The Ebandla project, launched in 2005 by the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government, as part of its African Renaissance initiative, has created the mechanisms for engagement with KZN alumni across the world.

ORIGINS

Ebandla was based on the ancient Zulu custom of the elders sitting together and discussing issues of community interest. Traditionally, men gathered under a tree to discuss matters pertaining to that area. The elders got together like they still do in Italy in the middle of the town square. They debate issues of community interest. Ebandla is a place of gathering.

Inspired by the custom of Ebandla, the province of KwaZulu-Natal broadened the concept, by opening a channel for the exchange of ideas and providing an opportunity to share information and plan for the future. It involved reaching out to people working abroad who had achieved in academia, the professions, business, the arts, sport or any other field, to remind them of their origins and invite them to contribute to building the province in the form of ideas, investment or simply their presence over holiday periods.

BUILDING THE PROVINCE

With the support of the KZN Provincial Government, the Ebandla campaign was launched to honour the achievements of its alumni and to tap into their expertise, offering them the opportunity to re-engage with the province in a mutually beneficial manner. 

It formed part of a wider impulse, as expressed by the African Union, for the continent to reconnect with the African Diaspora – to re-establish cultural and economic connections with the Caribbean, the Americas and elsewhere and to draw on the expertise that has been gathered by members of the African Diaspora.

The Ebandla initiative enabled the province to identify successful alumni as far afield as London, New York and Dubai and to engage constructively with them through a communications campaign that highlighted opportunities for them to contribute to the socio-economic development of KwaZulu-Natal. A comprehensive database of contacts has been compiled and maintained.