POLL | Is R66m for Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini warranted?

The Zulu monarch, King Goodwill Zwelithini, will receive R66.7m from the KwaZulu-Natal government this financial year.

This was announced by the province's premier, Sihle Zikalala, during his budget policy speech in the KZN legislature on Thursday.

Zikalala described the king as the custodian of Zulu culture, who ensures social cohesion in the province. The king's budget slightly increased from 2018, when it was R65.8m. 

Representatives of different political parties were divided by this.

The DA's Zwakele Mncwango questioned when the Royal Household Trust would start generating income.

TimesLIVE reported that the trust was established by former KwaZulu-Natal premier S’bu Ndebele in 2007, in a bid to make the king and royal household self-sustainable and generate its own revenue, like the British royal family.

The IFP did not criticise or express concern over the amount allocated. However, the party's Blessed Gwala slammed the provincial government for its "failure" to, among other things, maintain the king's palaces.  

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