KWAZULU-Natal government is working on a tight budget of R11 million to meet the stringent deadline of five years to upgrade the eMakhosini burial site of King Misuzulu's ancestors, King Ndaba and King Jama, into a World Heritage Site to be placed under the United Nations.
Announcing the plan, Amafa and Research Institute chief executive officer Dr Mxolisi Dlamuka said this was part of infusing tourism, through heritage sites, into the province’s economic development plan.
He was addressing Parliament during the provincial government entity’s appearance before the provincial parliament’s Finance Portfolio Committee on Tuesday.
The Amafa had been allocated over R65 million for the 2025/2026 financial year, which was just over R1 million more than the previous financial year. This annual budget was affected by the austerity measures announced by the provincial and national treasuries this year.
Dlamuka said the Department of Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs had donated R11 million to Amafa for the eMakhosini project, of which R4 million would be spent in the current financial year.
Emakhosini, which is currently a Provincial Heritage Site, is considered the Zulu nation’s sacred place. It also has the grave of King Senzangakhona, who is the father of the founder of the Zulu nation, King Shaka.
Other kings resting on the site are Zulu, Phunga, Mageba, Nkosinkulu, and Queen Mthaniya, the wife of King Jama and mother to Senzangakhona. It is common to hear Zulu people saying KwaZulu-Natal is kwelika Mthaniya - the land of Mthaniya.
It is situated in the Ophathe Game Reserve on the bank of the White Mfolozi River. Ophathe is home to leopards, impala, black and white rhinos, giraffes, nyala, blue wildebeest, buffalo, waterbuck, zebra, and hyena, among many.
If things go according to the plan, the eMakhosini would, by the end of 2029, fall under the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
“We are already developing a business plan that talks about the conservation of the grave site of the Zulu Kings.
“This is in line with our plan to declare eMakhosini to be a World Heritage Site or the UNESCO site by 2029, and our plan is that come the end of July in 2029, UNESCO will declare this,” said Dlamuka.
He said that achieving this would require a lot of work to ensure the site met the “stringent” deadline.
Dlamuka said the upgrading of eMakhosini was part of Amafa’s bigger plan to transform heritage sites in the province between last year and 2029 to generate revenue while promoting social cohesion and stimulating inclusive economic growth.
“Our focus is to monetise heritage and also ensure that we promote economic growth using heritage sites.
“We also want to use heritage to create economic opportunities, especially through heritage site maintenance by communities that are around our heritage sites in the province,” he told the MPLs.
He said Amafa’s procurement budget would be spent on youth and women.
“Also linked to that, we created an expectation that we commit ourselves to pay our service providers within 10 days.
“We are emphasising that because we want to see how paying a service provider within 10 days makes a difference to the economy,” said Dlamuka.
Amafa's assistant director for the annual performance plan (APP), Thilogran Pillay, said the entity was operating on a tight budget, which was only increased by more than 1% this financial year.
He said this was less than the cost of living as the consumer price index (CPI) had grown at about 4.5%.
He said that as a result of operating with a smaller budget, the entity had decided to cut down on its spending.
“Some of the things that we will not be doing is appointing too many staff members, we are trying not to rely too much on consultants, and we are going to do as much of the work in-house as possible so that we can balance our budget given the impact of inflation,” said Pillay.
What made Amafa’s financial matters even worse for the entity, according to Pillay, was that it was now operating with fewer donors, besides the R11 million, which came as a donation from the department. This money would be paid to the entity over three years to help drive tourism in the province.
“Provincial Treasury has allowed Amafa to retain our surpluses, which we have accumulated over the years, and this would be utilised to address the budget deficit that we are experiencing due to budget reduction and other cost factors that grew over the financial years,” said Pillay.
MEC Mtomuhle Khawula said the R11 million was just a foundational capital and that the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture will source additional funds from other spheres of government as well as the private sector.
"The spin-offs that will follow after the completion of the project will go beyond just the preservation of our heritage, but will positively boost the economy through tourism activities, create employment, and profile KwaZulu-Natal as a destination of choice globally," said Khawula.
He said that under UNESCO, the site would increase tourism in the province, contributing to economic growth for the Zululand district and creating jobs for the local people.
"Potential improvement of the landscape and infrastructure and increased global visibility of the Zulu history and KwaZulu-Natal."
Currently, the province has the Sibhudu Cave World Heritage Site in Inanda, north of Durban, which was declared in July 2024, Drakensburg and Isimangaliso "which had been declared World Heritage Sites earlier on".
"Amafa is working with other departments and municipalities to develop these places, especially Sibhudu, so that it can have an Interpretation Centre," said Khawula.