The Zulu royal kraal is once again ablaze with tension and ancestral fury.
On Monday, Prince Simakade kaZwelithini filed a dramatic application in the Constitutional Court seeking to overturn the recognition of his half-brother, King Misuzulu kaZwelithini, as the Isilo of AmaZulu.
In his affidavit, Simakade accuses the South African government of “seizing the throne in defiance of Zulu customs and ancestral law”, and demands that the matter be reopened and investigated afresh.
“The throne has been seized through political manipulation and betrayal,” Simakade said and called for the president’s 2022 recognition of Misuzulu to be set aside.
His lawyer, Johan Hamman, told Sunday Times that Simakade believes the Supreme Court of Appeal “erred in its judgment” on October 6 and expects the Constitutional Court to begin hearing the matter in February or March 2026.
It marks a dramatic week for the king following confusion about the Zulu monarch’s wedding plans and public engagements.
Last week Prince Gibizizwe Zulu said the king will tie the knot in a traditional wedding that was postponed in January, with his third wife, Queen Nomzamo Myeni, at kwaKhangela royal palace in Nongoma in northern KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday.
However, this week there were mixed messages from the king’s office, which issued three contradictory statements about the king’s wedding and public speaking engagements.
First, the office’s secretary, Arnold Ndamase, released a statement that said the king would address the nation at the KwaKhangelamankengane Royal Palace in Nongoma.
However, his spokesperson, Prince Thulani Zulu, said the address was being postponed. Then a third statement was issued that stated the address would go ahead.
Prince Thulani also issued a statement about the king’s wedding saying he was the only one authorised to speak on such affairs.
This comes amid rumours that Prince Thulani has been relieved of his duties.
The legal offensive in the battle for the throne is the latest chapter in a royal saga that began with heartbreak and quickly descended into chaos.
The death of King Goodwill Zwelithini in March 2021, followed just weeks later by his wife, Queen Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu — mother of Misuzulu and a Swazi princess by birth — left the royal family reeling. But grief soon gave way to power struggles.
Prince Simakade, the late king’s eldest son, was sidelined. Instead, Misuzulu was chosen to ascend the throne, his claim bolstered by the royal status of his mother, who had been designated as the king’s “Great Wife” — a title that carried dynastic weight.
The succession was orchestrated with precision and force by the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, then-prime minister of the Zulu nation. Using his considerable influence, Buthelezi rallied support for Misuzulu and oversaw his installation as king. But the alliance did not last.
By 2022, Buthelezi and Misuzulu were locked in a bitter dispute over the control of the Ingonyama Trust — a powerful landholding entity that manages vast tracts of Zulu land. The fallout was public and painful, with Buthelezi accusing the king of undermining traditional authority and Misuzulu pushing back against what he saw as interference. By the time of his death in September 2023, the two were not on speaking terms.
Now, with Buthelezi gone and the kraal fractured, Prince Simakade has returned to the battlefield — this time armed with legal firepower and ancestral grievance.
But this is not the only legal storm Misuzulu faces.
According to recent reports, at least four other cases have been launched against the king:
- Queen Sibongile Dlamini, one of King Zwelithini’s surviving wives, has challenged the distribution of the late king’s estate, claiming her marriage was civil and entitled her to half of his assets.
- Her two daughters, Princess Ntandoyenkosi and Princess Ntombizosuthu, have also filed separate litigation challenging the legitimacy of Misuzulu’s ascension and the handling of royal inheritance.
- Prince Mbonisi, brother to the late king, has joined Simakade in court battles questioning the process of recognition and demanding a fresh selection mechanism.
- Estate disputes over the late king’s wealth — including palaces, vehicles and trust assets — remain unresolved, with multiple factions claiming rightful control.
The Constitutional Court application outlines a detailed process for resolving the succession dispute, including the appointment of an investigative committee under the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act. Each party would be allowed to make submissions before the president makes a final decision.
But even as the legal storm brews, King Misuzulu has pleaded for peace. In a recent gathering at eMashobeni Royal Palace in oPhongolo, he urged his relatives to “desist from going to court” and accept his leadership.
“I am your king,” he said, “not by force, but by tradition and destiny.”
Yet the kraal remains divided.
Some royals boycotted the meeting, others remain defiant, and the nation watches as the fate of the Zulu monarchy hangs in the balance — not in the royal kraal, but in the chambers of the Constitutional Court.
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