Johannesburg – AmaZulu King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu spent his last moments worried about the land under the Ingonyama Trust and the exclusion of rural communities in the mainstream economy.
Zwelithini, who succumbed to Covid-19 related illness on Friday at the age of 72, was also worried about the souring of relations between Africans and the people of Indian descent in KwaZulu-Natal, predicting that it was a ticking time bomb.
He bemoaned the failure of the political establishment to come up with economic programmes to ensure the Zulu people and Indian businesspeople find areas of collaboration as part of social cohesion.
The royal family is mum on who will succeed the king from his 28 children. “Before his condition deteriorated and was admitted to hospital, Isilo Samabandla summoned izinduna [headmen] and amakhosi [chiefs].
He raised his fears that the house of traditional leadership was under siege.
He spoke at length about the move by the government to abolish the Ingonyama Trust and that amakhosi must protect our land at all costs.
“The ongoing assassination of izinduna also gravely concerned Uhlanga Lomhlabathi as he viewed the attacks as directed to him as the king of the Zulus,” said a traditional leader who attended the last official meeting with the king, speaking to Sunday World on condition of anonymity.
He said the king also wanted an update from the traditional leaders on how far they had gone in collecting a contribution of R5 from all the king’s subjects, which would be used to mount a legal challenge against government’s move to scrap the Ingonyama Trust.
“He instructed traditional leaders to spearhead reconciliatory talks by visiting different hostels and communities in Durban and initiate economic programmes, which will see Africans and the Indian businesspeople working together. He said we must do this to avoid the situation like the 1949 violence in which Zulus fought against Indians, which led to the loss of many lives,” said the traditional leader.
The Ingonyama Trust was established on the eve of the 1994 elections to administer tribal land formerly under the Kwa- Zulu government.
It has recently come under scrutiny from a presidential panel chaired by former president Kgalema Motlanthe, which advised that its act was undemocratic and therefore should be amended or scrapped.
Tributes continued to pour in for the late monarch, who was the descendent of King Cetshwayo kaMpande, as it was also announced yesterday that his body would no longer lie in state as initially announced.
President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a special funeral category one for the king. KwaZulu- Natal premier Sihle Zikalala has also deployed a delegation of MECs who will assist the royal house to prepare for the burial.
Ramaphosa has also authorised the national flag be flown at half-mast around the country from yesterday until the evening of the funeral service, which will entail ceremonial elements provided by the South African National Defence Force.
In terms of chapter 1.5.2(a) of the state, the official and provincial funeral policy manual, the president may designate the funeral of a distinguished person as a special official funeral. Ramaphosa expressed his condolences to the royal family, the Zulu nation, and to the people of KwaZulu-Natal and beyond, for whom the Ingonyama was an important symbol of history, culture and heritage.
The SACP in KwaZulu-Natal said it was shattered by the sudden passing of okaMdlokombane (a reference to the king).
King Zwelithini, who ascended the throne in 1971 at age 23, was the eighth Zulu monarch to be installed as king after his father King Cyprian kaSolomon Zulu.
He spent most of his young life in hiding for fears that he might be assassinated. He was known as a fearless leader with a sharp tongue and often spared no restraints in questioning and lashing out at the political elites. He is also a direct descendent of King Cetshwayo kaMpande, who led the Zulu people into victory against the British in 1879.
The departed king is credited with playing a prominent role in persuading his uncle, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, and the IFP to join the new dispensation. The IFP had threatened to boycott the first democratic elections in 1994.
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