In a dramatic to the royal saga, King Misuzulu kaZwelithini’s estranged wife, Ntokozo kaMayisela Zulu, says she fears for her life and that of her two children.
KaMayisela raised her safety and security concerns in a letter she wrote to the elders before she filed an urgent application for a court interdict at the Pietermaritzburg High Court to stop the king’s wedding to Nomzamo Myeni later this month.
In the heart-wrenching letter, which Sunday World has seen, the queen revealed that she was not only distressed about the king’s decision to commit bigamy by legally marrying
another woman while still conjugated to her but was also concerned about her safety and that of her two sons.
The distraught queen pleaded with the elders to intervene and take action.
KaMayisela said she believed Misuzulu should be a custodian of custom, and whatever decisions he makes should be in line with the traditional customs of the nation he leads.
“I do not wish for my name to be part of tarnishing traditional customs, and that is why I ask you to intervene. I fear for my life and that of my two children, because I do not understand why the king would choose to embarrass the AmaZulu nation and make decisions that will make people not respect him. There is a certain way to do things in a manner that will accommodate our culture,” reads the letter.
The queen states that King Misuzulu did not inform her that he wanted to take another wife. This even after she had asked him if he intended to wed another wife but he assured her he had no intention of do so.
She admits that, like any other married couple, they had problems in their marriage,
but she does not recall agreeing to dissolve their union.
She wrote that she had heard through the grapevine that the king would take another wife, but she did not try to stop him, saying that there are things that need to be resolved first.
“Through all the insults that I have received, I have never come to the conclusion of getting a divorce because I understand our customs, and I am protecting our children.
“The king filed divorce papers last month and I was given 10 days to respond. This is where I told my lawyers that I would challenge the divorce application. There is still time that is yet to come when I will also be given the opportunity to file my papers but I do not wish for it to come to that because I understand our customs.”
KaMayisela said she was the first wife and they were civilly married.
She said when Queen Nozizwe Mulela-Zulu, the king’s second wife, came into the picture, she and her husband agreed that they would change their marriage from civil to
customary. However, upon seeking legal advice from their lawyers, they were given two options, which were to divorce and remarry or file an application in court to
change their union to accommodate polygamy.
“We both agreed to file an application to change the status of our union but in the middle of the process, the king decided to change his mind for reasons I do not know. I still stand by this solution so that the king does not go against our customs and culture. I am not stopping him from getting married again but the nation, tradition, and the royal house come first, and it is important to protect them.
“I humbly ask that we resolve this internally in the royal house instead of taking each other to court and to the newspapers.”
The legal showdown between her and the king is expected to take centre stage in court soon.
