AmaZulu traditional prime minister Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi is pleading with AmaZulu nation to pray for King MisuZulu kaZwelithini, saying he fears for his life.
In a prayer held at the former headquarters of KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature in Olundi and attended by various religious organisations and clergymen, Buthelezi, who spoke in IsiZulu, lamented that MisuZulu had abandoned his ancestral palace of KwaKhangelamankengane.
“Labantu kukhona izinto ezigezinhle 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.
Despite denialism, aloofness between the pair, who had been very close, has been publicly exposed, with the king alleged to have snubbed Buthelezi on various occasions.
The tiff led to Buthelezi convening a meeting with core members of the AmaZulu royal family last week to seek their counsel.
The insistence by King MisuZulu to appoint Inkosi Thanduyise Mzimela of the Mzimela traditional authority covering the areas of Mthunzini, uMlalazi and Obanjeni, northern KwaZulu-Natal to the helm of the strategic Ingonyama Trust is believed to have broken the camel’s back.
Buthelezi, on the other hand, wants former chairperson and retired judge Jerome Ngwenya to continue in the government entity, which oversees vast areas of land under the amakhosi, whose sole trustee is the king.
The entity receives rentals through commercial land leases and mine royalties.
During the prayer session, Buthelezi said: “I seek for your prayers for the nation’s king. Let’s pray for his majesty our king. He carries an unspeakable burden as he leads our nation in this most difficult time.”
Buthelezi believes the appointment of Mzimela was motivated by external forces that want to steal the land belonging the Zulu nation and do away with the Ingonyama Trust.
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