, the Democratic Republic of Congo is going through post-electoral period, South Africa is heading to elections, Zimbabwe struggling to stabilize its economy and many other issues are taking place. King Fabrice Zombi Kavabioko is one of the traditional leaders to embark for regional tours. His agenda is to meet up with other traditional leaders of the region. The aim is to engage conversations on social development strategies in their respective countries as well as in the region. This vision is also to strengthen mutual understanding among African traditional leaders. King Kavabioko estimates that social development is an important component in African development. In order to deal with multiple issues that the youth is facing at the regional level, pragmatic policies should be implemented.

The resolution of economic and social problems that Africans are facing is connected to the will of political leaders to bring change has expected. That task is not only left to political leaders, even traditional leaders are playing a huge role in warning and advising those in power. King Kavabioko has then been invited to attend Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) election manifesto launch in Durban last weekend. The events developed around some crucial points. On the land issue, the party remains steadfast that land expropriation should take place but on condition that there is compensation. The party is focused on an inclusive economy. It wants to do this by focusing on local economic development, supporting small businesses and public/private partnerships. Through the establishment of a Department of Youth and Job Creation, strategies can be put in place to assist both job seekers and the workforce to overcome obstacles. On education, IFP wants to ensure that there is free, quality early childhood development and to re-evaluate township schools that were previously closed due to non-viability or non-performance. On crime, chief Buthelezi said IFP would reopen the debate on the reinstatement of the death penalty as a means to deter violent crime and increased minimum sentences with hard labour for criminals. On gender equality, the party wants to introduce a gender equality module as part of the school curriculum, increase financial support to Chapter Nine Institutions.

King Kavabioko’s approach is that African development should look at real statistics in order to have a real approach on matters of urgency. For that reason, the analytical dimension will be to look at growing economies in other parts of the continent, identify urgent needs of population, and address deep issues that are causing poverty, political division and armed conflicts in African countries. There is a need to look at the rate of unemployment in relation to population growth. As traditional leader, King Kavabioko would like to encourage his fellows to bring at their respective national levels, issues that are affecting people under their traditional jurisdiction.

The visit of King Kavabioko in Kwazulu-Natal is also marked by a number of events that will continue taking place. He will travel to the kingdom of eSwathi, to Lesotho, Malawi and other countries to meet traditional leaders. On that perspective, King Kavabioko’s vision lies also on unity among African traditional leader to address problems of similar nature. Still that development and cooperation are the most important concepts of cooperation at the level of traditional leaders. Data in our possession show that rural development is the most neglected sector in Africa. King Kavabioko is taking that issue to a level of discussion to wake other leaders up. This sector by itself can greatly overcome major issues such as hunger, malnutrition, epidemics, education, access to clean water and electricity.

The overall perception of contacts that King Kavabioko is making will rely on the will of his counterparts to really engage in the process of rural development. However, there are some traditional leaders who are already well advanced on that agenda. Good examples will be shared with those in difficulty.