By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the invalidation of his decision to certify King Misuzulu kaZwelithini as the Zulu king should lead to no crisis and they are working on a permanent solution.
Ramaphosa’s legal team was still studying the judgement handed down by the Pretoria high court on Monday and have indicated the president will likely apply for leave to appeal against the judgment.
He has been ordered to launch an investigation into objections by some members of the Zulu royal house that the correct processes were not followed in selecting kaZwelithini as the rightful heir to the throne.
KaZwelithini was chosen as the new king last year after the death of his father, King Goodwill Zwelithini.
He was recognized by Ramaphosa as the new king and handed a recognition certificate, but some of his siblings have challenged the process and insisted that he is not the rightful heir to the throne and that due processes were not followed in choosing him.
In a judgment delivered by Judge Norman Davis in the Pretoria High Court on Monday, Ramaphosa was criticised for not launching an investigation after he became aware that there was a dispute in the royal house regarding the selection of the heir to the throne.
The president has now been ordered to appoint a committee to investigate the disputes.
Ramaphosa says he’s looking into the matter.
“The way that the judgment has come across is a matter that we are going to discuss and find solutions for, and it should really lead to no crisis. It is a matter that is fairly straightforward and can be dealt with.”
Under South African law, the president gives official recognition to the new king, paving the way for him to be treated like a constitutional monarch and to be funded by the government.
Ramaphosa appointed a mediation panel led by former premier Willies Mchunu to advise him on the succession dispute.
The panel advised him to wait for the court matters to conclude before proceeding with any other action.
“What needs to be done will be much clearer after the judges have pronounced on the issues challenged, which include the challenge to the authenticity of the will itself,” it said.
Recommending a medium to long-term mediation approach, the panel said: “The process of appointing a successor to King Goodwill has left the Royal House badly bruised and cracked,” and added that the judgments may add to current divisions.”
The ruling poses several challenges, not only for Misuzulu and the royal house, but for the KwaZulu-Natal government and many political parties that have taken turns to make the long trip to the Nongoma palace bearing gifts to try to ingratiate themselves with the monarch.
The Zulu royal house is estimated to control about 30% of the land in South Africa’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal province through the Ingonyama Trust.
According to the latest national census, isiZulu is the most spoken language in South Africa with 24.4% of households speaking it.
Two weeks ago the provincial government announced that it had put aside R20-million for Misuzulu’s succession litigation, in addition to the R79.5-million allocated to the Royal Household Trust earlier in the year.
King Misuzulu kaZwelithini said he welcomed the court’s pronouncement that his relatives’ legal challenge was not about who should be the king.