DURBAN - FORMER KwaZulu-Natal premier Willies Mchunu is optimistic that mediation efforts in the Zulu Royal House will eventually bear fruit, but admits that this will not be an easy task.
Mchunu is part of a six-member team that was appointed by Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma at the instruction of President Cyril Ramaphosa to broker a truce among royals who are at loggerheads about who should be the next king following the death of Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu earlier this year.
While King Misuzulu kaZwelithini is seen by many as the rightful heir to the throne, some royals have challenged this, even questioning the authenticity of King Goodwill Zwelithini’s will.
Prince Simakade Zulu and Prince Mbonisi Zulu are two of the names that have been forwarded for the position and this has heightened tensions in the royal household, prompting Ramaphosa to have the mediation team set up.
According to cultural experts, including Professor Sihawukele Ngubane, Misuzulu is the rightful heir because his late mother, Queen Mantfombi, was from the Swazi royal house, whereas the other queens are not of royal blood.
Speaking to The Mercury yesterday, Mchunu said that they were appointed towards the end of August and have been working at bringing the opposing parties within the family to the negotiating table, a task which he admitted was not easy.
“The difficulty in any negotiation process is attempting to convince parties to come to the negotiation table, the task becomes more difficult when opposing parties have assumed certain positions and are not willing to budge. The royal family case is no exception.
“It is a matter that must be handled very delicately because battles for kingship are historical, especially in a province like ours,” Mchunu said.
According to the former premier, the team includes a magistrate and a representative from the National House of Traditional Leaders.
He added that the mediation efforts would also rely on royal family members in order to succeed.
The mediation team held a meeting with the Zulu royal family at KwaKhangelamankengane Royal Palace last week where Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, in his capacity as the Traditional Prime Minister to the Zulu nation, was also present.
According to a statement from Buthelezi, the meeting which was introductory in nature, was quite successful and Mchunu provided a comprehensive explanation of the purpose of mediation and indicated the panel’s mandate, given by Dlamini Zuma, to assist the royal family through mediation following indications that the throne was being contested by some members of the royal family.
Buthelezi said that the royal family had presented a comprehensive report detailing what has taken place since the passing of the late king.
“One matter raised by the panel was their surprise, when meeting with the faction led by HRH Princess Thembi Ndlovu-Zulu and HRH Prince Mbonisi, to find that there seems to be more than one claimant contesting the throne. The identity of these claimants was not discussed.
“The panel then requested a venue for a joint meeting between the royal family and the faction led by Princess Thembi and Prince Mbonisi, as the faction has indicated their reluctance to attend a joint meeting at KwaKhangelamankengane Royal Palace.”
Buthelezi said while the royal family believed that this was the appropriate venue for such a meeting, the matter could not be decided without the guidance of the king.
“A report of the meeting will therefore be provided to the king, so that His Majesty might indicate his preferred venue for a joint meeting.”
Recently, the KwaZulu-Natal government announced that it was freezing the royal household budget and it would not sponsor traditional ceremonies as had been done in the past until the dispute related to the Zulu royal household kingship was resolved.
The move has been criticised by some, especially the IFP which charged that such a move amounted to belittling the royal household and the structure of traditional leadership. In the past traditional ceremonies including Umkhosi Womhlanga (Reed dance festival) and Umkhosi Wokweshwama (First fruits ceremony) which were presided over by the late king have enjoyed support from the government.
THE MERCURY