President Cyril Ramaphosa walked into a large crowd at Durban’s Moses Mabhida stadium carrying a heavy political pressure.
KwaZulu-Natal has never been a happy hunting ground for the head of state with the province leading a charge against his re-election as the president of the ruling party at the upcoming ANC elective conference. It was expected that his political opponents would use the ceremony to humiliate him, but he was largely received with administration from the crowd.
But insiders told Sunday World that the delegation from the Zulu royal house had met behind the scenes, warning that if hostility was shown to Ramaphosa it would be a direct attack on the monarch. Flanked by AmaZulu king MisuZulu kaZwelithini and his uncle and eSwatini absolute monarch king Mswati III, he cut a calm and composed figure.
“The booing of the president would have reflected badly for the provincial government. So when intelligence was gathered that the president might receive a hostile reception, a team was assembled to look into the matter. There was a specific directive from the king that he doesn’t want his ceremony to be turned into a political football,” said the royal insider.
He said besides the political groupings, amabutho (regiments) were divided on whether to use the ceremony to show anti Ramaphosa sentiments.
KZN is considered as the strong base for those calling for Ramaphosa’s head including former president Jacob Zuma and former minister of health Zweli Mkhize. Mkhize has been nominated by several branches in the position of party president while Zuma want to be national chairperson. The pair who were once political allies have turned into opponents and it was seen when Zuma endorsed Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to challenge Ramaphosa despite the province endorsing Mkhize.
The ceremony itself also saw political friends and foes alike gathered in one place. Variou leaders of political formations in such as DA’s parliamentary leader John Steenhuisen, EFF commander in chief Julius Malema, UDM Bantu Holomisa were also among the guests. During his address Ramaphosa healed praises to the Zulu nation, saying over many centuries the nation had stood firm against foreign invaders.
“He in KwaZulu-Natal, on the plains of Isandlwana143 years ago, AmaZulu waged an epic battle in defence of their land and freedom. It is a history of which the people of this province and the entire continent can be proud of. And today we are here to witness a new epoch in the history of AmaZulu,” said Ramaphosa.
The crowd erupted with jubilation when Ramaphosa declared Ramaphosa as the duly king of AmaZulu.
Earlier king Mswati had also addressed and said as his maternal uncle, he was handing over MisuZulu to lead the nation.
Both the Sacp, EFF and pro-democracy forces of Swaziland made a U-turn on staging a protest against Mswatis’s regime.
