The AmaPondo throne has been the subject of much strife and contention down the years, writes Matthew Mpahlwa.
Johannesburg - Accusations that the AmaPondo king’s royal invitations are being intercepted have sparked royal strife in the Eastern Cape with a bitter war of words erupting as infighting and inter-family rivalries within the landed gentry become more pronounced.
The latest skirmishes are centred on simple “royal dispatch” or VIP invites. There is no doubt being royal today has become a lucrative business, a cause worth fighting for.
Firstly, one is guaranteed an annual salary of close to R1.07 million. Secondly, a small blue-light brigade and a petrol card are provided. So too are government invitations to speak on behalf of the royal family at government functions.
Ntsizakalo Ngalo, King Zanozuko Sigcau’s royal spokesman, has accused Kholeka Sigcau, who also goes by the name of Princess Stella Sigcau II, of stealing and of “moonlighting” as an official representative of the Amapondo kingdom.
“I want to make it very clear that within the AmaPondo royal family we don’t have any Princess Stella Sigcau II. Stella Sigcau, who was a government minister and mother to this girl Kholeka who now calls herself Stella II, died long ago.
“It’s wrong for her to call herself Stella Sigcau,” said Ngalo.
Ngalo claimed that the royal Princess, “known as either Stella Sigcau II or Kholeka, was intercepting invites and attending functions on behalf of the king.
“Kholeka is sick really. (Amafaku mawathathe igeza labo.) The Faku clan must take their sick child before it’s too late. I am really now thinking of opening a case against her, as she is interfering with the functions of the king…
“At one point during the coronation of AmaXhosa King Zwelonke Sigcawu, she forced herself to be allowed to sit in the place reserved for all seven monarchies in South Africa and, in particular, the AmaPondo monarch, but fortunately the VIP police intervened and she was chased away,” said Ngalo.
Ngalo added that recently the princess had intercepted another invite sent to Zanozuko Sigcau – with the event due to take place on November 16.
The invite is said to have come from the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture in the Eastern Cape.
“She has done it again. Once again she redirected an invite destined for Zanozuko to herself to attend the ceremony on November 16. There is no doubt this will cause a clash with the AmaPondo royal family and the nation as whole,” said Ngalo.
Meanwhile Princess Stella Sigcau II, as she calls herself, confirmed to The Sunday Independent that she had written a letter to Eastern Cape MEC Fikile Xasa.
She has lodged a complaint, saying that Zanozuko or (Princess) Wezizwe (Sigcau) should not be invited on behalf of the AmaPondo nation because they were not the legitimate heirs to the throne.
“I said to the MEC in that letter, they must not be part in misleading the nation. They must invite the rightful heir to the throne, not Zanozuko or Wezizwe, who are attempting to mislead the nation,” said Sigcau.
Speaking to The Sunday Independent on Friday, Princess Stella Sigcau II, who supports Jongilanga Nzululwazi Sigcau, his brother, in the battle for the rightful place in the royal house, has vowed to fight for Nzululwazi to be recognised by the government as the legitimate heir to the throne.
“According to our custom, Nzululwazi is the next king. On the 25th October 2015, the royal family met and decided he should be next in line,” said Princess Stella, speaking on behalf of the royal family members supporting Nzululwazi.
She criticised the actions of Queen Masobhuza, wife of the late King Mpondombini Sigcau, who she alleges unilaterally appointed her daughter, Princess Wezizwe Sigcau, as “crown princess” without consulting the royal family.
“The queen was wrong. She is the mother of the nation, but has no powers on her own to decide who should lead the nation.
“It seems the queen and Princess Wezizwe have sidelined and alienated the royal family altogether,” she added.
Meanwhile, Chief Mandilide Cinani, who is part of a faction of the royal family supporting Princess Wezizwe, said the conduct of both Princess Stella Sigcau II and his brother, Chief Jongilanga Sigcau, was opportunistic.
“When King Mpondombini was fighting for his throne against Zanozuko, they never raised all these claims. Now two years after the death of the king (Mpondombini Sigcau), they tell us who should be king. It can’t be,” said Cinani.
He cautioned Princess Stella Sigcau to refrain from speaking to the media and communicating with the government as if she is the rightful spokesperson for the kingdom.
“Stella was never appointed by any person to speak for the kingdom. “Who is she speaking on behalf of? She is wrong and should be reprimanded,” said Cinani.
He was also quick to dismiss the meeting that was purportedly held on October 25 to elect a new king.
“There was never such a meeting as Stella alleges. She must tell you, who was the chairperson of that meeting and who was the scribe in that meeting. “Stella is disturbing us in the running of the AmaPondo nation,” said Cinani.
He also dismissed King Zanozuko as a “mere chief”, not a king of AmaPondo nation.
It is hardly two years since the death of King Mpondombini Sigcau, who passed away at the Qaukeni Great Place at Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape, and it seems his death has plunged the Sigcau royal family into a crisis.
At least three contenders to the throne have surfaced. They are Chief Jongilanga Nzululwazi Sigcau, the late King Mpondombini’s younger brother; Princess Wezizwe Sigcau, the daughter of King Mpondombini and Swazi Princess Lombekiso Masobhuza Dlamini; and Zanozuko Tyelovuyo Sigcau, the nephew of King Mpondombini.
