I’ve often been fascinated by the world’s obsession with and reverence for the British monarchy and how people often see them as living the fairy-tale life of storybooks. For me, however, there is no warm, fuzzy glow that is induced by memories of the Queen or seeing the royal family and their inane shenanigans unfold in the news.
No tear will be shed for Queen Elizabeth by me. She was no benevolent, grandmotherly figure, merely a beneficiary and furtherer of colonial conquest that plunged millions of people on my continent and the Global South into the slavery, displacement and misery that still persists today.
This is what Queen Elizabeth and her forebears imposed on our country: a people who have been disenfranchised and generationally brutalised by colonialism and the conquest of empire. For me as a South African there is nothing to be revered about the British monarchy, as it symbolises the destruction of lives, the impact of which has left African people with constant anxiety as a result of being forced to live under foreign rule, which resulted in the deaths of many.
The pursuits of empire robbed us of self-determination and forced us into a system that only recognised us as human if we aspired to be perfect English gentlemen and ladies. So powerful was this imposed aspiration that Africans were forced to forsake their “barbaric” culture and be “civilised” by the British. This, in fact, was the premise of British novelist and poet Rudyard Kipling’s poem, The White Man’s Burden, in which he writes, “Your new-caught sullen peoples, Half devil and half child”, meaning that the British did not quite see Africans as humans but as heathens who lived a savage life. This was, of course, used as justification for colonialism and the inhumane treatment of Africans.
Read more in Daily Maverick: “The horror! The horror! The long colonial hangover”
The crown is also the reason we face such contention over land and displacement of people, because when the British arrived to colonise South Africa they declared that the land belonged to the Crown (Queen of England), someone who was not even of this continent.
The death of the British Queen should provide a moment of reflection on monarchical rule, its real legacy and relevance in the present day. In my mind the idea of the rule of monarchy is anachronistic and at odds with my beliefs, as I ascribe to the values of constitutional and democratic governance. In other words, I don’t believe a person should govern based purely on lineage rather than demonstrable leadership and principled values that centre the needs of a country’s people.
We too have our monarchs in Africa, and they too should be examined to determine what tangible function they serve, be it as guardians of culture and traditions or the fostering of social cohesion and identity. Either way, a more nuanced discussion is required to determine each one’s role in the world today.
Read more in Daily Maverick: “UK welcomes open debate about its colonial past, says High Commissioner to SA”
I harbour no ill will towards the Queen on her death, merely an indifference, much the same as I felt on the death of apartheid’s last president, Frederik Willem de Klerk, in 2021. I will always remember what they represented. The passage of time and regimes will not erase that. DM168
This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.
Sigh… yaaaaawn
Just doing her job, which is to write provocative articles!
Maybe you should read the book Out of America!!
Fair perspective but remember that the San and Khoi were also “colonised” and that was equally “wrong”
Just remind us again, which territory did Britain conquer during the reign of QE II? You history maven you!
Zukuswa I have to respectfully disagree.
I don’t agree that children are responsible for what their forbears did. Thankfully the modern world has largely moved on from a ‘might is right’ mentality. During the colonial era and before that, ALL of humanity was of like mind, the only difference being the ability to conquer and colonize.
Back on topic….. the British monarchy has no real power and decisions are made by parliament. The only time the queen stepped outside this, was to make a stand against apartheid(no mention of this I see).
Should you shed a tear for the queen….maybe not, as she is not your queen. Can you blame her for colonialism, something she had no part of ….. absolutely not.
With all respect, I find your opinion pieces very poorly researched. Implying that the UK is not a democratic state is laughable.
What you write is frequently no more than anti-white racism disguised as non-racism. It makes it hard to engage with the content as a reader.
Intentionally ill researched, designed to support her personal bias. I don’t believe she likes what she sees when she looks in the mirror in the mornings, that’s if the colonialist lights are on to start with.
If she is so concerned about abusive monarchy she should take a look close to home. The Zulu King living high in his grubby “palaces” paid for by guess who, and charging illegal rentals to the uneducated poor to live in land that is supposedly in trust for them but hijacked by the King, or at the bunch of drinks and drug addict Kings who rule their villages by violence and extortion.
As the British Empire sadly fades away I can only seek solace on YouTube with those great historians, the Monty Pythons. In their Life of Brian. What have the Romans ever done for us?
I agree that monarchies are an outdated institution, but wow, the burial of the queen was undoubtedly a showcase demonstration of a refined and advanced culture. And the lights stayed on throughout.
Perhaps predictable the comments follow. But you did open yourself up for it ‘furtherer of colonial conquest’… Really? Today, we have a government and politicians plundering their own at every possible opportunity. I’d like to see an equation of the destruction of people’s quality of life currently underway compared with that of ‘colonialism’ currently underway. I’d bet that former colonialists are doing more to redress the wrongs of the past than those destroying the future by enriching themselves along exactly colonialist lines you reference. I can say with clear conscience and due respect: Long live the Queen. But I cannot find a single politician locally that I could say the same for.
