Durban - As pressure mounts on government to implement recommendations that called for the disbanding of the Ingonyama Trust, citing among other issues financial mismanagement, the organisation says its finances are well-managed.
The chairperson of the trust, Judge Jerome Ngwenya, said they were still shocked that the advisory panel on land reform and agriculture made these allegations and even went as far as to recommend that the trust be disbanded without allowing them to state their side of the story.
Ngwenya was responding to allegations by the panel led by Dr Vuyo Mahlati, which recently made its recommendations public.
“Ingonyama Trust is audited by the auditor-general and that has been the norm for years. What has the auditor-general said about its finances? Where are they getting all they are saying, because they did not speak to the trust?” Ngwenya asked.
A furious Ngwenya reiterated that consultations were meant to take place before the panel sought to effectively take away the 2.8 million hectares of land it administers and place it under the government’s control.
“I even once asked you to go to read the report and show me where they say they gave us an opportunity to respond. This will in future make us not want speak about the matter with anyone, because we have already been marginalised as if we are crazy people who cannot think,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Zulu monarch, King Goodwill Zwelithini, says he has never said he believes he is above the constitution and not bound by it.
The king’s spokesperson, Prince Thulani, told Independent Media that whoever was making these allegations was driven by hatred of the monarch.