DURBAN - THE mediation efforts within the Zulu royal house where two factions are at loggerheads over who is the rightful heir to the throne have collapsed, with neither side willing to compromise, former KwaZulu-Natal Premier Willies Mchunu said yesterday.
Speaking to The Mercury yesterday, Mchunu , who was leading the mediation team, indicated that the team had concluded its work and was preparing a report to be presented to President Cyril Ramaphosa through Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.
“We have made some observations and taken notes on the mediation process, and have made certain recommendations. It will be up to the president to decide on the next step,” said Mchunu, indicating that the report would be presented early next year.
He admitted the team had failed to get the two factions to sit under one roof and discuss succession issues, adding that this was the stumbling block that saw the mediation process deadlocked.
“By its very nature the mediation process is a voluntary undertaking and needs opposing sides to be able to sit under the same roof so that the source of conflict is resolved. Unfortunately, neither side was willing to give in, and that is why there was a deadlock,” he said.
Mchunu also expressed disappointment at the utterances of IFP founding president Mangosuthu Buthelezi where he indicated that contenders for the throne were the outcome of an adulterous relationship by the late king.
“You don’t make such revelations in public because what that does is to drag the name of the royal household in the mud,” said Mchunu.
The failed mediation efforts come as the IFP in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature has warned the ANC to cease trying to reclaim the trust of the people of the province through frivolous actions related to the Zulu Royal Household.
This is after KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala handed over five SUVs to the late King Goodwill Zwelithini’s wives last week.
“Premier Sihle Zikalala is trying very hard to have his bread buttered on both sides, using the handover of five SUV vehicles to King Zwelithini’s kaBhekuzulu queens as a publicity stunt. As the IFP, we applaud the vehicle handover, but must question the timing,” said the party spokesperson on royal house matters, Blessed Gwala.
He accused Zikalala of grandstanding, contending that the handover had been approved early in the year but the government used a delaying tactic in delivering the vehicles.
“The premier knows very well that this handover has been long overdue.
The vehicles should have been handed over – as approved – even before the passing of King Goodwill Zwelithini kaNyangayeziwe and Queen Mantfombi Shiyiwe. However, for some unknown reason, the handover was kept on hold.”
He challenged the premier to give answers to the people of KZN about what he planned to do with the late queen’s vehicle, as her palace, Khangelamankengane, did not receive it, despite the vehicle already having being purchased.
“We view this action as a way of ignoring Khangelamankengane Palace and would like to hear what the reasons are for this. We are concerned that Premier Zikalala merely creates the appearance of supporting traditional leadership structures in the province, while he has no clear future development plans,” Gwala said.
According to Gwala, the vehicles were for palaces because they were institutions, and this procedure should have been followed so that Khangelamankengane was also catered for.
He also questioned the ANC’s position on the current squabbles within the royal household, accusing the ruling
party of having sinister motives.
“We have already heard some ANC leaders predicting that the court case over who should be the next Zulu king is going to drag on longer than the Shembe church saga, and we have to question the motive behind such utterances,” he said.
ANC KZN spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela dismissed suggestions that the ruling party was dividing the Zulu Royal Household, stressing that everything had to be done by the book.
“The undertaking was to present the queens with the vehicles, and that is what the ANC in government has done.
“The cars are for them to use when performing their roles. KwaKhangelamankengane has no queen, hence no car was provided,” said Ntombela.
He also slammed suggestions that the ANC sought to benefit from the current royal house squabble, warning that the parading of the Zulu Royal Household in public for political gain was in bad taste.
Attempts to get comment from government spokesperson Lennox Mabaso were unsuccessful.
THE MERCURY