Durban - Eastern Cape AbaThembu chief, Ngangomhlaba Mathanzima, has cautioned against comparing kingdoms with one another as this could lead to divisions among the nations.
Instead, Mathanzima said kings should find appropriate platforms to address issues they felt needed rectification.
Mathanzima was commenting on a Sunday newspaper report that the recently crowned amaXhosa king, Zwelonke Sigcawu, wants all kings to be paid as much as Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini.
The Sunday Times reported that Sigcawu and his advisors, Prince Xhanti Sigcawu and Chief Daliwonga Mgwebi, said they liked the way Zwelithini was treated and wished the same treatment for other kingdoms.
Prince Sigcawu reportedly said the national government was doing nothing to extend the kind of treatment afforded to Zwelithini to other kings. This was in reference to the millions spent by the KZN government on the Royal Household. In 2013, the household received more than R50 million.
The other kings are paid a little less than R1 million each a year. Mathanzima said it was unwise to make such a demand without looking at who it should be addressed to.
“The then KwaZulu-Natal homeland made an arrangement with the Zulu kingdom and a provincial government decision was made on how to maintain their king. It cannot be right then to approach the national government making demands on how kings should be cared for.
“The money to maintain the Zulu king is from the provincial budget. The province has a budget for the Royal house so this cannot be made a national issue,” Mathanzima said.
King Zwelithini’s advisor, Judge Jerome Ngwenya, said it was not the government’s doing that Zwelithini was treated in this fashion.
“During Codesa in the ’90s, Isilo Samabandla (Zwelithini) was the only king who was present and put forward his position during the negotiations. If amaXhosa king feels the way Isilo is treated sets a precedent on how kings should be treated countrywide, then he is entitled to his opinion,” Ngwenya said.
King Sigcawu’s spokesman, Zolani Mkhiva, could not be reached.
Daily News