Durban — King Misuzulu would not be meeting a group of amakhosi and princes calling themselves “protectors of the crown” because he does not recognise the structure.
In response to the continued claim by the group to be a legitimate structure within the Zulu kingdom, the king’s spokesperson, His Royal Highness Prince Africa of Onkweni, told the Daily News on Sunday that there is no structure in the kingdom called protectors of the crown, referring to the group as rebels who continue to undermine the king’s authority.
The prince said the group led by both the former king’s spokesperson and Inkosi Biyela are the same group that has been undermining the king’s constitutional right to appoint inkosi Thabnduyise Mzimela as the new chairperson of Ingonyama Trust Board.
He said this group has never accepted Mzimela’s appointment and had gone to Minister of Agriculture and Land Reform Thoko Didiza to try to convince her to reject the appointment of inkosi Mzimela, but the minister dismissed them.
“His Majesty regards what this group does as a side show and would not be distracted from his primary focus of pushing the economic development of the province, especially in rural areas.
“The king would not be meeting any WhatsApp group that masquerades as a formal structure within his kingdom. We wish the Zulu nation to know that there is no such structure the king has appointed.
“If there was a need to have a structure to protect the crown such would have been appointed by the king himself. So there is no reason to protect the crown and we do not even know the capacity of the group to carry out such work,” said the prince.
As part of the main focus on economic development of his kingdom, the king met both deputy president Paul Mashatile and the director of Coca Cola in Johannesburg to discus business investment opportunities for the people of KwaZulu-Natal, he said.
He challenged the group to produce proof of their appointment by the king, saying the king has also noted the attack on him as spokesperson. He said the king’s view is that any attack on his official spokesperson was a direct attack to the king.
The prince said the royal family is also noting that the group is the one that met in Eshowe in April soon after the king’s appointment of inkosi Mzimela and said they rejected the appointment. He said the king would not back down in appointing Mzimela and he has high confidence in his leadership of the trust.
Furthermore, the prince said the king and the Zulu nation are aware that the group is not concerned about the crown but rather interested in who becomes the chairperson of Ingonyama Trust because they wanted to loot the trust money.
In a statement issued by the group through its chairperson, inkosi BP Biyela, the group lambasted the prince for categorising them as a political group, insisting that they are for the crown.
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