AFRICA ZULU | The good and the bad of Zulu nationalism

Zulu nationalism has long been a source of pride, belonging and continuity for many of our people, especially in a country shaped by dispossession and deliberate attempts to erase African identity, whereculturebecame a place of refuge. Language, ritual, history and lineage helped people hold on to who they were when political and economic power was taken from them. Zulu identityoffered dignity in times of humiliation while creating a sense of community when communities were broken apart by migrant labour systems, land loss and urban displacement.

In this sense, cultural nationalism played a protective role by keeping memory alive and giving people something to stand on when everything else was unstable, and there is something healthy about people knowing who they are because identity grounds individuals and communities, shaping values, social bonds and responsibility to one another. Pride in being Zulu becomes harmful when it turns into a substitute for work and when symbolism replaces substance, a shift that has, over time, led Zulu nationalism in some spaces into performance without production, where identity is displayed more loudly than it is lived. We have learned how to celebrate culture, yet we have not always learned how to organise ourselves economically, and while we speak about heritage, we continue to struggle to build enterprises that can employ our people at scale.

In some spaces, Zulu nationalism has been reduced to politics and competition for influence, dividing communities and driving competition for positions, recognition and proximity to power, which weakens collective effort. When identity becomes a tool for exclusion, it closes doors rather than opening them, and when it becomes defensive, it limits cooperation with others who face the same economic challenges, even though no community builds economic strength in isolation and real growth depends on networks, partnerships and the ability to operate in broader markets. For Zulu nationalism to remain relevant to this generation, it must move beyond performance into responsibility, where identity is tied to contribution, pride is matched with effort and culture becomes a platform for building rather than only remembering, allowing tradition to grow into modern forms of organisation, enterprise and participation.

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In this way, values of solidarity, mutual support and discipline can translate into cooperatives, small businesses, skills programmes and community investment vehicles that are professionally run and accountable. On the other hand, education and skills lead directly to work and enterprise through training linked to real projects, supply chains and markets so that learning turns into participation. Skills without access to capital and customers do not become businesses, and localisation without funding remains a slogan rather than practice.

This is why there must be deliberate provision of project funding after skilling is complete, with financial institutions and development funds setting aside resources to support local enterprises. Policy and procurement enforce real local participation so that identity becomes a force for progress rather than a refuge from reality.

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