DEATH OF SOLOMON

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 124, 29 May 1933, Page 3

DEATH OF SOLOMON

GREAT AFRICAN CHIEF

CETEWAYO'S KINSMAN

, Big events have been taking place in the royal house of.Zululand. Mourned by -more than a million blacks, who looked upon him as their rightful monarch, Solomon Ka Dinizulu, Ingwenyama or King of tho famous warrior nation of Natal, has been buried in the ancestral funeral- ground, writes Eric Roscnthal in the "San Francisco Chronicle." • Fifty wives and sixty children bewail his departure. His successor to tho chieftainship is a boy of seven, a sturdy little fellow, who even now exhibits the haughtiness of his stock, but whowill have to wait till he comes of age before tho Union Government will allow him to assume the leopard skin that signifies kingship. In the eyes of the State,- Solomon Ka Dinizulu was not quite so important a person as he. appeared to be to his liege subjects in ( and around the capita! kraal of Mahashini. By virtue of his direct descent from the mighty Cetewayo, whoso defiance of Great Britain in 1879 resulted in the death of the Prince Imperial of France and tho final subjection' of, Zululaud 'to the white: man, Solompn'Ka Dinizulu was permitted to carry the title of paramount chief of his '"nation. Similar "paramount chiefs" are to be found among the Basutos, Bamangwatos, and other Bantu races.: ' Superior to liimj'-and to all other black rulers, however, was (and is) a white official, the Earl of Clarendon, Governor-General of tho Union of South Africa.. Ho is "supremo chief" of all the natives in this part of the world. 'Solomon Ka Dinizulu held the post of chief induna, or counsellor to his Excellency. , Now it is expected that as soon as Solomon Ka Dinizulu's little son is old enough he will succeed to this office. LOYAL CHIEF. The Union Nativo Affairs Department handles these matters with care, as there have been repeated difficulties through the influence of undesirable European agitators. Solomon Ka Dinizulu's father, whoso name was Dinizulu, participated in a brief but unsuccessful rebellion in. 1908. Tho late chief himself was extremely loyal. Solomon Ka Dinizulu was only 42 years old and died of diabetes. He was, of course, a polygamist and a man of great wealth. Not only did he possess a fine house with costly furniture, but he had a fleet -, of motor-cars and employed a white 'chauffeur. His heir will anhor.t thousands of cattle, worth several tens of thousands of pounds, as well.as a well-supplied treasury. As paramount chief of the Zulus .the "Ingwenyama" received a subsidy from the Ministry of Finance and the proceeds of all fines tried in his kraal court. It is the policy of the Union Government as far as possible to allow the native rulers jurisdiction • over their people. Accordingly 'they only forbid them to.-try cases involving murder, culpable homicide, witchcraft, or matters of divorce. ■ Respect forthe chiefs is safeguarded by the police, and the result is that the "Ingwcnyamas" arc all very loyal. Besides his considerable cash tortune, Solomon .Ka Dinizulu bequeathed to his' rightful son a superb uniform which he will wear when he,, is big enough.. His insignia of office isa stick with a silver knob engraved with the South African coat of arms, which was handed to Solomon by the Prince of Wales personally in 1925.