Durban - WAS there an attempt on the life of Prince Lethukuthula Zulu, King Goodwill Zwelithini’s son, before he was found murdered at his Joburg apartment on Friday?
A source with knowledge about the Zulu Royal Household affairs said Zulu survived a poisoning attempt “a while ago” but the incident was never made public.
“It is standard practice not to hang the monarch’s dirty linen in public so that incident a while ago was kept secret. Prince Lethukuthula got very sick for some days and some believe that he was poisoned.
“His death in this fashion did not surprise some of us, as painful as it is especially for His Majesty the King. It’s all good that the police have been quick to convert the inquest into murder. We just pray that the culprit(s) get caught and pay for this senseless act of barbarism,” said the source.
“This is very worrying because if indeed the prince did not die by accident or naturally, then who is behind it? A lot is happening in the royal household but no one wants to be caught sharing information about the affairs of the palaces,” the source said.
Prince Thulani Zulu, a palace spokesperson, said some of the family were in Joburg to handle the matter.
He had no knowledge of the poisoning incident. The prince’s body was found by security guards at his Graceland Residential Complex in Northwold on Friday.
His friend was found sleeping in another bedroom in the same apartment.
Police have since converted an inquest docket into murder and theft after it was found that some valuable items and an undisclosed amount of cash were stolen from the premises.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said the cause of death would be known once the post-mortem results were available.
Daily News