An application for an interdict to stop Prince Misuzulu kaZwelithini from becoming king of the Zulu nation, ahead of a court challenge to the authenticity of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini’s will, was left on shaky ground on Wednesday.
Lawyers acting for Zulu princesses Ntandoyenkosi Zulu and Ntombizosuthu Zulu-Duma came up against the institutional knowledge of the presiding judge, acting KwaZulu-Natal judge president Isaac Madondo, who has authored a book on Zulu culture and customs.
While adv Nigel Redman insisted that the “process” to appoint a new king was apparently flawed because it had its origins in the disputed will and, as such, the interdict was necessary, the judge indicated the nomination of Prince Misuzulu was culturally correct.
King Zwelithini died in March last year. In his will, he said his wives should be treated equally but he named Queen Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, who is said to be considered in Zulu custom to be the “great wife” because she hailed from Eswatini royalty and her lobola was paid for by the Zulu nation, as his heir.
She died a month later before a coronation could take place.
In her will, she named her eldest son, Prince Misuzulu, as the new king. This was ratified by the royal family but some members were aggrieved.
The princesses want the judge to halt the process leading up to Misuzulu’s coronation and stop the executor of the will from distributing any assets until the outcome of a trial, and to refer the issue of the disputed will to oral evidence for the conflicting evidence of two handwriting experts to be heard.
One, hired by the princesses, says the discrepancies are so bad “it’s as if a drunk person or an eight-year-old child was asked to imitate a signature”.
Why should the coronation be stayed? Why are we busy with this? Have they (the princesses) put forward any other person who has a better right (to the throne) than Prince Misuzulu?
— Judge president Isaac Madondo
The other, hired by prime minister Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi and others, says while there are “obvious dissimilarities” in the eight signatures on the document, they could be attributed to “natural variations”.
During argument on Wednesday, Redman insisted that if the king’s will was found to be forged, Queen Dlamini Zulu might not have been nominated as successor and, in turn, she would not have nominated her eldest son in her will.
But Madondo pointed to Zulu tradition and the higher standing of the queen in the royal household.
He also questioned if there were other contenders for the throne and, if so, why they had not brought the application.
“Why should the coronation be stayed? Why are we busy with this? Have they (the princesses) put forward any other person who has a better right (to the throne) than Prince Misuzulu?
“You must satisfy the court that they (the princesses) have a substantial interest ... they can’t just do this because they don’t like the person who has been nominated as successor,” Madondo said.
Redman said as core members of the royal family they had a right to challenge Misuzulu’s nomination if it was based on a flawed process, brought about by a forged will.
He said other members of the royal family supported them.
“They have an interest in who the future king should be and that the process is followed in terms of Zulu custom and tradition.”
He said it appeared as though the nomination of Prince Misuzulu had been “ushered” by Buthelezi and had been a “foregone” conclusion at the time it was presented to the family.
In his argument, adv Griffits Madonsela, for Buthelezi and others, found himself quoting from the judge’s own work to “reinforce the argument” that notwithstanding the king’s will, Prince Misuzulu was the rightful heir and no interdict, or court challenge to the will, would change that.
He also pointed out that the princesses had attended a meeting after the king’s death at which there was a discussion about whether Queen Mantfombi should take over the throne.
One had publicly stated that it was the king’s wish and there should be no debate about it.
“And she was right ... something must have happened in between,” Madonsela said.
Judge Madondo also heard argument in a related matter, a bid by the mother of the princesses, Queen Sibongile Winifred Zulu, the king’s first wife, for a declarator from the court that her civil marriage in 1969 was in community of property, which would entitle her to a half share of the late king’s estate.
She also wants an order that the late king was precluded, by law now and at that time, from entering into his five subsequent customary marriages.
Early in the proceedings, which began on Tuesday, Queen Sibongile’s legal team indicated that they wanted to amend their papers for an order nullifying the five marriages, as opposed to an order that he was “precluded” from entering into them.
This was on the back of a request that Madondo recuse himself, because he had officiated over one of them.
Arguments in that matter centred on past and existing laws governing civil and customary marriages.
Madondo said, however, that they had not raised the legality of the marriages in their papers, so there was no need for his recusal.
And on Wednesday, he denied their request for permission to change their papers.
Arguments in that matter centred on past and existing laws governing civil and customary marriages.
Redman said the late king was not legally entitled to marry his five other queens.
But Madonsela said in terms of law at that time, he could take on other customary wives in spite of his civil marriage to Queen Sibongile.
Adv Ian Topping, acting for three of the other queens, said ultimately, it didn’t matter because he had done what he did and “you can’t undo the past”.
They argued that it was a matter best dealt with by the executor of the estate, though Madonsela conceded that the dispute would probably rear its head again in future and result in further legal battles.
Madonsela said there was no division in the royal family, “only some mischief makers”. One of them, he said, was the brother of the late king, Prince Mbonisi Zulu, who had filed an urgent court application late last year seeking to stop what he said was rumoured to be a “secret coronation” of Prince Misuzulu, planned for that weekend.
The allegation was denied by Buthelezi who said the process of installing a king was a long process and had to be sanctioned by the premier of the province and gazetted.
The interdict was not granted at that time, and the application also came before Madondo on Tuesday, who questioned whether it was now moot.
He said he would “take time” to consider all the arguments and reserved judgment.
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