By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Pretoria High Court on Tuesday dismissed an urgent interdict application by the half-brother of the late Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini to stop the coronation of his nephew, King Misuzulu.
Prince Mbonisi Zulu lodged the last-minute application in a bid to halt King Misuzulu’s coronation from going ahead on 13 August, at Enyokeni palace in Nongoma (northern KwaZulu-Natal).
However, Judge Noluntu Bam struck the matter off the roll after finding that the application was not urgent. Prince Mbonisi Zulu was ordered to pay the costs.
Despite the coronation going ahead, there were two other cases in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) and the Pretoria High Court challenging King Misuzulu’s appointment as the successor to the AmaZulu throne.
Advocate M Masuku, who is part of the applicant’s team, told the court that they had no other choice but to urgently ask the court to stop the coronation from going ahead, pending the final outcome of the review challenge.
“A coronation is an important occasion for the Zulu nation. It is the event when the nation is formally introduced to their king,” Masuku said.
He added that it would be embarrassing if the coronation went ahead, and the court on review found he was not appointed lawfully.
The Pietermaritzburg High Court in March ruled that the coronation of nominated King Misuzulu could go ahead.
Prince Mbonisi Zulu and others are challenging the ruling by Judge Isaac Madondo of the Pietermaritzburg High Court which paved the way for the recognition of the king by Ramaphosa.
Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the nation’s traditional prime minister, said in court papers that Prince Mbonisi Zulu and the 13 other royals who were part of the application were jumping the gun since the Supreme Court of Appeal was yet to rule on the matter.
King Misuzulu has denied claims that he was abusing drugs and alcohol or committed incest by fathering a child with one of the half-sisters in the Swazi royal family where his mother, the late Queen Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, came from.