Zanozuko was declared by the Nhlapo (the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims) in 2010 as the rightful heir to the throne, a decision which was set aside by the Constitutional Court on July 13, 2013.
The genealogy of the Sigcau family is extremely complex, and continues to cause problems in Pondoland politics today.
The outpouring of calls for unity and sympathy that accompanied King Mpondombini’s funeral two years ago have faded from view.
The Sunday Independent’s investigation revealed that unprecedented plots and rivalry between different divisions of the royal family over the king’s successor took place long before King Mpondombini passed away in 2013.
At the time of his death, at the age of 71, the AmaPondo king was under heavy stress, while fighting for stability in his nation. Royal sources suggest that the infighting in his kingdom may have contributed indirectly to his death.
They have now shared shocking details of how King Mpondombini, for several hours, suffered in pain at his rural Qaukeni Royal House as he waited for a government aircraft to airlift him to the Mthatha Academic Hospital for emergency treatment in April 2013.
He was with Queen Lombekiso Masobhuza Sigcau, his wife, who at the time had just served the king breakfast at the Great Place.
Minutes later the king suffered a severe stroke, rendering him unable to speak or move his body.
Housekeeper and clan nephew to the king, Bongeka Sigcau, said she cried as she watched the king lying in agony. ”He lay here at home for hours, while we called for help,” said Bongeka.
She said they called the hospital but two-and-a-half hours passed before paramedics arrived at the homestead.
The paramedics indicated that the king needed to be airlifted as he would not be able to endure the four- hour-long drive to the hospital in Mthatha.
“They stood around and put a towel around his face while senior chiefs attempted to contact the then MEC for Health in the Eastern Cape, Sicelo Qhobhana, to authorise the use of an emergency helicopter.
“At about 1pm, we received a call from Mr Qhobhana indicating that he needed a mandate from his fellow MEC of Local Government and Traditional Affairs, Mlibo Qoboshiyane, to use the aircraft. But Qoboshiyane could not be reached as he was in a meeting in Mthatha,” according to Cinani, the family spokesman.
Cinani said when they attempted to make contact with the Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs in Bhisho, they were told that the king should use his personal medical aid.
“Unfortunately, the king did not have medical aid. And so he died because he had none (to cover the costs) for emergency treatment,” said Cinani.
At about 5pm on the same day, a call was received by the family from the Department of Health, indicating that a helicopter would come the following morning (Wednesday) because it was already dark.
“So we waited and waited with the sick King Mpondombini until 11.30am the following day. Just before noon, we saw the helicopter land in the homestead, and by that time His Majesty was in a critical state and very weak,” said Cinani.
The king remained in a critical condition in hospital until he passed away on Monday the following week. Responding to the allegations levelled against his department at the time, Qoboshiyane told this reporter that the authorisation of the aircraft was the sole jurisdiction of the MEC of Health.
“What I can confirm is that we tried all we could with the MEC, Qhobhana, on the day.
“My department has no policy regarding helicopter service, therefore it could not have been possible to delay a service that I do not have,” Qoboshiyane said.
He added that in terms of the Public Office Bearers Act, kings are also now part of pension, medical aid and other benefits, with each king to structure his own package.
Previously, in 2010, Sigcau, who suffered from diabetes, was flown by a military helicopter to One Military Hospital in Pretoria, where both his legs were amputated. He spent 19 months under hospital care. The king’s death led to strife and contention over a successor to his throne.
The infighting within the AmaPondo nation, however, is nothing new.
Conflict seeds planted as long ago as 1937
Former Transkei head of state Kaiser Matanzima tried to remove Mpondombini and Twentyman Sigcau from their positions in the chieftaincy.
Before King Mpondombini, his late father, King Botha Sigcau, had also experienced a contest for the throne and won it under controversial circumstances in 1937, defeating a rival claim by Nelson Sigcau, who was his half-brother.
King Botha Sigcau’s father, Madlonke Sigcau, of Eastern Pondoland, died without siring a son and heir through his great wife.
That left two contenders to the throne, Nelson and Botha Sigcau, both sons of Madlonke through other wives, with Botha being installed as the paramount chief.
Botha then sired his heir, Mpondombini, who became the paramount chief after his father’s death.
Parallel to that happening, Madlonke’s great wife fathered a child with Nelson Sigcau through ngena custom, claiming the sire would officially be the child of Madlonke and thus the true heir to the throne.
The son was known as Zwelidumile Sigcau.
Soon after, another contender stepped up – Chief Zwelidumile Sigcau, who was backed by Kaiser Matanzima.
In December 1978, the AmaPondo royal family held a meeting and unanimously appointed Mpondombini as the successor.
Later, in February 1979, he defeated Zwelidumile by 22 votes to three.
With pressure mounting and with no alternative, Matanzima recognised Mpondombini and installed him as the king in 1980.
Zwelidumile passed away in 1984, aged 36, just a few days after the death his father, Chief Nelson Sigcau. He never renounced his claim to the AmaPondo throne.
The Sunday Independent