A lion was killed in August 2022. Its skin was placed on the shoulders of Misuzulu kaZwelithini who entered the kraal, the sacred enclosure, to become king according to Zulu custom. More than a year after the death of his father, the pretender finally ascended the throne thanks to the recognition of President Cyril Ramaphosa, supreme authority in a country where traditional leaders have no executive power. “I have no doubt that with the support of the royal family, you will lead the process of uniting the community,” enjoined the South African head of state during a major induction ceremony in the Mabhida stadium in Durban on October 29, 2022.
Yet it was he, Cyril Ramaphosa, who accidentally provided the ammunition to a rival branch of the royal family to challenge Misuzulu kaZwelithini. Seized by a half-brother of the sovereign, the High Court of Justice in Pretoria annulled the president’s recognition of the new king because of non-compliance with certain traditional rules. The presidency appealed and emphasizes that King Misuzulu remains the heir to the throne. The king’s entourage says they are confident because the judgment does not call into question its legitimacy, but only the certification procedure.
This court decision further undermines the authority of the king. Since his appointment in May 2021, the 49-year-old monarch has struggled to be accepted by his entire family. Some princes believe that their possible eligibility was too quickly dismissed. Misuzulu kaZwelithini is not the oldest of the twenty-eight children his father had with six women, but he is the first son of the Queen Consort, the king’s official wife, and that is what counts according to the legitimist camp.
“It was not misnamed, all procedures were followed,” defends historian Maxwell Zakhele Shamase of the University of Zululand. But his opponents would try to get rid of him by any means possible. “They say he does drugs, he’s an alcoholic, he’s a womanizer, but none of that has been proven. Even if these accusations were true, he would still be the legitimate heir to the throne,” says Maxwell Zakhele Shamase.
A financial windfall
On the day of his proclamation, in May 2021, Misuzulu kaZwelithini was exfiltrated from the royal palace by bodyguards equipped with assault rifles. Kwazulu-Natal is a province marked by political assassinations and the royal family is not spared. The king’s opponents then threatened him with a bloodbath if he participated in the Reed Ceremony – a festival that celebrates women’s virginity – in September 2022. Ultimately, it was his advisor Dumisani Khumalo who was assassinated during the weekend, without a link being able to be formally established with the war of succession.
The time when pretenders to the throne shed blood is, however, over. The aspiring monarchs are now crossing swords in court. “In South Africa, the law is of Roman-Dutch inspiration. How do you want to resolve a traditional dispute in court? », laughs Zakhele Ndlovu, lecturer in political science at the University of Kwazulu-Natal. The political scientist would advise the king to approach his opponents and convince them to resolve this incident within the family and according to customary law.
But the two dissident factions prefer to lay siege to justice to constrain the king. The judgment, which annulled the king’s certification, “has emboldened the faction of Prince Simakade who wants to take the place of King Misuzulu”, notes journalist SIhle Mavuso, specialist in political affairs in the province of Kwazulu-Natal. “It is expected that in the coming year one of the two factions will initiate legal proceedings to force the government to suspend all benefits enjoyed by the king until the matter is resolved resolved,” he continues.
Because the pretenders to the throne are not only chasing a title, they are eyeing a financial windfall: an annual salary of more than 60,000 euros for the king, an operating budget for the royal family (around 4 million euros) and the management of the Ingonyama Trust, the fund that manages the nearly 3 million hectares of royal land. The king is first and foremost a landowner who receives tax revenues of 1 million euros per year, as well as rents of more than 4 million euros per year. “That’s why we see so many fights. Who will have access to the funds and control of the Ingonyama Trust? “, points out Zakhele Ndlovu.
Courted by political parties
The crisis, by its duration, embarrasses the “Zulu nation” according to Gugu Mazbiuko, professor at the University of Kwazulu-Natal and specialist in cultural issues. “We didn’t expect it to go this far,” she laments. We Zulus know that when a new king ascends the throne, there will be controversy in the royal family. But soon after he ascended the throne, things calmed down and the king could continue his business. There, it went far. »
The king’s legitimacy crisis could inconvenience political parties courting him in the run-up to general elections in 2024. The monarch potentially represents 12 million Zulus and rules over a territory rich in voters. “Political parties must respect the king if they want to obtain the favor of voters,” recalls journalist Sigle Mavuso. At the beginning of December, it was Julius Malema’s EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) party which visited the king and praised the Zulu kingdom as “one of the best organized in Africa”.
But the ongoing legal battle is “stunting the progress of the Zulu nation,” worries Gugu Mazibuko. The king is a moral authority who can influence his population on health issues, against gender-based and sexual violence or advance the development of his rural and poor region. But these days, the royal family is first and foremost a good soap opera subject. “The whole nation is following the case and wants to know what the result will be, it causes anxiety,” testifies Gugu Mazibuko.