Sob, sob. I’m sure she’ll miss your tears!
We cannot change the past. Good and bad co-exist everywhere. Put the past behind and strive (or struggle if you prefer) for a better future.
While I have to agree that the British and their royal family did harm in the colonial era and still have many benefits from that time, just dismissing everyone involved as merely imperialist wrongdoers hardly grows our own humanity and understanding either if motives or results. There have been wars and empires Victor’s and vanquished throughout human history. We need to learn how to stop our global bullying and robbery habit and how to remodel our world on peace and mutual assistance. The Queen seemed to be moving in that direction.
It can be argued the British monarchy provides value to Britain purely as a tourist attraction. The Zulu and Xhosa monarchies seem to provide zero value to SA.
I’m reminded of the definition of history as just one fucking mess after another. During her long life the Queen has been in the same situation as the rest of us. That is trying to survive and minimise the effects of dreadful, often horrific, messes created by our political leaders. To assert she’s contributed to these messes as a marauding colonialist is incorrect.
God forbid anybody should get off their backsides and do something constructive rather than harping on about the past. To keep blaming colonialists…. hundreds of years after the fact and forget about the present hardships faced by our population due to the ANC and its failed policies and failures….. and our local kings, is unbelievable. Stop blaming everybody else and encourage people to move on.
Queen Elizabeth II, did much to foster good race relations around the world, and slavery did not start with British Colonialism but many thousands of years before, but it stopped when the British decided it was morally wrong. A huge amount of money and effort was spent trying to police this around the world. No -one looks at colonialism as the best way forward any more (except possibly Putin) but the Queen did more than most to allow smaller commonwealth countries a respected place in the world
You should be happy here in South Africa. We have been destroying the remnants of colonialism for almost 3 decades so successfully, you are most likely waking up this morning with one less bad “anti Zille” colonialist thing. “Electricity”.
Don’t be fooled. I doubt the world is obsessed with British Monarchy except the British themselves. My feeling is that you have 2 chips on your shoulder. Firstly you have an issue with your own skin color and secondly you have an issue with a closet you crawled out of. Try to dust your chips off your shoulder and get your mind out of the gutter. Be more positive and try to write something positive for a change. Yesterday happened. We can do nothing about it. Tomorrow is another day and we can collectively start doing something about it today.
Great column as always Zukiswa. You always give us food for thought, sometimes uncomfortable, but lots to chew on. More power to your pen!
I agree with your rejection of “being born into status”. However you cannot just single out Britain. No Kings, Queens, Chiefs, etc. Get rid of the lot, world wide that is.
I do not know what Zukiswa Pikoli thinks and her views. There is nobody who cares whether she sheds a tear or not for the Queen but those who held her in reverence and respected her have mourned her properly without needing her unsolicited opinion. The problem of Zukiswa Pikoli is illiteracy about the history of colonialism, the struggle for national liberation and how it was conducted and the role of the Commonwealth. The ANC and PAC had without fail attended the CHOGM meetings headed by the Queen and lobbied for sanctions leading to the appointment of the Eminent Person Group. In addition, the ANC and the PAC received assistance through educational and cultural exchange. The Commonwealth Trade Union Council gave assistance to COSATU and NACTU in terms of worker education through training and development of materials.
Now whether the British should have a monarch is their choice because it works
for them. To educate her further, Liz Truss as a student of the Liberal Party, she railed against the monarchy but she has changed her views as a member of the Conservative Party. Her vitriol must be tampered with reality that I have personally learnt as a freedom fighter. I personally watched the funeral that was watched by 4 billion people across the world. The outpouring of grief by Britons of all classes and the display of unity was amazing. I have not forgotten the colonial past that weighs on this country but we have a responsibility to our people not to have a lavatory mouth.
Agree completely. A journalist worth his or her salt should at least have a grasp of history before penning an article of this nature. I suggest a compulsory sabbatical organised by Daily Maverick. Possibly involving a critical reading of Martin Meredith’s excellent “the state of Africa: a history of fifty years of independence”. The book coincidentally shows a smiling Queen Elizabeth dancing with Kwame Nkrumah in 1961 and if he was still alive he may well have mourned her passing.
Yawn. You take so long to say so little and predictably so.
I wish the day will come that the People of Africa will stop hiding behind the skirts of colonisation and admit to their own failures, corrupt governments, looting, destruction of infrastructure and total disregard for the wellbeing of their own people.
Its been over a hundred years…how many more do you need?
Spend your energy on improving the future and not on flogging a dead horse.
Oh please! I got to the second paragraph and fell asleep. It’s the same old, same old. Just stop it already. I don’t think the monarchy or the Brits care whether or not you shed a tear. It happened. It was dreadful. It can never change. Stop looking at the past. Look ahead, move on and succeed. But it’s because of people like you that Africa will never ever succeed! Yaaaawn!