Durban – Responding to Prince Mbonisi Zulu’s application to halt the coronation of Misuzulu KaZwelithini as the next king of the Zulu nation, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi lynched the senior prince, saying he is clutching at straws to an extent that he confuses court jurisdictions.
Buthelezi alleged that the prince’s application was trying to pre-empt the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) which was yet to hear the appeal over Judge Isaac Madondo's (of the Pietermaritzburg High Court) ruling, which comprehensively dismissed an almost similar application this year – ruled that Prince Mbonisi has no “locus standi”.
All this is contained in 237 pages of papers Buthelezi filed in response to the Prince who has dashed to the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to stop the coronation and to have the coronation committee disbanded – among many orders he is seeking.
“The relief in paragraph 4.1 in the notice of motion in these proceedings (seeking declaratory relief pendente lite that the first respondent (King Misuzulu) is not to be regarded as the king) is nonsensical and incompetent relief.
“It is incompetent because the president (Cyril Ramaphosa) has already recognised the first respondent as the king (and did so on March 16, 2022, nearly four months ago).
NEWS: In his court papers in support of disputed Zulu King, Misuzulu ka Zwelithini, Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi says the relief sought by Prince Mbonisi to have the former not regarded as such "is nonsensical and incompetent relief" because he has already been recognised. @IOL
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) July 19, 2022
“An interdict cannot be granted to prohibit conduct or events which have already arisen.
“Moreover, such declaratory relief would effectively pre-empt the decision in the review court (the appeal in the SCA),” Buthelezi stated in his affidavit and other portfolios of evidence meant to the court.
King Misuzulu has filed a supporting affidavit where he told the court that the allegations that he committed incest, he abuses drugs and alcohol and loses his composure after taking one too many, are meant to tarnish his image and they are patently false.
In the same papers, Buthelezi dismissed claims by Prince Mbonisi that the reason why he did not attend the burial of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini in Emahhashini royal cemetery in Nongoma was because they were not on speaking terms when he passed on.
He explained that he stayed behind (at KwaKhethomthandayo palace where the mourning was) because he feared contracting Covid-19 since he already had comorbidities and is old.
He stressed that he played a significant role during that process in March 2021 as he is the traditional prime of the monarch.
Buthelezi dismissed Prince Mbonisi’s claims that he was using the Zulu monarch to boost the electoral fortunes of the IFP.
He stressed that the IFP does not need the royal family to conquer and explained the erroneous use of King Misuzulu’s photo in a poster of the IFP last year, just days before the local government elections where it swept the floor and ousted the ANC in several municipalities.
He said it was an error by a junior staff member of the party (IFP) and it was corrected as soon as it was picked up.
Still pulling no punches, Buthelezi reminded Prince Mbonisi that he has tried several times in the past to bring frivolous court actions and they failed.
He cited Prince Mbonisi’s failed bid to interdict King Misuzulu from addressing the commemoration of the battle of Isandlwana in Nquthu in January this year.
Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Piet Koen turned down the prince's application after approaching the court on an urgent basis, hours before the king was to speak at the historic gathering where Zulus celebrated defeating the British army in 1879.
Buthelezi said Prince Mbonisi was supposed to bring the matter before a court in KwaZulu-Natal (not Pretoria) where almost all the applicants and respondents reside and since the issue of coronation is not a presidential one, Ramaphosa is merely an invitee.
Sihle Zikalala, the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, who has been cited by Prince Mbonisi in his court papers, is responsible for coronation matters, Buthelezi said.
“Lack of urgency aside (Prince Mbonisi wants the matter to be heard on July 26, three weeks before the August 13 coronation), this court has no jurisdiction anyway… It is apparent that all the applicants hail from KwaZulu-Natal… It is not in the interest of justice, or convenient for this court to assume jurisdiction in relation to respondents who reside in a different jurisdiction (KwaZulu-Natal) and in relation to causes of action or events, which on all accounts, are anticipated to take place in KwaZulu-Natal.”
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