Mthatha - AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo has joined the DA, the party's Eastern Cape leader said on Monday.
“After a long meeting (on Monday) to discuss the DA's values and the DA's constitution, I can confirm that AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo has joined the DA,” Athol Trollip said.
Trollip said earlier on Monday he was meeting the king near Mthatha.
Last month, Dalindyebo made headlines when he reportedly described the African National Congress and President Jacob Zuma as “corrupt hooligans”. He made the remarks in Qunu, in the Eastern Cape, at a prayer service for ailing former president Nelson Mandela.
Dalindyebo reportedly said the ANC had distorted the anti-apartheid icon's legacy and behaved arrogantly. He said he would stop smoking dagga the day Zuma stopped being corrupt.
Dalindyebo also said he would join the Democratic Alliance as a birthday gift to Mandela. Mandela, who remains in a critical but stable condition in a Pretoria hospital, turns 95 on Thursday.
On Saturday, AbaThembu royal family spokesman Nkosi Daludumo Mtirara said the family had apologised to Zuma.
He said at the time that a resolution in September last year, to remove Dalindyebo as king, had not been finalised. - Sapa