There is an ironic twist of fate that the tornado of tumultuous change that has shaken the Zulu royal family and thus its subjects is tied to His Majesty, King Misuzulu KaZwelithini, whose very name means strengthening the Zulus.
The looming spectre of public spats, accusations and innuendos casts a shadow over an institution that is already reeling from grief.
Immediately after King Goodwill Zwelithini took his last breath at the Durban Inkosi Albert Luthuli hospital in March, there were predictions of revolt along the rocky road of succession planning given that there is no official playbook to decode the Byzantine list of heir apparent vs heir presumptive.
While the role of the Zulu monarch is mainly ceremonial, the influence wielded politically, culturally, socially and financially is as vast as the millions of hectares of prime Ingonyama Trust land scattered throughout the country under his control.
The Zulu kingdom has withstood its fair share of controversy and crises over the decades, but it has always managed to shield itself from annihilation.
But the scenes that have played out since the demise of King Goodwill Zwelithini and, six weeks later, regent Queen Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu threaten to topple this legacy.
We know King Zwelithini’s will has been the basis of arguments for and against the throne being left at KwaKhangelamankengane royal palace, as his daughters, Princess Ntandoyenkosi and Princess Ntombizosuthu, do not believe it was written and signed by their father. Through attorneys, the princesses sought the expertise of a forensic graphologist to compare the eight signatures on the will. The report, which forms part of the papers filed at the Pietermaritzburg high court, said two sets of signatures “have not been written/signed by the same hand being that of the late monarch”.
However, it is Queen Sibongile Dlamini’s court action that puts more pressure on the succession dispute. She argued that if Queen Mantfombi and King Zwelithini’s marriage was recognised only under the Customary Marriage Act, then the late queen, in terms of customs and practices, was not eligible to take the throne.
This is turn led to the chaos that erupted at the palace last Friday night after the reading of the late Zulu regent’s will. Her recommendation that her son be appointed king resulted in King Misuzulu being whisked away as Prince Thokozani Zulu – nephew to the former King Cyprian – stood up and questioned the recognition of Prince Misuzulu as the queen’s heir to the throne. He argued the king’s will did not specify who the regent’s successor would be.
As the late regent’s legal counsel adv Madoda Madonsela sagely pointed out, Friday’s dramatic scenes were unnecessary, as issues with the queen’s will could be challenged in a court, arguing that a family meeting called to read a will was not the place to do so.
“The meeting was not for anyone to oppose, it was just to get the clarity of the will. Actually, today we know who the king is.”
And then to rub salt into the wound, the newly announced monarch’s safety and wellbeing came into question amid claims by the traditional prime minister to the Zulu nation, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, that police had been instructed to withdraw. The claim and counterclaim by provincial government and then the ANC – that no such instruction had been issued and that the king’s security was not at risk – exposed the precarious political terrain that the new monarch has to traverse.
While the role of the Zulu monarch is mainly ceremonial, the influence wielded politically, culturally, socially and financially is as vast as the millions of hectares of prime Ingonyama Trust land scattered throughout the country under his control.
The royal purse sits at a whopping R71.3m, increased last year by KZN premier Sihle Zikalalala. The justification was that the almost R5m increase from the previous year was necessary to oversee and maintain eight royal palaces and that the monarch plays a crucial role in supporting government programmes and preserving culture.
The monarch has many vital roles to play – as custodian of Zulu culture, a catalyst of social change, a driver of economic emancipation by providing access to land to the most vulnerable in our society and as a peacemaker given the history of political tension in KZN.
But this will not happen if the process of installing the new monarch is sabotaged by agendas and ego.
We need this impasse to be dealt with as expeditiously and legitimately as possible via the courts so that the hefty tax burden to subsidise an important institution doesn’t become wasteful expenditure.
We need a leader who will strengthen and solidify the Zulu kingdom by charting a course that uses the rich legacy of its past to shape a future in which the lives and development of his subjects are paramount.
