Durban – Zulu prince Buzabazi is once again haunted by an alleged debt of R18 285 that is owed to Pretoria-based public relations (PR) practitioner Christinah Chauke.
Chauke says that she has once again instituted a claim at the Small Claims Court in Pretoria, where it was previously dismissed, so that she can recover the money allegedly owed to her.
The debt allegedly stems from a gentlemen’s agreement to provide public relations services to Prince Bazubazi last year when the battle against King Misuzulu for the Zulu throne flared up.
Last month, Chauke told IOL that she was head-hunted to do the job and she was later not paid. She said she was approaching the Small Claims Court to seek redress.
“I was head-hunted by Thabo Mokoena, a friend of the king and Dudu Mtshali, a girlfriend of Prince Buzabazi, to work on a PR strategy that will introduce him as the right Zulu king.
“Of course the money I claimed for the work was little. That was because I was told to be lenient as I will start billing them accordingly once the prince has taken the throne.
“Part of my work was to monitor Prince Misuzulu then and formulate a counter strategy. When I said the agreement should be in writing, they did not do it and we ended up having a verbal one,” Chauke said last month.
On Thursday, she accused the prince of skipping an August 24 court date where the matter was to be heard.
“On the 24th of August he didn’t show up in court. The commissioner presiding over the matter then told me to send Prince Buza’s lawyers the email ... The lawyer, Peter Zwane, then said he was no longer working for Prince Buza. I had, however, emailed Prince Buza through Dudu and them. To date, there is no response,” she said.
However, Mokoena, who allegedly linked Chauke with the Prince, said she was confusing matters, saying the case was struck off the roll, hence the claims are bizarre to them.
“On behalf of the royal family and HRH Prince Buzabazi Zulu, we would like to respond to you on this matter.
“HRH Prince Buzabazi Zulu did attend the court on this matter on the 22nd of April 2022. The matter was struck off the roll and we wonder why Miss Christinah Chauke is still pursuing it with new dates as she should have the outcome.
“Please find the attachment of the court order issued,” Mokoena said.
According to the order Mokoena shared, the court in Pretoria said it lacks jurisdiction and the matter should be heard in Nongoma.
Fighting back, Chauke shared documents showing that she had the matter enrolled again.
“Prince Buza is choosing to ignore an ongoing court case for payment of services he requested through his girlfriend and the services were received and documented.
“I missed one court date because I was awaiting feedback from the then lawyer about the intent to settle out of court. He missed two court dates without any reason.
"If they had a lawyer, the lawyer would explain to them that when one party is unavailable the court will strike the case off the roll, however, that does not mean that the complainant can’t take the same case to court again.
“This clearly shows that they need to seek proper legal advice and stop embarrassing themselves,” Chauke said.
Current Affairs