Newly appointed AmaZulu king’s spokesperson Prince Africa Zulu has labelled as unfounded the claim that the monarch has deserted his ancestral palace of KwaKhangelamankengane in Nongoma, saying the rumours were meant to create a wedge between the king and his people.
Speaking exclusively to Sunday World on Wednesday, Zulu said it was cultural practice that King MisuZulu KaZwelithini should not sleep at the palace because his mother, the late AmaZulu regent Queen Mantfombi Dlamini, was buried there.
“This was nothing more than lies peddled against the king, but they are unfounded. The king, during the day is at Khangela working for the nation, and he will not be deterred in fulfilling this crucial task. The reason why the king cannot sleep at the palace was because of cultural reasons, because his mother is buried there,” he told Sunday World.
Last week, during a prayer session attended by senior royals and clergymen, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the traditional Prime minister of the Zulu nation, lamented an “awol tendencies” that the king had adopted. He pleaded for the nation to pray for the king, saying his life was in danger because he had surrounded himself with rogue elements who harbour ill intentions against him.
“Lababantu kukhona izinto abazenzayo esiLweni abasidlisa zona akasahlali nasesigodlweni kaKhangela (These people are doing wrong things to the king, they are feeding him wrong stuff – he has even left the palace). We pray that we do not lose our king,” Buthelezi said.
Prince Zulua spoke to Sunday World for the first time after his re appointment to the position, which he was booted out of following frosty relations with Buthelezi and some members of the royal house.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa
