THE Zulu monarch has described the action of some royal family members listing King Misuzulu as a prince in their newly unveiled royal family tree as disrespectful.
Three Zulu princes, Vulindlela, Thulani, and Mathubesizwe, addressed the briefing at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban on Friday to unveil the family tree, which listed the king and his siblings as princes and princesses.
They are brothers to the late King Goodwill Zwelithini and uncles to King Misuzulu.
The release of the tree to the public was in anticipation of the outcome of a yet-to-be-heard appeal lodged by King Misuzulu at the Supreme Court of Appeal against the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, ruling against President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recognition and gazettal of the kingship, which is being disputed within the family.
King Misuzulu’s spokesperson, Prince Nkosinathi Zulu, said the king knew nothing about the tree as he was not consulted about its compilation.
“If they have called the king a prince, then they are against the king.
“They are spiteful, but what can we say? This shows that they have a problem,” said Zulu.
An associate of the king’s opponents said the royal family tree would ensure that only the immediate members of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini participate in the new appointment in case the court removes Misuzulu.
Zulu said there was no way that King Misuzulu could have been invited to participate in the compilation of the family tree “because those people are opposed to him”.
“If this matter (kingship dispute) is in court, how do you expect those people to inform the king about what they are doing?
“I know that they did not bother to come to him because they never bothered to come to him,” said Zulu.
The senior princes said the royal family was in a mess because of people who are not of royal blood meddling in the affairs of King Zwelithini’s family affairs.
Without mentioning names, Prince Vulindlela said people who were not members of the royal family imposed themselves and messed up the family.
“We didn’t know anything about the infighting as we live in the palaces, but this infighting was caused by people from outside the family who, instead of focusing on the affairs of their families, mess up the affairs of our family,” said Vulindlela in a briefing conducted in isiZulu.
He said the differences within the royal family should be solved by its immediate members.
“The royal family is messed up because they don’t see eye-to-eye because of the opportunists (outsiders).
“Some people use social media to say bad things about the royal family, instead of asking us about the royal family because we love each other,” said Vulindlela.
He said such outsiders were hanging the royal family’s dirty linen in public, which was not the culture of the family to do so.
“There is no family that wants to see their internal affairs discussed in public,” he said.
The briefing was held while King Misuzulu was in Nquthu, northern KwaZulu-Natal, launching a R400 million project to upgrade the 31km P372 gravel road to Isandlwana Battlefield heritage site. The repaved road would be renamed after him.
The invitation to the briefing read: “In light of the multifaceted challenges facing the Zulu Royal Family, the time has come for the Zulu Royal Family to take the nation into confidence, setting the record straight and allow the truth to be heard.”
Vulindlela said the tree would make it clear who belongs in the family so that those who claim to be princes and princesses, but who are not, would be identified and isolated.
“This tree has been created to make sure that those who speak for the royal family are in that tree.
“If there is anyone who feels that he should have been included in that tree, he or she should come forward,” said Vulindlela.
In the family tree, which started from King Cetshwayo down to King Zwelithini, listed King Misuzulu as one of the princes, instead of a king.
The princes who called the briefing made it categorically clear that it was not called to talk about the infighting over the kingship but only to introduce a royal family tree.
“There is no infighting within the royal family, but all we are looking for is unity,” said Prince Mbonisi.
However, an associate of the king’s opponents said Misuzulu was not appointed by the royal family but by an outsider.
The associate said the family was mainly compiled to show the nation who the children and the queens of King Zwelithini were so that only the immediate royal family members would participate in the appointment of the king, which he said was yet to happen.
“The Pretoria High Court has already agreed with us that this one (Misuzulu), who is an illegal king, was not supposed to be recognised by the president (Cyril Ramaphosa).
“We are sitting with a person who is an illegal king,” he said.
He said the Zulu protocol dictates that only close family members of the late king have a right to appoint the successor.
“If there is a person who is interested in becoming a king, he must come out because as a family, we wanted to know all people who are interested in this position.”
He said there were three court cases related to the kingship, two of them being about the will, while one was about challenging Misuzulu’s anointment.
“The court has confirmed that the Supreme Court of Appeal would be prioritised in the second quarter of the year.
“The roll, with cases that are lined up for the second quarter, would be released next week and we are hoping that we are going to be prioritised,” said the associate.
